Our sympathies go out to Officer Scott Pearl and the Portsmouth Police.

Portsmouth police K-9 Wess, shown with his handler Scott Pearl in this file photo, was put to sleep Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011.  Elizabeth Dinan file photo

January 19, 2011 11:55 AM

PORTSMOUTH — After a short career of tracking crime suspects, sniffing out drugs and bridging the police department to the community, 5-year-old police K-9 Wess died Tuesday after suffering from an intestinal disorder.

Wess was the sidekick and partner of Officer Scott Pearl and the pair was repeatedly honored by the Working Dog Foundation.

“He’s devastated,” Chief Lou Ferland said about Pearl losing his police partner. “They ran together every morning and spent almost every waking moment together. I’ve been around a lot of police dogs and this dog would definitely not have hesitated to defend Scott if someone tried to attack him.”

via Police dept mourns loss of K-9 Wess | SeacoastOnline.com.

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On January 18th at 12 in the  lobby of the Legislative Office Building, a commendation from the Governor will be presented to Leslie Frank, the New Hampshire breeder and owner of the Australian Shepherd that won BIS at the 2010 AKC/Eukanuba National Championships.

This shines such a positive light on dog breeders and everyone is welcome to attend. It’s a great way to support dog breeding in NH

If you know you will be there in advance please rsvp by email.  Hope you can make it.

For more information about Leslie and “Reckon,”  see this Foster’s article:

Local Australian Shepherd takes Best in Show

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Courtesy photo Leslie Franks with Italian and American Champion Propwash Reckon, seated, and two of his male puppies at their Kensington kennel.

The annual American Kennel Club Invitational Dog Show was held on Dec. 4 and 5 in Long Beach, Calif. (The show will be televised here Jan. 23). Best in Show was awarded to a dog bred and reared within 25 miles of Dover, by a woman who has been devoted to this breed since long before they were recognized by the American Kennel Club.

Leslie Franks of Kensington has lived with and loved Australian Shepherd dogs since 1975, when the family kept a small herd of sheep, and she decided that a Herding dog would help manage the sheep. Her first Aussie was a dog from California (where 12 generations later, her many-times-great grandson won in Long Beach). Due to her hard work and diligence, now people around the world who seek exceptional Aussies come to Frank’s Propwash Kennels.

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Have you ever heard of doing nosework with your dog?  Neither had we, but the All Dogs Gym and Inn is offering a free  K9 Nosework Workshop on January 19th.  Here’s what they say about it:

K9 Nosework is all about your dog using his strongest sense — his sense of smell. Your dog’s nose is busy — Exploring, getting acquainted, hunting, playing, learning. At last, here’s a fun activity for virtually all dogs and owners to do together. Think of it as “tracking without any ticks!”

Join us and Certified Nosework trainer Scott Williams to learn more about this instinctive activity, and watch our students’ dogs demonstrating what they’ve learned as they happily, successfully explore and locate the right scent. In K9 Nosework, the dog’s instincts come alive! Come and learn all about this exciting sport.

To learn more about Nosework, you can visit the web site of the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW).

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‘Reckon an Australian Shepherd Wins Best in Show at the Tenth Annual AKC/ Eukanuba National Championship Show

National Champion Emerges From Nearly 2,500 Canine Competitors

Reckon

LONG BEACH, Calif., Dec. 6, 2010 / The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship Best in Show honors and $50,000 in prize money went to CH Propwash Reckon, an Australian Shepherd known affectionately as “Reckon” owned by Leslie Frank and Judy Harrington of Kensington, New Hampshire. Before a crowd at the Long Beach Convention Center Sunday night “Reckon” was crowned “National Champion” by Best in Show judge Mrs. Jean Fournier after a weekend of intense canine competition.

The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship — recognized as one of the most prestigious dog shows in the world — joined a range of canine sporting events all under one roof, including the AKC Agility Invitational and the AKC National Obedience Invitational. These highly anticipated events featured nearly 3,233 dogs vying for “top dog” bragging rights and more than $225,000.

“We are proud to have Reckon join the family of Best in Show winners at the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship,” said Show Chairman Ron Menaker. “We had a record-breaking entry this year of highly competitive canine athletes in conformation, agility, obedience and the Eukanuba World Challenge. Congratulations to all the winners!”

