We started off with one Border Collie, Black Diamond Maximillion, we choose him over his brother who has the exact same head marking as he has which is a black diamond shape. After several visits to the pet shops and talking to the pet's breeder, we finally decided to adopt Max. He has a very alert look and was responding to basic commands readily. He is imported from Sydney, Australia. A Kennel called K9 Country, we did not get the Pedigree Certificate but later applied through SKC. We loved him at first sight he was so cute with his big poker doted paws and furry hair. Sad to say we had to shave it off because he caught some fleas at Bishan Park the first few days we got him. Learnt a lesson there! He was only 4 months old. We learned from the breeder later was that Max's brother was adopted by another family who almost wanted Max but could not decide until it was too late.

 

We started training Max at 5 months, he was a very whiny dog, who hated the basic obedience training at first, but later he learned to love it and every time we take him to training, he would eagerly sit in front of us so that we can put on his leash and runs to the door to wait for us to take him to school!

 

Now Max is 14 months old and now in open class training. At the age of 10 months Max has already won 2nd & 3rd placing in Novice & Pre-Novice trials held by SKC.

 

Than we got Marsean Mikah, 3 months old from Perth she is very alert and spunky, she licked everything or everyone in sight! She is very aware of her surroundings and wants to see everything and be everywhere. We had a hard time seperating the two, it was instant liking to each other and now they are inseparable. We were quite lucky because we took a risk at adopting Mikah without bringing Max to meet her at the Kennel first.

 

Max is very protective over Mikah, everytime Mikah barks he would rush to see what she is doing. Like brothers and sisters. Passer byes always think they are look alike except for the diamond forehead on Max.

 

At 6 months Mikah participated in the Pre Novice and Novice trails, she passed her Pre Novice however due to her eagerness to play she did not pass the Novice because she loved running freely around a big empty field. The judge was pleasantly surprise that Mikah was only 6 months old and can do so well in her obedience. She went on to take part in the dog show where she got first in the Pastoral BC breed specials however the judge thinks she is still too young to go for the BIS. (Best in show). More to come........

 

Good news, in the 120th Championship Dog Show on June 2002, Mikah came in first in the Pastoral BC Breed, Best of Breed(BOB) & a Challenge Certificate (CC). 

 

In the16th Obedience Trial on June 2002, Mikah passed the Pre-Novice & Novice Class Obedience Championship. In both classes she managed to score 93 point upon 100 marks. We are very please with her performance.

 

Another good news, in 121th Championship Dog Show on July 2002, Mikah came in first in the Pastoral BC Breed, Best of Breed(BOB) & a Challenge Certificate (CC). That make Mikah have 2 First, BOB & CC awards.

 

In the 55th Obedience, 17th Novice, 10th Utility & 62nd Agility Championship Trials, Mikah has been awarded the Novice Champion Title as she came in first in this Novice Trials(She scored 98 points upon 100 marks). Mikah is only 10 months old. Max have awarded 4th position in the Maxi-Agility Class event. (His scored timing is 67.45sec, 1 refusal & 2 faults). We are very please with our dogs performances!

 

On the 122nd & 123rd Championship Dog Show on 15th September 2002, Mikah was confered the Title Champion Show Dog - CH. Marsean Mikah. She won 2 First in BC, 2 Best of Breed(BOB) & 2 Challenge Certificate(CC).

 

On the 56th Obedience, 18th Novice, 11th Utility & 63rd Agility Championship Trials, Max has been awarded 2nd position in the Intermediate Level scoring 193 points out of 200. He is just 2 points away from the First position. In the Maxi-Agility event, Max has been awarded 3rd position.(His scored timing is 128sec, 5 faults) We are very happy with his performances.

 

On the 57th Obedience, 19th Novice, 12th Utility & 64th Agility Championship Trials, Max has been awarded the Intermediate Champion Title as he came in First in the Intermediate Class.(He scored 193 points out of 200 points) Max is only 22 months old. In the Maxi-Agility event, Max has been awarded 4th position.(His scored timing 56 sec, 1 fault). We are very please with his performances.

