Lilly

Can you tell mother (Vinlands Piaf - Pila) from her daughter (Vinlands Lille-Mora - Tjok)?

One lives in Europe with Christine; the other lives in North America with me.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Of course you should never feed your dog scraps from the table. HA!! That's really hard to do if you have a dog like Lee! Sylvia tries so hard to be good but who could resist a dog like him?

Herding Icelandic

Here are a couple of photos of a female Icelandic Sheepdog puppy named Paeja. She was born in February, 2011 on a working ranch and ended up on a farm where she is doing what she loves doing - herding sheep. Her mentors include Suzanne and a seasoned Border Collie.

Isn't Paeja lovely?

I came across this saying, apparently a Balkan proverb, according to a great article by Louis Menard entitled "Getting Real" in the November 14, 2011 New Yorker:

"It is permitted to you in time of great danger to walk with the devil until you have crossed the bridge."

I have a question: Once one has crossed the bridge, what does one do with the devil who continues to bedevil our lives?

Autumn

It's November 13 and we have still had only one frost. Even this late the garden is still lovely as long as one doesn't expect the so-called perfect flowers and plants. First they don't exist any more than the perfect person or dog or horse etc. exists.

I was reminded that today is/was Christine's birthday. I value her friendship over the years. We have shared many joys and sorrows. I wished I lived close to Christine and Richard so I could see her more often. She always, always lifts my spirits - not an easy thing to do.

The bonsai pomegranate entirely nude of its leaves is lovely with its twisted trunk, the gingko bonsai with its yellow leaves, the young barberry with its red leaves, the autumnally yellow-brown Hosta and the euonymus with its shockingly red fall leaves, etc. all make for a wonderful season.

I remember well a fall we had many years (decades) ago where David, Bill, Louise and I met at a campground for Thanksgiving turkey done outside on a grill. (Thanksgiving comes on the fourth Thursday in November here.) The yellow and brown leaves were still on the Oaks and Hickories and the weather was mild. It was amazing. To this day it's hard to believe that it really happened but it did.

There are two sets of rules:

1. for them

2. for the rest of us

Parents

These are the parents of the litter on the previous post. Both parents are HD-Fri A. All four grandparents are HD-Fri too. (Mom is the top photo, dad the bottom one.)

If you might be interested, they could hitch a ride to the US as soon as this Thursday. Contact me so I can connect you to the breeder.

If they miss this travel opportunity, they can still get here.

My email is below the photos.

Clicking on the photos enlarges them. You may have to click on "Show original" once or twice.

jaimehansen1@comcast.net

Nice puppies

These beautiful Icelandic Sheepdog puppies, four males and a female, are available from the breeder.

From top to bottom: -

Thorkatla Thumalina is a tricolor female
Palli Putti is a tan male with a white collar
Dolli Dropi is a tricolor male with a blaze and a spot on his forehead
Tumi Thumall is a tan male
Svarti Skuggi is a tricolor male

Both parents have HD-Fri A hips as do two of the grandparents. The other two are HD-Fri B and HD-Fri. The double coats are thick. Notice the great bone structure, the good toplines, the placement of the feet. They are excellent examples of the breed and should do very well in performance homes and the breed ring.

I'll post photos of the parents and the pedigree in my next post.

Send me an email if you might be interested and I'll connect you to the breeder who is willing to ask a fair price. I would love to have one or two of these puppies for myself.

jaimehansen1@comcast.net

Vinlands Piaf, CGC, RN, RA, RE

Pila finished her American Kennel Club Rally Excellent title under AKC Judge Marilyn Tomaszewski this past weekend at Sportsmen's Dog Training Club's 93rd all breed obedience trial. Pila also earned her first leg towards her Beginner Novice title.

Pila has started training in agility at Canine Community Center owned by Linda Brady with Instructors Rita, Jen and Linda. In a year or so we may be ready to start trialing.

Check out these photos from Cathi Winkles' Photography.

(Clicking on photos may enlarge them. If you get a black background screen, click on "Show original" and then click on photo again.)

The second photo shows Pila is the "Honor" position in Rally Excellent. When she's working, she usually folds her ears back - I'm guessing that reduces drag so she can run faster - ha!