Sue and I left Seattle Thursday around noon, with AJ (and the brown dog, of course) and my daughter, Kristen, seeing us off. Getting through security, etc. went off without any issues, thanks to the input from all of our NDSD friends. Flying was interesting … Cody and Luau got settled under the seats in front of us, and when the plane took off, so did Cody!

I haven't written in awhile ... sorry! So, I found a new dog back in mid-June and brought him home at 8 weeks of age. "Cody" is 1/2 Border Collie, 1/2 Australian Cattle Dog. I've given him a designer name to keep up with the other desiger dogs - he's a "Bordattle Dog!" He's awesome, and shows signs of exactly what I'm looking for in a SAR dog. He's pretty fearless, has no problem climbing up or down on anything I ask him to, has a lot of drive, and is a little pain in the butt! Just what I was looking for.

Two great hikes…..
Zara and I made it to the top of Mt Persis on Nov. 5. There was snow and ice the last 1200 -1500 of elevation gain. Nothing too bad and the view were great. It was a quick 2 hour trip up, some pic’s, then back down. We did not make it down before it got dark. We finished the hike with headlamps and flashlights.

Last night we interviewed folks to become members into the group and decided to bring on all that interviewed, a total of six and these folks will become hiders for the group and in the future when the time is right they will be able to get their own dog. NDSD believes that it's very important to become an effective hider first, master that skill and this in turn will make you a much better dog handler. Also, we will be holding a CE on Nov. 8th and 9th with a training Mock test tomorrow for those members taking the CE.

On Sat the little dog and I had a few butterflies. Ie….I had the butterflies and Zara wanted to play. Both of our runs open JWW & STD were clean, but too slow. Sunday was another story. Again open JWW & STD were clean. This time Zara had enough speed to get 2 – 3rd places. One more Q in each class and I move up to Masters.

Fri, Sat, and Sunday Puget sound Labrador Retriever Association had a AKC Agility test in Monroe.. Zara and I were able to run on Sat and Sun. It has been almost 4 years since my last run. Sat We were both a tad nervous. We were able able to get 2 N/Q due to time.
We were back at it early Sunday am. Zara was able to get a QQ. 1 more Q in each alas and we move up to Masters

Welcome to Luau,
Luau is a career changed guide dog puppy, She was career change for soft trachea, I have not experienced this as a problem in the past 3 weeks but she is also not under the training of guide work. Luau has been to 2 trainings so far and has taken to it like a pro. She is so much happier working as a search dog, I see her smiling while in training! Luau is a yellow lab, and 42 pounds of energy. We are working on obedience and agility. Luau just passed her good canine citizenship test this past Sunday!! She is on her way!!! It will be exciting to watch her progress.

At work yesterday Zara and I worked on a few ladders and a slippery surface. This morning we did some 175 yard retrieves. I’ll give her some rest before a short hike then off to K9 training.

I will start this thing soon.

Jasper is what I consider the "old man" of the new group of dogs in training with NDSD for SAR work. There is one other "newbie" who is older than he is, but that dog came from a Wilderness SAR background and has great groundwork for Disaster SAR. Jasper, on the other hand, has no background other than starting his obedience training with me, at home, as a puppy. I've had him since I picked him up Labor Day weekend in 2005. He was 8 weeks old so at least I know he's been very socialized to both people and dogs. Environmental socialization is where he comes up short.