LENNON

Lennon was a powerhouse of a dog -- easily the strongest and pushiest border collie I've ever had the pleasure (and, at times, loving frustration) to train and work. His stamina, forward and strong sense of initiative were truly something to behold and many who saw him work remarked on how he demonstrated qualities that sometimes can seem to be lacking in many border collies today in the trial world in particular.

A large and muscular dog, he was happiest moving heavy stock in large numbers (whether flocks of western range sheep, hordes of goats on grazing projects, or enormous feedlot cattle). Although an extremely powerful dog that bit both ends when needed, he was extremely good natured and had almost preternatural stock sense -- only resorting to using teeth when his stock needed it and even then not applying an ounce more of a correction than the job required.

Lennon was for much of his life my main dog to call upon for the hardest jobs and the heaviest, most challenging stock. He put in long

Lennon's formidable strength did mean he was at times an extremely tricky dog to trial (especially on small numbers of light stock), but he nevertheless had some exceptional success even from a young age. He won multiple Open, Nursery and Horseback cattle trials from Alberta to Ohio, and Missouri to California. His greatest achievement was taking home the Ultimate Stock Dog title (cattle and sheep) as well as Open and Nursery Reserve Champion at the 2024 Arizona National Livestock Show. He also placed 8th amongst the best horseback cattle dogs in North America at the 2025 National Cattledog Association Finals.

Sadly, shortly after Lennon's 2nd birthday he began suffering from Ideopathic Epilepsy - chronic and at times severe seizures with no known cause and no cure. Although it did began to affect him to varying degrees over the next 1 1/2 years, he still managed to have a surprising amount of success in both cattle and sheep arena trials, but sadly passed away at just over 3.5 years from it in early 2026.

He nevertheless had achieved more than $10,000 in career winnings despite his extremely short, but bright, career which is to say nothing of what he earned working long, full days at grazing projects, cow/calf operations and feedlots.

Lennon's life might have been tragically brief, but his star burned bright and I like to think his legacy was significant.

He is greatly missed but never forgotten.