Litter pictures continued, year 2000

Dane and Izzy

In 2000 Dane was in vet school in Madison.    Here he was posing with little Izzy, from the Becky/Dude litter.  She was a real sweetheart and went to a companion home.    It was so hard to choose which pup to keep, although Cinder had decided from week 5 that she was going to be my dog and eventually I had to agree with her.   Izzy was a close second favorite though. 

Buttons and Becky -  I just love that face!

Cinder

Cinder was usually at my feet looking at me just like this, her same look of "I'm your dog, don't you want to do something with me?" that she still has.  
Cinder, Maggie and Luke all went to puppy class, where Cinder discovered her dislike of rambunctious puppies.  She was such a serious girl.  The other pups pounced on her and she looked concerned for a second and then said plainly, "Get off me, you bozos".   So she was relegated to the quiet puppy corner, gated away from the rowdy labs and such.    So much for socialization.  She has never cared for strange dogs in her face.  

By the time Cinder was 5 months old she was obsessed with tennis balls, and attempting to round up sparrows in the yard.  It was time to get her on sheep.    Her first time out she took right to them and was doing so well that from a distance my mom mistook her for Becky.    She got faster and faster as she got older and more intense, until she had to wear boots and duct tape in the winter to keep her pads from being sliced up every time she worked.  

When Cinder was a year old we moved to Las Vegas and I started working her on my own.   We were having some issues, related to Cinder being much more determined and intense than my previous dogs, so I drove out to  Steve Shope's ranch in New Mexico for some lessons.  David went with me (he was 8 months old then) and my mom came from the other direction to meet us there, and of course visit the grandbaby. 

Cinder worked really well for Steve and I got some ideas on how to back her off.    Once she decided I could be in charge she started making great strides at home and was soon driving and working the ducks and sheep really well.  

I entered her in started everything in August, 2002 at the Three Pines trial in Estancia , NM and she was Most Promising Started both days by judges' choice, under Roger Stevens, Rachel Vest and Rick Pinney.