Her Name Was Lass

Sunnybank Lass
1916-?
Sable
Sire; Jolly Joker
Dam; Buxom Beauty

Albert Terhune looked for a mate to his Sunnybank Goldsmith, the
famous Bruce he found her at Glen Rose Collies, owned by Eileen
Moretta, a famous actress in her day. Eileen Moretta would forever
change the world of collies by bringing over, at the age of 9!!!, the
English Champion Magnet. Magnet, it is claimed, is the most
influential collie in American Collie history for he brought the
modern looking collie to America. While those who admired the older,
more coarse, large boned collies weren’t thrilled, his coming brought
us what we call the collie standards of today. Eileen Moretta was a
huge collie advocate and well-known in her time, so Terhune’s buying
a collie from her to breed is not surprising. Lass however, was
bought by Ms. Moretta from George Van Der Veer a well-known breeder
of the American style collie whose lines traced back to the Brandane
dogs, owned by two leaders of the CCA who established one of the
earliest top quality collie kennels.

Not much is known about Lass for not much was written about her.
You will see her next to Albert Payson Terhune, next to the famous
Lad and see Wolf and Bruce also.

Lass is noteable for APT bought her to mate with Bruce and she was a
success in this. Terhune’s bringing of Lass to Sunnybank was his
beginning as a breeder of our beloved collies. When Terhune decided
to go for the gold he brought in Alton Andeen and his championships
began. However, Lass and Bruce began the ball rolling for the
Sunnybank breeding program when in December 1917 she gave birth to
Sunnybank’s first registered litter of pups. This litter included
Sunnybank Bunty I who was sold before her first birthday, Sunnybank
Gael who appeared in two stories, was bred to Gray Dawn and to Treve
and ended being sold in 1921, Sunnybank Robert, the famous Bobby who
was one of the beloved house dogs, whom Terhune loved deeply and said
was was one of his smartest collies. Bobby bred Fair Ellen and then
died tragically of meningitis. Finally, this litter also incuded the
great dam Sunnybank Jean whom Terhune wrote much about. She had 5
litters, keeping Bruce’s line alive at Sunnybank for Terhune kept a
Bruce and a Treve line in his kennels, bringing the lines together
from time to time especially after he quit showing collies. Jean
however, for all that is written about her is most famous for her
being run over in the driveway in front of the house at Sunnybank by
some tourists. A sad ending for her.

So, Lass played a big role in beginning the Sunnybank Collies
breeding program and with Bruce left many great collies who grace
Terhune’s life and books. We don’t know when she died or if she was
sold for Terhune did not record everything in his
records which is too bad for I wonder what happened to this largely
unknown bug hugely influential collie of Sunnybank.

 

Lass is the one sniffing Terhune’s left hand.

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Another Crazy Collie Day!

 

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LOL…. everyone ready?

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okay, on the count of three everyone rush dad….

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thats going to hurt in the morning…..

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quick everyone act innocent for he is waking back up….

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– No dad, I dont know what knocked you down….

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on the count of three we do it again!

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Charge!!! Get Dad!!!

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*jaw Drops*

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Wow! Glad I didn’t do that.. hmm… how to plot on getting out of this..

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Um, mom can you let us in now?  Dad?  Dad who?  er… we dont know where he is… let us in now?

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Quick, everyone act like we are sleeping…. he wont figure it out… I am sure Terhune put up this at Sunnybank.. hehhehehe

 

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One Word….

Wait right there dad!!!  Don’t move….

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See this dad? Its my ball….. throw it for me?

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Here it is… my ball! Throw it for me… PLEASE!!!

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here it is again dad… throw it again please!!!

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I love playing ball with Lad and I do this at least a 100 times a day.  Lad never tires of it….  Its amazing how much he loves to play ball.  Look at that face… he is so happy! 🙂  Till the day he is called by the Lord I will throw his ball no matter how many times he wants me too… for I love him and to me it is a small thing but to him it is his life, world and the way he interacts with me.  I do it for him…. for he is my Laddie and all I want is him to be happy. 🙂  God Bless My Lad….. even if the only thing he thinks of is that ball…. 24/7!  LOL  🙂 Wonder if Terhune had a ball loving collie?

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Another Cool Pic Of Terhune

Here is Albert Payson Terhune and Gray Dawn on your left and Bobby on your right…. Gray Dawn of course is famous for his wild antics… Bobby was a genius and a clown according to Terhune.  Bobby survived being hit by a car and was a favorite of Terhune’s.  He died of meningitis so horribly described by Terhune in a scene that made me weep like a baby…. I’ve been there when a collie dies of a horrible affliction and I was there seeing it as he described it in my mind’s eye and in real life with my McKenzie and Anya….. A cool picture of the line that was from Bruce….

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A Cool Terhune Picture

Here is a cool picture of Terhune with a wild bunch…. Bruce, Wolf , Rex and Lad….  That is the Rex that attacked Lad in a death fight and was accidentally killed in the fight ,,,, sort of a cool picture… hope you enjoy…. click on the picture to enlarge…

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Vote.. Which Sunnybank Is This?

-Do you know which collie this is at Sunnybank?

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Hammock Inspection-2

-um what are you doing with that hose?  We have a choice?  Bath or go in the house?  What kind of choice is that?

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-sigh…. guess the old guy won in the end….. Bet Terhune didn’t treat his collies like this….

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-It is only temporary… tomorrow we launch a new offensive,….. muwahahahahah

 

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Great Walk.. but…

-Guess what? Lad and I went for a long walk today. It was beautiful!  But I got tired at the end… too much laying around this winter.  But, I loved every minute of it! 🙂  So pretty out there with blooms and green and bugs…

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-but guess what?  There  were no balls out there…..  Terhune would be disappointed….

 

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It Doesn’t Matter

-I know its a holiday! Throw my ball……..

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-I don’t have a ball but if you throw it I will chase along behind him and bark endlessly… hehehehe

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-yeah and I will chase along behind you beating you senseless….

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-I wonder if Terhune’s Sunnybank had such daily disorder like here at the Meadow…..

 

 

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Generation Three at Sunnybank

Here is a shot of Albert Payson Terhune with Squire on your left, Jean on your right and in front the crazy, loveable Gray Dawn.   Squire was the son of Treve and a Champion in his own right.

Squire’s father Treve died at 5 and a half  Squire lived till he was 9.  Squire also played a role in bringing Bellhaven Collies to the forefront of not only the collie world but the whole dog world with more champions in Bellhaven than any other breeder in not only the collie realm but the whole dog universe.

Jean was one of the most lovable of the collies at Sunnybank and her life was over 13 years from the time of Lad till 1930 when the old girl was run over by a tourist and killed in the driveway.  By all accounts Jean was one of the favorites of not only the Terhunes but everyone who visited there.

Gray Dawn is perhaps one of the most famous collies at Sunnybank famous for his crazy antics like when Terhune was standing by the Lake in a Tux waiting for his wife to go to a party when he was blindsided by Gray Dawn and pushed into the lake head first.  Gray Dawn was very loyal to Terhune for when Albert was hit by a car and hurt badly Gray Dawn would not leave his side and became as Terhuen put it viscious in keeping all ppl away from him including the doctor. Gray Dawn was a character full of fun, innocent mischief and crazy!  Gray Dawn died less than a month after Thane passed away.

These collies were from the heyday of Sunnybank and with the passing of these and other cast of collies in this era the curtain came down on the championships not because the quality of collies went down but because Terhune lost heart in the matter. The losses were too great and I can understand how Terhune felt for it is tough and no fun losing collies you love so much for it does break your heart and shatter your soul… I know… I have been there… several times.

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