June 2023 - I am realizing that I am woefully behind updating my What's New Page
I think I'll just go down by dog and update how they spent the Covid years :-)
Sorry the update is on the long side.
Fresca - stately old lady of the house. She is heading to her 15th Birthday this summer
Willow - she loves hanging out with the family and going for walks. She turned 11 last
month and loves her retirement years.
Timber - lives life to the fullest. He is as goofy at almost 6 years old, as he was at 2. Covid years
have seen him retire from active competitions, but he is still enjoying fall hunting season.
Jessie - she had a busy Covid shut down. What was meant to be a couple of months of training turned into over a year in the US due to border shut downs. She was busy though and visited Lois at Heart and Soul Retrievers in NH. While in the US she attained her Junior Hunter title and worked through advanced training. When she arrived back in Canada I entered her in hunt tests and she achieved her Junior Hunter, her Working Certificate and her Working Certificate Intermediate. She also in one weekend played in the conformation ring, obedience ring and rally ring - achieving points towards her conformation title, her Rally Novice title and her Pre-Companion Dog title. A couple of weeks later we entered another weekend and completed her conformation title. In a very short period of time she started and finished SEVEN titles! She is taking this spring off to have a litter of pups (our first chocolate babies) and then may play in the US show ring with her breeder/co-owner Susan.
Ailyn - our first German Shepherd Dog in over 20 years and we love having the breed back in the house. Ailyn hit the ground running as a Junior Puppy in the conformation ring - her first weekend out she placed in the herding group twice, once was a Group 1st that put her in contention for Best in Show. She didn't win the big ribbon, but it was the start of a great show career for this lovely young dog. She finished her Championship on her second weekend out and had multiple group placements and wins during 2021. She achieved all the points for her Grand Championship before her first birthday. She finished 2021 as #10 German Shepherd in Canada.
In 2022, she spent 6 weeks with her handler showing in eastern Ontario/Quebec and placed in the group 5 of the 6 weekends against some of the top Herding dogs in Canada. With the minimal shows in 2022 she finished as #6 German Shepherd in Canada and completed her Grand Champion Bronze title.
I look forward to having pups with her later this year.
Wheewwww .... that was a long update
June 2020 - Timber and I have ventured back out into field work, and he accomplished his Working Certificate Excellent. We are training towards his Senior Hunter and hope to run some tests towards that. Maybe later this year there will be some obedience trials to work on his Companion Dog and Rally Advanced :-)
Spring 2020 What a change the world has undertaken this year. Due to the ongoing concerns with global health, there have been challenges we are all facing. Timber and I have worked along with his obedience and he is ready to trial the next level in obedience as soon as the world starts interacting in group settings again. Its hard to say when isolation protocols will be lifted, but until then we have two new additions we are also enjoying. Delta and Jessie are having a great time growing, learning and pestering the big dogs.
August 2019 - Our summer is quickly coming to an end, but we are trying to keep busy. Timber was successful at the Atlantic Labrador Retriever Club's annual Working Certificate test and now has his Working Certificate Intermediate :-)
A couple of weeks later, we took our final trip down to Maine where Timber ran his 4th hunting test and passed! What a great summer he's had - three new hunting titles!! We can't thank Matt at Maritime Dog Training enough for all of his hard work this summer. Now to get his mind back into obedience work LOL
July 2019 - I met up with Matt (Maritime Dog Training) and Timber and headed to the Sunpoke Hunting Retriever Club where Timber did a great job finishing his Junior Hunter title.
Then a couple of weeks later, Timber and I headed back to Maine and attended the Penobscot Hunting Retriever Club's tests and came home with two more ribbons towards our American JH title. One more to go!
June 2019 - Timber, JP and I headed to the Maine Retriever Club to try our hand at an AKC hunt test. A few minor differences, but he was successful and brought home his first ribbon. Thanks to the club members and judges for making the token Canadians feel comfortable and welcome.
