The second half of 2019 saw us pretty busy. We welcomed Aura and Pates little Icicles on 1st November.
This is probably the easiest litter I've raised, since the Gardians themselves. 
The puppies obviously inherited their calm, happy-go-lucky nature from their mother and settled into their new homes with less than the usual bumps and curveballs.

Aura (Caleebra Gardian Gamora (AI)) was a lovely, sweet mother, who even allowed visitors, similar to her own mum. I caught Anarchy in the whelping box regularly and even Summer, Winter and Dolce were allowed to visit the babies. Aura was a relaxed mum, attentive to her puppies and happy for a tummy rub or a snuggle on the couch when not attending the puppies.

Pate (Lumiturpa Pikku Pate) frozen semen imported from Finland was used for this litter and he brought his own touch of sweetness to the puppies. With double the dose of sweet, they were sweet, cuddly pups, keen on attention from people, but not as demanding as i'm used to. It was quite a nice change.

The Icicles were a litter of 7 and were named for the Looney Tunes
We had 2 Black and Tan males, one with Irish spotting almost in a Border Collie pattern with white feet, tail tip, blaze and half collar, 1 Wolf Sable boy, 2 Domino boys and 2 Domino girls.

All are in their homes.

Starting with Vader whelping on the 21st June (for Kira at Ehana Kennels) we had a very busy couple of days lined up.

Caleebra Welcomed the Heart Litter (Winter x Aslak) on the 23rd June.

and Summers final litter (Summer x Nikke) on the 26th June.

Heart Litter were named for Marvel characters: 4 boys: Banner, Bucky, Fury and StanLee, 3 girls: Marvel, Valkyrie, Wanda.

Banner headed off to NZ, Bucky and Wanda stayed in Victoria, Fury to Sydney, Marvel to Brisbane and StanLee and Valkyrie to South Australia.
By all accounts they settled in very well in their new homes and are keeping owners on their toes.

Summers 5 girls were named for Pitch Perfects' Barden Bellas: Aubrey, Beca, Chloe, Cynthia-Rose and Stacie.

Aubrey headed off to Tasmania, Beca to Queensland while Chloe, Cynthia-Rose and Stacie all stayed in Victoria.

My goodness our puppies and their owners have been BUSY!

I was well behind on my news updates and thought i'd "quickly" accrue a list of highlights. It's quite a list.

February

Lexie earns her Neuter Champion Title. She took a bunch of Neuter in Show and Neuter in Group wins along the way too. Her newfound excitement about shows has a lot to do with the awesome treats on offer for really just standing still and trotting in a circle sometimes. Its 'Easy Money' for Lexie. She even enjoys the pamper sessions that go along with it. Except the nail cutting. She opts out of that every time.

March

Lexie earned that elusive last pass to earn her Rally Advanced Title. Lexie gets distracted by the possibilities of rabbits in the bushes that even gusts of wind that rustle the bushes have her ears pricked and Jeanette working double time to bring her back.
She also really enjoys Lure Coursing, and its no wonder when the desire to chase is so strong. We're so proud she finally pulled it together long enough to get that final pass. Way to go.

Eva earnt her Jumping Dog Title. The quiet achievers: Wendy and Eva surprise me with results like this over and over again and i'm so glad that Eva has Wendy and her daughter Kiera who love teaching her and taking her to all these trials and events. 

April

Both Vegas and Jaina earnt their Champion show titles. Vegas once again flew in to Bundaberg for their Easter shows with Kira as i had all the girls (including Kira's girl Vader) at home here in season with mating plans underway for them.
I'd given up on my girls and decided i was going to Bundy this year for sure. So of course the girls finally came into season 2 months later (probably delayed due to our move). So i stayed home and Vegas and Kira went and showed their socks off as well.

Jaina decided to drop her coat but Leah was determined, and pulled off the last needed points for Jaina to earn her title. Of course she's since been out of coat for months, but Leahs not concerned anymore as she's started on Jaina's flyball foundations.

May 

Eva and Wendy were at it again, earning not only an Endurance Title (20km with several stops for a dodgy bike chain or toilet breaks which had them racing to resume their position in the lineup) but also that scary CCD (Obedience) title. Like many of us, the Obedience trialling ring is not frequented by Lappies. Especially mine, who appreciate the chatter that goes along with Rally and either get concerned or switch off when the people aren't allowed to talk to them. Obedience is hard, y'all. But they did it.

June

Kova earnt his title in style, going Runner up Best Exhibit in Group. Over the moon for the Nicole and Kova team. They've been working so hard and this was such a high.
Tawnee earnt a Snooker Dog Agility title. Really this was amazing as she had a litter of pups in April and her comeback from babies was amazing. 
Aslak earnt his Junior Courser (Lure Coursing) Title. He also went on to eventually be crowned Fastest Lappie in Australia in the Battle of the States Lure Coursing Challenge. Way to go Assy.

