Friday, August 9, 2024

Exciting news! (Part 2)

 To continue with the collies’ exciting updates…

In June our sweet Sophie earned her THDX title, or Therapy Dog Excellent.  This will be her last therapy title, as Sophie doesn’t seem to love it anymore.  If she doesn’t enjoy it, then it’s time to retire her from therapy work.  What she does love, more than anything, is Barnhunt and Scentwork.  Since she enjoys both so much, we have been attending practice classes for fun, and will start entering trials again this Fall.  

Sophie 

Also In June our Peyton earned a 3 point major towards her championship! We are beginning to refocus on conformation shows, as my 3rd grandchild was born this past Winter, and my daughter is now able to handle the collies at shows.  She gave me three beautiful grandchildren in four years, so we just couldn’t make it to many shows. But now that we have started competing again, the collies are so happy!

Peyton

In July, our Maizie won her second major, which finished her championship!  She deserved this title, and would have finished a while back, if we hadn’t taken a hiatus from dog shows.  She gets so happy every time I call her “Champion Maizie”


Maizie

Also in July, our ZuZu won her first major!  With her other minor wins this Spring/Summer, she is well on her way to earning her Championship title!


ZuZu

And most recently, our Ryder earned his last therapy title, THDD.  The Therapy Dog Distinguished title is earned once a dog has completed 400 visits.  Ryder will be turning 13 years old on August 30th, so I am retiring him on September 1st.  He still wants to go on visits, but it’s too hard for him to walk that much.  He has brought so much joy and happiness over his 9 years working as a therapy dog, I know the nursing home residents and staff will miss him.




It’s been a busy Summer, but we have had so much fun!  My Aunt and Uncle came for a visit, all the way from Alaska.  And we have tried to do as many fun things as we can, in the hot, humid weather, as Summer days always pass so quickly.  We still have a few weeks remaining before the season ends and Autumn arrives, and a few more dog shows to attend.  So hopefully we will have more exciting updates to share soon!


5 comments:

  1. Your dogs are all so special and so gifted and so handsome and having said that, I know it's a lot of hard work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. What wonderful accomplishments for all your dogs! I love how in tune you are with them and taking them at their own speed and watching them accelerate! Good luck with all your trials.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow! You and your pups sure have been busy and so successful. Maybe you could get a wagon for Ryder to ride in so you could still take him on occasional therapy visits? We bet he would have fun and the residents would enjoy it too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Java Bean: "Ayyy, you seem to have packed a whole year into the summer! And then some!"

    ReplyDelete
  5. Congratulations! That’s quite a commitment to achieve all those titles!

    ReplyDelete