April 2019 - Fredericton Kennel Club shows - Timber and I had a busy weekend running from ring to ring :-) at the end of the weekend from the obedience and rally rings he came home with 2 ribbons towards his Pre-Companion Dog obedience title, 2 ribbons towards his Rally Novice title. From the conformation ring he came home with one Best of Breed and 3 Select placements. For a young dog he did a good job keeping his mind in which ever game we were playing LOL
March 2019 - spring is coming upon us quickly. We have had a quiet winter with the dogs. Timber has spent the winter working on his obedience skills and will spend the summer working on his hunting skills.
October 2018 - What a great month we have had. Cooler weather, duck hunting season is open and things are quieting down a bit before winter.
Timber's brother Oliver has been as busy in Nova Scotia - he has completed the first two levels of Rally Obedience and has achieved titles for Rally Novice and Rally Intermediate. Congrats to Annette and Oliver! These two boys are doing great things for their young age of 14 months. We are excited to see them in the future.
The ALRC had a visiting cardiologist in and Timber passed his heart clearance!
Timber, Willow and I headed to Charlottetown for our final show weekend of the year - Timber entered in 4 shows picked up Best of Breed/ Best of Winners for the final points to complete his Championship. Then went on to garner a Best of Opposite Sex and two Select wins. Willow entered in 3 shows was Select in each. Thanks go out to my friend Heather from Jackson Goldens for helping out when I ended up with two dogs in the ring :-)
September 2018 - Well the fall is upon us. This coming weekend is our local club's final hunting trial and the following weekend is the Labrador Retriever Club of Canada / Atlantic Labrador Retriever Club National and Regional Specialty shows! Well over 100 Labradors all in the same place - It will be a great weekend of showing, obedience trials and hunting. We are excited to catch up with friends near and far.
Sunpoke Hunting Club's final test of the year - Timber collected 2 of the required 3 passes towards his Junior Hunter title, and Aspen collected the first of her passes. Next year should be fun with these two!
LRCC / ALRC specialty shows in PEI - Timber placed well in both shows and then went on to get his Working Certificate the next day. What a great weekend he had!
June 2018 - It's been a busy month around here :-)
Aspen was out for 4 training days with a friend and our local hunting club - and obtained her first title. She now has her Working Certificate
Willow, Timber and I attended the local show in Oromocto. Willow completed her Grand Champion title taking a Select bitch win three of four shows. Timber picked up Best of Opposite Sex three of four shows and is quickly finishing his Championship title
May 2018 - a quick trip to the Moncton Kennel Club show where Timber won his puppy class all 4 shows, a Winner's Dog and a Reserve Winner's Dog
April 2018 - Timber and I were off to the Fredericton Kennel Club shows where he picked up a Group 3rd and Best Puppy in Group - not bad for a naughty 7 1/2 month old boy.
February 2018 - well the 2018 show season is upon us. We have spent the last month or so actively in classes with Maple and Timber working on their basic manners and thinking about rally and obedience trials later this summer.
September 2017 - update to Litters page for a young dog available
August 2017 - Maple and I took in two of the three days at the New Brunswick Kennel Club shows and she pulled off 4 more points and finished her Canadian Championship! Her new pic is on her page - go see it!
June 2017 Maple and Willow were both off to the Oromocto Kennel Club shows and both did well. Willow garnered 3 Best of Breeds, a Group 2 and Group 4 wins and is over 1/2 way to her Grand Championship. Maple picked up a few more points towards her show title. Huge thanks to handling help to my friend Heather Jardine of Jackson Goldens.
May 2017 Wow! It's been a busy spring - the babies have all been doing great in their new families; Maple was off to her first shows as a big girl and garnered her first points towards her championship.
Jan 2017 Babies are growing and learning everyday. They have learned that the vacuum is not a huge monster LOL
Dec 18th/16 Babies have arrived! :-)
Dec 2016 - down to the last few days until the puppies are due. We will make sure to update again when they arrive!
