....the rest of the canines.....

Sava turned three this year, letting her grow up, and not running her in Nursery was a good idea. She has matured into a nice working female with lots of style. She has a nice thick smooth coat that shed water and is easy to keep clean. She is willing to learn and is running well in training and trials. She casts out wide and is good behind her sheep. I really like what she has grown into and I hope she will be my next Open dog. That is the plan. Scott is polishing her up and I will get her back in Oct. Then we will have to get familiar with each other again and I will run her in the Winter Series. Sava has an amenable personality and is a very sweet dog. Her sire is Aled Owen’s Roy who has done quite well on the trial field and her dam is heavy Aled Owen’s lines too. I brought her and her sister back from the UK, over three years ago. Lora has her sister, Nell and loves her. How did I make the choice to figure out which one to keep and to sell? Both were playing and it was a hard call as each had attributes that I loved. I called to them and asked “Which one of you want to stay?” Both looked at Coll (now known as Nell) and me kept on playing and Sava ran up to me and stuck her nose in my hand. Therefore, Sava made the decision for me. I am glad she made the decision for me, as it was a tough choice. Sava will be one of the permanent dogs and will soon be living in the house.

Imp Kuro will be running in the USBCHA Sheepdog Nursery Finals. He was sent to me from Angie Driscoll. Jamie is her sire (owned by Angie) and his dam was a good solid trial dog. Kuro finally grew out of his gangly legs into a fine looking dog. He is a lot of dog and will keep me on my toes. We are keeping our fingers and paws crossed for Kuro for this weekend. I had plans to sell him but Scott talked me into keeping him. He is a very sweet boy and I hope he works out well for me.

I have a couple of other young pups that I recently purchased. I will blog about them next week. They will be a year old in December and I got them from the UK.

We can’t forget about Kodiak, the Great Pyrenees. He is ten years old and retired. He wanders about and does as he pleases, mainly sleeps in the barn or wandering around for pets. Kodi still guards the sheep and is quick to warn the coyotes. With the two guardian Arabians, the coyotes are kept at bay. Kodi has been a main stay at the farm for most of his life and is quite good at his job. He checks out anyone who enters the farm and if he doesn’t know them he will bark. If she knows them, he wags his tail and expects a pet. If we work in the far field, he will join us and then fall asleep in the middle of the field, usually on the fetch line. The sheep part around him and he doesn’t wake up. He is one of them and many of them have played on him when they were lambs. Many of the ewes will let him babysit their lambs and they all fall asleep on him. He cleans their ears and is a good lamb sitter. They consider him as part of their family and so do we. He knows he is the main guardian and takes his role seriously. Kodi got an award for saving his flock from a barn fire four years ago, It is awards to a LGD who displays great courage and his plaque/painting hangs in our office wall. He doesn’t care about his award but only cares about his sheep. It was part of his job and he did it well. He is by far one of the best dogs on the farm and we love him dearly.

Lucy belongs to Monique now but we consider her still part of the family. They have formed a tight pair and we love how well they connect. She was a diamond in the rough when she came back to me and many people polished her to become a great dog and Monique put on the final polish. The polish of deep devoted love; one that you if you get, if a once in a lifetime and now Monique has a true diamond to share her heart with forever. I love to see them work and it brings a smile to my face when they gaze at each other in love. It reminds me of Tess and I, so many years ago, and if you have a bond like that, it is the greatest gift you can ever have.