Mystic collies

The famous collie from television and movies inspired the young Cary to go out and get her own collie, which became her best friend. While others were simply content to own and raise the dogs as a pet, the childhood experience led Cary to do a little more than just own dogs.

“I had that dog my entire life, she was my best friend, and it's her fault I'm doing all of this collie breeding,” she said with a laugh.

Cary has since owned Mystic Collies, a kennel that has bred collies that have gone on to win national awards as well as perform as service dogs across the world. In February, a four-year-old collie she bred won Best in Variety for the smooth collie category at last month's Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show.

But an award-winning collie is not simply born out of coincidence.

The search for the right breed came as a part of cross-country purchases from Cary in 1976, when she bought collies in New Hampshire and California. While the kennel in New Hampshire had collies with desirable conditioning, physiques and personality; the California kennel had collies with the perfect facial features.

“I bought dogs from each... and worked it for three or four generations until I got my specific look,” Cary said. “I can look at them and tell that it's a Mystic Collie.”

It can be a difficult look to describe to those who are not as familiar with the breed, but fellow breeder Isabel Ososki described Cary's collies as something that just sticks with people and raises awareness of being in the presence of something special.

“It's just one of those things where you look at the dog and it makes you want to smile,” Ososki said. “You want a dog that looks happy and gives you that look that makes you say, 'aww, that's a beautiful dog.”

“You have a very special gift when someone could look through a lineup and say, 'that's a dog Bonnie bred.' ”

Even as she has created a type of 'brand' with her collies, Cary said it is not a for-profit project for her. Based out of an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Taylorville, she breeds and takes care of nearly a dozen collies as well as prepares to take the dogs across the country to enter them into dog shows on top of working a normal job in town.

It can be exhausting, but she said she lives and breathes the sport of breeding and dog shows.

“I haven't' had a day off in 37 years,” Cary said. “These dogs are an everyday job.”

Kelley Courtney, who works alongside Cary with Mystic Collies, said they do it because of their passion for the animal.

“Our goal is not to mass-produce a breed that we love,” Courtney said. “We want to provide good collies for people.”

The collies have left their mark on people with more than just their looks.

Cary said several of her collies have gone on to become service animals, including one that went to a boy in Israel who suffered from epilepsy. With the help of the dog, the boy was able to complete school, serve in the Israeli military and now work as a professional photographer.

“Anyone can breed a dog that can win a ribbon,” she said. “The dogs that can help save lives is something that truly special.”

Sometimes owning a mystic collie is just about having a beautiful pet around the house.

Cindy Gibson bought her first collie from Cary in 2006 after finding out about her dogs online. Nearly nine years later, Gibson has bought six different collies from Cary, and other members of her family have also bought collies.

“Her dogs are very loved, and the puppies are very socialized,” Gibson said. “They have a sweetness to them and in how they interact with kids.”

Gibson remembers a particular time when she took one of the collies, who was just a year old and never trained as a service dog, to the hospital to visit a friend. Despite her youth and inexperience, Gibson said the dog walked through the hospital with no worries, went into the hospital room, and gently jumped onto the bed and licked the hand of the friend.

“It was the most precious thing I have ever seen, it was like she had been trained to do that,” Gibson said.

Even after nearly 40 years as a breeder, Cary said she still loves to be able to interact and raise the dogs and had not even thought about stopping any time soon.

“I'm so engrained in this, I couldn't even quit if I wanted.”