My heart dog

My heart dog is Jet.  The closest dog to Jet that I loved almost as much, was my Aussie named Betsy.
Besty was a one person aussie.  She was dog aggressive (resource guarder like Kilt).  But, dang, I loved that dog.  I tried to show her in the breed ring and she would nip at my heels while I was trying to gait her. :0)  She reminds me a bit of Kilt in lots of ways.  She was a top scoring obedience dog.  I remember her winning a High Scoring obedience dog in an All Breed match.  Lots of people were pissed off about it.  We got a 198 1/2.  When Betsy came on the recall she stopped dead center at my feet and begged.  She was so well balanced the obedience judge didn't notice she was sitting there in a "beg" position, but the exhibitors sure did.  When I asked her to finish she did just that and perfectly, mind you.  hahahaha  I had lots of laughs about that one!
Betsy is buried on out property.  She lived until 13 and might have lived longer if I had known more about vestibular disease.  I just figured she had a stroke and I had her put down.  It tore me up.  I can't tell you how much I loved that bitch.  Thankfully, I'm a bit wiser today, so when I see the signs of vestibular disease, I will give my old dogs a chance to stick around a bit longer.
Jet is a totally different type of dog than Betsy as far as personality goes.  A JET dog only comes along once in a lifetime.  I know that and I'm so very thankful for him.  He is an amazing sheepdog, only lacking in power, that he makes up with in finesse.  He is a trick dog extraordinaire and I have never seen an agility dog better.  That's saying alot.  But, I feel pretty dang confident about bragging about this boy.  He is BRILLIANT.  None of my other dogs can hold a candlestick to him.
The best part about Jet is that he always wants to PLEASE me.  And, that he does, from being on Animal Planet, to going to New York on the Letterman show, from placing in open sheepdog trials as my first self trained BC, to winning every trick dog contest he has been entered in.  The only dog I have seen close to Jet, is his son that lives in Washington, Walk-Up Moses.  He has a similar talent;  always ready to please, a ton of stock sense, and the competitive drive that Jet has which is SECOND to NONE.
Anyway, we went to the beach the other day.  We had a good stroll and then we went to the harbor for lunch.  We met up with a man named Mickey who was earning his living or attempting to by playing the banjo for anyone who would listen.   I'm a huge music lover, so we sat down next to him. We shared a brew and I gave him half of my basket of sour dough.  Jet sat next to him and listened to a few songs. :0)

Mickey and Jet

 

Jet enjoying the singing

 

Jet is the BEST with kids

 

 Jet found a cool place to lie while I had lunch

 

Harbor boy

 

Okay, we come to the harbor alot even though it is a good hour plus from our house.  They have a park like area at one end of the of the harbor that Jet knows well.  Years ago, they allowed agility matches to be held there.  But, I think they became too big, not enough parking, too crowded...you get the gist.  Well, Jet knows exactly where that small section of grass is.  When we left the restaurant after lunch, he took his leash in his mouth and started trotting toward that  piece of the harbor that is grass.  People were laughing and pointing at the little dog walking himself like he knew exactly where he was going to.  He did.  He went in and around people, wheel chairs, strollers, etc.  He ran to the middle of the grass area, laid down, and gave me his competitive STARE.  I know that look.  It is the look that says I WANT TO PERFORM.

And, perform Jet did, without missing a beat. He ran wide huge circles with amazing grace doing a few twirls here and there for the crowd that was gathering.  He ran through an array of tricks for all to see.  He knows exactly what he is doing, every step of the way. The first person to stop us as Jet ran backwards some 50 feet and then reversed his direction running backwards back through my legs was a person from the Ventura Dog Fanciers Club.  They were having a breed and obedience match over the weekend and asked if we would perform.  I told them we would love to in most circumstances, but I had to work this weekend.  We love to perform for crowds and Jet has NEVER let me down.  The larger the crowd, the better he performs.

We had a grand day at the beach and at the harbor.  Beach pictures to follow in a few days when I have more time.  I'm the luckiest lady alive to have a dog like Jet and I know it.  That is one of the reasons he will accompany me to watch the National Sheepdog Finals this year.  He has earned it, no doubt.  He and his little buddy, Trouble, will ride with me to Oregon.  Okay, I'm getting ahead of myself.  I'll stop here.  Hope you all have a great weekend. ;))