Kaibab Bernese Mountain Dogs

Pictures from the Passage

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:25:00 +0000

Once again we traveled south to Utah, stopping in Idaho at the usual spot for a dog romp. Here is Sydney stretching her legs...

Zoey stretching her ears!

Syd and Zoey

Asia

Mrs. Maize

We brought the cats with us but only had one cat crate so Karma got to ride with a dog -- I decided Zoey was the best choice since she enjoys being in close quarters with others :)

Thanks for the comments on the squirrel formerly known as Chippy the chipmunk. Susan sent a picture of a Red Squirrel that is clearly what the former Chippy is -- so I think his/her new name is Rocky, which seems more appropriate for a squirrel.

And now -- let the baking commence!

Chippy!!!

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 21:45:00 +0000

I got him or her!!! So, here is my chipmunk or is s/he a squirrel?! Can anyone identify what Chippy really is?

Empty Nest

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Galen (aka The Puppy Nanny) left two days ago for a new life back in Utah. At age 21, I know it was his time but it is sad and I miss him. I have never been an adult without children. I was pregnant with my daughter at 18, had her at 19, and started at a community college when I was seven months pregnant with my second child at age 20.

I transferred to UC Berkeley with two toddlers in tow and plugged along -- year after year -- for a long time. We lived in the same university family housing that my parents did when I was born, and the kids had a rich, multi-cultural environment in that community. I remember Nicole coming home as a first grader and telling me that there was a new girl in her class, but she wasn't sure if she was Korean, Chinese, or Japanese; when I was six I had not known there was a difference!

Galen attempted to be born early, requiring bed rest at the end of my last semester as a masters' student. I had to take Incompletes that semester, and I missed both my own graduation and my sister's graduation from law school. A few years later I was able to wear my grandfather's academic robes (he was a professor at Berkeley) when I was awarded my Ph.D. from Berkeley -- I earned a degree for each of my three children :)

I was 33 years old when I finally finished the academic journey I had started at the local community college as a pregnant 20 year old high school drop-out. The kids and I grew up together, which is not really the best way to do it for anyone involved. Isn't hindsight great?! It can be if we let it be a teacher -- it is not helpful when we use it to beat ourselves up.

And then -- eleven years ago -- Kim and I began the process of blending our families. My older two were already out of the house and so it was just me and Galen -- but with Kim, I also got his three boys. Galen went from having me all to himself to getting a bit lost in the crowd, and I know that was hard for him but he is such a good sport (most of the time :).

And so this time we have spent in Montana -- by ourselves -- feels like the completion. Galen got the time he needed with just me -- the time he didn't get because we both opened our hearts to a new family that needed us -- and I got to have a really special time with my "baby".

Galen is a really amazing young man and I know I will continue to miss him (as will the dogs). I appreciate all that each of my children (all six!) have taught me, and will always treasure the time that we had together. But now I guess it is my turn -- I am still their mom but in a different way, and one I have never experienced before. This should be an interesting time in my life...

So until Kim moves up in May/June, it is just me here in the big Montana house -- well, me and six dogs, two cats and my herd of deer and one really cute chipmunk that I feed unsalted peanuts and have named Chippy; I hope to have pictures of Chippy at some point -- s/he is adorable but a little skittish! Here are some of the deer...

Mrs. Maize enjoying a nap...

The only reason Sydney plays with toys is to upset Zoey -- typical little sister.

Zoey and Cadi both love toys, and here is one they can enjoy together :)

And so ends a happy, special time with Galen -- Puppy Nanny and Great Son. I want to thank him for helping me transition to Montana, for letting me beat him at Scrabble, and for all his wonderful help with the dogs. I know he is going to miss them a lot...

Karma and Zoey the Almost SuperModel

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:48:00 +0000

First of all, I got an email asking about Karma -- the cat I found in Barstow, California a year ago. Karma is doing great! I am not sure why I find all these dog loving cats but she is another one. She likes to cuddle up with Zoey on the bed, which is great because Zoey loves to cuddle but none of the other dogs feel quite the same way :) Here is a picture of cute Karma surveying her kingdom and her subjects from the loft...

Zoey is appearing all over these days -- well, maybe not all over but it sounds good! First, here she is on a fleece pullover that Kris O. sent to me...

Zoey is following in her Uncle Riley's pawprints, although she is still an unpaid model unlike her uncle who is a paid professional. This ad will be appearing in the February Alpenhorn and it is Zoey's second time appearing in a Berner-Garde ad -- isn't it pretty? (double click to make the ad bigger)

The person who did the ad is Daniel Sernicola, and he has a relatively new business called Best in Show Marketing. Daniel is a very active Berner-Garde volunteer, and handles their ads and other media-type stuff. I send him random pictures that I like because I know he is always looking for pictures to use in his work. A picture that I took of one of the E Litter puppies (Jemie, owned by Sharon in St. Louis) is featured on the cover of the Berner-Garde brochure -- you can find it at: http://www.bernergarde.org/home/default.aspx

Anyway, I started using Daniel to do ads for my dogs and have been extremely pleased. He has created an amazing ad for me that will go in the February Alpenhorn (the berner magazine) -- it blew me away when I saw it. You will get to see it on the Blog but not until February after the Alpenhorn goes out -- it is crazy good.