Nov 2016 - so excited to announce that we are expecting puppies mid-December! Willow's litter has been confirmed via ultrasound :-)
Nov 2016 - Aspen had her first trip to a dog show as we headed out to the Moncton Kennel Club shows. She had a great time, met lots of new 2 and 4 footed friends and will be back in the spring when she grows up a little.
Oct 2016 Opening day of duck season and Willow was out hunting ducks with JP. She's tired and wet, but had lots of fun.
Sept 2016 - And now we have another new addition - Aspen :-) Go check her out
July 2016 - We have a new addition - Maple!!! Check out her page ;-)
Feb 2016 - we have been keeping quiet this winter and Willow came in season earlier this month. She has been bred and as soon as pregnancy is confirmed via ultrasound we will post puppy info :-)
September 2015 - Miramichi Kennel Club and Willow finished her championship in style with a Group 3rd win in the Sporting group among some lovely dogs.
July 2015 - Off to PEI for the Lady Slipper Kennel Club and 2 more points. One last point is all she needs.
June 2015 - Out for Willow's first conformation shows at the Oromocto Kennel Club and she placed in the ribbons all weekend, coming home with 7 of the 10 points needed for her Canadian Championship. Yeah Willow!
May 2015 - Again in a weekend Willow and I completed her Rally Excellent (RE) title at the Moncton Kennel Club trials.
April 2015 - Willow and I completed her Rally Advanced (RA) title at the Fredericton Kennel Club shows
Winter 2014 - Will be a quiet winter around here and will consist of training, waiting for her next season ;-) Lots of excitement coming this spring.
Oct 2014 Waterfowl opening day !! Willow and I went out with Josh and our friend Burt for opening day. Burt was a great shot, and Willow was a great retriever - done and headed back in by 0730. She brought back 2 injured - and one tried to walk away from us LOL.
Sept 2014 Willow and I were off to the Miramichi Shows to work on her Rally Advanced. We achieved the first two legs on that title, and she just needs one more for her next title. It will probably be next spring when she finishes as she'll be in season for the next round of shows.
Aug 2014
At the Kennebecasis Obedience Club obedience trials Willow c0mpleted her CD title in three straight trials including a High in Trial (HIT) at the regional Labrador specialty! We were very excited to say the least.
July 2014
Willow had her hips and elbows x-ray'd for her final clearances - she passed with no problems.
Willow and I were off to the Sunpoke Hunting Retrieving Club to do our Working Certificate (WC) test again in preparation for trialing for our Junior Hunter (JH) title in July. She passed her WC again :-) and then passed her JH in 3 straight trials with her final leg coming during Hurricane Arthur!
Our next competition will be her Companion Dog (CD) - we've been training with Sue at K9Play and hope to achieve this title in the fall.
May 2014 Willow had her annual eye exam and cleared with no concerns :-)
Dec 2013 - Tribute to Maddie
This past weekend I lost my heart dog and even though we have lost dogs over the years there is just no comparison at loosing "the one". To everyone she was known as Maddie, but to her "family" she was affectionately known as "Old Dog", "Miss Maddie", "Hey You" and occasionally when she got into the open garbage can as "Dumb Ass". She arrived from Stephen and Leslie Storey on the Canada Day long weekend in 2000, and has been our faithful friend ever since.
Being 6 months younger than Marieke, she has grown up with the trials and tribulations of a girl growing from toddler into a teen. She was dressed up in tutus, drug around the yard as Meke's "show dog", and ridden like a pony. Josh was her partner in crime for letting her lick ice cream bowls and finding the muddiest spot to play in. She was an ever tolerant puppy raiser and had patience of a saint while helping teach the German Shepherd, Golden Retriever and Labrador pups over the years, how to play, swim and to pick apples off the trees in the orchard.
For JP she was a faithful hunting companion and bed snuggler. They spent many an hour together in the duck blind, watching the skies, often pretending to hunt, but really just spending time together.
For me she was an ever present shadow. She was patient while I was learning with her, and I never realized her full potential as a competition dog, but we did as a family companion. She was my first therapy dog, and enjoyed doing visits with the seniors right up until the end. She LOVED meeting people and would make it her mission to cover them in yellow Labbie hair by rubbing around their legs like a cat.