The AKC/Eukanuba National Championship will be telecast on ABC Network Television on Sunday, January 23, 2011. Check local listings for airtimes.

For more information about Reckon’s breeder, see this post.

Reckon and the Best in Show Judge

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Pat Rollins, the outdoor writer for The Citizen, has a column up about the first rabbit hunt of the season.  It describes the joy a dog has in doing what it was bred to do – in this case, a Beagle on a rabbit hunt.

“You should have been here a half-hour ago,” Pete said. “The old boy saw me put on my coat and pick up my shotgun and he went nuts. When I put him outside he must have sprinted around the house a dozen times, barking wildly the entire time.”

“Ohhh, I believe you,” I replied with a laugh. “That old dog is the most intense rabbit dog I’ve ever seen….”  more

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Tonight at 7:30, NH Chronicle will feature Randy Pierce and his guide dog, Quinn.  From the WMUR site:

“Randy Pierce is blind and Quinn is his guide dog. Together the dynamic duo is working to climb all of NH’s 48 mountains that rise about 4,000 feet. The project is called 20/20 Vision Quest and it’s raising money to help blind people across the state. Jennifer Crompton got to hike along side them and has their inspiring story.”

For more information on how you can help 2020 Vision Quest, please visit their site.

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From nh.com

Waterville Valley , NH – Saturday, November 27, 2010 marks the 20th annual arrival of “Santa Arrives by Dog Team” at Town Square in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire.

Santa and his team will arrive at the gazebo to greet the crowds at 3:30 P.M. Visits with Santa will take place in the Nordic Center in Town Square after the dogs are safely unharnessed, and will continue until Santa sees the last child. Each child will receive a small gift and candy from Santa and his elves. For a suggested donation of $5 per child, photo opportunities with Santa will be available. All proceeds will be donated to the Whole Village Family Resource Center in Plymouth, NH. Visit www.wholevillage.net for more information.

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Here’s a report from D.O.G.S.’s booth at the Sled Dog Trade Fair and lots of pictures (click on a picture for a larger version):

Thanks to Britain Hill who sponsored a table for D.O.G.S. at the 15th Annual Northern New England Sled Dog Trade Fair held October 2 & 3 at the Hopkinton Fair Grounds in Contoocook. The weather was a little chilly for people but perfect for the dogs.  What an amazing weekend.  We saw so many beautiful dogs and talked to several people.  We met people and dogs from all over New England as well as NY, PA, VA and NJ  I had thought that sled dog sports would be limited to Siberian Huskies, Alaskan Malamutes, Inuit Dogs, Samoyeds, Alaskan Huskies & New Hampshire’s official state dog the Chinook but I was in for a surprise.  I saw labs and other breeds going crazy to pull and run with their owners.

The weekend consisted of educational seminars on the dogs and their sports as well as a “Rig Race” on Sunday.  This is a fun family sport that almost any age can participate in.  There were young kids, teenagers and adults competing.  We met someone who said his teenage daughter had been racing since she was a child.  Any safe rig without an engine is acceptable in the race.  There are mostly bikes in the first class of 1 – 2 dog pulling.  Other wheeled rigs were used for the 2 -4 dog race and 5 – 6 dog race.   It was exciting to watch the dogs work themselves into a frenzy waiting for their turn to run!  The barking and crying while they waited was continuous.  I had no idea how verbal these breeds were, it would be easy to carry on a conversation with any of these dogs.

If you have one of these breeds, a dog that loves to run and pull or would like more information in general about Bikejoring, Skijoring or Mushing you can contact the New England Sled Dog Club at: http://www.nesdc.org/,  GCbarker@netzero.com

or the NH Mushers Association at http://www.nhmushersassoc.org/,  nhmushersassoc@yahoo.com.

Here’s an article I found while browsing for info - Click here

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A New Hampshire dog breeder is receiving a national honor.  From the Seacoast Online:

When Leslie Frank decided to pursue her passion for dogs, she never thought she would end up the winner of the American Kennel Club Breeder of the Year Award in the herding category.

Frank, a resident of Kensington, has been breeding Australian shepherds for the past 44 years at her home on Propwash Farm.

“I fell in love. I loved the first dog I owned and wanted more,” she said.

Frank is currently breeding 12 dogs, including five new puppies on the 45-acre farm. Her main goal is to sell dogs to well-fit families, but she uses a majority of them for shows.

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