Ads in the Alpenhorn are not all that expensive and are a fun way to share about a dog's accomplishments, and create a lasting memory. Daniel's prices are very reasonable, and using him to do the ad is a nice way to support someone who not only does excellent design work, but who helps our breed so much and is just a super great person. You can contact Daniel at daniel@bestinshowmarketing.com -- and this is a completely unsolicited plug for Daniel and his work!

Holiday plans -- Galen takes his last final exam tomorrow and heads for Utah in the van. The van will be filled with his stuff since he is deserting me -- I mean, moving back to Utah. Nicole, my only daughter and clearly the most loyal child, will drive the van back to Montana on Saturday so we can load dogs and etc. and head to Utah on Sunday. Did you follow all that?!

We have fun plans for our time in Utah. The most fun will be spending time with Dear Husband and the rest of the family (and friends) but I am also going to track a lot on my familiar fields down there, Elizabethanne is going to teach Cadi how to dance and yes, we hope to have a video of that to share, and I am going to bake a lot of cookies and other things that will require a New Year's resolution when I come back to Montana after 10 - 11 days in Utah :)

Serious Snow

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:25:00 +0000

I woke up to about ten inches of snow!!!! Holy White Stuff!!!! Good thing we do not have to go anywhere today! So, if you live in the country -- what do you shovel?! I figured I needed to shovel something but with a LONG driveway, I decided that was out and so I made some cute little paths to the garage and got the two decks relatively cleared. I guess we just drive Trusty Rusty (the big 4x4 truck) right through the snow -- unless the Snow Plow Fairy pays a visit.

I actually LOVE snow!!! It is so pretty :) And so I put on my pink snow boots and the parka I bought last spring for $19.95 (I am so proud of that, even though Galen says it makes me look like a homeless person), did the shoveling, and then got my camera to capture my favorite subjects -- well, really the only subjects I have available, to be honest. No matter -- they are good subjects and quite willing to be cute for my camera.

Maize and Halo preferred to stay inside, and so the four young ones were out with me. Asia, Cadi, and Sydney mostly wanted to chew on the bushes, which was not all that interesting but Zoey was a great subject. She will chase her toy for as long as someone will throw it, and so I threw the funny yellow ball with legs and she had fun finding it in the snow.

The Pounce

The Search

Got it!

Sometimes Syd left her bush pruning to be a pestering little sister

Asia and Cadi

I am mindful that all Zoey's white does not always help her look great in pictures -- when Cindy saw her in CA a couple of months ago, she noted that Zoey's pictures do not do her justice and I think that is true. I do like these two of her though...

Here we have profiles of mother-daughter Cadi and Sydney -- don't they look alike?!

Finally, this is a special one from Syd to her friend, and Syd wanted me to say: "Dear Lisa, If I had a Facebook page I would make you my friend and never unfriend you. Love, Sydney"

Now that I think about it, this could be all Lisa's fault as I just got a lovely card from her that says, "Let It Snow" -- I thought it was nice but now I am wondering if maybe it was a curse??? Too bad I like snow so only an effective curse when I have to drive -- like tomorrow...sigh...

Quick -- someone send a card that says, "Let It Be Warm and Sunny"!

Have a happy weekend -- no matter what your weather.

Rattlesnakes and Dogs and Snow and Perspective

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:06:00 +0000

Reading this Blog, you might assume that the most important thing in my life is my dogs; this would not be accurate. You might assume that my whole life revolves around the dogs, and showing, and so on; again, not accurate. But does one really need to have some kind of rank order in life? Must I really list the dimensions of my life in some artificial priority list? I don't think so.

I have thoughtfully and carefully constructed a life that includes things I value. Is it a perfect life? Of course not. But working closely with death makes one acutely aware that the candle burns brightly only for a limited time, and so I am mindful of the need to make the most of this time I have on earth.

My dogs are very important to me. They represent a childhood dream, a connection with other (different) living creatures, a way to better know myself, an opportunity to have competence and even excellence, and my private sanctuary where I work hard to become a better person. It is okay that it doesn't make sense to most, and that people think it is about the dogs when really -- it is about me.

My family and friends are important to me, even though the limitations of time and my aversion to talking on the @#$% phone means I do not stay as connected as I might. I suppose I could not have my dogs or my career, and instead tend to all the relationships I have -- sending all the birthday cards I forget now, buying and actually sending cute, thoughtful presents, traveling around to visit various family and friends scattered all over the place, and so on. But that is not who I am, and I figure if I am required to be someone other than who I am to have a relationship with someone -- well, I don't want that relationship anyway.

And that is the beauty of getting older -- perspective. You realize that you really don't have to do and be it all, and everything actually still proceeds somehow. Sure, some people drop out of the picture when you stop doing all the work or when you refuse to play the silly games anymore, but perspective means you just really don't care because you don't want people like that around anyway.

