A life with Collies An interview with Yvonne Evans of Wynhaven Collies

COL: How did you get your start in Collies? Tell us about your first collie and how that shaped your life in collies.

Yvonne: I came from an equestrian background in my youth and loved all animals. When I was 7 years old my parents purchased a rough sable female collie puppy for my two sisters and me. We named her Lassie after the popular TV show which we watched every week. She was a fabulous companion to us with a wonderful, loving temperament. We took her on many adventures and she was just a joy. Fast forward 27 years, when I began looking for a puppy shortly after my 33rd birthday, I naturally bought a collie because I loved and knew the temperament, beauty, and intelligence of the breed. I bought my first puppy in February of 1997 as a companion; a rough blue merle which I named Rocky. He started puppy class at four months of age at a local kennel club. Once we finished puppy class, I so loved to train animals again that Rocky and I started agility classes and continued on with our obedience training. I joined our local collie club, the Collie Club of Georgia, too. A year or two later, I was introduced to herding by one of our collie club members. She invited me to a herding clinic and suggested I have my dogs instinct tested on sheep. It was my first exposure to herding and I was intrigued! My two collies loved working the sheep in the round pen. It was great to see the natural drive to herd stock in our collie breed. I was hooked and knew then that I wanted to continue working all my dogs on stock in the future.

COL: How did you decide on your Kennel Name “Wynhaven?"

Yvonne: In 2002 after I acquired my third collie, "Cody," I wanted to start my own breeding program on a very small scale to produce versatile collies. At the time it was a joint venture with my husband. Our last name was Wynn and our six acre estate was a “haven” for our three collies. I merged the two and decided on “Wynhaven.” I’ve kept it even though my last name changed back to my maiden name of Evans. It’s part of my history in collies.

COL: Have you always lived in the Southeast area of the country? How does where you are located affect how you participate in performance or conformation events? What are the advantages and disadvantages to competing in your area?

Yvonne: I’m near Atlanta, a major city and have lived here since 1995 doing all of my dog training here. We have many great dog clubs offering agility, obedience, rally, conformation and scent work classes year round. It usually takes me 45 minutes to 1 hour to drive to class based on where I live in the suburbs. There are many performance trials and conformation shows in the area and in neighboring states. So I tend to participate in a little bit of everything depending on goals for my collies. Herding is the only sport where we have fewer training choices within a 2-hour range. Summers are very hot and not ideal for training, so I usually take a break June through August. If I do train it has to be first thing in the morning when it’s cooler. There is just one AKC herding club in the state near Atlanta and they offer trials twice a year. So there are not as many opportunities to trial in herding in Georgia.

COL: You compete in both conformation and performance events with titles on both ends of your collie’s names. Most notably, GCH Wynhaven’s Shall We Dance, RN PT OAP OJP OFP SCA SBN and CH Wynhaven’s Law And Order, RN HSAs NJP NFP SCA SBN CGC both earned Collie Club of America Versatility Excellent awards in 2024. How much priority is put on performance vs conformation? How do you decide the order of how a dog will participate in the variety of available venues?

Yvonne: I always want to showcase a versatile collie with titles before and after its name, so both conformation and performance are equally as important for me. I start handling classes for conformation at the same time I start basic puppy obedience. I find that conformation training is usually the easiest for my collies. Herding, obedience, and agility take a lot more time and training, so I usually show in the conformation ring first and get that title out of the way. I will typically start showing them between 6 and 12 months of age if they look balanced and are mentally mature enough to handle being at a busy show site. My goal is to be ready for obedience, agility, and herding trials when the dogs are about two years old. Their obedience training starts at around 4 months of age and agility at about 6 months of age. For herding I usually introduce the dogs to sheep at about 6 to 9 months of age, instinct test them and start training for their HT/PT titles. I also feel that exposing a litter of puppies to ducks around 10 to 14 weeks of age is also helpful in identifying the puppies that are keen to work and that will make the best herding prospects out of a litter. In scent work, which I have only been involved in since September of 2022, I am starting training with my 4-month-old puppies now as time allows. You can easily start a dog in scent work at any age. My current adults started scent work at 3 and 8 years of age when I was recovering from my first hip replacement. I wanted to do a new game with them since I could not do all the other sports with them until I fully recovered. My senior girl, who is 10 years old and retired from the other performance sports now, loves the scent work game and earning treats finding the hides.