 

On 27th November 2002, Max and Mikah have a litter of six. All the puppies are beautifully & wonderfully marked. There are 3 in traditional Black/White colurs & 3 in Blue/White colours.Their white blaze are very different from their parents. Unfortunately there isn't any with a diamond shape marking. Altogether there are 5 males and 1 female puppies. If you looked carefully, Max & Mikah's puppies seem to come in two. There are 2 sets of identitcal features and looks. The first set of 'twins' are First Autum Blue Evening & Barnstormer. They are like wearing a mask on their face. The second set of 'twins are Loch-N-Legacy & Phantom Lovers. They are identiical in their face markings and style of looks. Survivor Blue Lgacy was the only one born with one blue eye. And Royal Blue Yonder is the only previous female pup. For details, pls refer to DiamondIsle Puppies!.

 

On the 126th Championship Dog Show, Black Diamond Maximillion for the first time entering into the Show Ring! The result was very good. He was awarded the First Pastoral BC Breed, Breed Special & a Challange Certificate(CC.). Keesha My Sapphire So Blue was also particiapted and won First in AS Breed, Best Of Breed(BOB), & Challenge Certificate(CC). We are delighted by these Show results.

 

On the 20th Novice Trial, Keesha being our only eligible dog to take part. We fielded her for both the Pre-Novive & Novice Classes. In her Pre-Novice Class, she came in 2nd Place. However, she did not make it for her Novice Class cause she broke her Down-Stay. We are very please with her result, since it's her maiden try for both the Obedience Trials and Show Championship.

 

On the 58th Obedience Trial, we fielded all our dogs for the competitions. Keesha participated in both Pre-Novice & Novice Trial. She managed to pass the Pre-Novice class. However, she lost 10 points due to pooing in the ring for the Novice Class. Mikah took part in the intermediate class. She has been out of action in the Competitive Obedience  for 9 months, since her pregancy. This is her first try. She was awarded 1st Champion in the Intermediate Class. Max took part in the Open Class. This is his third try. Fortunately he was awarded 4th Placing. This time Max has won his C.D. Title - Companion Dog Title. He lost a lots of points on his scent discrimination, where he picked & dropped his towel during the exercise. However, we are very please with their results.

 

On the 59th Obedience Trial, we fielded only Max for the competitions. Max took part in his first Utility Trial (U.D). He did not passed due to not able to get the right glove during the Directed Retrieves Exercise. Max went for the Open Class too. Max's scored was tied with one of S'pore O.T.C.H, Mian Mian. Fortunately Max emerged as 1st Champion in the Open Class with a scored of 191 out of 200 points(His 2nd CD title). Max and Keesha was fielded in the Agility Class. Keesha did not passed due to her young age and inexperience. Max came in 2nd Placing, with a scored of 56.89sec & with 3 faults. On the 129th Championship Dog Show, Keesha was awarded First in Australian Shepherd(A.S.), Best Of Breed (B.O.B), Challenge Certificate(2nd C.C.) and Best in Yearling Group. On the 130th Show Keesha only has a First in AS because the Ireland Judge wants to see a better head when she grows mature, therefore the challenged certificate was withheld however we are still over-joyed with their results.

 

On the 60th Obedience Trial, we fielded Max for the Utility Trial. He was impressive, he came in 1st, Champion in Utility and awarded an Utility Dog(UD) Title. As for the 67th Agility Trial, being the first Agility Trial in field. Max came in 2nd Place. (In Bishan Dog-Run) We fielded Keesha for the 131st Asia Kennel Union Championship Dog Show, she was awarded First in A.S, Best Of Breed(BOB) and her 3rd Challenge Certificate. She is NOW, CH. KEESHA MY SAPPHIRE SO BLUE. Keesha also participated on the 68th Agility Trial, she was too eager to complete the course and eliminated due to 3 refusal on Weave Poles. Mikah participated in Open Class the very 1st time, she did very well except for handler's mistake that caused her to fail on a single category. Max participated in Open Class too, unfortunately he did not jump back the high jump. Max took part in the 68th Agility Trial and he came in 3rd Place. We are very please for all the results. This Year 2003 has been a very good year for us. It's my honour to announce, Black Diamond Maximillion CD, UD have been conferred the UTILITY DOG OF THE YEAR  2003 & RESERVE OBEDIENCE DOG OF THE YEAR 2003. We are looking forward towards Year 2004.

