Every artist was first an amateur - RALPH WALDO EMERSON
About Us
It all started a few years back, when my husband became adament that he wanted a Rough Collie. After years of refusal, i decided to let him have his wish. At the time we thought we would only have the one, but we soon found that we wanted more Collies and we soon got into showing and breeding.
We eventually decided to apply for a Kennel Affix and we very much wanted to stick with the Scottish theme. We had a few ideas in mind but Strobroy was our first choice and we were thriiled when the KC accepted this and Strobroy Collies was officially registered.
After studying various lines and pedigree's and how they developed we decided that we wanted true collies. After a few false starts we have eventually built up a small show kennel of strong, healthy and fit for function dogs. All our dogs are Wicani bred and we will carry this on through our own breeding programme until eventually we have that all important independant Strobroy line of our own - based on the foundations that Angela & Keith Harvey of Wicani have gifted us with.
Angela & Keith have become very good friends - infact our knowledge and experience to this day is all down to the endless advice, support and most importantly mentoring that Angela has given ourselves. Angela has been very successfull in her breeding programmes producing champions in 14 different countries and also an International Champion. She hasnt forgot the roots of the collie and aims to always breed collies true to the standard. She is known all over the world for her shape, elegance, dignity, beauty and temperament and of course the fabulous clarity of Blue Merle ever to be seen. And more recently Angela and Keith are known for importing the first CEA/PRA Free Collie ever to grace Brittish Soil - Canadian Champion Glasgowhills with Pride bred by Sandi Hamilton of Glasgowhill Collie's in Canada. History is about to change and it is all down to a happy, quiet, contented but determined breeder with the biggest of hearts that i have ever came across. Angela & Keith have worked their fingers to the bone for this breed. No other breeder i know works as hard as they do and in years to come when this breed has maintained its origin it will all be down to two kennels - Wicani and Glasgowhill. Congatulations to both Kennels. The collie breed are proud to have you as ambassadors and guardians of our breed.
We believe in only happy and healthy Collies without any aggression, timidness or temperament issues what so ever. We only breed from healthy stock and the health and happiness of our dogs are paramount. We are a family run small show kennel, were not only myself and husband play a vital role but also my kids aswell. They have been taught from the very first dog on how to handle them. They are perfectly capable of grooming and feeding and also keeping them occupied and making sure the dogs are never bored. At the age of 11, my middle child who also suffers from special needs was able to assist in the welping of a bitch and did so very nicely without any problems. So we believe in working as a family to make sure our dogs live a happy and healthy life to their full potential and ours too.
When we are looking at the breed, we are looking for sound qualities. First of all the example must be a sillohette of a pure collie. From the front of the collie we will look for nice head and ear carriage with ears bang on top and tipped over by a third of the size of the ear. Floppy and heavy ears is something you will never find in our kennel. The neck must be of well arched and of ample length and above well angulated shoulders. The back of the collie should have the correct bend of stifle and hocks well let down in order for the correct drive in movement and to prevent from cloddiness. The tail should be of fair length and the length of the dog must balance out in proportion to the rest. We strive to have dogs that are not out of balance in anyway and each part must be in proportion to every other part.
Our dogs live in a healthy clean environment and are treated with the upmost respect.
We will continue to strive for the magical classic collie. We hope that in years to come when we are not around, that we have taught our kids enough and educated them to carry on our lines.
Dedication
Since building the new site, i have always felt that there has been something missing that i couldnt quite put my finger on. Although we have made many friends along the way and we have acknowledged our main foundation friends, i decided that now was the right time to add this page.
Life is a journey in itself. It brings us many ups and downs with many mistakes along the way. I for one believe that we have to make mistakes as this is the only way of learning. When we fell as children when learning to walk, we were picked up, had the bruises rubbed and were sent to fall again until we got it right, eventually learning to walk. We are guided through life by our closest of companions, and through these companions we learn and thrive through out our lives. Unfortunately, our support is not always around. I often think of many things in the past and many friends i have made. The support that i had in the down times and all the shoulders i had to cry on and the many people who celebrated with me during the happy times. Life hasnt always been good to me, in fact at one point it was so terrible and cruel that i never thought i would be here today - but i am and it was all down to two people; My parents.
They nurtured me as a child and taught me many things in life. They helped me learn from my mistakes, sometimes the same mistakes over and over again until i learned the correct way. They, as parents showed me nothing but unconditional love. They taught me how to respect myself in order to be able to respect others. They taught me to love myself in order to love others. They taught me never to hate as this was just too strong an action. They taught me to be open minded and to express my opinion. They taught me belief - without belief there is no hope. They taught me hope - without hope there is no faith, and most of all, they taught me faith - when you have faith you have everything.Having faith, helps us achieve our goals. There is no point in dreaming without putting these dreams into action. Dreams dont have to be fantasty, they can be real life and put into action - only if you have enough faith in order to believe you can do it. They taught me that the only thing in life i had was my faith and belief in myself, and when i accepted this, i would open doors to a whole new world.
What i am doing now, i believe is something a few years ago i thought i could only dream of, it was only a fantasy that would never be nothing more. Then suddenly i remembered what i was taught as a child - to believe in myself and when i believed in myself, i would have the faith to fullfill my deams - and this is what i am doing now.Sadly - 5 years ago, my parents were taken from me. My mother suddenly died with no warning what so ever and i realised that i lost the bestest friend that i would ever have. Within a few months, my father followed her. My whole life was shattered and i became very ill. Then without warning, i started to believe in myself again. I can never bring my parents back, but i can still make them proud even though they are in another realm somewhere. I have many memories of them and will be forever grateful for the nurturing they gave me through out my whole life even in the bad times. Without their support, i would not be here today and i just hope that whereever they are and whatever they are doing, they will be looking down on me and i hope that i am making them proud.