04/10/2023
Please read the entire post. Not quite the announcement I was planning for, but sometimes life makes your decisions for you. After 12 wonderful years of making dreams come true for so many families and meeting some of my absolute best friends, I have decided to retire from breeding. This has been weighing heavily on my mind for the last year, maybe longer, as many of you know. While what I've done has brought such joy to myself and others, I find myself yearning for more family time. The ability to pick up and take a trip, visit with family and make those precious memories, as there will come a day, when that's all we will have, is the memories. My parents and John are aging and relying on me more, Jay is hitting his early teen years, and I'm as busy as ever pursuing my career within veterinarian medicine. The real job that has made breeding possible for me, as I've never relied on my collies as my source of income. Breeding itself takes an enormous amount of time, hard work, and dedication. Along with sleepless nights waiting to welcome newborns, and checking them every time there is a squeak. The amount of time to socialize, medicate, vaccinate, groom and so on. With breeding, it also comes with the emotional roller coaster of the highs and lows. Honestly, my heart is still there, but my body and mind is telling me to slow down. I don't want to look back one day and say, "I wish I had done this with my son, or I wish I could've been there more for my parents." I know I have such an amazing group of followers, and I know each of you will understand. My Sweet Gum extended family will always and forever hold a piece of my heart. If not for each of you, I would've never made it through the last 12 years. I have been truly blessed and I hope and pray that I've been able to bring as much love, joy and happiness to each of you through our wonderful collie breed.
That being said, for those of you that have been ever so patiently waiting for your own SGC, I would like to refer you to a very special lady that I met through my collies, 10 years ago. That is Angie Hayden with Holston Mountain Collies. She has graciously agreed to merge my wait list, with hers. All you have to do is reach out to her and tell her Ann sent you. Her and I have shared lines from the start. She currently has Sadie (Malena from Sophie/Parker, granddaughter of Rosie/Mason and great-granddaughter of our foundation pair Charlie/Charlotte. She has also agreed to whelp and place my final breeding, between Tessa (smooth) and Cash (Rough). I'll be sure to keep everyone updated about future litters that carry the Sweet Gum legacy. This isn't goodbye at all. It's simply see ya later, for now. There will always be collies in my life, and who knows, maybe one day Sweet Gum Collies will breed again. Until then, kiss those long snooters, watch that collie swing, and enjoy those collie nose nudges! Sending my love to each and every one of you! Thank you for all the memories, the love, and the support.
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Pictured below, from left to right, Fuqua's Bella Rose Of Crofter (Bella) myself, and Fuqua's Rose of The Valley (Rosie)
