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Our dogs are first and foremost our treasured companions and friends. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

Border Collies, developed in the border counties of England and Scotland,

are primarily working dogs, valued for their skill in handling livestock.

Our Collies have worked the Newhope sheep flock for over 40 years,

although as we ease down towards retirement,

there is less work for our dogs.

There has never been opportunity for us to try out sports

such as flyball or agility, but a number of puppies that we have raised

have gone on to be successful in those fields,

and a few have competed in sheep dog trials.

We are pleased and proud to see our puppies doing fun stuff

with their people.

Irish Red and White Setters, originally from Ireland,

were developed to hunt upland game birds.

We try to preserve the hunting instinct in our dogs,

by using known hunting lines in our breeding program,

and by testing as many as possible in hunt tests.

We do show our Setters, and have developed several home bred Champions.

We particularly enjoy multiple dog events,

such as Brace (2 dogs) or Team (4 dogs) competition.

Left: Johnny and Dani, never defeated at breed level. Right: First IRWS team in North America, Woodstock, 2008

All photos by Alice Guthrie unless otherwise indicated.