In Memoriam - BPIS Am/Cdn Shelamo's Prospector

It has taken me a bit to compose this .....

January 30, 2000 - September 1, 2013

It was with a heavy heart that my dear "Rock Man" passed in my arms, at home in the wee hours of September 1, 2013.  Both Mike and my mom were here by his side.

He was born into litter of 6 on January 30, 2000 (3 would become Ch's), and little did we know how full he would make our lives.  From the beginning he was my heart dog, always being by my side, watching my every move, and becoming the face of Shelamo kennels from that point forward.

"Rocky" is on the left

He was our Ambassador for our breed here, taking up residency on any new client's lap without asking questions!

There were so many 1st accomplishments he did for us here @ Shelamo .... so many hearts he touched along the way. 

pictured ringside on his way to Grp 4th and BPIS in Nov 2000

photo with thanks to Lloyd Lambert, Pinnacle Shelties

 "Rocky" finishing his Cdn Championship OKC show November 2000 from the Snr Puppy Class over 3 BIS Specials - what a day!

 After a Canadian wide competition he was chosen for the Purina Campaign of Champions (1 of 20).

He was the April boy for the Purina 2002 Calendar and had his picture on their nationwide Show Booth for many years.

 Purina National Dog Show Booth 2010

"Rocky" winning in 2001 at just over a yr of age, against some top group breeds at the time, under respected judge Charles Bett, many of his group placements in limited showing

Thanks to Dr. Sherry Lee, FLA, for taking him under her wing and putting his American Championship on him in 13 shows in the competitive Easter US shows.

 under respected breed judge, Judith Byrne in 2004

 Winning over many specials from the Veteran Class, Best of Opposite at the DC and SSA Spec 2010, respected breeder judge Barry Hastings

He also won the 1st Helen Lovett Memorial Trophy

At the CSSA National 2010 in Saskatoon

 Being groomed by his adoring friend Mary-Anne

In May 2013 his last outing, he went to an evening of a Girl Guides meeting to teach about dogs

attention never waining 

"Rocky" and I January 2013

"Rocky"

 He leaves behind his mother Shelamo's Party Pack ROMC
 (15+ yrs of age)

and to name a few relatives .....

his 1/2 brother

Shelamo's Highland Eagle ADC RN-MCL, RA-MCL, AGN, AGDC, ADDC,AGN, AGI, SMADC, SMTRDC

Shelamo's Main Sail CD RNE
Shelamo Ticket To Success ADC, AGDS, ASDC, MJDC, MSDCS

through his daughter
Ch Shelamo Tyme Descends
her daughters
BPIG Shelamo A Moment Of Tyme (ptd)
Shelamo Tyme For A Mocha
Shelamo Gemstone

MBPIG Ch Shelamo Riding The Wind
daughters
MBPIS BPISS Ch Shelamo Flash Forward
Ch Shelamo Deja Vu
(her daughter MBBPIG Shelamo Bedazzle)

Son thru "Tyme"

BPIS Ch Shelamo's Riding The Sky HIC, SDGC
and son
Shelamo Tow The Line ADC, AGDC, ASDC

Grandson
BPIS Ch Shelamo Changing Winds
------------------------------------------

1/2 sister

RBIS Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack (4 Ch's)

 her 3 daughters (2 Ch's), 2 Ch sons

 
Son
MBPIB Ch Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean 

 

Great Grand Daughters Thru her

Ch Shelamo Rais'n The Bar 

Shelamo Kenna

 

"Casino" would have been one of our dogs at the Bridge to welcome him

So this is where we part, My Friend,
And you'll run on, around the bend.
Gone from sight, but not from mind,
new pleasures there you'll surely find.
I will go on; I'll find the strength,
Life measures quality, not its length.
One long embrace before you leave,
Share one last look, before I grieve.
There are others, that much is true,
But they be they, and they aren't you.
And I, fair, impartial, or so I thought,
Will remember well all you've taught.
Your place I'll hold, you will be missed,
The fur I stroked, the nose I kissed.
And as you journey to your final rest,
Take with you this...I loved you best.
-Jim Willis

A tribute will be done in two weeks on Sheltie Strut.

