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Henry is our 3yr old nephew that lives in Seattle, WA. Though Henry has a yellow lab, for some reason he is afraid of other dogs. When he comes to Charlotte, we’ve made a point for him to visit with Fin (I very slowly bring Fin into the scene and have him adjust to Fin being there) and realize that he is not scary. Just the other day we got a piece of mail addressed to Fin. I waited to open it today ’til I had help getting pictures. It was a very special valentine from Henry to Fin. Fin had to email Henry back to let him know he got it:

“Dear Henry, It’s me Fin! I am so excited that you sent me a valentine. My Mommy and I opened it together this morning and now it is on our refrigerator. Mommy’s friend Melissa took pictures of me so that you can see me opening it. You did a great job coloring the envelope and we loved your finger prints. I put the valentine in my mouth after I put my whole nose in the envelope and wagged my tail b/c I knew your smell and it was in the envelope. Remember, I sniffed and found you while you were at GranMary’s? I knew you sent it to me and I miss you! I hope I can come see you very soon when you come to Charlotte. Happy Valentines Day to you too Henry! I love you.

Love, Finny”

West coast – Way to go Barry & Carolina! In Fresno, CA this past weekend Carolina picked up three more points with Barry handling both days. One point to go to her championship. Way to go guys!!

East coast – In Atlanta, GA , both of us (Molly & Michael) had the opportunity to judge Bloodhound sweepstakes at the regional specialty. This was our first time and we really enjoyed it.  Thank you to the Southeastern Bloodhound Club for the invite to do so! Hopefully we’ll find the time to load up to youtube the videos that were taken.

Last week felt like spring – this week brought us some of the white stuff. We usually get it once or twice a winter and the dogs love it!

I got an email from Sherman’s Mom, Beth, and here it is: “Hi! Just a quick brag- Sherman earned his 2nd Rally Novice leg today with a perfect score of 100! Took 2nd place to an Airedale who also earned a 100 but was faster…………….but we couldn’t be prouder!”  And neither can we!!! What a team you two are!

UPDATE!! – Sherman (Sunday) finished his Rally Novice title today – again second place. What a huge accomplishment for a dog less than 2yrs old! His name now reads:

HIT Sherick M&M’s Red Hot Howlitzer, CD, EECT, Can MT, Am/Can RN

Holy Smokes! 🙂 We congratulate you both and are beaming because we are so proud!!

Wow – it’s the 20th of January and Price could not have hand picked a better day for his birthday. It’s 70 degrees!?! We had a very nice afternoon playing outside and taking advantage of this random weather. Last year on this day it had snowed!  Price enjoyed starting his day with putting on the ‘Birthday Dog’ bandana (a tradition in our house) and with leftovers in his food for a ‘birthday breakfast.’ Then he was given his new toy and has been lavished all day until ‘birthday dinner!’ As I write this, he is peacefully sleeping at my feet. It is easy to remember it, like it was yesterday, when you were a little baby …. our sweet Pricey who we love. Happy Birthday big guy!

Not sure about you, but we’re not so much into entertaining unless we are around other ‘dog folks’ because those who don’t like the dogs just can’t understand us that well. We decided that we’d host a pot luck Christmas party at our house this weekend (after Fin’s big trail!) and invited the group that we normally go trailing training with. The only requirements were to bring something and to come in dog clothes. Some folks also brought their dogs to play and we had a great time together! Thanks to everyone who came, we had a fantastic time and the dogs did too. Bloodhound (well, and black/tan coonhound – thanks Chip!) folk just ‘get it’ and b/c of that we all had a great time… 🙂 Thanks Mike for the photos!

Yep, that’s right!! The oldest trail Fin had worked to date was a little over 24hrs old. We went trailing last weekend and all week afterwards I wondered if Fin could do a ~really~ old trail. Could he be put up to the test to run 36 or 48hrs old? What about a week long? Wouldn’t that be asking a lot? It was b/c of these nagging thoughts that I finally decided I’d act upon them and see what he could do! We got out there Sunday, harnessed Fin up, gave him the search command and he commited to it right away. Parts of the trail were foot step for foot step and other parts he worked fairly wide. This trail had aged in a very busy corporate park, next to (and the bulk of it parallel to) an interstate (separated from the interstate just by a wrought iron fence), through rain & snow over the course of that week. He made his way to the runner in about 15 minutes and boy were we ALL so happy!! These dogs never cease to amaze me with their abilities…what a neat day!

We went out this weekend and met up with a great group of folks to go trailing. We are working towards the Feb 2010 ABC trailing trials that will be held here in our very own NC! All of the dogs did very well throughout the weekend. Some of our own highlights were Paisley running a trail laid to MT specifications but w/two runners at the end, her getting to the end with a great jump up ID on the correct runner and Michael not realizing SHE was correct b/c he had confused the scent articles!…..Higgins working an 18 hour old trail and his first one with two runners at the end (one of them was Molly (the cross runner) – that was HARD for him not to focus on just saying hello!) and ….drum roll….FINNY working a 24 hour old trail with three runners at the end (two cross runners – one of them being Michael) and him going to the correct runner…was a fun and great weekend had by all! Here is a photo we liked of Michael & Paisley working.

It is hard to believe that you are ten years old today! We worried a lot after you lost your sister that you’d have a terrible time without her. You adjusted well and we are so thankful for the fact you are still with us and doing well for ‘our old man’….Happy Birthday sweet, sweet boy!

Sherick M&M’s Red Hot Burning Love, CGC … “Presley” had her first call out last night. Michelle, her Mom and handler, said she worked the area beautifully and properly indicated negative scent. Apparently the sheriff’s department had their Bloodhound try to trail the individual and it was confirmed later there was no scent in the area. WAY to go Presley and Michelle. We are SO proud of you – keep up the great work!!!