Introduction of our family

Welcome to my blog about Rough Collies! This is the 76th post on my blog and this time I would like to introduce our family to my English-speaking readers. I have noticed that there are quite a few visitors to my website outside of Finland. So, I thought it might be fun to translate some of my earlier blog posts from Finnish to English. Here we go!

In this blog post I will introduce you to our family members, our Rough Collies and cats. Our family includes my husband Jan, me Heidi, the author of this blog, Rough Collie females Fiona, Riemu, Sansa, Vappu and Kaisla and two cats Smilla, a female Norwegian Forest Cat mix and Sisu, a male American Curl. It was quite a challenge to get the whole gang in the same picture. Especially the cats seemed to disagree with the photo session but in the end we did it. You can see the family potrait below.

Our five Rough Collie girls

Our five Rough Collies are all females and the oldest one of them is ten-year-old Fiona. In addition to Fiona, we have two mother & daughter pairs. The younger of the mothers, Sansa, is five years old and her daughter is three-year-old Kaisla. She is also the youngest of our dogs. The older mother, Riemu, is nine years old and her daughter is five years old Vappu.

Our remote family members are Riemu’s daughter and Vappu’s sister, five-year-old Lyyti and two-year-old Rose, a co-owned girl from Sansa’s second litter. The next possible puppy plans are hopefully for Rose, if everything goes according to plans.

Walkies, feeding, basic care and training of five rough collies can sometimes almost feel like a full-time job, especially when you would like to take care of things as good as possible. We walk the dogs at least three times a day, and in addition they go outside every day in our own yard or sometimes in a dog park. We also drive at least once a week into the woods for longer hiking trips. In addition, we do ​dog ​hobbies like Rally-Obedience and Obedience with several of our dogs on a regular basis.

Our two senior cats Smilla and Sisu

In addition to the five Rough Collies, our family includes two indoor cats, both of which are already in their senior years. Smilla, the older of the cats, is a thirteen- year-old female Norwegian Forest Cat mix and Sisu is a ten-year-old American Curl neutered male. Both cats are indoor cats and only go outdoors when harnessed in the summer.

Our tortoiseshell girl Smilla loves her own company. She is quite a smug little furry girl and of course very pretty. On the contrary our red haired boy Sisu is very attention loving boy. He loves the sound of his own voice, especially at night, and needs a lot of attention from both people and dogs. He is truly a cuddle cat.

Our dogs and cats get along very well. They have been together since they were puppies or kittens. The Rough Collie as a dog breed is usually gentle on cats and other pets as long as the dog is taught what is allowed and how to behave. For example, cats must not be chased. When we have collie puppies, we keep them out of the reach of the cats for at least the first week and even longer if the dog mother seems to prefer it that way.

Our family at it’s largest

Right now our little dog & cat family is at it’s largest and we have no plans to grow it further unless something surprising happens. Maybe a once in lifetime puppy? I hope not too soon. At the moment, our family looks like this, but I know that the situation may change in just a few years. Sadly even a couple of years can bring big changes in a family of several senior aged pets.

I am very happy to look at our family portrait and it makes me smile every time. It is a precious moment in time with our dear loved family members, Jan, me, Fiona, Riemu, Sansa, Kaisla, Vappu, Smilla and Sisu.

More posts in English?

This was my very first blog post in English. I would like to know if you liked it and if I should continue to post more often in English. Let me know!