At the crossroads - with my Little Warrior Caden... looking at the past and the future

I feel like I have done a great job of ensuring that I have top notch dogs in my life. But it is almost as much as curse as a blessing because each one needs to work and be fulfilled. With these dogs at my side, I realize over and over, that moving to Alberta has really been quite a ride - opening new doors to new people, new learning, new ideas, new sports and new opportunities. This post, and the two below on Jet and Ted, are the result of some soul searching as I realize I am at such a crossroads again, figuring out my priorities, re-aquainting myself with the great dogs in my life and looking at my passion and my calling.

When my life was a shambles early in 2008, I picked the name Caden for my new GSD pup (C litter) because it means Little Warrior in Irish Gaelic. My friends told me I was crazy to get a puppy in the middle of everything else going on, but through Caden I have met so many amazing friends in Alberta. He is a dog that requires a strong leader, and has forced me to grow a lot in my training and handling - - in a different way from what Jet (also a tough dog) needed from me.

Caden is the dog who has had the most attention from me since moving to Alberta. I never know where to start when I talk about him. He is my first GSD from a breeder other than Sigrid Appelt, who bred Knight, Hawk, Robin, Thorn and River - dogs I have loved so much over many years. But when I made the SHIFT away from conformation and into purely tracking and herding - and when my life was upsidedown and changing - it seemed like a good time to shake it up and get a working-lines GSD too. He comes from KlienenWiese GSDs in Pennsylvania where Bill and Sandy Wilson work to preserve the "old blood" German herding lines. (They also have an excellent blog).

Caden's grandsire is Alf von Fafnerhaus, Ellen Nickelsberg's dog bred by the late Manfred Heynes. If you want to learn more about the GSD as a herding dog - you must visit Ellen's site - she is amazing and also a regular poster on the GSD-Euro discussion group. I got Sandy's name from Shelley Fritzke, who has the top herding GSDs in Canada and is a herding judge.

The pictures here were taken yesterday while we were working at Phantom Ridge in Okotoks (see the posts below about Jet and Ted). Having a place to work sheep really makes me think hard about where to spend my limited time, and reminds me how much I love it.

At the crossroads... where are we heading from here?

I'm starting to see such a pattern in my life lately. I originally wanted to track and herd with Caden. When I got him, I still lived at home and had my own little flock of training sheep (in Thunder Bay). But within the year, we one day woke up in Alberta. Four years later, I am finally figuring out what I need to be doing with this dog. I am beginning to realize it is not always about titles, but about having a satisfying relationship with your dog, and facilitating that your dog is able to do the things that IT loves too. I've 'known' these things and preached them, but they are coming home to roost recently.

Caden has also experienced a lack of herding opportunities. When he was two, I visited Shelley in BC and she observed that he showed natural herding - tending - behaviours. However, if there is a lack of places to work Border Collies in Alberta, you can imagine how hard it is to find tending training! If only I could win that lottery and have a big farm and training arena. Oh, but if I did win that lottery, it would be on Maui - not here :)) ... and you would all have a long way to go, to come train at my place!

Caden has been tracking since he was a puppy. He really should have many CKC tracking titles by now. But there are not many CKC tests in the west and somehow, I got onto a Schutzhund path with this dog which meant putting other trialing aside to work on his form and style. I am fortunate to have met Dan Waters who won the Canadian SchH Nationals last year with his GSD Ali. Dan is passionate about tracking, and of course, about SchH and is President of the Calgary GSD SchH Club.

Caden has SchH lines on his sire's side (G Orry von Haus Antverpa is his great grandsire - if you know GSDs in SchH you will know of Orry) and also shows great potential as a SchH dog (here are some photos of the Ivan Balabanov seminar). If I think I am green with stockdogs, I am even MORE green in SchH. I've struggled away at this sport for two years now and can't thank Dan enough for his help, friendship and guidance - I know he wants me to succeed and wants to see Caden do well. In other hands (particularly Dan's hands) Caden would be well on his way to advanced titles. It's not me who says this - people who KNOW (like judges and clinicians and fellow club members) tell me how lucky I am to have this dog for my first dog.

Cadan's bloodlines make him want to work sheep.

