As I wrote.. it's been a rotten past 2 yrs around here. First we lost Scooter, then my husband Jim. Life changed, things changed, but luckily I had the dogs to keep me somewhat on track.

After we lost Scooter I started a search for another Border Terrier. I wasn't in any hurry, I knew I couldn't replace that little dog, but down the road? I would just keep on the lookout.

I stayed in touch with Scooters breeder, Claire Sharp and let her know that one day another BT needed to come live with us. Claire agreed and one day I received a note from her that Scooters sister had a litter on the ground. She had been bred to a very nice dog and there were a couple of puppies available.

Jim's battle with prostate cancer had gone very well for almost 10 yrs and he had been doing great! There were signs that it was rearing it's ugly head again and he hadn't been feeling so great. I thought maybe bringing a puppy home (especially from Scooters sister) might just be the best medicine for him. He could take the new one for walks with Tessie, he could train it, teach it all the things he had taught Tess.....hopefully help him feel better.

I chose a female from the litter and all the plans were made to have her sent over from England. I also had a good friend that had owned Tess's sister who was also looking for a puppy and she decided to take a male from the same litter. A double hitter!

Unfortunately just as the puppies were making their way across the pond, Jim ended up in the hospital. We really didn't know at that time what the problem was or how serious it was. I really had no idea that everything would happen so quickly, that everything in my life would come to a grinding halt.

Carolyn and her husband agreed to fetch both puppies from the airport and keep them both until I felt I would have the time to dedicate to her here. I also wanted Jim to feel better and be up to a puppy. It was not to be.

Jim passed away before he could ever meet the new member of our household.....but that puppy probably saved my sanity. She kept me busy, made me laugh, and forced me to get out of bed.

Meet Meg

Tess didn't think much of this new intruder and it took her months to accept her. But just like with Scooter, she did, and they are best buddies now.

We'll see how things work out with this new member of the family.... with luck she'll make it to the show ring. If not, she will always be a much loved member of my family.

2011

I know I promised to get back to work on this site, but as they say..... Stuff happens.

In March I lost my best friend of 30 yrs. My husband Jim passed away from complications with prostate cancer. It's been a tough 9 months and I am now just really coming to terms with it.

Life goes on, and it will, just in a very different way for me. I'm learning to do a lot of things I didn't know how to do before. Doing things that I really don't want to do, but now it's my responsibility to do, gotta get it done.

I miss him terribly. My friend. My lover. My biggest cheerleader and confidant.

December 2010

It's been quite some time since I've made a post to this blog, but I am going to get back to it. It was a tough summer here for us and I just wasn't up to reporting on any of it.

Unfortunately we lost our little boy Scooter this summer and that loss was very tough to digest for me. He and Tess escaped the yard one night and went hunting. Tess made it home, Scooter did not. He was killed by a car about a mile from home.

He is the first dog I've ever lost this way and the weight on my shoulders from it has been tough to shake. He should never have gotten out, they should never have been that far from home, it just should not have happened.

But it did. Our dogs live on our farm, they work, they run, they hike with us. Each of these activities carries risk and we do our best to keep those risks at a minimum, but they are there. The two Borders hunted almost every day, they kept our farm and our neighbors farms free from groundhogs and fighting groundhogs can be a nasty business. Not only did they run the risk of being bitten, they went into holes, tree stumps and often would get off out of sight and lost for short periods of time. This was their life, this was their breeding and heritage, and they loved it.

This summer Scooter caught his first fox and in unbelievably short order put the end to it. It wasn't planned, and I didn't want him to do this- but a working BT is a deadly little dog. That fox walked across our path, Scooter saw him and that was that. Could it have been a dangerous situation for him? Of course, but that was what he did....

I'm guessing a fox is what brought our tragedy upon us. Of course I don't know for sure, but I think they saw, heard or smelled a fox in the yard that night and took off after it. While Scooter could have handled that fox, he had no way to fend off a car. His braveness brought him to his end.

I'm sorry little buddy, it wasn't fair, and we miss you terribly.

Recent news

Finally home from our winter vacation and we are back in the swing of things. Lots to do to play catch up with yard work and getting The Farm back open.

As far as the dogs go, we've had a great spring in competition!

Louis James, aka NAFC/CH Ariels Justa Gotta Go Now finished his Dual Championship on April 23! A Dual Champion is a dog who has a bench Ch. and is a Field CH. Quite an accomplishment!

Then, just 3 weeks later, Louie ran in the AKC Gun Dog Championship, a one hr stake with 100 of the very best gun dogs in the US entered, and he was awarded 2nd place!!! How cool was that?
You can go here to read all about Louies great spring season.

