Hardy and Jerry share a special run

Sorry, no videos, but last Thursday after Hardy's second run of the afternoon at herding practice, Jerry followed me to the car and said that the last run was very special - that he and Hardy were developing a nice rapport and both he and Hardy had a lot of fun. He repeated this a couple of times, and seemed touched by the connection in that last run of the afternoon.

He was referring to Hardy herding, then going over to Jerry to ask for instructions, then herding, then going over to Jerry to see what he wanted him to do, then herding...

Our First Sam

Here are some pictures of Chynda. We got her in 1983. That makes 25 years of Sams! She was a show quality puppy, though we did not show her. We had kids of our own after getting her, and we didn't think about showing. She had two puppies, Marble and something (the kids named them.) I wish I knew the name of the stud dog Mrs. Coulter used, just for fun. Chynda was from Whitecliff Samoyeds in the bay area.

Chynda was lovely and sweet. Matt would walk around with a hamburger in his hand, as a tiny tot, out by the pool, and Chynda would just follow along behind him, never trying to steal it, though ever hopeful it would drop...

Hardy in Ventura

Hardy, David and I ventured to Ventura for the dog show this weekend. We had fun, even though we didn't win. I stayed all day Saturday and watched Carlos win Best-in-Show with Hector, which was very exciting. Hardy showed well, and we were all happy about that! Tracy did a great job grooming him - he was so fluffy and pretty. We met some really nice people, including the owner of the pretty girl who beat Hardy, June Scott. I love her laugh :)

Hardy Goes to Weekly Herding Practice

Hardy had a good time yesterday doing his weekly herding. It went two rounds. Here's a video from the first one.

Hardy's Ad

Carlos asked us if we would put an Ad in the special annual handler's issue of this dog magazine, so we did. We didn't write the copy - Carlos and Shirley did. Very cute.

Herding Success

David took Hardy to herding practice yesterday and he was his old self, herding like he was born to it. Of course, after last week's preference for playing with Jerry's puppy over doing his job, there was no camera around to capture the strong herding performance yesterday. Ha ha.

Photos of Sams at Indio on Friday, January 2

Easiest to just post all the photos here, and direct my friends to this posting. Also

We didn't enter because Hardy isn't ready for majors. And he really DOESN'T look like any of the dogs we saw there :)

There are also photos of Lynette Blue and her winner Riski, as well as Wil's nephew, Rocky, who beat out Tug for Breed.

Hardy's Birthday

We took Hardy to herding practice today, and he wasn't much interested in herding, though from the video below, you'd think he was out of his mind with anticipation. He was very excited to be there, but didn't stay focused on his job when out in the pen with Jerry. He did a bit of herding, then went to the fence to visit the other dogs.

During his second round, Jerry let his puppy out there with Hardy, and Hardy enjoyed chasing/herding the puppy and ignored the sheep. I guess shepherds have good days and bad days, but I imagine on the bad days, a few sheep wander off for good!