Congratulations to the 5 new title holders

Sheltie Pedigree Lines  is a great service to sheltie breeders.  This site is a historic and current record of sheltie genealogy.  I use it constantly to test out possible stud dogs and the pedigree compatibility with my girls.

One of the services of this site is that they keep track of new title holders.   I enjoy seeing the new title holders. The site has two lists, one for new Champions, and one for new performance titles.  When I just looked, there are 5 Acadia bred shelties on the new performance title holder list.  On this blog I updated Lucy's title to reflect her MACH.  Congratulations to all!!  I am a proud breeder!

Acadia Don't Rain On My Parade, SWN, SCA, SIA, SHDN  (Rain)
(Ch. Acadia Rock Star, HT x Ch. Acadia It's My Treat)
Owned/Loved/Trained by: Phyllis Sanders

Ch. Acadia Independence Day, CD, RAE, BN  (Mason)
(GCh. Barwood Clearsky Fireworks, ROM x GCh. Acadia Serenity)
Owned/Loved/Trained by: Anita Rhawn

Acadia Teagan Rose,CDX, NF, NFP  (Teagan)
(GCh. Solange Surround Sound, ROM, ROMC  x GCh. Acadia Presence of Mind)
Owned/Loved/Trained by: Dr. Amy Scheiner

MACH Acadia's Catch Me If You Can, CDX, RAE, BN, XF, GO, T2B, GN, THDN  (Lucy)
(Ch. Heart Lake Acadia Le Roi De Couer x Ch. Acadia Peace of Mind)
Owned/Loved/Trained by: LeaAnne Thorne

Acadia's Keep It Simple, CGC, TKN  (Muffin)
(Acadia's Stage Director x Acadia Keep It Simple)
Owned/Loved/Trained by: Phillip Meyer & Ann Pomeroy-Meyer

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Acadia's Life Lock- aka- Lockit

This is my cute puppy, Lockit.  Today he was Winners' Dog for his first point.  This picture is of him going Reserve Winners' Dog at a sheltie specialty.  He is 7 months old and doing great at the shows.  I am excited about this young guy. 

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New *MACH* Acadia's Catch Me If You Can, RAE, CDX, XF, GO, T2B, Therapy Dog

Look at that MACH Ribbon!!! 

Congratulations to LeaAnne and Lucy!  Today they completed the AKC Agility Championship which is called the Master Agility Champion (MACH).   LeaAnne writes,
 "Today was an amazing day for Lucy and I! We got our MACH title!
She is now MACH Acadia’s Catch Me If You Can, RAE, CDX, GO, XF, T2B, Therapy Dog.  In order to get your MACH you have to have 750 points and 20 double qualifying runs out of the Master classes. At this level your runs have to be perfect. You get points for speed and have to qualify in both of your Master Standard and Master Jumpers runs on the same day 20 times. The journey has been a long time coming for us and there was a time that I wasn’t sure if we would make it. She moved up to the Master classes when she was 3 years old, but by the time she was 6 we had just 200 points and we were just getting our first Double Q. She has always been a sassy little girl and had a problem with flying off the contact obstacles, which caused her not to get her first Master points out of the Standard class until she was 6. This is the year that we really started to come together as a team. Her best year was as a 7 year old, collecting 250 points and 10 QQ’s.

Overall she finished with 2 first places, which she got today, 1 second place, five 3rd places and nine fourth place finishes in a very tough 12in class. This is my first MACH title, so it is super special! Thanks to Cadie Pruss for breeding such a beautiful, well rounded Sheltie. She has been such a joy to work with and everyone thinks she is the cutest!"

LeaAnne, Lucy and judge Steve Larrison

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Meet our new addition: Jesstar Vanity Fair

Jesstar Vanity Fair- pictured at 10 months

Meet Vivienne.  She joined our family recently and she is expecting puppies the first week of February.  Vivienne stepped out of her crate, coming from warm Florida to cold Idaho and was happy to be "home".  She fit right in immediately and we feel very fortunate to have her join us.

She is a sable merle.  Shelties have two base coat colors, black and sable.  The merle gene is a dilution gene that in a base of black dilutes to create the Blue merle.  In a base of sable, the merle gene dilutes to a sable with patches of diluted sable.  These pictures of Vivienne don't show the patches very well.  I will take pictures of her after she has puppies that show her true colors.