Not to leave the Border Terriers behind, Scooter "Hapsberg In Hot Pursuit" was Winners Dog and Best of Winners at the Garden State All Terrier Specialty on May 6th, and then at the Trenton KC show he was again awarded Winners Dog! He now only needs 4 single points to complete his Championship!

We're off to the BT Nationals in North Carolina tomorrow morning where Scoots will be shown. I'm keeping my fingers crossed our good luck will continue.

It's been awhile since I've worked on this blog and I apologize for my absence.

The weather has finally gotten nice here in Florida, and I'll admit we have been out playing in the sun.

Yesterday we went on a great boat ride with some friends of ours and drove south down the Indian River. We saw some absolutely beautiful river front homes... no, not homes Estates!!!! Wowser...... very impressive.

Of course Scooter and Tess went with us, they are both great little boat dogs.

On one of our trips through Sebastian, we found the perfect store.....

Scooters Barkery! a pastry shop for dogs. So of course Scooter and I just had to stop and get some goodies. If you happen to be in Sebastian Florida, stop by Scooters and pick up some great biscuits for the dogs in your family.

The owner made us up a special basket of dog cookies for a gift for a pack of BT's in Orlando.

Scooters Barkery

8802 North US 1, Sebastian

-772 581-1386

The German Wirehaired Pointers

I haven't talked too much about our other breed, German Wirehairs, on this blog. Guess that's because none of them are here in Florida with us. So, they get a bit forgotten.

Louie and Stella are both in Iowa with their new best friends, Jim West and Rhonda Haukoos getting in shape to run in the upcoming AKC Gun Dog Championship. The Championship will be run in Nebraska in May, and since we are here and I can't work them all winter, Jim and Rhonda are getting them ready.

The reports on their progress have been very good... I'm hoping the remember all their training when they get to Nebraska.

Here's a photo of them working.....That's Louie in the front on point with Stella backing him. Good Dogs!

Sunrise

This is one reason I love living on the beach....

sunrise.....

still a bit on the chilly side here, but the sun will be out today!!!! Hooray!

Tampa Bay Terrier Club Work Day

Today we traveled north to Ocala to the Tampa Bay Terrier clubs work day. Next weekend they are having a 2 day Earth Dog test, and today they dug all the tunnels and set up the test sites.

One thing I learned.... this earth dog stuff is hard work for the club members! I was impressed with the number of people who showed up, shovels in hand to help dig the tunnels. Everyone was friendly, and we learned a lot about this new sport (new to us!)

Here are some club members preparing the site for the Master ED test. They rented a small back hoe to dig some of the tunnels out. I don't know everyones name... but Carol Simpson, a judge for next weeks test, was directing the digging.

Below is photo of some of the members who showed up to dig and lend support. Jim (my hubby) is the guy in the heavy coat and hat.

Here's Jim lending a hand placing a portion of the tunnel for the Senior test.

Below is Teri Beverly directing the shovelers. Teri was everywhere, digging, carrying and then helping folks do a bit of tunnel work with their dogs.

Here's Jim and Scooter waiting for their turn to run.

Both Tess and Scooter did pretty good and we were told that how they performed would be good for the real test. Tess even chewed through one of the dowels that separates the dogs from the rat in a cage.... everyone told us this was a badge of honor! Scooter did what any good little BT would do... he went right down the hole, to the rat and tried his best to "git em". Good boy Scoots!

Here is Tess's dowel.....

Both of our BTs work for the real deal on our farm in PA. Tess has a total of 15 groundhogs to her name, Scooter helps and becoming quite the little hunter. We hope to take them both on to the Master level in this earth dog stuff.....stay tuned!

We also watched a BIS BT do his turn in the tunnels. Now that was pretty cool. It was very nice to see a dog that has been that successful in the show ring be out in the dirt doing what he should be bred to do! Now, if we could just get our GWP owners to do the same with their dogs!!!!!

February in Vero

It's been a quiet month here at the beach, the weather has been rather chilly, cloudy, stormy and not wonderful beach weather. This morning it's cold... very cold, work up to temps in the mid 30's!

It's gotta warm up sometime soon. Doesn't it?

The Borders don't mind this weather one bit, in fact, they seem to really enjoy the cool temps on their morning walks on the beach. Goody for them... I want it warm! But we aren't in PA, where it's snowing again, another 12" are expected for them. Poor buggers.

We did get out to the beach one day this week and did a bit of fishing. Here's a photo of hubby Jim and the dogs. Tess is the head fish'n pole watcher, Scooter is learning!

