The Collies

When you come to our offices, you may notice a bit of dog hair here and there. Important members of our staff tend to shed.  There be collies here.  It’s all Kelly’s fault.

Bea

When Kelly started to work for what was then Law Offices of Benjamin F. Farah, she had a tri-colored collie by the name of Conrad.  He was a big old fellow – very gentle and very quiet.  And a bit neurotic as the breed tends to be.  Conrad visited the office only a few times.  Unfortunately, he succumbed to an infection he never should have gotten.

After Conrad’s passing, a sable and white puppy named Beatrice Bell joined Kelly’s family.  Bea was a bit of a handful as puppies tend to be.  But she settled out a bit as she got older. Bea proved to be the longest serving collie of the firm and was the last of them to die in 2025.

Jennifer

Ben was not a dog person.  Growing up he had a couple of cats, but that was it for pets.  He was acquainted with a neighbor’s husky but that was about it.

Then Kelly started bringing Bea to the office.  Over the course of several months, Bea stole his heart. He even stopped washing his hands after each time he touched her. And soon he wanted his own.

In March of 2015, he and his wife, Ann, adopted Jennifer from the Northeast Ohio Collie Rescue.  Jennifer was a tri-colored collie, and was rescued from somewhere in East Cleveland.  She was somewhere between 7 & 9 when she was adopted and had been de-barked at some point in her life.  Debarking is the process of shaving down the vocal chords.  It does not take a dog’s voice away but reduces the volume.  When Jennifer barked, it sounded like she had a 5 pack of cigarettes a day habit – it was soft and husky bark.

Jennifer would usually be found lying by the front door of the building.  She was an excellent watch dog.  From her vantage point, she would watch people come in the building, and maybe acknowledge them by raising her head.

Alas, her tenure with the firm was short. She succumbed to congestive heart failure on June 11, 2018.

Grace

Now Ben and Ann had a void in their life. But to the rescue came Almost Home Collie Rescue.  In July, they adopted Grace Philomena, a 4-6 year old sable & white.  She was a big girl.  Gracie P. was penned outside in Tennessee for her entire life and was extremely skittish. Being exposed to so much sun gave her discoid lupus, resulting in her pink nose.  It took about 2 years for her inner dog to come out.  For the first couple years she only barked a couple of times. She was the second collie to die in 2025.

Syler

Succumbing to peer pressure, Stacey has adopted Sy from Almost Home. Sy is a white collie with a tri-colored head.  He’s was big boy, about 8 years old, resident of Alabama.   When he was surrendered to Almost Home, he had never been to a vet and was positive for heartworm. Once his treatment was complete, he attended work regularly.  He as a true southern gentleman.  He was friendly, didn’t bark, and very chill.  We lost Syler in 2022.

Roman

After Syler passed, Stacey adopted Roman from Almost Home.  Roman was a rescue from a puppy mill in Ohio.  He knew he was a big stud, and behaved accordingly.  He pranced when he walked whith is tail swishing.  He was a big goof and always entertaining He loved is hedgehog and his Lambchop stuffed toy.  He was the first collie we lost in 2025.

2025

2025 was a bad year for us, at least through November.  Each of us lost our dogs.  While there was less dog fur floating around, the offices were pretty empty.

Winnie

Kelly was the first to have a collie back in the fold.  She adopted a collie puppy named Winifred.  As a puppy, Winnie is full of energy, but is starting to settle down.  We look forward to the day she will become a full time member of the firm.

Riley

We have found that when we lose our pups, we tend to vist websites like Northeast Ohio Collie Rescue's and Almost Home's.  While on vacation in November 2025, Ben's wife came across Riley.  They ended up going through the adoption process while still on vacation and picked up Riley the day after they got back from vacation.  Riley is an 8 year old male who was surrendered to Almost home when his 80 year old master died and the rest of the family couldn't take care of him.  Riley is timid, a bit skittish, sweet, and affectionate.  He has settled into the office well, and notwithstanding his timidity, he is always ready to protect the office from those mean UPS and FedEx trucks.

Bert

While Ben was in the process of adopting Riley, the adoption coordinator said they were taking in another 8 year old rescue, whose 80 year old master also just died.  She asked if Ben knew anyone who might want to adopt a senior.  Ben passed the information on to Stacey.  A few weeks after Riley joined the firm, Bert joined.  Bert is another big one, kind and gentle.  He has already served the firm well by providing comfort to a client who was in a distressing situation.

2025, Part II

While we lost them all in 2025, we are please to say that by December 2025 we were back to a full complement of collies.    The provide a certain ease to the offices and almost all of our clients enjoy seeing them.  And for those people who are not comfortable with them around, they get corralled .