Thank-you to the vets, Mark & Amanda, now at the Mississippi Animal Hospital for being there from the beginning of his life to the end.

You are sadly missed by Mike and I, dear Bud.  There will be a day we can play again.

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Sheltie Strut - Aug 2, 2013

Our "Raisin" is on this week's Cover of Sheltie Strut!

All proceeds go towards our Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Assoc National 2014.

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Saying Good-bye - BPIB Shelamo The Sentinel (ptd) CCGC, CCGN, CD, MADC, MJDC, ExJ Bronze, MSDC

BPIB Shelamo The Sentinel (ptd) CCGC, CCGN, CD, MADC, MJDC, ExJ Bronze, MSDC

(Ch Arhope Jadeisle Still Dreaming x Arhope Oh Lonesome Me)

 December 20, 1997 - July 29, 2013

As I wrote on Kate Freeman's Facebook page ...

It saddens us deeply to hear that the boy that stole my heart from early on as a promising show dog, now leaves a big hole in so many people's hearts. He has done so much for the sheltie world, as a great ambassador in so many venues. He had a heart bigger than the 'space' that we could give him, and altho it took some 4 years for him to land in the right hands, it couldn't have been a better match with Kate - thank you Linda Howie for your perseverance in getting Kate to come and see him! I could add too, so many stories of his antics - how he figured out how to get onto the table and gobble up the butter; finished off Mike's steak dinner one night, but amazingly left mine! Good BOY! Figured out how to go from a chair, onto a desk, then over the 4' xpen, and down onto the puppy crate, to the floor, to eat a litter of pup's meal! Took me awhile to figure out just how he was standing in the puppy pen, asking to be let out. His excitement to see my mom one day, caused us to have to make a trip to the emerg to have the skin on her shin sown up. Oh Panda, the stories, the fun, the zest for life that you instilled in so many of us, the smiles you put on one judge's face as a Senior Puppy in the show ring, and on children's faces ... the memories will live on with so many of us for a very long time. Kate, may you know I couldn't have asked for a better home to work with this 'brat' and that I will cry with you for awhile. I am SO glad I was able to see him in May. He was a once in a life time dog. You came into the world living through the Great Ice Storm of January 1998, and have left on a Rainbow. Panda you are now free to play in the fields. Pls say hi to the Shelamo gang that has left before you. Hugs Kate.

Linda Howie's Shelamo boy 'Gryhpon' with 'Panda' July 2009

 

 

Panda started his CD title at our CSSA National in Carp, Ontario 2006

RIP Panda

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Sheltie Strut National Advertising

 

 Advertising's from our last CSSA National are now up on Sheltie Strut.

Full CSSA National results can be found here.  Thanks to Pennylynn of Ruffleith shelties for all the hard work she did in bringing this National to 'life' around the world.

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CSSA National 2012

We had the pleasure of attending our CSSA National 2012 in Ancaster, Ontario this past week and we were very pleased with the placement of our dogs.

The first to be shown was our Shelamo A Moment of Tyme in the Junior Puppy Class.  This was her 1st show at just over 6 mths of age and was awarded 2nd place in a competitive class.  This was a special win, a special moment, as I'm sure her dam Ch Shelamo Tyme Descends whom we had to say good-bye to in January was looking down.

We had so many ring side comments on this girl, I thank you.

Then it was our Shelamo She's Got Moxi's turn in the Open Black class where Kim Wendling stepped in for me. Here are some candid photos I was able to take.

"Moxi" in the line up - Hi there judge, what ya got?!

Coming at ya ...

is that chicken for me?!  I'm baiting Kim!

"Moxi" wins her class!

 And not least in Specials our Ch Shelamo Riding The Wind made the 1st cut in the bitches.  She's also a Ch Shelamo Tyme Descends daughter.