Last weekend Scooter went to a dog show in Lakeland. We met up with some really wonderful BT folks and got to see some nice little dogs. Scooter was Reserve winners dogs (best of the losers!) so no more points for him this week.

Next week we will be heading up to Ocala for the Go To Ground trial. That will be fun and the dogs will really enjoy it.

My GWP, Louie, headed out to Iowa to spend the spring with pro trainer Jim West. So far the reports are good, keep your fingers crossed that he does well in the field trials out there. My thanks to Jim and Rhonda for taking such good care of him.

Border Terrier Art Work

Two wonderful Border Terrier prints available from artist L.A. Shepard

If you own a "Little Brown Dog", each of these delightful prints will touch your heart!

Leeann captured both the tenderness and the spirit of this breed and they would make a great addition to your BT collection.

#1 Border in the grass

#2 Border with butterfly

Description

About the Prints:

This open edition image measures 8x10 inches and is printed on 8.5"x11" Museum Quality paper with archival inks.

100% cotton rag paper designed for archival fine art prints.

Print is hand signed by the artist on the front border.

Ordering:

Each print is $15.00 plus $5.00 shipping to the US- Shipping anywhere else please add $4.00

Order both- pay one shipping fee

Please let me know which print you are ordering #1 or #2

Payment

Payment by check to

Bernee Brawn

1408 Pineville Road

New Hope, PA 18938

OR

Pay through PayPal

Borders at the beach

We've moved into our new winter home here in Ambersand Beach Florida. Ambersand Beach is on a barrier island sandwiched between the Indian River and the Atlantic ocean. We are just north of Vero Beach and just a mile south of the Sebastian Inlet.

The home we have rented for the winter is an older beach house, it's not fancy, but suits our purposes beautifully! And for the dogs, it's just great. In the back yard we have the beach and ocean, across the street is the Indian River lagoon, the best of both worlds. The place is fenced, and I've brought along a whole bunch of ex-pens so we are pretty secure. The two BT's had some lessons on not going past a certain point in the front yard to ensure they won't go out into the road. We'll continue those lessons every day just to be sure.

Here's a photo of our house- from the beach.....

Tess and Scooter have been having a blast on the beach! Tess's favorite thing is to just lie on the beach and watch the birds. I think she'll lie there all day if she could.

Scooter enjoys watching as well!

Across the street we have a dock on the river... if you look real close, you'll see Tess at the end looking for fish (she loves fish!)

Yesterday we spent most of the day just sitting on the beach with some friends. The men folk fished (didn't catch a thing!) and we girls just chatted and watched the world go by. But then, someone spotted something out in the water.....

A WHALE!!!!!!!! Yup, for sure we had a whale swimming along out in front of our house. After doing some research on the internet, it appears that Right Whales will from time to time swim up the east coast to have their babies. She/He hung out just off shore for well over 2 hrs, unfortunately we were unable to get any photos of it. We'll keep watching!

So What Did You Do Today?

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Scooter and Tess serenading a friend of ours - a beautiful day on the beach.

Sea Turtles, Dead Fish and Border Terriers

January 14, 2010

It's been a very odd winter, especially here in Florida! Cold..... just downright cold!

We arrived in the Vero Beach area on Sunday, Jan. 10th, and dang... it was downright cold!

We landed in a very nice county RV park just north of Sebastian Inlet and are staying here for the remainder of the week.

The park is a spit of land that juts out into the Indian River, most all of the sites are right on the water, so it's a great place to be. If it would just get a bit warmer! Here is Tess and Scooter checking out the beach.

Here is our camp.... the dogs have a nice little yard to hang out in.

On Wednesday we drove up to the house we will be renting for the season to check it out and do a bit of investigating. This place is fun because it's right on the beach, and directly across the street is the Indian River. The best of both worlds for us.

Because the weather has been so dang cold down here, the local wildlife has been effected badly. Along with dozens of dead fish on the beach, here is something else we found.

Sea Turtles! We found two of them - a fairly large turtle, and then a smaller one. We weren't sure they were alive, since they wouldn't move. I got brave and touched one, and it opened it's eyes, so not knowing any better we attempted to get him back into the water.

But he just didn't want to move. When we went back to camp I did a google on sea turtles and the weather, and I found out that there were hundreds of them being found on the beaches in a condition called "Cold Stunned". This apparently happens when the water and air gets too cold for them. I contacted the local Turtle Rescue and they came and picked our guys up and took them to the warm Turtle Hospital. Hopefully they will be released when everything warms up again.

IT'S WARMING UP!!!!

