The Obsidian Flock: Rogue and Heart get plenty of time on our six Montedale ewes and wethers.
Titles
Want to understand the alphabet soup behind our dogs names? Click here!
Mica's Fund
Help fight immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA)
Our Pack
MACH
U-CDX Glace Noire Rocket UD MXF AJP HIC AAD
Joan was so jealous of the fun I was having training Chilko, she just had to have her own Belgian sheepdog to work with. We got Rocky as a re-home from Connie and Rick Batsford. Their Glace Noire line has produced some wonderful high-performance dogs for work and sport. Rocky displays huge amounts of drive and enthusiasm that make him a highly competitive agility dog. It's hard to believe how fast this big guy can weave! His work ethic and strong desire to please Joan also means she can work obedience exercises with Rocky for durations that other dogs would find mind-numbing. Rocky isn't an easy dog to live with, but you have to love how much heart this dog has. Photo credit: Matt Sachs
Video of Rocky at the 2009 BSCA national specialty [requires Windows Media Player]
Rogue Gaia Kuymal
MX MXJ XF HSAs CD HTADII RLF II AD
Hips: GOOD, OFA BSD-3308G30M-PI; Elbows: NORMAL, OFA BSD-EL1049M30-PI, CERF BSD-1615/2009-61
Rogue was the first puppy we ever purchased from a breeder. We were making remarkable training progress with Chilko and Rocky, but both dogs had a few lingering "issues" left over from their original homes. We wanted the chance to shape the full development of a puppy to excel in performance events. We were mostly interested in training and trialing a herding dog, so naturally our first choice was a puppy from Peggy Richter's Kuymal Belgian Sheepdogs . Rogue has been everything we hoped for. He has exceptional instincts for herding, intense drive in agility, and is undaunted by high-pressure trial situations. In 2007, he began training to do surveys for Kincaid's lupine, a rare Northwest prairie plant.
Kaponomana's Heart of Obsidian MX MXJ PT
OFA Hips: GOOD, OFA BSD-3656G24F-VPI; OFA Elbows: NORMAL, OFA BSD-EL1372F24-VPI; PennHip 880765; CERF BSD-1910/2009-21
Heart is out of breeding between Triple Crown O'Ebon Will ("Blue") and Kaponomana Embracing Hope. Both parents are outstanding representatives of long, American lines. Heart quickly advanced through the AKC agility program and earned her MX and MXJ with limited trialing. Joan calls her the "Little Q Machine". Heart is a capable herding partner and that will be the focus of her future training. She also has a few conformation points and earned her first major under under Mrs. Janet Sinclair. Of course Heart has played a significant role in our breeding program as the dam to the first litter produced under the Obsidian kennel name. Photo credit: Joe Camp.
DOB 18 Jan 2011: too young for health screenings
We have been researching European kennels and lines of working Groenendaels for a couple of years. We are so happy that we learned about Kennel Lann Morian in Halmstad, Sweden. Gunnel Johansson and Birgitta Hedenberg have been breeding wonderful dogs that have had great success in obedience, IPO, tracking, and agility. Knife is from Lann Morian's K-Litter. The sire is Urban de Salte Cabre, a member of one of the most renowned Groenendael families competing in ring sports. The dam, Eira of the Silver Rails, is a beautiful bitch that is an exceptional tracker and IPO II. We are starting Knife's foundation training in agility, ring sport, and tracking.
Obsidian's Accipiter
DOB: 12 Feb 2011: too young for health screenings
We couldn't be more proud of the first girl from our fledgling breeding program. Sharpy is very well structured, friendly, and brimming with confidence. We will bring her along in work and sports with a lot of patience. For now, she is having fun in puppy ring sport sessions.
Joan Hagar PhD
Joan's day job is as an ecologist for the U.S. Geological Survey. Her professional projects have included a study of avian communities in commercially thinned Douglas-fir forests; research on the functional relationships among songbirds, arthropods, and understory vegetation; and a survey of Great Basin pygmy rabbits in eastern Oregon. Joan has also taught puppy socialization and basic obedience classes at Wonder Dogs in Philomath, OR.
Dave Vesely MS
Dave is a co-director of the Oregon Wildlife Institute. Dave conducts biological surveys, designs wildlife research studies, and is involved with a number of Willamette Valley conservation projects. He is currently training our Belgians as wildlife detector dogs to assist in surveys for western pond turtles, rare plants, and bird nests. Photo credit: Jen Newlin Bell/TNC