Jesstar Vanity Fair- pictured at 10 months

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Closer to Home- family history

Sometimes, you are closer to "home" than you realize.

Open Door Congregational Church "The original Settlers' Church"- Deer Park, Washington

My Great-Grandfather, William Hodges Short, Sr., was an original settler of Deer Park, Washington.  He and his family built and ran a boarding house and worked in the timber industry.  He also donated the land for the town church and personally selected the wood in the sanctuary. This picture of him hangs in the church office.  He donated the land for the cemetery too.  

The church fronted Railway Ave- and the train tracks, and the name 'Open Door' reflected the policy of leaving the doors unlocked so people "riding the rails" could take shelter.

Sometimes Idaho feels so far from my upbringing in New England, but visiting the church, the town my family was so invested in, and the spirit of love, faith, community, and really, community in the widest sense possible- that made me realize that I am not as far from "home" as I might be feeling.

This is the "new" front of the church and it faces Main St.

 The original front to the church- facing the train tracks. The square "stack" was the original bell tower. There have been modifications to this side (since now it is the back). The modifications to this church has been minimal since 1909 when the sanctuary was expanded.

In 1909 the original structure was deemed too small and the changes were made. The original founders were involved in the expansion. The church as remained as it since then.

 The communion table and platform chairs are the original from the 1909 church enlargement.

The sanctuary is heavily trimmed in Larch which was personally selected by my great-grandfather. A church brochure says, "One will look in vain for a knot or a pitch-pocket and will be struck by the craftsmanship required to install the trim."

The pews were hand-built as were the communion table and the platform chairs

This Stained glass is the Original

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New *CD*!!! Ch. Acadia Independence Day, *CD*, BN, RE

Congratulations to Anita and Mason on earning the Companion Dog (CD) obedience title.  The day he completed the title Anita and Mason earned 2nd place out of 23 dogs!  WTG!!!  I am So Proud of this team.  

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Thanksgiving- the Fun, Yummy, and Dangers

Turkey Carcass - Dangerous!

Turkey broth (strain out the fatty skin)- Yum!

Thanksgiving always makes our house smell SO GOOD.  I love a house full of friends and family, good food, laughter and games. Mike and I host Thanksgiving and it is my favorite holiday. 

The dogs love Thanksgiving too.   They love the added attention from the guests and the promise of good food. Guests and good food. Both of those positive can also be dangerous and keeping an eye on pets, or having a plan will ensure a safe and happy day that everyone can be Thankful for when it is over.

More often than not guest are not as "door aware" as I am- or as I think they should be when visiting a house full of pets.  It always amazes me how many guests will leave a door open- or, just as bad, open it WIDE when they come in.  Pets see these open doors as invitations to come in, or go out.

It's not just dogs that are at risk of "door darting"- many people have cats too that might be indoor only cats.  Whenever we have guests, door management is "a thing".   Who wants to be searching for the escaped pet instead of celebrating?  No one.

Yummy Food!!  Thanksgiving promises a delicious meal that everyone wants to partake in.  If you eat in a room that is separate from the kitchen and the kitchen is not visible while you eat- put the pets in crates, outside, or someplace where you do not have to worry about who is attempting to get the food besides the guests. Dogs and cats should NEVER get the cooked bones from the Turkey.  Managing the trash is IMPORTANT.  If you put the turkey carcass in the trash, make sure it is in a Secure trash can.  If you have cats, or dogs that can reach the counter, don't leave it sitting out where they can reach it. 

Of course I love to share the good food with the dogs, and a safe way to do it is to make Turkey stock and poor it over their food.  I usually boil the entire carcass with seasonings, carrots and celery just to make homemade stock for soups and cooking the rest of the year anyway.   The night of Thanksgiving I boil up some of the skin and other parts to give to the dogs.  I strain out the skin and will add some of the meat- usually the leg meat since no one here seems to favor that.  I want them to have flavor, but not too much fat. 

Holidays are fun- but keeping the pets safe takes some thought.   Happy Thanksgiving!

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