That wraps up the first half of the year. 
What a list!

As the years beginning to wind up, we're planning an interstate move shortly, and my dogs are dropping their coats like they want to live in a nudist colony (in preparation for the hot summer months), i felt i may as well draft the wrap up for the year.

Our dogs were on fire in 2018, competing across Conformation Shows, Rally, Agility, Sled Sports, Flyball and Tricks. Between them they've accrued 17 titles this year and i'm both proud and humbled by the training time and dedication of their owners as well as their commitment to do more with their dogs.  

On the show front, our Lappies have also had an incredible year. From youngsters taking surprise wins, to our show stars being recognised and awarded top honours. Many thanks again to the dedication and hard work of their owners.
There are often many km's travelled and a lot of behind the scenes training for those few minutes in the trial or show ring.
As very bad breeders/owners,  we haven't kept track of all our wins this year, mostly because the results don't really matter as long as we're having a good day out. But there were a couple of notable Best of Breeds against both large and medium entries, and multiple classes in group from our youngsters in particular that just thrill me. Of course we also have a number of wonderful, loved and adored pets keeping their hearts warm and their bodies active. To all of our puppy owners we send a special thank you for the care, love and companionship.  

Also we were delighted to have the beautiful Miss Poppy be Delta Therapy certified.  She's a real people pleaser and we think she's going to really enjoy visiting the elderly and helping to brighten their day. 

We gathered at Harden for an impromptu reunion and a couple of shows.

Knowing Winter was only 6 points away from her Australian Champion title, I had entered with the sole purpose of catching up with friends.
It'd been a while since we'd seen each other, and Winter was the second youngest girl in the field.

So I was completely surprised to have Winter awarded one of the two Bitch Challenges over the weekend and earn those final points for her title..
It seems to happen when i least expect it. 
I'm so thrilled with Winter. She is my first home bred and handled Champion. The puppy who wouldn't leave.
I think i'll keep her around a while longer yet. She's a keeper :)

Late in September we entered another weekend of shows. The ACT Spring Carnival and Working Dog Specialty shows with 4 shows held over 3 days.
We were surprised to discover 16 Finnish Lapphund entries on the first day. The largest entry we've seen here in a while and it made for a bit of a spectacle for the locals and a great opportunity for people wanting to meet the breed and learn more about them.

Summer is finally finished with her phantom pregnancy. She's really affected by these quite strongly. But she's my bouncy, happy girl again and i knew she'd be 'on' on the weekend. Finally.
However, to my complete surprise and delight, Summer was awarded Best of Breed for the first 3 shows. Even more surprising was to have Winter take Reserve Bitch behind her mum at all 3 shows and convert 2 of them to Runner up Best of Breed.

Then Winter did one better on the last day. She took Best of Breed, and her mum, Summer took the Reserve Bitch and Runner up Best of Breed.

To add to my amazing weekend, Summer pulled off not 1 but 2 Best Exhibit in Show. One was under Mrs Ros Barden (NSW) who is studying Group 5. She was lovely and so excited to have such beautiful Lapphunds to judge. She thanked us several times over and had a lot to say about the quality of her entry

The second was under Dr. William Crozier. It wasn't until we saw him that i suddenly recalled he'd judged the very first Finnish Lapphund Specialty show in NSW in 2014. The last time he'd seen Summer she was post whelp naked.
I was delighted to show under him again and he was so impressed with Summer that he awarded her Best in Show. He also awarded Winter Reserve Bitch Challenge behind her mum.

It didn't stop there though. We had a few of our Caleebra girls at the show and they all did quite well.
Jaina, Aura and Vader all won their class in the Open Show under Mrs Ros Barden (NSW).
The lineup for best bitch headed by Summer, was all Caleebra bred girls. As the judge deliberated she thanked us for a line up of Beautiful Lapphunds and i took my eyes off Summer to look down the line and thats when it struck me.
Those 'Beautiful Lapphunds' were all mine. Summer - Vader - Winter - Aura and Jaina. It was a wonderful and surreal moment and a real rainbow of colours. 

In the sports Arena, Eva (Caleebra Burberrys Brit (AI)) has been quietly powering through trials.

She entered her first Rally Trial in May and by the end of September had earned her Rally Novice, Advance and Excellent titles.
She's also competing in the Obedience arena with passes towards her first level Obedience Title (CCD) and has also earned her first passes in Agility Jumping.

Wendy and Eva have always had a strong bond, so it's no surprise at all to see them competing so well together. I wish them all the best of luck.