Around the time Ben was born, I did some serious soul searching about whether Caden should go to someone who could get those SchH titles on him. I realized that my life would not be complete without this dog, plus Caden thinks he has a fine life with me - dogs don't think about titles, as long as they have a full life and are loved. Caden has also recently become my running buddy which helps to burn steam. Add to this - now that I am on my own - I always feel safe with Caden in my car and at my side. I don't think I would feel complete without a GSD, and Caden complements the Border Collies so well. He is every bit as smart as them, and every bit as athletic. Jet is his best, best friend - which is funny as they are SO alike.

The more time I spend with sheep doing herding, the more I am reminded that this was the path I wanted to follow when I came to Alberta. I am at such a crossroads this year. I actually would love to get Caden in with sheep again, because I believe this would also be his true calling. Sport dog people always ask "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT DOG?" as he makes an impression. No one would ever have bought Caden, the herding lines dog, from Sandy, a passionate, dedicated but small kennel, for Schutzhund! Yet here he is - a dog I feel could do everything.

To me, it makes sense that a herding dog (a German SHEPHERD) should be more athletic, quick to learn, intuitive, biddable and genetically programmed to be your partner. As with any breed, when the lines are bred away from the purpose and focused on specific traits, you risk losing the whole dog. I can't thank Ellen and Sandy enough for their love of the breed and their work to preserve the original German Shepherd Dog.

However much I feel Caden can do it all, it spreads me very thin to do both stockdogs and SchH. Most people only choose one or the other. I recently met a man (George Walker) who used to do SchH in Edmonton, but once he got into stockdogs, said he could not do both well. This comment has been weighing on my mind and it is why I am at a crossroads. And of course, it is part of this amazing journey I am on with my dogs.

River, my BFF and a Tracking Champion - in my heart :))

And then there is River who will be 12 on March 2. I know our days together are numbered now and I treasure every day with her. She is the last of my dogs from a past life and has been the dog who went through all the crazy ups and downs with me, where somehow I felt we just didn't seem 'good enough' or measure up in the old life. I look at River all of the time and say "Hey, River - we are AWESOME!" Together we have made a new life here in Alberta.

River SHOULD be a CKC Tracking Champion by now. I am sure if I had stayed in Thunder Bay she would be. The move here meant less trial opportunities for her and me, and a lot of adjusting at the time she was peaking in UTDX. But River doesn't know that - in her mind and in my heart, she IS a CHAMPION. And she's been a great friend and teacher and is now the Matriarch.

River did a short track on February 18. She's getting pretty deaf but still in great shape and loves to get out with everyone - she hates to be left at home! In my heart, she is a tracking champion, though because of life circumstances, missed the chance to make it official - though she came very very close.

Somehow, as I stand at this crossroads, CKC tracking is moving to the bottom of my list of three. I am passionate about tracking, but there are so few tests here in Alberta. This spring I will be going from Vernon BC to Thunder Bay for THREE tests with my dogs (*hoping to get in still at this point). I will literally be driving half way across Canada. I'm also a tracking judge and though I want to give back to this sport of my heart, I simply can't accept more assignments - each one costs me about $300 as I board my dogs. I am working on slating all of the stockdog trials, tracking tests and SchH trials into a calendar to keep myself straight. I love tracking, and as I stand at this crossroads again, I wonder where I will be with it in another five years and where these dogs will take me. Jet is ready for her attempts at a Tracking Championship, but she is also a great stockdog who needs to get out on the field. I am so blessed!

Leaving Louanne's yesterday this was the scene as we headed for highway 2 that would take us home to Penhold - 2 hours north. When I came to Alberta for a herding clinic in 2005 with my Rough Collie Shaman, I dreamed of living here. It was a big move to make that dream come true. But dreams have a way of turning into reality, and the reality is - it is a LOT of work to achieve dreams and goals. But the journey is amazing.

Calgary on the horizon as we drove north to our new home in Penhold

I moved here very quickly, nearly in a panic to leave the old life behind and re-create myself. There are days I wish I had held onto the house in Thunder Bay so I could go "home" - the prices here are so crazy and there, I had a field and a barn... here I will need that lottery I'm afraid. However, everything is for a reason, and I am so grateful for how my life has changed, and for how I have changed. I barely even recognize the person I was before these dogs (Jet, Ted, Caden and now Ben) came into my life.

Alberta has been a place of change and renewal. And 2012 marks another crossroads of realization and change. I can hardly wait to see what the future holds! And as always I am grateful to the new friends I've made on this journey who have helped along the way.

AND THE FUTURE...

Blackthorn Ben
My first home-bred pup (pedigree)

At Scott and Jenny Glen's January 31