I don't have any pictures of my girl that are scanned but I have her in my mind. I will scan some perhaps and post them here. But I grew up with a collie.

I was an only child and at the age of 3 my parents decided to purchase a collie for me. This was in 1965 and they searched around in California and found a collie breeding farm by the name of Autumn Acres. My parents talked to the breeder and told them what they wanted and they choose a sable and white rough coated female.

We went to the farm to pick up our puppy. This is probably the earliest memory I have but I got out of the car and this herd of puppies came racing over and knocked me down and just crawled all over me licking and yelping. I picked up the one that was licking me the most and declared I wanted THIS ONE. Luckily it was the female my parents had decided on and we took her home. I got to name her and since Lassie was my absolutely favorite show on TV you can guess what we named her.

Little Lassie of Autumn Acres was her registered name.

She was my Lassie. She was my very best friend and companion until I was 17 years old. When I was 5 and I was deaf from all the fluid in my ears it was determined it was due to dog allergies and the fact that I slept each night with my face buried in Lassies ruff. I was given the choice of getting rid of the dog or going on shots once a week. Well I of course chose the shots.

She would instinctually do what the dog on TV would. She would keep my friends and myself away from the street or strangers or strange dogs. She always watched out for us and made sure no one she didn't know approached. She never bit anyone in her entire life but she sure scared the hell out of some people. But she was gentle and kind with kids and people she knew. She would pull us by the back of our little sundresses until we were away from the sidewalk.

She hated water with a passion but when we went camping in the Sierra Nevadas she would follow me into every stream just barking and complaining to my parents that they were allowing me to go into DANGER DANGER! Denyce is in the well!

My whole life it was like having a celebrity. We took her with us everywhere we went it seems. Kids would go..."Look mom there's Lassie". She of course would turn her head at hearing her name and watch the child go ballistic because they were postivie she was the "real" Lassie. Of course in true collie fashion she was be ballistic also. We used to say she would bark at a leaf blowing down the street.

She was an awesome fantastic dog and I am almost 46 and I still cry from missing her. At 17 I made the ultimate decision to let her go. She had loved and protected me for so long I had to love her that much back.

I didn't get another dog until 4 years ago when we rescued Sequoia our husky. Now I have a "snow dog" celebrity. *soft smile*