At the very end of the National, there are various Parades, one being the Veterans which I do believe there needs to be tissue boxes put out around the ring.  I had the honour of show casing Ch Shelamo's Sure Fire CGN, CD, RE for owner Judy Flanigan.  "Amber's" brother BPIS Am/Cdn Ch Shelamo's Prospector was also to be exhibited, however we didn't have enough room to bring him with us.  Thanks to Evelyn Susin for taking this lovely shot of the two of us.  Judy you should be so proud of the accomplishments you put on the end of her name especially her #22 sheltie 2011 Rally ranking with her at 11.5 yrs of age.

There was one other sheltie there - it did forget to read our standard tho:).  Linda James & her husband of Ravenscourt sheltie did an awesome job of this sheltie topiary that was front and center at the show.  It went up for auction which raised a lot of money for the National, I'm just not sure what size of crate it needed to get home!  Just might have to invite Linda & her husband here for a week to make one for us:)

Great week, enjoyed seeing some very lovely dogs, (believe I found a great mate for "Moxi") friends in shelties that come from afar that we only see every few years, and a congrats to the host club for putting on a well run event.

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Come Take A Peek

Shelamo is proud to be the Feature Breeder for the month of February on Sheltie Strut, helping to contribute to the fund raising efforts of Pennylynn Woodruff, who has been doing an amazing job for our CSSA National event.

Thank-you to Jan & Tim Secord & Mary-Anne Yolkowskie for also contributing.

Our newest AOAC hopeful pictured @ 6wks of age.
We're calling him "Journey"
(Am/Cdn Ch Apple Acres Expedition ROM ROMC x Gralochs Blueberry Tart)

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148th Carp Fair, Ottawa, Ontario

I've lived in this area since 1961, even closer since 1996, and never, ever, do I remember going to the Carp Fair; one always thought of going to our main Exhibition @ Lansdowne Park in Aug. Well, yesterday I met up with friends to watch the heavy horse hitch competition and go for dinner.

Here's a few pics of the 6 horse hitch. What an awesome sight, and the feeling as their hooves thundered past you was an experience in itself ... if I can learn how to properly downsize one of the videos I took so loading isn't an issue, I'll post it.

some 18 horses teams, all standing patiently

liked this team

the winners ~ no idea how they judge them

walking through the other barns ~ ever see chickens with feathered feet?

the grass is always greener on the other side :)

I didn't take pics, but in another area there was a sow with 5 young pigs and at the time we were there, I swear to god, all the times I've been on farms, I've never seen a group of young ones do FRAPS, just like a bunch of puppies @ 8wks of age! They were tearing around, going in no specific direction, altho using the sow as a round about, and one you could tell was more dominant than the rest as it would tend to mount the others & the sow. Ear licks, nuzzling, play bowing ... all the same as puppies. A real good chuckle for sure!

PS ... these grounds were the same as where our CSSA National 2006 was held. This main ring held both our herding & agility competitions. Our 2012 National will be in Ancaster, near London, Ont.

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Saskatoon - Last Day & 3 Days to Home

Am finally finishing our round trip Blog, Ottawa - Saskatoon

Sunday (May 2nd) was a seminar on 'The Art of Presentation', put on by the talented Rod Oshi from BC. No pics, sorry, it was his request. This was an all day seminar. Not only did he cover grooming products, so different & neat way he trains his puppies with one of those lasers, but also a told us stories of his experiences with many of our top shelties in history.

Monday - time to pack up and leave early as we want to make it home in a shorter time frame, as there are 2 dogs to get ready for next weekends dog show in Arnprior. We made sure we had enough Tim Hortons coffee so we could at least make a pot in the mornings before hitting the road. I could not see me drinking the watered down stuff for 2+ days!

On our trip there, I saw this red barn, standing alone in the fields, nothing as far as the eye could see. I just had to stop and take a picture .... WHOOOOOOO Mike said, there it is! Out I get, run cross the 4 lanes of traffic to the other side of the road and take some shots. The sun wasn't in the best position, it would have meant walking some distance in the fields, and time wasn't on our side. The odd time you'd come across a few of these windmills in the fields

