Wow!  What a busy and exciting year or so we have had at Copper Kennel!  Atun, Lucia and Henry grew like weeds!  We spent the bulk of 2012 attending UKC shows with our friends at Beach Tree Ranch.  We have been working on obedience training, how to manage their show coats and attending many public events.  I am working on training the dogs to be therapy dogs so they are able to go to many public places.  The boys are used a lot out in the community to visit the elderly at my job.  Both are naturals and need very little direction.  The plan is to go to advanced obedience training and add in agility as well within the next year.  These kids are natural learners and are like sponges.  Very intelligent and always wanting to try something new and exciting.  They love to swim, hike and play like mad.  But bring them in the house and they are quiet and extremely docile.  They are happy as long as they are in the same room as I am.  It’s uncanny how they flip their behavior depending on where they are.

We achieved a UKC Grand Championship on Henry, we should have earned a Grand on Atun as well, but there was a mistake with the addition.  So officially Atun and Lucia achieved the rank of UKC Champion.  We are going back for another weekend or so and finish off the point needed for Atun so he has bragging rights too.  Lucia, she isn’t so fond of showing right now so we might not put her through the torture of prancing around the ring, but she loves to go to the shows.  She is highly attached to the boys so if left at home, she gets very upset.  We will see how she feels about showing this year and maybe she might surprise us and snap out of her fear phase.  It isn’t uncommon for the SPW to hit an adolescent phase and get a tad skittish.

The AKC is in the process of officially recognizing the SWD breed so we are actively showing for the AKC as well now.  The SWD are in the miscellaneous group so the best we can do is a certificate of merit.  As their popularity grows and word gets out about them, we are moving into the herding group and then we can get “official” championships.  I like showing AKC only because they are a bit more organized and most of the time the shows are indoors.  The dogs like outdoors better but truthfully, it’s no fun showing your dog in the pouring rain which has happened to us a few times now.  But we are troopers and stick it out regardless.  We have met wonderful new friends and are happily making connections with other SWD’s and their owners as well.

Atun has just had his OFA hip exam completed.  It looks like he has good hips!  We also completed a PRA exam as well and he flew through it with flying colors!  One more thyroid test and he is ready for breeding.  Atun is a very lovely sample of a SWD.  He has an exceptional temperament, he is well proportioned and moves very nicely.  He is going to make beautiful puppies and we look forward to seeing what he is going to do.  He is just over 4 now and has really matured into a really nice boy.  Henry and Lucia are scheduled for their OFA testing in September 2013.  They are just under 2 at this time so they need to mature a bit more then they can get tested.  Barring any unforeseen problems we are planning our first litter winter of 2014 when Lucia is expected to be ready.  There has been a lot of interest to use Atun for breeding other females as well so we will see what happens…

Our friends at Beach Tree Ranch breed, raise and show Estrela Mountain dogs and Podengos.  There is a litter of Estrelas available soon.  I am really excited as my dear friend brought a new Podengo to breed, Chanook from Portugal, to her lovely Podengo Cabrita.  This little girl just makes my day!  She has an amazing disposition and is stunning!  Her physique is really nice and quite different from USA Podengos.  I think she is a stunning example of the breed and I can’t say enough positive about her.  I can’t wait to see the puppies they make!  Chanook is visiting for a few months and the plan is to show him as well and see if we can’t get this handsome man his USA championship titles as well.  So look for us at a local UKC or AKC show.  Please visit my friends at http://beechtreeranch.com/ for more information.  They have fresh eggs, pig shares (unbelievable taste with their pigs…quite different from store bought meat.  They take a lot of time, energy and thought into how the pigs are raised and fed to bring you the highest quality meat.  Well worth every penny! ).  It’s a beautiful farm, top quality and clearly a labor of love.  Only the best from Beach Tree Ranch!