Yesterday we took the pooches and headed over to the beach. We were able to shed a layer or two of clothes, but there was still a very cool wind blowing. The temps were reported to be around 60. Getting better, but I can't wait till it hits 70 at least!

Once again we found dozens and dozens of dead fish up and down the beach. Snook, Rays, catfish, puffers and dozens of Stone Crabs! All killed by the cold water. At least the seagulls will eat well.

Scooter and Tess had a blast racing up and down the beach and it gave them a chance to run a bit of their pent up energy off. I think they will enjoy being beach dogs this winter!

Our 2009 Winter Vacation

January 5th, 2009 - We're off to Florida for the winter!

Florida, land of sunshine, palm trees and warm weather.

Well, not so far!

Here we sit in Daytona Beach and believe it or not, it's been sleeting since 7 am! Sleeting!

Scooter was entered in a dog show here, and I showed him wearing my Carhart jacket, jeans, gloves and boots. The judge was bundled up in his finest winter garb, and we all froze out butts off!

Below are some pictures to prove it all.....

Snow/sleet on the umbrella at the campground!

Ice on our car window....

Tess and Scooter snoozin' on the couch after the dog show.

The weather is supposed to warm up later this week.... we hope!

Scooter at Daytona Beach

Dog Powered Scooters

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Check this out!!!!

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Snow and Things to Come

SNOW STORM!

Here we sit in the midst of a huge snow storm coming up the east coast. The predictions are for 12 inches at least, maybe more.

Now I know many of you out there just love the winter, and love the snow. I'll admit, it's pretty, and it can be fun, but mainly I'm feeling.... BahHumbug.... get me outa here!

The dogs love the snow, they think it's just great fun to run, roll and get all full of tiny little snowballs all over their bodies! And, again, I'll admit, it's fun to watch them have fun.

But then they want to come in the house, and those millions of tiny snowballs melt all over the house. I've just got to go find some old towels and put a half dozen next to the doors. That way at least I can rub them down before they climb up into my chair to make themselves cozy.

Playing in the snow..... they love it!

In 14 days we are heading south for the winter!!!!!!!! You all can have this beautiful white stuff and the freezing weather. Me? Give me the beach, sunshine and some fishing. Yup, I'm a winter sissy..... I'd rather be reaching for the sun screen, then reaching for my earmuffs.

For the past 10 yrs., we have spent at least 3 weeks in Florida, then it turned into a month, then 6 wks... this year 2 1/2 months!

I thought it would be fun to post some photos of the dogs who have travelled with us on our winter vacations. Enjoy!

Warmer days from the past!

Top Flite (DC/AFC Dunkees Justa Top Flite MH)

retrieving a coconut in the Florida Keys

Weasie (Ch Ruffcuts Justa Southwind)

crusing down the St. Johns river in Florida

Weasie and Topper on the beach in the Florida Keys.

Both of these German Wirehairs just loved the beach there. They spent most of the day running in the shallow flats looking for fish.

They would be out there from sun up, till sun down......I truly miss these two dogs. They were so much fun, and just great friends.

This is Weasie and Tess (our first Border Terrier) in the Florida Keys watching Jim go out in the boat, without them! Weasie taught Tess to fish.....they became great pals.

Tess and Scooter fishing in the Indian River in Sebastian Florida.

A Border Terrier Weekend

We took Scooter, the Border Terrier (Hapsburg In Hot Pursuit) to the Lehigh Valley KC and the Delaware Water Gap KC shows in Bethlehem, PA this weekend. I handled him to Winners Dog both days! Saturday was for 4 points and the Sunday show was a 3 pointer. Both of his majors are now out of the way.

Scooter is a son of Levi, Ch Conundrum's Co-Writer a very nice young male from England. Unfortunately just after Scooter arrived here in the US from England, his sire was killed. Scooter was bred by Claire and Lee Sharp.

He turned one yr old early November, so he's still just a kid.

We had a nice time and met a lot of the local BT folks. All of them were very welcoming to us and it was truly appreciated. When we get his official show photo, I'll post it.

For now, here is a photo of him.

What Dogs Do For Us

Our dogs can do amazing things, once we allow them to show us where their true talents lie.

Running the puppies

For those of you who follow my blog over at Justa German Wirehaired Pointers, you'll know that we had a litter of puppies last summer. Those kids are just 5 months old now, and are really coming along very nicely.

Yesterday I met Dennis Dec, who co-owns Sassy and Brody with me, over in New Jersey at a game farm he guides hunting parties. I haven't had a chance to see his puppy, Jack, since October so this would be a great chance for me to see him. I decided to take Jeff, Jack's littermate, with me to give him a run on some new grounds.

