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Happy 4th Birthday, Clover

It’s that time of year again. I cannot believe that Clover will be 4 years old this weekend. How is that even possible? It’s kind of freaking me out how time is flying. We have so much more to do, so many more adventures to have. From the (literally) thousands of photos I took of her in the last year, I selected about 75 of them for this year’s birthday tribute video. I like the final photo to be something really special, but I haven’t (yet) taken the perfect 04 photo of her yet this week, so we’ll stick with a photo of her sprinting so fast that all 4 feet are off the ground. She does fly. Happy birthday, baby girl. Here’s to many more!

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Start of Clover’s Dog Agility Career (maybe)

When Clover was around 7 months old, I put her on a waiting list to get into a dog agility foundations class with a trainer my experienced agility friends recommended. A full SEVEN MONTHS LATER we started taking agility classes (in mid-July 2015). That’s how hard it is to get into a good agility class anywhere close to where we live. As we approach our second anniversary of agility training and look at taking the next steps (perhaps the start of Clover’s dog agility career), I figured it was time — finally! — to write something about it. (P.S. I’m also looking for some advice on a few things, if you’re so inclined.)

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Happy 10th Anniversary Champion of My Heart

April 13, 2017, marks the 10th anniversary of Champion of My Heart. No kidding. Our first blog post went live a decade ago. I’d been mulling the idea for a while, and on a bit of a whim, I tossed up the blog in a single day. So much has changed over the years. Thanks to those who’ve been along for the ride the entire time. Welcome to those who’ve joined us recently. Look how far we’ve come!! Let us know if there are new ideas or resources you’d like us to create.

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Dog Brag | Dog Life | Newsworthy | The Story of Tori

Happy Gotcha Day, Tori

Yep, we’re celebrating another BIG anniversary here at Champion of My Heart. It is one year today that Tori first came home on a “trial basis” (ha ha). Happy Gotcha Day, Tori!

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Blue Ridge Border Collie Rescue | Dog Brag | Dog Life | Dog Training | Dog Training Update | New Puppy | Newsworthy | The Story of Clover

Happy Gotcha Day, Clover

Today, we celebrate the second anniversary of Clover’s adoption — Happy Gotcha Day! It’s hard to believe we’ve been Best Friends for 2 whole years. In case you missed the AMAZING story of Clover’s adoption all the way from Virginia to Colorado, revisit that happy story now! Or, if you wonder how Clover got her…

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Herding Instinct Test

Over the holiday weekend, I drove Clover 195 miles round-trip to do another herding instinct test. We tested her the first time in June 2015, just after she turned 1. This time — maybe thanks to more maturity — it went quite a bit better in several ways. The raw video file added up to 1.5 GB. Yikes! So, I edited it down to a few highlights.

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Happy Birthday Tribute Video – Tori Turns 1

I’m not sure if I can keep up this tradition of making tribute videos for the puppy-girl’s birthdays for all the years to come, but here is the latest video that celebrates Tori’s first birthday. When we adopted her in September 2015, we counted back 12 weeks (a guess on her age) and picked a date — July 1 — as her birthday. What’s great about that is that we’ll always be able to extend her birthday fuss into the Independence Day holiday. We do the same thing with Clover’s birthday since it always fall close to Memorial Day.

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So This Happened … Again. Welcome Home, Tori Autumn Hawn

Whirlwind of a week, so I’ll have to tell the full story later when I’m not so tired and preoccupied with having TWO puppies in the house. Yeah, you read that right. Here is the short version. Someone at our main veterinary hospital rescued a border collie + Australian shepherd puppy from a bad situation, while visiting family in New Mexico. Our pals at the hospital called early Wednesday morning, asking for my help finding her a home. Tom asked to see her photo. He went to the hospital to meet her and fell in love. She came home with him that day on a “trial visit.” Today, we made it official and adopted her from the veterinary hospital. Photos and one short video below.

Read More So This Happened … Again. Welcome Home, Tori Autumn Hawn
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Happy Gotcha Day to the Best Puppy on the Planet, Clover Lee Hawn

Sunday, September 13, we’ll celebrate the first anniversary of Clover’s adoption from Blue Ridge Border Collie Rescue. It took fate and many major feats to get her from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado. Plans for festivities this weekend remain in the planning stages, but I’ll bake canine cupcakes, probably take her on a hike, and otherwise spend the entire day marking the occasion (as if we aren’t always in constant awe of just how blessed we are to be raising this incredible puppy). Let’s begin the party with this 2-minute video slideshow commemorating our first year together.

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Border Collie Herding Instinct Test — Clover Meets Goats

A couple of weeks ago, I drove Clover out to Valdemar Farm for her herding instinct test with our herding instructor Cathy Balliu. You can see the video highlights (and bloopers) below, but let’s just say Clover did much more harassing than herding. Here is a recap of what we looked for, what we saw, and what comes next.

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