Looking Back: Glitter

Say what, now?

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there is something special about a terrier. Terriers are bright, happy, energetic little dogs that have the ability to think and to reason at close to human levels. Terriers are also exhausting, which means that those of us who own them also tend to own a breed that potentially allows us to rest for just a minute without hiding under the covers from them in the morning. For a lot of people, their second breed is often a poodle of one variety or the other. For me, my "second breed" was often a mixed breed, although in the past, I've also owned Dobermans, a Dalmatian, a Pekingese, a Japanese Chin, and a couple of MinPins. But, having been an avid reader of Albert Payson Terhune while I was growing up, I desperately wanted a rough collie.

From the time I was ten or so, I had wanted either a blue merle collie that I could name for my childhood fictional herodog, "Gray Dawn," or a sable-headed white collie like my frienddog who would come to the playground when I was in elementary school. His name has been lost in the mists of time, but he was a great companion to me, helping me eat my snacks while I was reading at recess, when all of the other kids were playing. He was a lovely change from the Labradors that my father favored: fluffy, calm, dignified. He bore only a passing resemblance to the farm collies at the horse barn down the road from me, but both set the collie fire burning. Eventually, a third collie entered my life--yet another sable-headed white collie who took it upon himself to escort me on the weekday walk between Eckersley-Hall and Woodrow Wilson Middle School. Color-headed whites were now cemented in my mind as my "favorite" collies from that point on.

Glitter!

Decades pass. At one point in my life, I contact Special Collies in New Hampshire, to see if I can buy one of their color-headed white dogs, but it's the wrong time of my life. I am traveling to Hattiesburg three days each week for university classes (1.5 hours each way) and one evening and on Saturday morning I was driving to agility and obedience classes in Baton Rouge (roughly 2 hours each way, depending on traffic). It really is a shame, because my desire to have one of these gorgeous dogs is rekindled and that moment would have been the moment for me to own the collie that I so desired.

However, all was not lost! One of the women that I trained dogs with in New Orleans, when I lived in Metairie, bred collies. Her dogs were small, athletic, but every bit the dogs that Terhune bragged about in his books. I had told her a few years before I moved to Mississippi that I wanted a blue merle, if she ever had one for me, but all I wanted was pet quality--I could not afford the big bucks for a show quality collie. It was not too long after moving to McComb that the breeder said she had a puppy for me: a sable merle female puppy that she called "Glitter." On the one hand, I was thrilled: I was going to have a collie! On the other hand, I was sad: this puppy was not the color dog I had dreamed of for so long.

One adage is ultimately true in the dog fancy: No good dog can be a bad color. (A second adage is equally true: A dog doesn't run on its head. But I digress!) The more I looked at that little ball of gold and white fluff, I realized that I was actually smitten with her. She swiftly came to rule the roost, simply by virtue of size as she did not have the sense that God granted to a gnat. Despite her lack of sense--which I confess I found disconcerting--she had the biggest heart of any dog I ever knew. She loved people. She loved dogs. She loved cats. She loved my chickens and my little quail chicks in the aquarium brooder on the sunporch. I cannot remember a day that she actually raised her lips to anyone, let alone growled. Such is the beautiful nature of a collie at peace with the world!

As Glitter grew, she became one of the most elegant dogs that I have ever owned. She was still small, which held her back at conformation shows, but I valued her even more as a companion and an obedience/Rally dog. I will be the first to admit it: I didn't do enough with her. We trained together almost every day, and she slept in my room at night, but I didn't compete with her nearly enough. I look back at that with a little regret because I wish that I had given her more of an opportunity to shine. Even so, she had an obedience title, a Rally title, and even a herding title when she passed on, so I did at least try to share my beautiful girl with the world.

Glitter Wears Many Hats

As Glitter matured, she settled naturally into her role as an ambassador for her breed. Back in the day, when McComb was a safer place to be, I would train her at the parking garage and walk her along the streets in town. I remember stopping once, to look in the window of a small collectibles shop, just to see what they had inside. The owner motioned for us to come in, telling me that he had seen me training Lassie and that he knew the items in the shop would be safe as we browsed. We spent a good 30 minutes looking around, Glitter at heel or in a sit or down stay when I stopped walking. That one encounter meant more to me than any ribbons that she had ever won.

In addition to her role of ambassador, Glitter was a puppy raiser, despite never being able to have puppies of her own. She watched over my herd of three goats when she was outside, taking that role VERY seriously. She was also the demonstration dog at the obedience classes we attended every week in Hammond. She was so admired by all of the others in class that she had a nickname, "Glitter the Great." Like Beau, Glitter was willing to do anything and everything that she was asked, if it were in her power. She might have tried to herd the new bookcase into the corner against the wall at one time, but for what she lacked in brains, she made up for in desire to please her people.

The End Comes Swiftly

Glitter was a "young" dog well into her 10th year. Her face wore her age with dignity, with silver hairs mingling in the gold of her muzzle. Her jowls never sagged, but her final year saw a change in her expression that could only be defined as rapid aging. On July 9, 2017, I wrote on Facebook that:

Glitter Glamorgirl has passed into the ages. She died this evening, her head in my lap as we sat on the couch. It was a very sudden thing--she ran to her bowl when I fed her this morning and she was eating and drinking normally yesterday. I had no idea that she was not feeling well until just a short time before she stopped running, when I brought her inside to nurse her a little with some cool water and what I thought would be just a little reassuring grooming time. It was not till she refused her evening meat that I knew something was seriously wrong.

Her passing was peaceful. She just closed her eyes and gasped a few times before falling asleep with the Lord. She was a beautiful and loving girl that had very few cross moments in her life. She will be sorely missed."

After Glitter passed, it was impossible to think of getting another collie. She had been the perfect collie for me in every way. I still think I'd like a sable-headed white someday, just because, but it will probably never come to pass. He would have a hard time living up to his predecessor, no matter how many years pass between them.

There's so much of Glitter's story to tell. One article looking back at her lovely and loving life simply isn't enough. I think I might go ahead and post a "Glitter and Her Friends" article in time, after I've had time to absorb this one. I hope you have enjoyed reading this tribute to Glitter: Supercollie!

If you liked Glitter's story, please be sure to like it and please, if you can find a minute, I'd love to read your comments. As usual, subscriptions, tips, and even pledges are welcome. Take care, have a great day--and don't forget to hug your dogs!