Today I am reminded that a rattlesnake always bites when you hug it, and that you cannot be mad or surprised about that because that is just the nature of a rattlesnake. It is sad when the rattlesnake is someone you love, but love does not make a rattlesnake less venomous -- darn it. So don't hug a rattlesnake -- you don't have to kill it because it isn't something more cuddly, but just keep your distance as you learn to admire what is special about a rattlesnake. However, I must say that I seriously prefer the company of my dogs to cold-blooded reptiles who have a tendency to bite!

And speaking of cold and the company of dogs, let me share some pictures from today of dogs in the snow....

Lovely, sweet natured Asia -- built like a Mack truck. She is amazingly devoted to me, and I love patting her "big, boy head".

Our little Sydee-Lou -- dainty, cute, independent but what a great obedience dog she is looking to be! Her attention is scary intense.

Zo-Bean -- my little energizer bunny/retriever. I just love this puppy -- she is so much fun to train and play fetch or anything. She is always "on" and is just a brilliant girl -- and beautiful to look at.

The Mrs. -- Maize. How blessed we are to have her at 9 years and 5 months. This morning I took the Mrs. and Halo on a two mile walk -- I call it our Old Ladies walk. You would never know how old Maize is -- she races around, barks at the puppies when they have the nerve to play, and just continues to be as perfect as she has always been. I am so lucky to have her.

My sweet and very different puppies!

Given that I do not breed young girls, having this three generation photo is especially unique. Syd is one year, Cadi is almost 4.5 years and Maize is almost 9.5 years. See the family resemblance (besides the big ears ;)?

FINALLY!!! The puppies have learned to stay (sort of) and so here is the first ever picture of all six of our girls -- in age order.

Maize, Halo, Cadi, Asia, Zoey, Sydney

Some advice -- don't hug a rattlesnake but more importantly, don't BE a rattlesnake -- hurting people is not nice.

Congratulations!

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:26:00 +0000

We have some congratulations to offer to Kaibab dogs. First, Maddie (from the F Litter) recently earned her Rally Novice title, and her mom sent me this nice picture:

Congratulations to Barb and Maddie :)

And yesterday, Marti and Maverick (from the C Litter) finished a long training journey in which Marti showed humor, patience, and persistence and Maverick showed even more humor and some patience of his own -- they earned Maverick's first obedience title, and with a first place! So BIG congratulations to Marti on the CD and even more so, on the adventure to getting it. We will look forward to pictures :)

Titles are not the only measure of success, but they certainly represent a tangible outcome to hard work, commitment, and a relationship and so we celebrate them. But we are proud of Kaibab dogs whose owners do not choose to pursue titles, and let me introduce you to one -- Bessie.

Bessie is from our first litter, and therefore is a Mace/Abra daughter and a littermate to Maize. She is almost 9.5 years old now and lives in Boulder, Colorado with Nancy and her family. Nancy shares, "she is absolutely the perfect dog and she is always getting lots of attention wherever we go. She's great with the kids, especially at the playground." So congratulations to Bessie on being old, being kind, and being perfect :)

And don't forget to look for Bessie and Maize's famous model brother at PetSmart -- he can be found on the bag of Authority dog food and sometimes in other flyers and ads for that store. Riley lives in Arizona with Kay and Sue, and his nephews Dillon (C Litter) and Ruben (Glitterati). Congratulations to Riley for being old -- and extremely handsome :)

And congratulations to you as well -- for whatever you are proud of being!

Safe and Sound

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:05:00 +0000

Once again I endured the painful process of saying good-bye to Dear Husband and headed back to Montana -- only a few more months until he moves up here, thank goodness.

Can you believe it -- the personal, private Idaho dog park was occupied -- by a giant herd of antelope! What nerve!! I did not want to be in a new song about where the berners and the antelope play, and so I found a spot on the gravel road where the antelopes were not visible and therefore could safely co-exist with the six berners. You have to look close to see them -- or double click the picture to make it bigger.

It was a stunning day yesterday, with clear blue skies and snow covered mountains.

This is Maize and Cadi enjoying the break from the drive.

And Asia...

Galen does not appreciate being on the Blog but this time it is his own fault. This picture captures his news -- he is going to return to Salt Lake City and go to school there. He will move back in to our Utah house after this semester (in three weeks). Sigh. I suspected having Tanner come home would be a big pull on Galen, and I was right -- it is pulling him right out of Montana and back to Utah. You know what this means??? No more Dog Nanny -- sigh... I know it is time and will be good for him, but how inconvenient for me!!! ;)

That is Sydney running towards me, and Zoey is also in the picture.

Happy December -- can you believe it? The last month of 2009! Make it a good one :)

Family Togetherness

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:57:00 +0000

My daughter and her husband came to spend some time with us and they brought Noah to visit his girls! You may recall that Noah's diabetes has been quite difficult to manage, and so he has been staying down here with Nicole. In addition to being closer to his regular vet clinic, Noah gets great care from Nicole who is a former vet tech and hopefully a future vet (won't that be handy?!). Anyway, Noah's excellence as the Feline Puppy Nanny has endeared him to all the girls, and each was very happy to see him -- but especially Halo...

