Convinced of the dog’s long-term potential, Kauffman bought everything of his - photographs; a hand-written pedigree going back over one hundred years; ribbons and other awards; magazine articles; newspaper clippings; certificates; even his baby teeth. She knew this dog could improve her kennel, and help secure her legacy. And then, demonstrating the confidence she had in Hevener she presented Kane to him, as a gift.
With Kauffman as his guide, Hevener continued Kane’s show career to a record setting 12 ½ years. According to Hevener, it was, and still is, “a record for any breed of dog”. In the competitive world of show dogs, the average dog show career spans one and a half to six years.
  Interest in Kane as a celebrity of the dog world was international. Lochranza Kennels and Kane were featured in America’s The Collie Review and Collie Expressions as well as the top Collie magazines of Great Britain, Europe and Canada.
  Hevener believes things happen for a reason. “I get chills,” he says, “those feelings when the hairs on your arm stand up. I take those signs seriously.” Like the feeling he had when he saw an ad in the paper for his first puppy, so many years ago, he is certain those “feelings” have led him to the people and animals, like Kauffman and Kane, that have contributed to his success and happiness.
  And though Hevener continues to create a successful life with his art and animals, sadly Kauffman died 7 years ago. “Jackie would be so thrilled,” Hevener says “to see how far Lochranza Kennels has come in recent years.” As was her wish, all the Lochranza Collie bloodlines now descend from CH. Amberlyn’s Bright Tribute (Kane) and can be found in show homes from Europe to Asia. Hevener can name customers who have traveled from as far away as Germany, Russia and China to the small town of Manheim, Pennsylvania, to purchase “their Kane puppy.”
  Kane is gone now too, yet five years after his death interest in this special dog has only grown. Kane’s photograph on the cover of Hevener’s new novel is attracting a lot of attention among dog aficionados. The National Collie Show, held in Minnesota this year, and The Victoria Collie Club of Australia, are giving Hevener’s book/CD set as a gift to all of its judges. The book, and additional stories of Hevener’s life with Kane, is being promoted at the National Collie Show of Canada, El Canofilo Magazine of Mexico, The Collie Revue of Germany, The Collie Club of Wales, and The Ayrshire Collie Club of Scotland, where the breed originated.
  Kane has attained another kind of immortality as well. Jacqueline M. Kauffman’s final resting-place, in a central Pennsylvania cemetery, is not far from the kennel she created. Her carved gravestone bears the profile of a magnificent Collie, with the words, “famed Collie breeder,” etched below her name. The image of the dog carved on the granite slab is Kane. And like a scene from an old MGM movie, to honor his friend after her death, Hevener escorted the then elderly dog to Kauffman’s funeral. In return for his loyal friendship, Kauffman willed her beloved Lochranza Kennels to Hevener. She also left him her library, including her old collection of Albert Payson Terhune books. Among them, of course, “Lad: A Dog”.

Sources:

1. Ron Hevener, 1338 Mountain Road, Manheim, PA 17545
Phone 717-664-5089
Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.ronhevener.com

2. Maxine Bochnia (Ron’s Business Partner), P.O. Box 551, Manheim, PA 17545
Phone: 717-664-0471
Email: [email protected]

3. The Master of Sunnybank, a biography of Albert Payson Terhune
by Irving Litvag, 1977, Harper & Row

4. The New Collie
By the Collie Club of America, 1983, Howell Book House, Inc.

Kim J. Young
Mt. Wolf, Pennsylvania
Email: [email protected] / Phone: (717) 266-4898