We took Jack out first and I was very happy with how he handled himself. He was using his nose, searching through the thick stalks of sorgum that was still up. Near the end of our hike, Jack threw a very stylish point and held it for quite some time. He allowed Dennis to get in front of him and flush a nice hen pheasant! Too bad I didn't have my camera with me.

We went back and brought Jeff out and gave him a good run around the same area we ran Jack. No birds for Jeff, so Dennis planted a quail for him. Took him down through another section of land then back toward the quail. Bam! He found that bird with no problem and his little tail was right up there!

After that, we let Sassy and Louie out for a spin around the property. I decided to let Jeff tag along to see how he would handle running with the big dogs. No problem at all. In fact I was pretty proud to watch him try his best to keep up. About 15 minutes into the run, we found Louie on point, Sassy came in and backed him. Jeff can tearing around the corner and stopped as well. The big dogs stood nicely, but the puppy jumped in and found his very first pheasant!

It took him a second or two to get over the big noisy bird, but then he was off and chased it as far as he could watch it fly. Good puppy! We rounded everyone up and headed back to the car.

All in all, I am really happy with how that litter is turning out. They are all bold, all outgoing, all pointing like a million bucks! By spring, they should be turning into some really nice bird dogs for all of their new owners.

In my opinion, the best way to start young puppies is to just let them hunt and figure it out. At this age, they really can't do anything wrong, so sit back and have fun watching them learn.

Satin Balls- Recipee

5 pounds ground meat
5 cups Total whole grain cereal
5 cups oats (slow cooking type)
2½ cups raw wheat germ
¾ cup oil
¾ cup molasses
6 egg yolks
5 packets gelatin
2 ½ tablespoons Solid Gold Seameal supplement

Mix up, form balls, freeze, feed as treats or food supplement.

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly like you would a meatloaf.
Roll into balls no larger than 1 inch diameter.
Divide into at least 6 separate containers or bags. Freeze. Thaw as needed for feeding.

BARF? Feeding Raw

OK, I'll admit it... I'm a crazy person when it comes to dog food. I've never been loyal to one certain brand, I'm always looking for the next great thing, I'm addicted to reading the back of dog food bags!

When the big dog food recall happened a couple of years ago, I started reading up on how to make my own dog food. I read about BARF (Beef and Raw Foods), spent hours trying to find everything I could about how to feed it. I even started shopping for chicken wings, chicken backs, turkey necks and blueberries on sale. I spent hours, and I mean hours of time, driving, searching, looking for sales.

Finally I settled on the Satin Balls diet... raw hamburger, eggs, wheat germ...and a bunch of other stuff. It was a pain in the neck to make, not cheap, but the dogs loved it! And they seemed to really do well on it. In fact, Louie, one of my German Wirehairs won the National Amateur Field Championship while he was on that diet. But, over time, it just became too darn much work. So back to reading dog food bags again!

But here it is mid December, and I'm thinking again of trying the BARF diet with the Border Terriers while we are in Florida. Chicken necks and backs will certainly be easier to get down there... up here in the Phillie suburbs no one seems to sell them.

There is a ton of info out there in web land on feeding raw to your dog. Easiest way to find out is to google BARF......guess I better start reading once again!

If you feed a raw diet and would like to share your experience.....

Later......

Lite em up!

Every winter we go to Florida to escape the winter weather here in Pennsylvania. The older my husband and I get, the more we dislike the cold! So, off to the sunny south we go.

We take the two Border Terriers with us on this winter trip, and they have a ball on the beach. One problem is, they are small and at night we can never see them! So, I started a search for a collar that lights up. And I found a couple that look like they will do the trick.

In fact, I'm going to order two small ones, and a couple of the larger size for the GWP's.

Wounded Warriors

Sometimes we dog people get so involved with life (Yes Alice, there really is a life out there without dogs!) and the bad news that bombards us every day, we forget about the good things that dog people do. Last week a group of sporting dog owners took two days out of their busy schedules to do a good thing..... they took a group of wounded soldiers hunting!

The dogs were mostly Vizslas but there was one German Wirehair there, all AKC registered dogs, with owners who compete in AKC events. In fact the head of AKC Performance, Doug Ljungren attended and was the owner/handler of the lone GWP.

Just goes to show ya.... the rumors that AKC dogs have all been ruined are just that.. rumors! Compliments to those who cared enough to attend and give these guys some great memories.

The story about the hunt can be read here.

Here are a couple of photos from the hunt.