Bespoke Dog Weathervane

We have recently created this bespoke dog weathervane based on our four year old border collie Bryn - I've been meaning to put him in steelwork for ages! The basic shape of the Collie in that classic working stance is something I drew for a customer many years ago, so all I had to do was alter the design to suit his white markings and extra fluff, he's a very hairy boy. He actually has quite a bit more white on him than the typical collie; apparently in the past dogs like this were not favoured by farmers as it was believed the white chest meant the sheep would have less respect for them! This weathervane design is the closest he will be getting to any sheep though; he is from working stock but lived in Manchester for the first four years of his life so is more used to agility, flyball and obedience training than herding livestock in any useful way.

I love creating bespoke designs based on customers dogs, in particular Border Collies. All I need is a photo showing their side profile so I can copy their markings - see above for Bryn's side profile and compare it to the weathervane. As he has so much white on his legs I've carefully placed a couple of clumps of grass to add extra strength to the design.

This design is laser cut into steel using a computer guided laser so designs can be emailed to and fro to make sure they are right before and cutting or welding takes place. We do not charge any extra for this service. Here's another bespoke collie weathervane we created a couple of years ago - it was based on a photo taken by our customer and in showing the determination of his movement and focus, the design displays something of his personality too. Rather than being cut out, Robbie's white markings are actually painted on both sides (there was a small additional charge for this as it takes several coats to paint white over black powdercoat).

The next photo shows a Labradoodle weathervane - it was created as a memorial piece for a customers dog Winston. He is painted brown, and I've picked out his blonde highlights in 23.5 carat gold leaf - I love how it glints in the sunshine. We do charge extra for gilding as it's a highly skilled and fiddly process.

If you are interested in commisioning a bespoke dog weathervane, feel free to contact us to discuss your ideas.