Brio's Funny Little Habit

Brio has this cute little habit of quivering her lips and tongue when she is excited about food...which is every time that she sees the tiniest treat. This video was taken before her dinner today.

Brio Loves Maine

Brio made her second visit to Maine

this weekend and it was much warmer than her last visit in February. She enjoyed climbing on huge snowbanks in the driveway...

posing for pictures with Nanc at home...

or by the river in Kennebunkport...

or just chillin' out at home.

Playing with my big sister

This morning Brio had a great time playing with her big sister Winee. Do you notice a resemblance? Winee is just great with puppies,

so gentle and so much fun for a little one. They had a great time running and rolling about and

tugging on toys. Winee showed Brio how one should run through a tunnel. And Brio showed Winee how one should not jump over tunnels or jump and try to walk on top of tunnles. Brio is so athletic that she amazes me the things that

she does with her little body.

The girls had a great time playing and both look forward to lots more fun times together. I hear that they are making plans to get their moms out to do some field training together as soon as the weather warms up.

Growing Every Day

As you can see Brio is growing every day. She has a great appetite, plays hard, crashes and sleeps hard. Here she is resting after a 50 minute romp in the woods. It is quite hard to lose her attention in the woods, but I keep trying. I had one really good opportunity to hide on her yesterday and she ran in a few directions before she found me. This past week she turned 12 weeks old and she is becoming very confident and starting to venture short distances away rather than staying underfoot as she has done in the past. But the moment that my feet stop crunching in the snow she looks up and runs to catch up. I sure hope that all these woods walks really do help her to keep a close eye on me as she matures and we venture into the woods when she is older.

Whenever the camera comes out she always looks quite serious. Here she is posing again for a picture. Brio is proving to be a lot of fun to train. She just loves when we head down to our training area in the basement for a little work and play. When we go to our training facility she is incredibly enthusiastic to go inside and see all her new friends, human and canine. She is very confident going to new places and meeting new people. This past week we took her to our home in Maine and she took the change all instride. She marched around Dock Square not a batting an eye to the traffic rumbling bye and rattling the trestles of the wooden bridge we were crossing. And Oh My! What a response when she heard the ducks quacking below the bridge. She sure seems to know what that sound means. Just like she stops and looks up when she hears geese passing overhead. Tomorrow we start beginner attention class and I sure working with her in that class will be great fun.

Tribute to Keji

EDGEHILL BIG BAND MAN

RE, OA, AXJ, NAP, NJP, NF

"KEJI"

1/22/00-9/08/08

"We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan." - Irving Townsend, from The Once Again Prince.

Several months have come and gone and time has healed some of the pain of your passing. Now, with the new year, it is time for me to pay tribute to your life. Though there were many others before you, those that live with dogs in their life know that some are more memorable than others and take that special place in your heart. You were my "Heart Dog". The gifts that you brought to my life were many. You renewed my love of dog training and taught me about the sports of agility, rally, and tracking. Though we had many challenges together you were always willing to try to please and I never wanted to give up because of your enthusiasm. These activities opened up our world to a whole new network of valuable and lasting friendships.

I miss so much having you by my side to train with, to play with, to walk the beach with, to hike the trails with. I miss throwing your tennis ball for you, hearing your silly "woo-woo" greetings and your sense of humor. I miss the beautiful gaze of your big brown eyes as you would just stare into mine.

But most of all, I miss the selfless, unwavering, unconditional love that you brought to my life that no creature other than a dog can provide. I miss you my golden boy...rest well until we meet again. Goodbye my friend.