Zoey is having no trouble getting along with people in Utah! This is Zoey with the son-in-law, Doug.

I hope there is some togetherness going on in your life :)

Back to the Regularly Scheduled Programming

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 13:34:00 +0000

I hope your Thanksgiving was good one, and that nobody exploded from excess of anything except good will and gratitude! We had a very nice day, even though Dear Husband had to work. I would be just fine having cereal on Thanksgiving -- I have never baked a turkey in my life! But traditions are good and so we all did the usual, which is to go over to my wonderful brother/sister in-laws' house.

Kim's brother and his wife have nine kids, including two sets of twins, and now the nine kids are multiplying and so it is quite the family event -- luckily they have a big house! They are the nicest people, and we always have a lot of fun so it was good to see them. I left early to take Kim a plate of food so that he at least got to participate a little :)

But before that I spent the day baking fun desserts, which made me very popular with all the family. I also took Zoey and Sydney over to our usual park to have a playdate with Syd's littermates, Tara and Rainey. Poor Rainey -- the only way he gets his picture in the Blog is if I travel all the way to Utah to take it ;)

Rainey wasted no time at all letting Tara know who was Top Dog!

Kiko, the surrounded pug, made an appearance and the puppies thought he was quite interesting.

Here is Rainey again. Unfortunately, Rainey had an elbow chip that had to be removed and so he has a shaved leg and still has a limp :(

However, that did not slow Rainey down -- he took on the very fast and athletic Zoey

More Zoey and Rainey

Rainey and Tara must have seen the celebrating picture from the Turkey Bowl and were trying to figure out how Tanner and his friend did that...

Sydney

Sydney and Tara are twins -- you had to look close to tell which was which

And here is Rainey's mom, Joan, with her other dog, Bella (Halo's littermate)

A look at our puppy play date

Finally, Rainey and Kiko did some male bonding

I certainly hope you are not doing anything dangerous today - like shopping!!! Perish the thought!!!!!

Have a happy day!

Turkey Bowl

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:29:00 +0000

This morning the boys organized the annual Turkey Bowl, and I went over as the official photographer. In what is no doubt a test, I was asked to put pictures on the Blog -- no doubt they are checking to see if I loved them as much as the dogs :)

Well boys (and Cassie) -- here you go!

Matching uniforms did not seem to be required so I am not sure how they could tell who was on what team but they seemed to have a system -- here is Jake, one of ours.

And home after two years in the Washington DC area, here is one of our younger boys, Tanner.

So this is what a huddle looked like...

And here is the opposing team all lined up and ready for action (!)

There were some excellent displays of skills -- and no doubt a bunch of sore people tomorrow!

Galen is wondering what kind of dance Jake is doing...

Another great catch -- and the young woman was more surprised than anyone!

Jake and Tanner mixing it up

And all that watching Sydney chasing Zoey came in handy -- Galen knew just want to do when someone else went running by with the ball!

Here is a team picture of Team One

Team Two

Jake with his fancy helmet

Tanner and Jake

Galen making a great catch of his own!

Tanner and his friend celebrating who knows what :)

Galen, the left-handed quarterback

Jake's wife, Cassie

The girls think the human kids are a little whacky and wanted you to see what a real Turkey Bowl looks like...

There you go, boys - now the baking is behind schedule!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Travels

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 00:13:00 +0000

We have this traveling to/from Utah down to an art! We left Montana and stopped at the usual dog stop in The Middle of No Where, Idaho. It is much easier to just let the dogs run free for a bit then to stop and walk everyone on leash, and so we head off the highway, across a cattle guard, and down the dirt road for a ways and we have our own personal dog park that is both safe and extremely spacious.

Here is Sydney enjoying the chance to stretch her one-year old legs...

And here is a picture of all four of my BMDCA Versatility Dogs :) Mother-daughter Maize and Cadi on one side, and mother-daughter Halo and Asia on the other!

We are planning some puppy fun while we are here -- check back in a couple of days for pictures and in the meantime, have a lovely and grateful Thanksgiving!

Happy First Birthday Glitterati! (Revised!)

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:50:00 +0000

At the risk of slighting the F Litter, who did not get birthday pictures posted, today we have recent pictures of the Glitterati in honor of their first birthday. My ability to post a Blog is directly related to what else is going on, and this weekend just happens to be at home and easy -- hence a birthday blog! We will feature the F Litter in holiday photos -- how's that?

Okay, let's see how those puppies are growing! We start with Murphy (Sutton) who lives in Montana with his devoted parents, Gail and Tom. As is true for the entire litter, Murphy is a happy and friendly puppy.

Mika (Ireland), the Birthday Queen, lives in California with John and Kristine, and a wonderful extended berner family. Her mom has made birthday cupcakes for her and her cousins. I can verify -- having seen Mika this fall -- that she is a whirlwind of happy, friendly energy!

