Shepherd Sight

See See fetching at the beach

The last time I took See See to the beach, she lacked the confidence to go in the water on her own. Last Thursday was a different story! After a few minutes, she decided she loved the water. Fetching a ball was the perfect incentive.

At Piankatank River Beach

From the sandbar to the beach

She’s not swimming yet, but she will get there! I love this dog. I can’t wait to breed her. She should produce lovely and loving puppies. She will be coming into heat any day now.

See See got a bath as soon as we got home. Somehow, she smelled like dead fish! Her coat is coming back in nicely after shedding out for the season. Shiny and thick!

Johnny got his last qualifier for his CD today!

The judge is handing us the qualifying ribbon.

Here we are with the judge who’s holding my new title ribbon, 2nd place ribbon, and qualifying score ribbon.

Johnny will be 10 years old on the 30th of this month. He is glad to be done with obedience performance. I will not be pursuing any more titles with Johnny, but I will be training with Winston in higher levels of obedience, and eventually with Clyde and See See.

I am a firm believer in obedience training. You can’t have a really large dog and not have decent obedience skills. Johnny has always known basic obedience, but I didn’t pursue getting a title on him until recently. He has a lackadaisical attitude that doesn’t do well in the obedience ring, as far as high scores go. But he really does want to please me, and you can tell he does the obedience stuff just for me because he loves me. And I love him beyond all reason.

Yay Johnny!!!!!

See See got to go to York River Beach!

We had a good time looking at the water and boats. People petted her, and she always likes that. She needs to go more often to get used to the water and wave sounds.

Dogs are not really allowed off leash, but she didn’t bother anyone.

I tried to get her to follow me in but eventually had to use the leash.

See See is not sure of herself in the water yet, but you can tell she will be ok once she gets used to it.

Clyde goes to Buckroe Beach and to a seafood restaurant

Clyde was not too happy with the waves but liked the coolness of the water. He was a perfect gentleman at the restaurant where we sat on the shady deck. We’ve been practicing show stacking everywhere to condition him to new environments.

Show stacking on the deck at the restaurant

Deadrise is a funny name for a restaurant. They did have good seafood.

I brought a rug onto the deck so Clyde would be comfortable. The staff was great with having a dog at their outdoor seating area.

Clyde was so good with random people walking right by.

Ranger, formerly Maverick

Ranger is one of Clyde and See See’s littermates. Doesn’t he have great ears? They didn’t need any tape! I think he is very handsome. He belongs to Tammy, who sent me these great pics. Thank you, Tammy!

Winston goes to the Beach

Last Monday, Winston got to go to Sandbridge, the Virginia portion of the Outerbanks. The sand was soft, the sky was blue, and Winston got to fetch a stick out of the water. He had a blast and slept good that night!

My friend Claudia, the warrior, still fighting the fight, with Jet

Claudia got Jet from a breeder out of state, a friend of a friend of mine, about a year ago. He was a potential show prospect, but he didn’t mature as the breeder had hoped. So Claudia got picked for his new home to be a pet. Her two beloved German Shepherds had recently passed away, and she was ready to give her love to a new young dog. Claudia has always had German Shepherds, and she couldn’t do without one for long, even during her persistent illness. I got these pics during her visit today, when she brought condolences due to my loss of Nellie.