Perfect from the day she arrived, until the day she left us. There will never be another like her, though I'm sure others will try hard. I will miss her everyday.
In memory of our awesome "Old Dog" officially known as
Stormar's Poet Laureate CGN, CD, RE, WC, JH May 14, 2000 - Dec 14, 2013
September 2013 - In August Willow and I headed out to the Kennebecasis Obedience Club trials and she obtained her Rally Novice title in three straight trials! She is now Lobuff's Startin' Over CGN, WC, RN. We are hoping to work on her next level later this fall.
July 2013 - Willow and I have had a busy start to our summer. She obtained her CGN (temperament test) as well as her first hunting title - her WC (Working Certificate). We are hoping to work on her Rally titles this fall as well. In September we will be off to a Ward Falkner competitive obedience seminar and are really excited about learning new techniques!
April 2013 - Well we have had a nice quiet winter. The maritime show season is just starting up and we are hoping to get Willow out working on some obedience titles at the local Specialty next month. We have been working away at the basics so hopefully it will fall into place.
Nov 2012 - Fresca and I headed to Moncton the first weekend of the month for the last trials of the year. She did a great job with scores of 96, 99 and a perfect 100 to get her Rally Novice title in 3 straight trials. Then we thought we would up the humor level and move her to the next level - it included jumps and she's never seen one or been over one LOL So, after a little cajoling she finally decided she was able to go over it - but it cost us 10 points. She now has her first leg towards the next level. In the spring we will pick off the next two, but in the meanwhile we'll work on some high and broad jumps.
Sept-Oct 2012 Willow and I have been taking a "foundations" type obedience class aimed at starting out those dogs for competition obedience vs the regular obedience classes. So far she is doing smashingly! She has great comprehension for what we are learning and is a blast to work with. If all goes well she'll live up to her pedigree and have titles on both ends of her name.
This month we also has both Maddie and Willow out for duck hunting season. Maddie is a great old gal to teach Willow the ropes. They both have made retrieves for us so we can't complain.
August 2012 - Fresca and Sue met up again a couple of days before the Kennebecasis Obedience Club trials and then pulled off a well deserved 183/200 for that final leg for her CD title. She's not fast or pretty, but she completed it. Huge thanks goes out to Sue for all her hard work - LOL trialing a one-paced, set in her way Labrador is definitely different than the average Australian Shepherd!
Maybe in November Fresca, Clipper and I will all enter some rally trials in Moncton and work on Novice for Fresca and get that last leg on Advanced for Clipper.
July 2012 - Fresca is away on a sleep over with our friend Sue Bosence getting some remedial obedience work done. We are aiming to have her ready to trial for her CD by the end of the month :-) Now that she's been retired she gets to play with the fun things.
At the Fredericton Kennel Club Sue and Fresca completed two of the three required scores for her CD title. Just need one more! Fresca is home for a few weeks before her next trial.
June 2012 - Clipper's final xrays were completed last month and her results are back - hips Good/ elbows Clear!! Wheew :-)
Fresca was entered in the Oromocto Kennel Club dog show and received the nod for Winners Female and garnered 2 points towards her Championship
May 21, 2012 - Clipper spent the weekend with her handler in Amherst, NS at the show and finished her championship title!! Way to go girls :-)
May 6, 2012 - Clipper and I were off to the Moncton shows and obedience trials for the weekend. In the process we managed to get her first official working title in three straight trials. She completed her Rally Novice (RN) obedience title in three straight tries. A Rally title has three levels of difficulty - each level requires a passing score (70 or higher out of 100) three times, and of those three times one of them has to be given to you by a different judge than the other two. Clipper is ready to move up to the next level now :-)
April 2012 - Clipper is getting ready to try for her Rally Novice title at the Moncton Kennel Club trials.
Feb 2012 - We have puppies!! See the Litters page for more info