COL: Who have been the most influential Collies in your life that have shaped your life in performance. Who have been the most influential people?

Yvonne: Here are all my influential collies that I have trained and their accomplishments since I started in collies in 1997 with the most recent ones first. They have all shaped my life in performance and helped me to grow as a trainer and handler. All but my first collie have earned their Versatility Excellent Title (VX) and "Nike," his Grand Versatility title (GV).

Gay Mill Rock Around the Clock, CDX RN MX MXJ BPD HIC – "Rocky"

CH Bo-Dandy's Harley Davidson, CD RE HSAs OA AXJ BPD VX – "Harley"

Am/Can CH Row-Bar Wynhaven Dakota Sky, CDX RN HSAds HIAds MX MXJ NF BPD VX – "Cody"

CH Wynhaven Society's Cover Girl, CDX RA PT MXP MJP XFP VCX VX ROM-P – "Nikki"

GCH Wynhaven's Moon Shadow, BN RI HSAds HSBd AX AXJ OF NJP VX ROM-P – "Shadow"

GCH DC Wynhaven's Just Do It, CD RA HXAds HXBd AX AXJ XF NJP GV – "Nike"

BISS CH Moonstone Wynhaven’s Warrior Princess, HT RE AXP NJP OFP SCN SEN VX – “Xena”

CH Wynhaven’s Law And Order RN HSAds NAP OJP OFP SCA SBN SIN CGC VX – “Marshall”

GCH Wynhaven’s Shall We Dance, RN HSAs OAP OJP OFP SCA SBN SIN, VX – “Tango”

Yvonne: The most influential people would have to be my mentors, Nancy Kelso, DVM, Robette Johns, and Michele and Brian Brane. They all have guided me in breeding for the qualities needed for a versatile collie. Also I must thank all of my many instructors who have helped and encouraged me over the years to achieve all these titles with my collies.

COL: Who are you currently training or trialing?

Yvonne: I am currently training and trialing Tango, GCH Wynhaven’s Shall We Dance, RN HSAs OAP OJP OFP SCA SBN SIN and Marshall, CH Wynhaven’s Law And Order, RN HSAds NAP OJP OFP SCA SBN SIN CGC in agility, herding and scent work. In the winter I will return to rally obedience with them to work on their Rally Advanced titles. I still also trial their dam, Xena, BISS CH Moonstone Wynhaven’s Warrior Princess, HT RE AXP NJP OFP SCN SEN in scent work. I am starting two new puppies from my May litter sired by Tango; Diva, Wynhaven’s Dancing With The Stars, and Logan, Wynhaven’s Lets Dance, from my May litter sired by Tango. They have started training in obedience, scent work and conformation and will start agility next month. I plan to start showing Diva, my smooth sable puppy, in late November in the breed ring, when she turns 6 months.

COL: What were some of the significant accomplishments with your collies in the past couple of years.

Yvonne: Earning Xena’s Excellent Standard Preferred title in 2023 and her Versatility Excellent in 2024. Earning Tango and Marshall’s first Versatility Awards in April of 2024, and Tango’s Grand Championship in October of 2024. In early 2025 it was earning Marshall and Tango’s Herding Started titles on sheep and competing at the 2025 National with scores in all four events with both being Most Versatile Qualifiers and Versatility Excellent Award winners.

COL: What stands out as the most memorable accomplishment in your entire life in Collies?

Yvonne: There were two most memorable accomplishments that I will always cherish. My Most Versatile Collie win in 2005 with “Cody,” Am/Can CH Row-Bar Wynhaven Dakota Sky, CDX RN HSAds HIAds MX MXJ NF BPD VX and earning a Herding Championship in 2016 with “Nike,” GCH DC Wynhaven's Just Do It, CD RA HXAds HXBd AX AXJ XF NJP VCX GV. He was out of my first litter and the most talented herding dog I’ve ever owned.

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