We took the same route, crossing into the USA at Portal. We'd been asked many of the same questions each time we did a boarder crossing, but this time was different. The questions became a bit more involved ... have you been on a farm? have you been near farm animals? hummm what's up with this? Officer asked us to pull over 'there' as we'd like to ask you a few more questions. Out came this small older, quiet man to the driver's side and asked if we'd mind taking a 'survey' for the Dept of (some thing like this) Agriculture, Food Safety. More questions on, fruits, veggies, seeds, plants, farms .... then came the dogs and dog food. He wanted to see our dog food and needed to see what was in it and where it was manufactured. So, we dug out. He was looking for any beef or lamb products and anything made in Canada! The only one we had that fit that bill was the Purina One Lamb & Rice Puppy made in Mississauga. So after reading all the labels in detail, he said 'sorry folks, am going to have to take this one.' Luckily Tootsi is good on any food, no diarrhea issues.

Why beef and chicken, is beyond me, and any Customs site I've searched it doesn't say. What I have found is that if the product isn't made in the country you are travelling in, and especially if it's not in its original bag, it is likely to be taken.


So folks, if you're in Canada and travel to the US, make sure you know your food, what's in it (protein source), where it is made and IS in its original bag. If it's Canadian made, make sure your pooch has eaten it all, canned food included, before entering the US! If it's taken, you're going to have to find a place to buy more. And depending on your route, as was ours, there are NO Specialty Pet Stores! So, go check out what Wal-Mart carries and consider what you could feed .... the key here is whether your dog is a picky eater, doesn't have an 'iron' stomach and will get diarrhea easily and where are you going (high density areas where specialty shops would be abundant, or more remote areas where there are none) to buy the food you need. If your food is a special one, there are few places that have it here in Canada, then I'm almost going to guarantee you won't easily find it in the US. In fact, check to see if it is even sold in the US.


We just kept pushing it home. As the afternoon approached I'd get out all the maps, check the Garmin for distances, check the Comfort Inn 'manual of motels' for where the next one was, and then we'd decide which one we'd drive to for the night. The #1 key was it had to be Pet Friendly, and secondly a ground floor. The passenger seat became our office - maps, Trip Ticket from CAA, Comfort Inn Handbook, cell phone, credit card handy, Comfort Inn Privilege's #, passports and of course, the dog's vaccinations & registrations.

The door of our van has all kinds of neat places. I kept my hand lotion handy up top, down below was a slot for an extra coffee mug, bottle of coke, water, and another place for folders, maps, paperwork.

The center console ... more mug/drink slots, a place for the Garmin to rest, down the sides of the seats held more paper items of reference; the floor had room for snackies and my purse sat in the middle for easy access to my wallet for toll $'s, credit cards and anything we women pack into those 'mini' suitcases :)

My lap became the 'dinner tray' as we mostly grabbed our meals and ate 'on the run'. This was dinner on our last leg home.
WOW, have things ever greened up in 1.5 wks! It's now raining and chillier .... guess we brought the Saskatoon weather with us! It is getting hillier, and more scenery, plus more animals hit by cars.

The other thing we started to notice while in the US, and especially with on coming cars some distance away, that looked like a pin in the distance ... what's wrong with this picture??? took a bit, but NO head lights or running lights as we have here in Canada. It is law that all cars must have running lights on during the day. It certainly made for a different 'vision' of on coming traffic.

HOME ... it's only an hour or so away (8:30pm we think) ..... can't wait to sleep in my own bed. We're 'stuck' in 2 positions .. knees bent, along with our lower backs. It takes a few minutes for us to straighten up after getting out of the van. Being in that seated position for some days, over a 1,000 km, one's body is almost set in a different configuration.

Our total trip kilometers was 6,660.7 km ... WOW .... such a good time, seeing new and old friends, neat & different landscapes, birds in their habitats .... home ... was nice to get back.

Thanks Mom, Wilf, and Mary-Anne for holding down the fort and carrying for all our dogs & puppies. Wilf, our antique wagon wheels look just LOVELY, all freshly painted up.

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Saskatoon CSSA National - Day 6-9

Day 6 Thursday (sorry folks got ahead of myself by a day and had to correct some of the info on Day 5, so no you're not reading the post again)

First order of business is my 9:15am appointment to have my nails done. YEAH, get to sit back, relax, and have someone else pamper me. Meanwhile, Mike was at the end of the mall doing laundry.
Decisions, decisions .... how do I want them done?