This is also Mika, working on her tricks.

The Rock Star is still very handsome even though he joins his siblings in that gawky adolescent stage. Ruben (Hudson) lives the Life of Riley (figuratively and literally, since he lives with Uncle Riley ;) in Phoenix with Kay and Sue. They report that he is 26 inches tall, 87 pounds, and loves everyone he meets.

Ruben in profile.

Cooper (Whitby) lives in eastern Oregon with Jennifer, Ralph and their crew of kids. Happy and friendly, Cooper is about 90 pounds of fun. I will get to see Cooper in January as Jennifer and I are going to a show together :) Here are a couple of pictures of cute Cooper...

Cute Tara (Geneva) lives in Salt Lake City with Liz, Sam and her varied emotion pug brother. She is also a sweet, happy puppy who loves everyone -- thanks to our friend, Nikki Roberts, for helping Sam and Liz with Tara's training :)

Zaida's mom is also having fun celebrating a birthday -- Double Happy Birthday!!!! Zaida (Jamaica) lives in the mountains of Colorado with Barb and Keith. She weighs 75 pounds and also has the happy wiggle gene!

And now we have the other Birthday Queen -- Sydney. She is about 69 pounds, 23.5 inches, quite without coat at the moment, and a bundle of friendly, happy energy :)

Poor Rainey (Toronto) is not yet included in our birthday blog but I am sure we will see pictures of Rainey very soon! Likely his family is too busy celebrating to send pictures :)

Happy Birthday to our cute, happy, friendly Glitterati babies!

Let It Snow Part Two (aka Fun with Snowballs)

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Galen decided to take the Bernese Mountain Retriever (aka Zoey) out to throw snowballs -- she LOVED it! I took these from the deck...

Waiting for the snowball to be fired...

Oh, it is going this way!

I know its in here someplace...

My tongue is frozen!

Who needs a cape?! AIR ZOEY flies again...

Okay, Homecoming Queen/Head Cheerleader and Super Hero, too...

Hope your weekend is an amazing one!

Let It Snow! (like we have a choice)

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:44:00 +0000

We got a couple of inches of snow this morning -- our first "real" snow at our new house. And can I just say how much I love this house and this wonderful setting! And Montana -- what a great place to live. And I love my job also -- there is a lot in my life to be thankful about...but I digress -- snow pictures!

This is Zoey. At least once a day I think to myself (or say to her), "that is a beautiful puppy". High energy, devoted to me, LOVES agility -- like crazy loves agility. She doesn't jump yet but we have started private lessons. And here she is looking gorgeous as usual...

Her sister, Asia, is no wallflower either...

Sydney is the smallest of our girls but she has really grown in the past month and is now just two pounds smaller than Zoey. However, Syd is one mighty little girl and her cute face hides a rather fierce little spirit. Here are Asia, Zoey, and Syd -- and trust me -- Syd always emerges the winner, rolling the other girls every time...

And here we have the Old Ladies badly in need of an ear trimming! Maize, age nine, and Halo, age seven -- Halo is the shorter one. Both girls are doing just fine -- nobody told them that they were supposed to slow down. All of us "mature" women could take a lesson -- don't let anybody tell you what you are supposed to do or not do just because of age!

And age does not rob us of beauty -- here is lovely Maize striking a pose...

Tomorrow is cute Sydney's first birthday!!! In honor of that, I have extra pictures of her today and hope to have Glitterati pictures tomorrow. Let me tell you about Sydney -- SMART SMART SMART. We are doing an obedience class together and WOW -- she is definitely a Kaibab girl. She loves to work and still is the friendliest dog I have ever met. She does not just wag her tail -- she wags her entire body!! I weighed her yesterday and she is just under 70 pounds so not a big girl, but she has grown taller recently so added weight and some leg. She is definitely maturing slowly and not exactly at her most beautiful -- while Zoey is the Homecoming Queen/Head Cheerleader, Sydney is the president of the Debate Club -- more of a late bloomer :) Here is Sydney with her mom, Cadi...

And here is Syd, self-stacked without much coat at the moment...

Head Cheerleader/Homecoming Queen and the Debate Club president (without the horned rim glasses ;)

But just look at how incredibly adorable Sydney is -- her head is just beautiful :)

I love snow -- well, when I do not have to drive the van in it. Growing up in California, I always thought snow was so exotic and exciting, and I have never really lost that sense of wonder about it. It is an excellent reminder that what is ordinary can be so extraordinary, and that most of what brings joy is just a matter of choice and perspective. You can crab about the snow, or marvel at the winter wonderland :) I suggest choosing marvel...

Couple Things

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:46:00 +0000

We made it home safely! Yesterday Cadi was able to control her barking and earned second place (out of 20!) in obedience -- not bad :)

Zoey was even more edgy yesterday and the judge was a giant man -- nice but quite tall and wide -- and Zoey would not let him examine her. That was disappointing but not a real surprise -- she was not comfortable all weekend. I expect her in season anytime and hopefully she will get her groove back after that.

