In Memoriam: BISS Am/Can Ch Laureate Louisiana

 

 

"LuAnne" was special from the start. Our smallest puppy that ever survived weighing only 2 1/2 ounces at birth, she was also our first blue. I stayed in the whelping area for three days making sure she was nursing. We both thought she was the most beautiful puppy we had ever seen with a long elegant neck, and her beautiful structure was evident. We were so in love with this new baby and yet knew she was fragile we didn't take any photos of her until 7 weeks of age.  Above was the first photo we took of her.

 

 

Pictured at 8 weeks old

 

At my Mom's cottage...she loved to cuddle. :-)

 

 

After winning the ASSA over 12 year Veteran's class and Award of Merit ASSA 2009

 

 

 Our beautiful girl at 14 years old...

 

 Just before her 16th birthday

 

LuAnne grew up to be a breeders favourite and had an enviable show record at Specialties and was a Canadian National Breed winner and ASSA Best of Opposite. Not only was she a successful show girl, she was most importantly our constant companion.  

 

 

 

It's hard to believe she is gone...she has been such a huge part of our lives for over 16 years.  It is still too close to bring up memories without tears, so this post is rather shallow.  However I didn't want to let it go without some sort of tribute, no matter how small.  We want to thank all our friends from around the world for their kind e-mails, cards, flowers and acknowledgement of our special girl.  While there is a huge void, we feel so lucky to have shared our lives with such a beautiful gentle soul.



It Was a Dark and Dreary Day

So I decided to make the most of it and take the dogs out before their dinner

Finn in centre

Trix has her (evil) eye on someone

Away at the races.  Sushi (tri in foreground) was funny, she was right by my side the whole time.  I think she wanted to make sure I was going to feed her!

There is always some snarly face games...especially with Stormy.  I could do an album with her showing her teeth at the others.  I never scold her, as it never escalates.  When she sees me she smiles and dances, you'd never know she was such a rip snorter!

Valerie and Cocoa, Finn and Eva and Miley on the right

Eva, the pack leader with a breakaway group

Finn and Miley...the snow making their coats look yellow in comparison

Wet sticky sloppy snow cleaned them up pretty well...

Mayer checking on Foo and Boo (LuAnne) left in the house while they were out

A few others come and see what the fuss is about...

The great thing about bringing them out for a run before dinner is they are quick to come in the door.

LuAnne's 15th Birthday

We had a great celebration for our beautiful "LuAnne"...aka MBISS Am/Can Ch Laureate Louisiana.  I have lots of pictures in an album on Facebook, sharing them there as so many of our friends gave me some good suggestions for the cake...it was sweet potato shortcake this year with greek yogurt instead of whipped cream.  Happy Birthday our sweet "Boo", hope you have many more!

Summer Solstice

It was a hot and humid day for the start of summer. I waited until supper time to take the group out for a run.

I haven't let LuAnne out on our walks lately, but she wanted to tag along; she'll be 15 years old on the 27th of June.  I thought it was neat to see her standing watch over the youngsters which were all her descendants; Eden and Sushi her great-granddaughters and Trix is her great-great granddaughter.

Pete has mowed the perimeter of our fields but our guys like to go through the long grass

It was difficult to photograph them as I was losing them in the grass!

Love this shot of Finn with the wild flowers, his tongue the colour of clover.

The boys in the field

Evan coming into view

Finn having a rip roaring good time!

Bridgit, Lola , Trix and Mayer darting through the long grasses.  They would leap like gazelles...

Pretty Lola in the newly ploughed field

Lola closing in on Trix

Finn wishing there was water in the ditch...

She May Be Bad But She's Perfectly Good At It

Yesterday was Pete's birthday and we had a nice dinner outside on the deck.  I invited a few friends to join in the festivities.  Rehannah thought the party was put on for her benefit...give me the cake please!!!

Ice cream...my favourite! (How did you know?)

We had a mug that had a cat balancing on one paw doing a handstand.  It said "it's hard to resist such cuteness and talent".  We always said that was our Hannah's motto in life.  I think Rehannah has the same outlook...:-) She may be bad, but we're perfectly fine with it.

Retirement and the Next Generation

We took "LuAnne" (BISS Am/Can Ch Laureate Louisiana) to her last show on Sunday. At every stage of her life, she has been a breeder's dream. She won Best in Specialty Match under the late Mona Hartwig in 1996, and at that show there was a group of breeders that wanted to start a syndicate of ownership; they said we could keep our names on her as well! Haha! She was brought out only once to an all-breed show as a Special and won a Group First. We wanted to reserve her for Specialties and only showed her selectively. So, over the years she won 13 Specialty Bests including the Canadian National, and four BISS at the DCSSA Specialty (every time she was shown). At ASSA, she won Best of Opposite Sex in 2005 and two Awards of Merit from the Veterans Class...in 2006 and 2009.

It was hot and muggy...hard on the old girl. Pete wet some little cloths and put them under her feet to help cool her down.

Line up with BIS Am/Can Ch Shelhaven Sweet Seduction and Todd Foley, BISS Am/Can Ch Toven Rikadon Makin' Waves with Shelley McHugh-Boumans, LuAnne and the Winners Dog, Avebury Grandgables The Graduate with Guy Jeavons.
Tom Coen looking at the dogs from the other side...
Keeping my eye on the judge...

Showing her outline which was always one of her strengths. She still has a strong back, and lovely elevation of head. She won Best in Specialty...a fitting way to end her career!

On Tuesday, LuAnne's great-great granddaughter "Emma" gave birth to a single puppy. We knew there was only one puppy, having had her up to the Vet for an ultrasound and X-Ray. We only hoped the baby would be female; and we are happy to say she is. It took her about two minutes before she took a breath and an hour or so before she was breathing without effort.

Pretty sure she is bi-blue...time will tell. I haven't seen any brown under her tail. My fingers are crosses as that would be so fitting!
Sired by Ch Lynphil Timeless Piece http://www.lynphilshelties.com/jasper.htm

Boo's Birthday Bash

It was LuAnne's birthday today...she turned 14 years old.

A little confession. Like many pet owners our guys all have nicknames. LuAnne has been called "Boo" almost all her life...or Boo Boo. Gabi is Gibby (pronounced Jibby) or Jib Jib.

I wondered what to make for this special occasion. She isn't a real big meat eater...and I wanted to make a cake. Since it is strawberry season, I thought I'd make shortcake. We'd have it with strawberries and I'd put some green beans on hers!. Green beans are her favorite...go figure. It must be why she looks so good!

So we invited a few in to celebrate her birthday...and then a few gate crashers. Joining Boo were Foo (Bunny), Widgie (Bridgit), Junebug (Juno), Mokie (Cocoa) and Paris (but you have to say that with a lisp...Parith).

First were the appetizers...arrowroot biscuits with peanut butter and cottage cheese.

Nom nom. They were messy but a big hit!

More please!

I only gave them one small shortcake to share. I didn't want to deal with upset tums tomorrow...

LuAnne got the majority of it!!!

The cake and whipped cream was the first to go...these guys aren't as fond of the beans as Boo.

It was a good party...Gabi's is next; she'll be 15 on July 17th.