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Who's lockeye?


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I've heard of it and seen the names on sites and lists. At the seminar we went, a couple people asked if Jazzy was from Lockeye BC. I went to their website but I didn't see nothing outstanding. I was curious why they asked if Jazzy was from there. I also saw a yahoo group called Lockeye. Is this just a term they use for certain kind of BCs or is this a breeder?

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Its is a breeder.

 

I think - I don't know for sure what their breeding goals are - they breed for herding and temperament. They produce many SAR BCs, agility, flyball, and herding dogs. This is just what I sort of know from what I have heard/read about Lockeye BCs. I have seen Lockeye dogs (agility) and I must say they are very good (not the same kind of crazy weirdness you see in BCs bred "for" agility though).

 

I repeat, this is only what I have read/heard or seen - not necessarily fact.

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The list is the mailing list run by the breeder. Mos, but not all, of its members are owners of her dogs.

 

I've heard good things about them from different areas of the BC community. Most notably, her puppies really do go to their new homes with a very good basis in training and experiences. She exposes the puppies to -a lot- of different environments/people/etc, so you're more likely to get a pretty bomb-proof dog.

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How funny you should ask ! Yes, they are breeders. Dylan's Dad is Lockeye Bronze - he was bought by Japanese breeders in Hokkaido. I joined the yahoo group a while ago to try and find other people with SAR dogs but find the format so difficult to follow so haven't bothered to keep up with it. e-mail me if you want to talk more !

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I don't know a whole lot about Lockeye, though I know a few Lockeye dogs...some of whom are indeed the crazy, over-the-top type found in some sport breedings. I've been to their website. I don't know that I'd agree that they breed for "herding," as some of the breeding dogs have done a little training but none seem to have reached higher levels of competition in USBCHA-sanctioned trials. Lockeye also seems to always have an awful lot of puppies on the ground at any given time.

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I hear this a lot about Lockeye. They are very popular in the agility community in the US.

 

RDM

 

 

Depending upon who you talk to. I do know of a fair number of agility people who wouldn't go near that line too.

 

But I do have to agree with Laura, she doesn't appear to really be breeding for herding. Hasn't trialed one of her dogs in a long, long time, let alone to the upper levels of USBCHA. But, she's not even doing arena trials.

 

Kathy

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Also, without wishing to speculate publicly about Lockeye's breeding goals, I will also say that I would be willing to bet that people have told INU that Jazzy looked like she might be a Lockeye dog because she has large prick ears...

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Also, without wishing to speculate publicly about Lockeye's breeding goals, I will also say that I would be willing to bet that people have told INU that Jazzy looked like she might be a Lockeye dog because she has large prick ears...

 

That could be. I saw several pictures of BCs with large prick ears, many smooth coat. Those people were from SC and maybe the SAR teams in the area use Lockeye breeder. When they asked, I thought the term meant something else... like 'locked-eye' 'intense' 'herding'. I felt silly because they have GSDs and they knew something about BC that I didn't know! :rolleyes:

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When I went looking for a dog (for purposes of herding / moving 200+ dairy cows on a farm in Mississippi) for my stepfather, I was directed to a cattle farm in Norman, OK.

 

The stud was Lockeye Zimmer who is by Lockeye Bronze, I think. I don't recall the name of the dam (I guess I could look at Recon's papers). Anyway, Recon's from that breeding. He used both dogs on the ranch. We got to watch Zimmer a few times - he was intense. Anyway, Zimmer was purchased by this guy from Lockeye.

 

NO idea about the actual Lockeye breeder, though, just know she's in Oklahoma.

Also can't really comment about any dog from her lines other than Recon - and Recon is, of course, the best dog that has ever existed :rolleyes:

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I have a little dog from Lock-eye. The line is indeed known for large prick ears. I got my little girl because she was a left-over pup who was way too high-drive for the majority of her buyers (mostly first-time BC pet/sport people or repeat buyers). It was an impulse thing, and I love her. She does have her quirks. I dearly hope I don't get blasted for saying this but there are a few known health problems in some of the lines. My girl does have some herding isntinct; my instructor said she is trainable; but she's not nearly as natural as my slightly more well-bred dog. Anyway, here's her face, and hopefully INU can see the resemblance, and she is related to Recon through Bronze as well:

 

HPIM1932.jpg

 

HeadStudy.jpg

 

She does breed a LOT, but also does a lot of baby clicker training and stuff with the pups, which is nice.