 

On the first trial of the Year - 27 & 28 March 2004, we fielded Max for Open, Utility & Agility events. Max performance was superb, he came in 1st, Champion again this time and was awarded 2nd Utility Dog(UD) Title. His score was 172. Max came in 4th Placing in Open and was awarded Companion Dog Excellence(CDX) Title, his score was 173. As for the Agility (69th) Trial, he came in 2nd Placing with a timing of  27.41sec (1 fault). We fielded Mikah for Open too, she passed her Open and was awarded the Companion Dog(CD) Title too. Her score was 172, 1 point behind Max. We fielded Keesha for both Pre-Novice & Novice Events. She came in 2nd Placing in Pre-Novice and she passed her Novice event too. Her score was 98 and 89 respectively. We are very please and excited, as we started the year with these awesome achievements. 

 

The 2nd Trial FY04 dated 25 July, we took Keesha, Mikah & Max for the trials. Keesha was superb, she came in 1st, Champion in the Novice Class. She is our 1st fully Clicker Trained Obedience Dog. In the Agility event, Keesha came in 3rd. Her timing was similar with the 2nd place participant, but lost due to 2 faults. Mikah took part in the Open Class, unfortunately she was eliminated due to handler's mistake in giving the wrong command. Max took part in the Utility, Open & Agility events. Max came in 2nd Place for the Utility Class. He has now attained his Utility Dog Excellence(UDX) Title. He is the 2nd dog in the History of Singapore that obtained the CDX,UDX title. Incidentially, he is the 1st Border Collie in Singapore to obtain this title. In the Open Class, Max came in 1st, Champion with 190 points. Max also came in 1st, Champion in the Maxi-Agility Class with timing of 29.56sec plus a clear round award, this is the first time, Max is awarded the clear round award. We are very very please with all our dogs performances.

 

On the 3rd Trial FY04 dated 4th/5th Sept, we took Max, Mikah, Keesha & Benji for the trials. This is the first time, we have enrolled Benji for the Novice trial, he did well, and managed to get 4th Placing with a score of 89 points. Mikah took part in the Open Trial and came in 4th Placing with a score of 171 points. In this trials, Max was in his top form again, he came in 3rd Placing for both the 72nd & 73rd Maxi-Agility Trials. Keesha took part in the Maxi-Agility Event too, but wasn't rewarded a position as her run was marked with several faults. In the Open category, Max came in 1st Champion with the score of 186 points. All our dogs are performing well and we are very proud of them.

 

On the 4th Trial FY04 and incidentially the 1st Trial FY05, dated 8th/9th Jan. We enrolled Max, Mikah, Keesha & Benji for the trials. Benji took part in both Novice and Intermediate events. This is Benji first Intermediate Event. Benji was superb, he took the Novice Champion & Intermediate Champion Titles. His score was 88 and 183 respectively. Benji is our 2nd fully Clicker Trained Obedience Dog. Max and Keesha took part in the Agility Trial in Bishan Dog Run on 8 Jan. Max came in 3rd Placing with 36sec. Keesha did not make it due to a few faults. The Saturday Trials was tough. It was raining like cats and dogs. Max and Mikah took part in the Open Event. Max came in 2nd Placing with the score of 185. Mikah did not make it due to handler's mistake on the distance control exercise. With Max's superb performance throughout 2004, he had been conferred the UTILITY DOG OF THE YEAR & OBEDIENCE DOG OF THE YEAR for 2004, for the 2nd years running. All our dogs are performing superbly, we are very proud and happy with their achievements. 

 

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