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Sky, the Sheltie, is the boss dog. She is ten years old, and she runs a tight ship. Sky is an incredibly loyal dog and has been with Karen the longest of them all. She is, without a doubt, the anchor of the pack. After five years on the sidelines of agility due to an injury to her knee ligament, Sky made a comeback, starting with three qualifying runs on a single day with a first place and two second place finishes. This was without any preliminary class time or run-thru practice. A Triple-Q!! Amazing! What a dog!! Echo, the five-year-old Border Collie with the classic blaze, has his CGC and competes in both agility and disc work. Karen likes to say that he gave his place in the brains line to Ginger while he went out and chased down frisbees. Echo and Karen have a very unique bond. The amount of focus that he manifests at times is nothing short of incredible. He has been a challenge in many ways, but working through demanding issues together can be part of what enables you to develop a deep and lasting relationship with a dog, and that has certainly been the case with Echo. Ginger, the Standard Poodle, was one of Karen's guide dog trainees who was released from the program when she was diagnosed with IBD, at which point Karen adopted her. She is four years old and has earned her CGC as well as participated in training for rally, agility and tracking. Although Border Collies are well known for their level of intelligence, Karen considers Ginger to be her brightest pupil in many ways. She is such a versatile dog, she really can do just about anything that you put before her. Ginger makes regular rounds to area assisted living centers where she puts many smiles on the faces of the residents! The newest family member is Laptop, the Papillon, who is two years old. He is currently training for agility. Laptop is the first dog in the family since Sky to be cut from the same material as her when it comes to drive, so Karen has high hopes for his future as an agility dog. The real reason that she acquired Laptop, though, was in hopes that he would be just what his name implies...a lap dog! (Karen really missed having one to curl up in her lap. Ginger was willing to accommodate her in that area, but at 40 pounds, it was time to bring in some new blood!) There are days when Karen feels that the name Spitfire would have been more apropos for the little guy. This pint-sized bundle of attitude holds his own in a pack that would intimidate many! Tasha, the split-faced Border Collie, is the only one of the group that Karen did not raise from a puppy. She is a four-year-old rescue who spent the first nine months of her life with a breeder who was trying to train her to work sheep by using a cattle prod on her! She was in foster care from about nine months of age until she turned a year old. That is when Karen drove to Nashville to pick her up. Progress has been slow, but she is an entirely different dog today than she was when she arrived. Karen works her intermittently on sheep, and she truly is a natural! The biggest challenge that Tasha faces is her deep-seated fear of all humans. So, there you have it...a very diverse group of dogs, all living together and integrating well as an established pack. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, just like humans, but one thing they do for sure...they keep the household from being dull or mundane in any way!
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