2009- Year In Review

Rain- a daughter of Ch. Acadia Rock Solid, HT x Ch. Acadia It's My Treat. She is now owned by Phyllis Sanders.


This picture is of Eden, Cassia, Manny and Lydia at the herding test where Rocky earned his HT. They were about 8 weeks old.

Oh gosh- is it that time again? I haven’t sent out the Christmas Cards yet so how can it be New Years’ eve?


Last year when I did a year in review, I found it helpful (for myself) to see how active the dogs and their owners had been. I think it is fun to “look back”- so here goes:

The biggest event of 2009 was the celebration of my parent’s 50th Wedding Anniversary in June. My whole family met on the island of Nantucket for a week. It was a very special week that won’t be forgotten any time soon.

The second biggest event of 2009 was a change of employment. I left the Mifflin County Conservation District- who I have worked for since 2000. I am currently working for Capital RC&D as a Grazing Advisor. This was a big change and I am hoping it will prove to be a very fruitful one.

I had a few “media” experiences this year- Animal Planet aired a herding demonstration I hosted as part of the Harrisburg Kennel Club show. I had a few articles published in different publications such as Dogs In Review, Sheltie International, and Southern Sheltie Directory.

I ended my 2008 year in review with the birth of beautiful babies- and one year later I still have 4 of the 6 puppies from the Acadia King Charles x Acadia Peace of Mind litter. Three of them will continue to remain here while the 4th, Lydia, is now available to a pet home. The three that will stay are Acadia Peaceful Garden (Eden)- who has a Runner-up Best in Sweeps “under her collar” (so to speak), Acadia Presence of Mind (Cassia), and Acadia Prince of Peace (Manny). I have loved these puppies and they have provided much enjoyment all year. Yesterday they turned a year old.

Carrie passed away this year. She is deeply, deeply missed by Katie, Erin, Debbie, me and Mike. She offered so much to so many people.

We are playing host to the beautiful Am/Can Ch. Grandgables The Frat Boy. Because of him we also got to host Jean Simmonds and Carol McChandless for a night while they were breeding a lovely bitch to Brother. I LOVED having “dog guests”.

On to the successes of the dogs and their dedicated owners (titles from 2009 are in italics):

Ch. Sunburst Bright Sunny Day owned, loved, and shown by Sharon Crawford co-bred by me and born here at Acadia. She is the daughter of Ch. Acadia’s Bright Idea, RA, NA,NAJ x Ch. Sunburst Acadia Here I Come.

CH. Acadia’s Bright New Day owned and loved by my sister, Beck Kelly and her daughter Lauren Kelly- co-bred by me and Sharon Crawford, shown by me. Chip is the littermate of Sunny (above) and the third from this litter to finish.

NATCH, V-NATCH Acadia Paint the Town owned, loved, trained and trialed by Sharon Bradshaw. I know that Hannah earned many other agility titles this year and I need Sharon to send me a complete list of all these two have accomplished together (hint, hint). These two championships are a HUGE accomplishment (as all championships are-)

Acadia I Hope Ewe Can- owned, loved, trained and trailed by Sharon Bradshaw (Sharon- help!!! What are her titles?)

NATCH2 , V-NATCH2 Acadia Rally Around the Flag- owned, loved, trained and trialed by Phyllis Sanders.

Acadia Rumor Has It,S-NJS,S-NAS,S-NCS,S-TNS-N,TGS-N,S-WVS-N, S-HPS-N, S-TNS-O, TNS-E, WVS-O- owned, loved, trained and trialed by Phyllis Sanders

Linden Acadia Stacked Deck, CDX, HSAds, HSBd, HIAds- owned, loved, trained and trialed by Penny Brcich.

Acadia Aquilegia, CD, RE, MX, AXJ- owned, loved and trained by Amy

Acadia Cierra Like a Rock, RN, HT, NA, AXJ, NF, VC- Owned and loved by Merrylee and Chet Malanowski and trained and trialed by his “team” who also love and co-own him: Arlene Soderman, Penny Brcich and me! This year Nicky came to visit and brought his conformation point total brought to 9 pts.

Acadia Whatever It Takes, AX, OAJ –loved, owned, trained and trialed by Morene Brown

Acadia Angus Macphangus, CD- loved, owned and trained by John and Joan Hoffman. This brag didn’t get on the blog back in August when they accomplished this task. I got to see John, Joan and Mac at the shows in Bloomsburg this past fall. I was thrilled when John came to find me.

Acadia Sweet Home Arizona, PT- loved, owned, and trained and trailed by me.

