| Willowgate Farm is located in southwestern Maine, USA, in the town of North Waterboro. We have been in this location for over 20 years. We have sheep -- and, of course, Border Collies.
When we bought the farm, there was a house, one barbed-wire fenced pasture and a small shed. We have added a barn, kennel, chicken coup, woven-wire sheep fencing to the original and two small pastures, and several new sheds for storage of garden and animal supplies and equipment.
The woods and main pasture have been logged plus a 10-acre pasture and woods have been added. We are now up to about 45 acres which is still considered a "small" piece of land in our town.
This has been and is home to many wonderful border collies.
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| Imp Glen Photo by J Elliott |
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All Willowgate border collies are registered with the American Border Collie Association, Inc (ABCA). All breeding stock is OFA Certified and eye checked including Optigen DNA CEA.
My name is Fran Wheeler and I am a lifetime member of the ABCA, lifetime member of ISDS, a member of the USBCHA, a founding and current member of the NorthEast Border Collie Association (NEBCA), and a member and president of the New England Stock Dog Club (NESDC). All of these organizations promote the working border collie and do not encourage or endorse exhibiting border collies in the breed ring. I have owned Border Collies for more years than I care to remember and have worked with them with livestock since 1975.
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E-mail for further information. |
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| Prince Ponca ABCA 7751 |
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| At left, Prince.
Prince was my first registered border collie and my foundation male for the Willowgate line. He was born on a Maine dairy farm on 05 October 1974 and died 13 December 1987. He was initially trained on dairy cows though made the transition to sheep and continued to work sheep throughout his life.
His granddaughter Nan is still with us and can be seen on The Girls page.
Prince was a special boy who probably would have been much happier with a handler who knew more than I. He was totally my dog, my constant companion and would do anything for me. He sired only one litter that was born two days before he died.
Click on image to enlarge.
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