In case you have not seen this announcement, we have planned a Camp Berner for August -- here is the info: http://campberner.blogspot.com/

Much to our amazement Camp Berner is close to being full and we just put out the word :)

Hope your week is most excellent -- or at least heading in that direction.

Adventures in Traveling

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 22:46:00 +0000

I should have known better than to travel on Friday the 13th!! But I am nothing if not an optimist and so off I went -- with Zoey and Cadi -- to Washington on Friday the 13th.

Yes, I checked the weather in the morning and it looked fine and so we left after my last class. The pass between Idaho and Montana was quite bad and stressful but I made it, and had great weather through eastern Washington.

I was within 100 miles of my destination when suddenly it was a blizzard -- I was in a panic. I could barely see and was crawling along at 25 mph, trying to stay calm. I turned the radio to the highway info station and learned that I was in bad driving conditions -- duh. I also learned that chains were required ahead on Snowqualmie Pass -- but chains or not, I was not driving any farther than the next exit, and I wasn't sure I would make it that far!

I have never been so happy to see a rest area in my life. I pulled into Indian John Hill rest area with several other stranded travelers, and hunkered down to wait things out. I was quite happy to see that the rest area had real people (as opposed to pretend ones I guess) giving out free coffee and cookies, and it turned out they were from the Knights of Columbus, which is a Catholic organization for men. I do not drink coffee and did not find the cookies interesting enough to spend the calories/carbs but I was thrilled to see a real live Catholic priest hanging out there, looking out for weary travelers! I took that as a sign that I would be okay :)

Okay is a relative term. I was not prepared to be stranded -- I know I should have been but I wasn't, which is why it happened (in addition to the whole Friday the 13th thing). The back of the van was filled with crates and stuff and so I had to just stay in the driver's seat. I told the girls that I needed their blankets more than they did, seeing how they have fur and are from the mountains, after all. So, with my not-so-clean, stolen dog bed blankets I somehow managed to not freeze for the five hours I had to wait until the road was okay again.

At 2:30 I headed gingerly up the Pass, made it down without mishap (much to my amazement but hey -- it was the 14th by that time and there was the whole priest thing) and found myself at the show sight -- at 4:30 a.m. Sigh. Let me just say that not much is happening at a dog show at 4:30 in the morning! I walked dogs, went to a grocery store, and basically tried to kill time and stay warm.

Zoey won her class (bred-by) but must be getting ready to come into season as she was fidgety and less than a cooperator today. The poor puppy -- this was her first all breed show, she is hormonal, and when we walked into the building she almost literally ran into an Irish Wolfhound the size of a small horse -- I thought Zoey's eyes might just bug out. And then an English Sheepdog went by, and if you have never seen one at a show you will have a hard time appreciating that they do not resemble any dog you have ever seen. I suspect what was running through Zoey's mind was something like, "mom, I don't think we are in Montana anymore."

So Zoey forgot that she is actually a really cute little showdog, and decided that where I wanted her feet was just flat out wrong so she moved them every time. Oh well -- nobody is perfect.

Then it was Cadi's turn for obedience. Now, Cadi is normally a rather lively dog (understatement alert) and consider that the poor dog had spent the better part of 21 hours in a crate -- you can probably see where this is heading. Her on leash heeling and figure 8 were lovely, but I made the mistake of engaging with her excited energy. Now, you want to stay connected to your obedience dog so I am not blaming myself but I should have been more subdued about it all.

Off leash heeling started fine but I could see that Cadi was getting cranked and next thing I know, she has started barking. BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK BARK -- translation: THIS IS FUN WHERE ARE THE COOKIES CAN WE PLAY TUG WHERE ARE THE COOKIES HEY WHOSE COAT IS THIS ON TABLE WHERE ARE THE COOKIES, etc. More barking -- if you have seen Cadi do agility, you know that barking is not out of character for Cadi, but Obedience Cadi needs to exercise more self-control than Agility Cadi. I stopped smiling and tried glaring to no avail -- once a quarter is in Cadi, she is hard to stop!

Lucky for me, the judge was a) nice; and b) hard of hearing. He said that since her barking was "only" excessive (!) and not continuous, she was still qualifying. She wound up losing four points (which is a lot) for barking, but still did a nice job considering this is a GED (Git 'er Done) attempt at a CD and so I do not fuss with precision with her. So, she got her first GED CD leg with a 189.5 -- she would have placed in the class if she had kept her opinions to herself and not lost those four points!

On the positive side, she was the happiest dog -- her tail never stopped wagging :) And she qualified so I cannot complain too much, especially given our adventures in traveling.

All that is to say that Zoey, Cadi, and I are in Washington at a dog show. Dear Husband is also in Washington -- D.C. -- and so we have the coasts covered nicely, and can say we both spent the weekend in Washington.

In the future, I am staying home in bed on Friday the 13th. I hope yours was less traumatic!

Congratulations!

