2008

11.2008 :: More Sheepies, OH MY!

We are pleased to share the news that Gareth earned his Herding Instinct Certificate and passed the first leg of the AHBA HCT title. Gareth will need to earn the second leg, known as the HCT II, under a different judge to earn his full HCT title from the AHBA.

The event, sponsored by the ISSDC and planned through the tireless efforts of Nottingham Shilohs with some help from us at Mac Shilohs, was a fully sanctioned AHBA trial held at Keepstone Farm in Berryville, VA. Keepstone is where many of the Fab Five Shilohs trained in their pursuit of getting AHBA recognition for the Shiloh Shepherd in 2004.

We had a nice Shiloh turnout, in fact we had many people show up on Sunday who weren't originally signed up because they had such a good time — Shilohs and other breeds.

There were three Shiloh teams entered in the JHD and they earned their full JHD titles that weekend:

• Willow [Jasper/Karma] owned by Marti Nottingham earned her JHD title
• Bella [Midas/Breeze] owned by Bob Coy earned her JHD title
• Nico [Angus/Ursa] owned by Michelle Wirrell earned his JHD title

Now for the HCT — we had several Shilohs earn their HIC and first leg of the HCT. We also had several Shilohs earn their full HCT titles, dogs who had NEVER seen sheep before. The excitement of these folks was infectious as they watched their dogs turn on!

• Ariel [Saber/Xena] owned by Avril Williams earned her HCT title
• Dindi [Devaki/Reniya] owned by Mary Spiro earned her HCT title
• Zoey [Lobo/Nikita] owned by Ellen Brenner earned her HCT title
• Finnegan [Sage/Misty] owned by Ellen Brenner earned his HCT title
• Isabella [Carter/Makeeda] owned by Michael Vallino earned her HCT title
• Strider [Gunner/Stacia] owned by Avril Williams earned the HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Luke [Noah/Shy] owned by Becky Althoff earned his HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Jazmin Ophelia [Sage/Misty] owned by Toshiaki Ozawa earned her HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Darcy [Sage/Misty] owned by Nancy Schmidt earned her HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Cooper [Sage/Misty] owned by Janet Olingy earned his HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• General [Elvis/Keelie] owned by Nancy Schmidt earned his HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Gareth [Kota/Natasha] owned by James Blackham earned his HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Darla [Storm/Maggie] owned by Carrie Seek earned her HIC and the first leg of the HCT
• Argus [Elvis/Arabella] owned by Michelle Wirrell received his Herding Instinct Certificate, at four months he was too young to get his first leg of the HCT

All in all it was a nice weekend attended by all different herding breeds. It was so fun to watch the higher classes and serious herding dogs work, inspiring. I learned a lot just from taking pictures and observing.

The most memorable moment for me was watching Beloved Shilohs Zoey in the ring . . . she is seven and was SO alive in that ring. She was a joy to watch and Ellen even got to use the herding staff in the HCT 1. I think Ellen is hooked on working Zoey in this new sport and she shows MUCH promise. After her run, a Corgi went into the ring. Apparently Zoey thought the sheep weren't behaving or the Corgi wasn't doing it's job up to her standards. Zoey charged the ring, manipulated herself out of her collar and tried to find a way into the ring to get those darn sheep to behave correctly. LOL! Ellen was a bit embarrassed but most of us thought it was pretty telling . . . no one was hurt and she showed her focus and instinct.

I made new friends, spent time with a bunch of dogs and had a great time, what better way to spend a weekend!

10.2008 :: Off to seminar land once again, it's been a full couple of months of seminar opportunities. I'm extremely grateful for these educational opportunities, and on such varied topics.

Dog Daze Bakery, in conjunction with one of their pet partners, recently hosted a seminar by Azmira Holistic Animal Care founder Dr Lisa Newman, N.D., Ph.D. at their North Syracuse store. Dr Newman is a naturopathic Doctor with a Ph.D. in Nutrition and Azmira provides Human Grade Pet Foods, High Potency Herbal Extracts and Homeopathic Flower Remedies. Approximately 40 participants attended the informative seminar which included suggestions on diet, detoxification, nutritional and herbal supplementation. The seminar was followed by a question and answer period opening the discussion to participants' individual situations in regards to Dr Newman's holistic approach.

9.2008 :: We had the pleasure of attending the ISSDC NE Region picnic on September 27. It was graciously hosted by Bill and Jill Gerew of Wolfden Shilohs at their home outside Rochester, NY.

9.2008 :: Labor Day weekend I had the extreme pleasure [and I can't think of another way to express that!!!] of attending a seminar by Dr Jean Dodds.

8.2008 :: As surprising as it may sound, the AKC Canine Health Foundation held a weekend Breeder Symposium in Syracuse the first weekend in August. I made the commitment to attend and it was quite the information overload.

7.2008 :: Took a drive to SUNY Geneseo this weekend to attend a canine nutrition seminar sponsored by the Dachsund Club of Greater Buffalo.

Quite the number of seminars coming up in this area, it's like feast or famine. Since they all interest me in some form or another, I've made the commitment to support each of them — well I had to spend that government stimulus check somehow, right?

5.2008 :: Time for Brookville once again!