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| Jubilee, Coal, Nike, Hunter, July 27, 2011 |
Nike turned 13 years old today. She came to me at the age of 20 months, from California. She has been, quite simply, a marvelous addition to my life. As a young dog, she was a spitfire and a flier--drawing blood in protection work when the helper didn't play by what she considered fair rules.
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| 21 months old |
A small girl with compact muscling and bearcub ears, at first she thought the only thing I was good for was throwing the ball. Pets were for in-between ball throws and snuggling was not high on her priority list.
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| An early training session in Virginia, around 1999 |
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| 2002 or so, getting her Sch2 title |
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| Nike's first litter--Blackthorn's B litter out of Bodo v Tiekerhook |
In her time with me, she produced a number of excellent sons and daughters, and it is an amazing pleasure to see her with her grandchildren nowadays.
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| 2010 -- Nike, age 12, with grandson Lynx, 18 months |
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| Nike, followed by grandson Lynx, grandson Musket, and daughter Hunter, 2010 |
As she has aged, she has only gotten so she enjoys life even more--people have become a great pleasure to her and she loves nothing more than to find a visitor and climb in their lap on the sofa with her ball.
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| Coal and Nike, 2010 |
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| Nike and granddaughter Macha, 2010 |
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| Nike and Jasper, around 2009 |
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| Nike and Flint voted in 2008 |
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| Nike and Ruffian |
Today, I took pictures of her with her son and two daughters--Jubilee (Ash daughter), Coal (Ash son), and Hunter (Alex daughter)--and then we went into town and walked through the aisles of Petsmart, letting her explore and sniff and pick out a few toys to take home. Then I bought her a bag of ice (my icemaker is broken, tragedy!!!) and at home, I gave her a toy, a bowl of ice, and a marrow bone. She wasn't sure what to enjoy first!
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| A marrow bone, a squeaky toy, and icebones--life is good! |
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| eenie, meenie, miney, mo.... |
