When Liz Druitt, possesser of the fabulous Henna Moon (also a Ridgeless RR), heard that folks were hesitant to get my ridgeless male, she wrote this:

If you ever need a reference for ridgeless, feel free to send them to me,or forward any of the following info. Because my ridgeless is twice the Ridgeback my ridged dog is, and I will get another one (when it's time, of course, and it has to be a female) in a New York minute!

Henna Moon has done:
Agility (OA, AXJ) - they called her the Big Red Border Collie

Obedience (CD) - okay, she didn't see the point of heeling, but she did everything else with great enthusiasm

Canine Good Citizen (earned her CGC twice - I was taking Jade, Henna did it again for fun)

Therapy Dog temperament test - she was certified and working for a while)

Herding Instinct Test (she has several HIC certificates, she likes to play with them sheep!)

Canine Freestyle (we would still be doing this if I weren't broke - Henna looooves it)

Tracking (she loved the lessons, we'd still be doing this, too, if time and money coincided)

Search and Rescue (this was for Jade, but the trainers always wanted to work with Henna instead, even though she was 9 years old when we started. Had to stop, again, because of money - this is a seriously expensive hobby!)

Lure Coursing - yup, she's run Equipment Testing Dog at uncountable lure coursing trials and enjoyed the hell out of it. At the last trial - when she was 10 1/2 - I got the photographer to shoot her running in a racing jacket, and the photos show awesome drive, agility, and sheer joy. No one has ever sneered at me for bringing my ridgeless to a lure coursing trial, especially after they see her run! And I gotta tell you - it's free to run equipment testing, and it has to be done twice each day of the trial. Not a bad deal at all!

Henna also competed in the Best Ridge Competition before they banned "faux" ridges, and has an honorary Best Overall Ridge banner to prove it.

She knows all kinds of entertaining tricks, which have gotten her into even "no dogs" hotels, and allowed her to perform as my audio-visual presentation when I was giving gardening lectures around the country - I wouldn't accept any bookings that didn't include her, she would hop up on a trestle table and do rose dentifications, pass out handouts and do other useful things during a lecture.

Henna did a two hour photoshoot for Southern Living, and her photo appeared in the magazine to illustrate an article. She was on TV twice - once on an Austin public access program on gardening, and once on a Southern Living TV program.

She's traveled all over the United States, and to Mexico, where she shook hands with - or kissed, their choice - all the Border Guards. She's also drug me down the street after squirrels, jumped into the dishwasher to lick the dirty plates, embarassed me in public, pretended she didn't know me when I wasn't up to her standards, nipped me on the ass when I was too slow, laughed at me when I fell over, made me adjust the covers to her comfort several times a night, etc, etc.

I'm just saying...when it comes to personality, breeding, brains, beauty,bravery, talent, attitude and athleticism - we don't need no stinkin' ridge! The only limits on my ridgeless girl have been the limits of my pocket book and my own energy. Plus, total strangers always try to pet her instead of Jade, because that ridge can look like the dog is angry. A handsome ridgeless boy would be a TOTAL chick magnet!!!