Please read...........

Very important to the breed standard of the "aussie". Please take the time to read and sign the petition......
Jackie
Breed Standard Petition update
Just an update on how the project to follow the ASCA by-laws and allow the membership to vote on the Breed Standards Review Committee revisions is coming. I also need to answer some of the questions I am getting. For those unaware of this effort, there is information and the downloadable petition here: http://users.htcomp.net/slashv/breedstandard.htm
There is also more information on the Facebook group here: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/profile.php?id=100001755880633
The suggested revisions written by the ASCA Commitee after 7 years of work and membership input are on the first link above. The ASCA Board of Directors stopped the revisions from going to the membership for a section by section vote in 2007. The by-laws allow a revision to go to the membership for vote only with a petition of 20% of the ASCA membership if the Board will not approve it. That is about the percentage who vote in an election where ballots are mailed to each of our homes with an addressed envelope to return them! At this time we have nearly 400 signatures but need close to 1400 to submit the petition. Remember, this petition is NOT a vote to approve the revisions. It is simply a vote to allow membership voting.
Only with a huge effort by the membership will YOU be allowed to vote on these very important revisions that CLARIFY the 1977 Standard.
Some of you have asked:1. Do I have to print this out and mail it or can I do it via the internet? Answer: it must be signed in person and mailed2. Is there a deadline? No, the only deadline is when 1400 signatures are received.3. Must I be an ASCA member to sign? Yes, per the by-laws one must be a member in good standing.4. What else can I do to help with this?a. You can take the petition to shows, trials, and club meetings to get signatures.b. You can write to the ASCA Board of Directors and again ask them to allow the membership to vote. executive.secretary@asca.orgc.
You can send the link to the revisions and petition to all of your friends who are ASCA members.d. If you are on Facebook, join the Group and invite your friends to join.
The letters and notes sent with petitions that I am receiving make me believe even more that Aussie lovers in all venues from conformation to working to obedience to agility to pet owners, believe this is a worthwhile project for this breed we all love.
The Standard now does not, and the revisions do not, favor anyone's dog(s) or bloodline but rather are the written blueprint of the dog that the present 33 year old Standard and annotations was written for.
The revisions CLARIFY the present Standard to ensure that judges and breeders alike totally understand it, because that is NOT happening and some of the fads and trends are alarming.
Thanks to all who will stand up to the Board and tell them that we want the right to vote on this very important document.
Feel free to ask any questions that you might have either privately or on this list.
Terry
permission to cross post and forward
Terry Martin
Slash V Australian Shepherdshttp://users.htcomp.net/slashvhttp://americanssupportinganimalownership.com/

Puppies are HERE!!!

I know I'm 2 weeks behind....... :(

Puppies arrived Nov 3rd. A wonderful litter of 7 puppies, 1 little red boy and his 6 sisters of various colors :)
I am over joyed with this litter!!! Couldn't have "ordered" a better combination. Meg didn't have any trouble with delivery starting with the little boy at 10:30 and finishing up with a blue girl at 5:30.
I am already very attached to them all and it's going to be difficult to give them to their new homes but I have such GREAT homes for these pups I know they are going to do great things and have a very loving homelife.

I will keep everyone updated as often as I can :)

Puppies

We are in the last few weeks of Meg's pregnancy and I am getting very excited!! I have so many great homes lined up for this lot of pups!
Meg is still being very sucky and doesn't have a great appetite.

We are having a wonderful fall with many nice warm days. It is this time of year I so wish I had a nice horse to get out on. The crops are down so it's free range to ride anywhere and we live close to a gully that is beautiful this time of year.
We will have to wait till next year I guess......... as fencing didn't happen this year like it was suppose too.....

Stay tuned for puppy updates!!

Puppies at Vispera

Well, after 2 years I can say that we will once again have puppies at Vispera. Meg is halfway through her pregnancy and I am so excited to finally have puppies from this amazing little girl. She is such a neat dog to ahve around and spend time with. She has been lucky enough to be spending her time at Hound Junkie with me for the past few days...... She is very good company. She is also getting some special attention at home, sneaking into our bedroom at night ;)

I rub her belly everyday seeing if maybe it grew over night. I'm looking forward to seeing what little bundles we end up with and watching them grow. Camryn is now 3 and I'm sure will be mommys little helper when the puppies come :)

Trying to get the yard all cleaned up before the snow flies, we have so much oats/alfalfa growing wildly around our place it's hard to get a handle on it. We have managed to get quite a bit of grass planted this year considering how wet and cold it was this summer.........

Will keep you updated on Meg's progress!

Summer is slipping away

I am taking a few moments to upload a few pics from today. I haven't had a chance to take any pictures this summer. Things have been so busy. It always bothers me when things get to hectic because life is too short not to be doing things you absolutely love. I'm at a pretty good place right now, have a family I love, dogs I love, a store I love, a business partner I love and many many friends. It's just hard to sometimes find the time to fit everything in.....
Today I spent the day at home with Camryn and we had a wonderful day together, cleaning/playing and getting into mischief :)

I am looking forward to hitting the road with Rayne in a few weeks to the CNASA Nationals in Saskatoon. I'm going to catch up with aussie folks and family. I hope that Rayne & I do well but I'm going to be thrilled just to be there :)

Remember to always enjoy the day.............

Latest News

Where has the summer gone??? It seems like only yesterday the kids were getting out of school and now they are already getting ready to go back!!
Things with me and my family are great. We have been so busy with the acreage/new store and general life that I haven't had much time to sit and reflect.

We are still impatiently waiting for Meg to come into season so she can go visit her boyfriend Tray. Not sure what she is waiting for........

The new store "Hound Junkie" is going very well. It is so satisfying coming into work knowing its yours and not having to answer to anyone. It's a lot of work and stress but I know it's going to be worth it. We are developing some great relationships with some of our regular customers........

I am also gearing up for the CNASA Nationals this Sept 1-5 in Saskatoon. It's going to be a blast to meet up with so many aussie people and see all the great dogs. I am only taking Rayne with me. I was hoping to have Meg ready to compete in the arena trials but with only 1 clinic under our belt and no training time since then we are no where near ready to compete. So, Rayne and I will head up there and play in the confirmation ring.

I am also planning on getting my 2 girls back into agility training. Both girls are going to be great ~ I just have to make the time to train.

Will hopefully get some new pics of the crew in the next few weeks :)

WOW

what a busy few months. I'm sure nobody will even read this as they are sick of coming to this blog only to find the same old rant. But I will post what has been happening anywyay.....
It's been a looonnnngggggg 3 months but I can finally say that my project is finally up and running!! A friend of mine and I opened up a new store in Lloydminster called "Hound Junkie". It's an upscale Horse & Hound Boutique store, that we are in love with!! It's a joy to come to work everyday and know that you built this wonderful space.

I did happen to sneak away the May Long weekend and attend a herding clinic with Meg. It was with Dave & Trudy Vicklund and although I'm sure Dave is a wonderful instructor Meg & I spend all 3 days with Trudy. I am so impressed with both Meg & Trudy!! Not once did I scream or yell at my dog and by day 3 she was covering her stock nicely and was even thoughtfull and responsive. Meg is very one sided so we have to work on that.........
here is a link to Meg working. Thanks to Billie for taking the video.
http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DQYhvJDBD9LA&h=96f55

I will be posting updated pics of our store as I can.........

Bye for now.