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:58:00 +0000

We are so excited to share that Asia's littermate, Lucy, finished her CDX yesterday! Yes, Lucy is just 27 months so quite an accomplishment. Congratulations to the Lelands and Kaibab's East to Cheyenne CDX (aka Lucy)!

Here are a couple of pictures that Peggy sent of Lucy -- can you see the resemblance to Asia!? WOW!

Hope that you had a successful weekend :)

Morning Candids

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:28:00 +0000

Zoey is a very unusual berner. There is, of course, that whole Air Zoey thing and her insatiable desire to play fetch and how much she likes to swim and her energy level, which is a bit over the top -- I love her for all these things but yes, she is not the most berner-like berner I know. Here is one of her other quirky things -- she thinks the grooming table is her personal perch. She likes to just hang out on it, take naps on it, and even chew her toys on it, as you can see in this picture...

This is a totally candid shot -- I looked over and there was Zoey -- as usual -- with Asia on the "bottom bunk" and Syd just posing...

Syd wanted these pictures up for her special friend so that Lisa can admire how very cute Sydney is...

I hope someone thinks you are very cute :) Have a great day!

Meet Missy and Training Pics and Congrats!

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:00:00 +0000

Let's begin with a big congratulations to Sue Nowak and Milo (from the D Litter) who earned Milo's RN today -- Sue has worked through her own ring nerves and so good job to both Sue and Milo :)

I thought it might be time to introduce a couple of new family members. This is a picture of a cat named Missy that has joined our family -- my daughter rescued her and now Missy is living with us; she is a member of Galen's Diabetic Club...

In addition to Missy, we also have Ruby and here is her story -- I was working with a hospice patient that was just a wonderful, amazing person. She shared with me that she had found a home for one of her cats but not the other. I told her that if she did not find Ruby a home, I would take her -- well, somehow that translated to "Mary-Ann will take Ruby" -- sigh. So when the woman died, Ruby joined our family.

First we discovered that she is also in the Diabetic Club -- what the heck is up with that?! And most recently we have found a mouth ulcer that we are treating and hoping is not something really bad. Ruby likes to hide in her secret Kitty Condo so no picture just yet but she is a cute elderly tabby cat with white paws.

Having Dear Husband here is very helpful! Not only did he help me practice obedience by being a pretend judge, but he took some fun pictures of our training session today -- I thought you might enjoy seeing what we are up to these days -- all pictures were taken in the training yard.

Zoey is an agility fiend, as we all knew she would be. She is afraid of nothing and LOVES to work. I am not jumping her yet, although she does run through the uprights of the jumps -- just no bars are up and won't be for a long time (she is still a baby, after all). Here is Zoey on the dog walk.

Look closely at this picture -- it is hilarious! This is Zoey doing the table -- and giving me some attitude!

Tunnels are big fun!

At the end of the dog walk and teeter, Zoey stops and has to keep at least one toe on the piece of equipment -- she LOVES this game.

Here is Zoey on the teeter.

Okay, now we move on to obedience. For those of you who rush their dogs -- here is Asia who has been learning to heel for a good part of a year -- we still do only straight lines with no automatic sits. Separately we work a variety of little pieces she will need to have perfect heeling -- like learning to move just her butt one direction or another. Asia will show in obedience in the spring, having spent almost 18 months learning to heel and mark my words, she is going to be something special as a result of going carefully and slowly through this learning process.

Although I have certainly taken my time with Cadi's obedience work, I have not focused as much on it as I do with Asia since Cadi is more of my agility dog. However, I have decided it is time -- ready or not (more not) -- and she is entered in a show in two weeks to try for novice obedience legs. Here is Cadi heeling -- a very BALD Cadi heeling.

And here is Halo heeling -- she is a wonderful heeling dog! Halo is getting ready for utility, which is the highest obedience class.

This is Halo working on scent articles -- the correct one is #6, which she got :)

And here is Halo marking the spot across the ring that she will run to for her "go out".

Finally, some people have the strange idea that dogs prefer to just sit on the couch -- this is a picture of Asia racing to the training yard, SO excited that she gets to "work".

I hope something in your life is as interesting and exciting as training is for my girls but if not -- well, get busy!

Just Some Pictures

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:11:00 +0000

You know it is going to be a good day when it starts off with a rainbow!

And Dear Husband arrived a couple of days ago for a visit -- we were all very happy to see him!

Cadi and Asia wanted to take Dear Dog Dad on our favorite river hike -- so off we went.

Seriously lovely -- wouldn't you agree?

I am usually behind the camera but with Dear Husband here, I got to be in some pictures with my girls :)

I love that sweet Asia!

Asia was pleased to show off her excellent skills in the water.

Don't let Cadi's wet head fool you -- we know where Sydney's aversion to water comes from! Cadi's head is wet from rain and not from frolicking in the river with Asia.

I hope you are having an excellent weekend and that frolicking is on the agenda!

Got Faith? Yes and No

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:28:00 +0000

I have been meaning to update you all about Faith for some time and since it was requested, I guess now is the time.