I'm not saying a ton, if anybody wants to know anymore please PM me to ask!

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It's funny to me that their dogs are known for large prick ears. Mickey's flop. His grandparents were Lockeye Smooch and Bronze and neither of them have stand up ears. Mickey's ears are big, but definitely floppy!

 

And that would make Mickey related to Recon and Rosanne's dog!

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Lots of border collies have upright ears. My first two did, and they were of good Welsh and Scottish bloodlines/imported parents. Wiston Cap had up ears --- not that he had much influence as a sire or anything :rolleyes:

 

wis_cap.jpg

 

Wiston_Cap_type_bc.jpg

 

Nap_type_bc.jpg

 

Many dogs of the Bwlch line [Glyn Jones] have terrific up ears. Here's Bwlch Taff:

 

BWLCH_Taff.jpg

 

Even if Lock-Eye bred for up ears, they'd hardly have the corner on the market. Up ears are pretty common, especially in working lines, as the McNab dogs illustrate.

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Lockeye is not a type.

 

Lock-Eye is the kennel name of a breeder of Border Collies who, and I will say it right out, breeds way too freaking many dogs and shouldn't be.

 

The reason they are becoming so well known is that for reasons I cannot personally figure out, some agility people really like these dogs and are willing to close their eyes to a number of other factors because they want a dog that they think can win at agility. These dogs are actually not particularly different from any other Border Collies doing agility (except for being extremely numerous, which I generally don't think is a good thing for a breeder to want her dogs to be).

 

Again, I would not personally ever buy a dog from this breeder and can't really figure out why anyone does.

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The scans illustrating border collie type come from the book Key Dogs from the Border Collie Family [originally published as two volumes in 1981 and 1985] by Sheila Grew. With the full understanding that many good dogs fell outside her general descriptions, she wrote: "To help describe the main types of border collies I have named them 'The Northumbrian type', the 'Wiston Cap type', the 'Nap type' and the 'Herdsman's Tommy type'". She based these categories on shared working characteristics as much as appearance. Dogs of many well-known breeders fell within the "Nap type," for example.

 

In North America these days I think McCallum dogs might constitute a type, or the beginnings of a type: http://www.mccallumk9.com/

 

I suffer from major CRS, but if I remember right the Lock-Eye breeder began with working cattle dogs, and even published an article or two in The Ranch Dog Trainer magazine years and years ago. It's all about "versatility" now, I guess dunno.gif

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Again, I would not personally ever buy a dog from this breeder and can't really figure out why anyone does.

 

My opinion based on the little I've seen - good marketing.

 

She has a user-friendly website with lots of GREAT pictures. The site portrays the picture that her dogs are loved, happy, active, content dogs and that their pups will fit right into any situation.

 

In fact, when I first looked at the site, I thought, "it must be hard to get a puppy from here because they must breed very carefully and selectively." I was surprised when I found how many puppies are currently available. And the price . . . WOW!! But to someone who is new to the breed, or is just looking for a super agility dog - don't you get what you pay for? They MUST be good if they are that expensive (not my way of thinking, but a lot of folks do think that way).

 

Very effective marking geared toward the average "I want a Border Collie" type person.

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My opinion based on the little I've seen - good marketing.

 

She has a user-friendly website with lots of GREAT pictures. The site portrays the picture that her dogs are loved, happy, active, content dogs and that their pups will fit right into any situation.

 

That was my thought, too. Along with the availability factor :rolleyes: There are all the right "buzz words" there for the "lets get a BC people" doing internet research for a "good breeder". And good dogs are supposed to cost lots of money, right?

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