Ch. Acadia Rock Solid, HT- loved, owned and trained and trialed by me, but loved and lives with Mary and Martin Smith.

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Ads from Shelties on line

I wanted to record the ads on my website- so here is Dove, her daughter Eden, and our foundation- Carrie. Today is Eden's birthday- she is a year old. I still have her sister, Cassia and her brother, Manny. These puppies are such fun!

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Am/Can. Ch. Grandgables The Frat Boy is visiting


I am overjoyed to announce that we are entertaining Am/Can. Ch. Grandgables The Frat Boy (aka: Brother). He is here being bred to both Fresca and her mother and will be available to entertain other girls next week. Click Here to go to the Grandgables webpage. Click Here to go to Brother's page on the website. Brother is sired by Am/Can. Ch. Grandgables Boy oh Boy who was Best of Opposite Sex at both the American National and the Canadian National in 2008 . Brother's mother, Am/Can. Ch. Grandgables Homecomin' Queen was Reserve Winners Bitch at the American National in 2006. This is a very exciting pedigree full of specialty winners and producers.
Brother is the sire of Laureate Epitome and Laureate Continuum- two really lovely puppies who have been winning at shows since the day they turned 6 months.

Brother won 2 specialty majors on his way to his championship. I am very excited to be hosting this fun, fun, fun dog while he is in the US. Thank you Guy and Mark for this opportunity!

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New Herding Started B course- Ducks for U-Ch. Linden Acadia Stacked Deck, CDX, HIAds, HSAds, *HSBd*










Congratulations to Penny and Show Low for completing the Herding Started title on the B course (ducks). These two had completed the Herding Started title with ducks on the A course, but the B course is larger and the dog has to control and move the stock longer distances. As you can see from these pictures, Show Low has a gentle, easy way about him that allows him to control the ducks without causing them too much stress. He is such a good dog. Compare his pictures to the picture of his mother, Molly (MACH4 Acadia Color of Passion, HSAsd)- she never really had the patience Show Low demonstrates.
Show Low is sired by Herding Champion and Breed Champion Linden Danbie The Blacksmith, HXAs, NA, VCX. He (Show Low) must have gotten his sensibility from his dad.

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New *NATCH*, *V-NATCH* Acadia Paint The Town

A HUGE Congratulations to Sharon and "Hannah"!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Hannah" and Sharon began the quest for the NADAC agility Championship- the NATCH- in May of 2005. "Anything worthwhile is worth working for" comes to mind when I read the message that these two accomplished both the NATCH AND the Versatility (agility) championship, the V-NATCH within one week of each other.

Sharon reported that the Chances points were the hardest to get, but she persevered and managed to get all 130 necessary points.

On the final run that completed the championship, Sharon reports that all of her friends were there to cheer her on. There is nothing like sharing an achievement.

Congratulations again.

Hannah is the daughter of Ch. Acadia Rock Solid, HT x Ch. Zion Acadia Town Heroine, CDX,PT,VCX and the litter sister of Ch. Acadia Another Story, UD, PT, NA, VCX. There were only two puppies in this litter- I would say it was a successful one!

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Christmas Cookies



I can't believe that the Christmas TV specials have already aired. Well, it certainly caused me to think about Christmas preparations. I like to visit neighbors and friends and bring cookies- but not for the people- I bring cookies for the dogs! Although I LOVE to eat cookies myself, most of us eat too much at the holidays, so making cookies for the dogs was a perfect way for me to keep the holiday spirit (and tradition of baking), without the added calories.

I have have collected a few different size bone shaped cookie cutters. I love to make dog cookies.

I brush a little egg on top to give them a nice glaze. Dogs just love the cookies.


Thanks Bernadette- here is the recipe:
This was published in the 1986 (yes- that is the right date) AKC Gazette. I have been making these cookies for over 20 years!
Oatmeal-Wheat Germ Biscuits:
3 cups whole wheat or rye flour
3 cups oatmeal
1/2 cup regular wheat germ
6 tablespoons melted bacon drippings or margarine
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup water
a) mix the dry ingredients together. Add remaining ingredients and blend until well mixed. Dough will be stiff.
b) chill for 1/2 hour. Take rounded teaspoons of dough and roll into balls
c) flatten and place on lightly greased cookie sheet
d) bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour.

We use bacon drippings. I keep a ceramic crock in my fridge just for the drippings to make these cookies. I take out 6 table spoons and put them in a ceramic bowl and heat that in the microwave to melt the drippings. If you do this- be VERY careful as the bowl gets VERY hot and hot grease can burn if it splashes on your skin, so use a hot mitt to get the hot bowl out of the microwave.

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