Faith was our very small puppy that we worried about from the F litter. Instead of placing her, we kept her to make sure she was okay and Galen (my son) took her on as his. Well, Galen started college and was very busy, Faith just really loved me and soon I had seven dogs, which was not working for me or for the dogs!

It became clear that Faith was a perfectly normal puppy, and so last May I decided that if a perfect home came along for Faith -- one in which her love and devotion for a person would not have to be shared very much -- that I would let her go. This made Galen and I very sad to even think about but seven dogs -- including three puppies -- was too much, even for me.

Soon after the perfect home appeared -- I guess Faith stayed with us only until Julie was ready for her. Many tears were cried and we still miss Faith, but we also know that her path was not to be with us forever and so we let her go -- and she has brought great joy to her new life.

Faith lives in Park City, Utah with Julie. I asked Julie to write an update about Faith for you and she was happy to do so -- so here it is:

"Faith is fabulous. . . she's so beautiful that she literally stops traffic when we walk. A few weeks ago she and her big (little) brother, Booker T. Washington (2-1/2 year-old cock-a-poo) visited the groomer. The groomer called me the minute they were finished because they really needed me to pick up Faith -- they couldn't work on the other dogs because people kept stopping to ask about Faith.

So far, knock on wood, Faith hasn't swallowed anything. However, when school started up, each day I'd come home and pause before opening the door wondering what I'd find on the other side. . . somedays it was just a seam ripped on the leather couch . . . others, whole cushions were scattered about the living room and stuffing strewn.

My very sweet dog walker left a Dr. Foster/Smith catalog and suggested the diffuser with calming natural oils. When that didn't work, I bought the biggest crate Petco had . . . Faith seems very content in her crate with stuffed Kong toys.

At night, Faith prefers the cool slate floor in my master bath to the bed. She settles into a long stretch and starts to snore. That's my favorite sound in the world. I love to listen to her dream.

When Faith's ready to get up (usually just before my 5:00 am alarm), she comes over and pushes her cold nose on mine and says, "Mom, I'm here. Love me, please." Then, after a few scratches behind the ears, she jumps up onto the pillows, walks in a few circles and collapses with a sigh for a few extra minutes in bed.

Faith is filled with unconditional love.

She's still a big floppy puppy that doesn't have any idea about her size. She sees Booker in my lap and thinks that's the appropriate place for her, too. (And, of course, she's right.) The minute I sit, she's there with her brown eyes and smile asking, "is there room for me?" She puts her front paws on my lap and climbs up . . .in fact, I had to stop typing just now because she was between the computer and me. Now, she's chewing on Booker under the table."

Julie sent these pictures to share:

So Faith has her very own person and a canine brother and a wonderful human grandma that we got to meet, and she has lots of friends. We miss her still and I know Galen feels badly, but I believe we did what we were supposed to do to get Faith to her forever person.

And so that is Faith's story -- I know it shouldn't, but it still makes me sad...

Falling into Fall

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:43:00 +0000

Welcome to fall! The view from the deck is different but lovely in a new way -- can you see one of the Ed's in the picture?

It has been a busy week since arriving home and so I appreciated today. I stayed home all day, did therapeutic cleaning, walked, trained and groomed dogs, and just enjoyed a break.

We missed a BIG congratulations -- Molly and Fiona (from the D Litter) recently got their Open Standard agility title -- GREAT JOB girls! Molly, age 14, is a wonderful handler and Fiona is lucky to have such a dedicated owner :)

Zoey's preliminary OFA results arrived today -- normal elbows and good hips :) :) And here she is playing her favorite game -- fetch.

Unfortunately I threw the toy in a tree -- and what do you suppose Air Zoey did??

Sigh... Syd prefers to chew sticks -- even when they are still attached to the bush.

Halo thinks she could get a job hunting for truffles.

And here is Asia.

And full baby sister, Zoey.

And here's hoping your week has been a good one, and that next week is even better!

Happy Birthday B Litter

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Yesterday was the B Litter's seventh birthday. The parents of that litter are Zaltana and Abra, and there were ten in the litter, including our Halo (mom of the E and F Litters). Nine of the ten have achieved veteran status now by celebrating that special seventh birthday -- Happy Birthday to the B Litter bunch!

In honor of Halo's birthday, she got special treats and a walk with just the two of us. Here are a few pictures of Halo from the past few years...

Even if it is not your birthday, I hope your day is a happy one!

Pictures!

msontag@qwest.net (Mary-Ann Bowman) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 02:32:00 +0000

Just a few pictures from the Regional -- thanks to John for taking them!

This is Zoey (and me) with the judge.

This is what the ring scene looked like

One of the Glitterati -- Mika, formerly Ireland, with her mom. Mika looks a lot like Syd and is just as wild and crazy!

This is Asia's littermate, Levi, who lives in California.

And here is Asia getting set up to look pretty :)

We made it home from Reno in 13 hours, which was not bad at all -- and what a pretty drive up through Idaho! Now it is recovery time -- wild weekends take a couple of days of transition time -- and sleep!

Happy Week to you :)