Just a little 'bling' please.

It's now around noon and we were to meet the National crew, specifically Marge, to help with the set-up of the hall. Mark the Garmin with our destination and off we go. The remainder of the afternoon was spent at the hall. The greeting/eating area needed setting up (a fenced in area, bar tables/stool area with a wooden arch entrance), the ring needed setting up with all the chairs for viewing and other odds and ends. It went fairly quickly with the hands on deck ... Brian Reid the Dir from the Maritimes was there to help also. Once done we worked at unloading and setting up our grooming area. . The 1st part of the show, the Breeder Sweeps was at 6pm and we had 2 dogs entered.

Thursday- the show starts @ 6pm with Breeders Sweep (Puppy, Open & Veteran), judge Larry Ermel.

In preparing Tootsi & Tyme for this show don't I find a TICK! on both of them. 1st time ever I've found them on our dogs. Tyme's was located on the side of her face where dog's have a small set of whiskers. Tottsi, @ just 6mths was still in the moleskin braces & that tick was on the underside of her ear, appearing to still be trying to find a good spot. Both were easily removed and not engorged. I stuck them in a small ziplock to take them in to our vet for identification and Lyme testing, once home.

Tootsi had fun in the ring .... and she christened it! She'd been the easiest one to get to potty, but with the rain and mostly cement parking lot area, she wasn't 'into' going later in the day. At the end of the 'down' on the mat, she promptly stopped and pee'd!!! I was so embarrassed ... it's not like our dogs to have an accident in the ring. OH, well, what can you do .... Brian Reid came to the rescue of being the 'clean-up' person.

Tyme placed 4th in her class of 8 present, and Rocky was 2nd in his class of 4 present.

By the time we finished the show it was late. Not much time to do much, but pack up, X and feed the dogs and call it a night as the Juvenile & Veteran Sweeps, judged by Jo Ann Pavey, would be starting at 8am tomorrow, with the Class dogs for the Conformation show being judged at 1pm, judge by Judy Kelsey.

Zesta shelties were set up beside us. This is a banner done by our good friend Penny Woodruff.

The nights were getting chilly, to the point I wished I'd brought my mittens to walk the dogs.

Friday - a real early start! We were out the door by 6am as the hall opened at 6:30am, so it was a Timmies stop for breakfast again. To get a decent parking spot at the back of the building (a very small lot) arriving early was a must.

We had Tootis entered in the Juvenile Sweeps (9 entries) and Rocky in the Male 10+ Veteran Sweeps. Tootsi got more training :), Rocky was 1st.

We now had a bit of time to visit the Hub KC area, with vendors & silent auction tables. I found some new items to purchase ... a new black & white bling kangaroo lead for one, and Mike spotted a new x-pen made by Precision. It's made of heavier metal than the regular x-pens, has a step over gate ... well, we purchased it to use on the deck for the puppies. No one, but two, so when put together it is huge. The big plus is we can easily put our shade cover over it and it won't cave in with the hanging weight. When the pups are older and still not of age to be kenneled with the adults, they can't push it over either.

Friday - 1pm it's time to start the regular classes & Veterans for the main Conformation show. Tootsi and Rocky needed to be spruced up as they would be shown. Tootsi was in a large class, Rocky placed 2nd in his.

The Executive had a meeting after the show which Mike, being the East Ont/PQ Dir had to attend, and afterwards there were goodies put out. Not too many people stuck around, but for those few of us we had a bite to eat and enjoyed some good conversation.

Back to the hotel, dogs done and into bed, as tomorrow it would be another 6am start.

Saturday - The Specials were all called to the ring to be counted in @ 8am. They then split the females & males into groups for judging. Tyme made the 1st cut in her group of females. This meant I could now sit and enjoy the rest of the judging.

View of the final line-up for BOB competition and the general hall area.

After judging we rushed back to the motel to change as there was our AGM and then the Banquet. That went till 11pm or so.

It was a great meal, and Mike & I had fun running the auction.

Will Blog our last day in Saskatoon and our 3 day trip home in a few days.

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