Waldsee takes Reserve Winners Dog to the major at HOAKC

This past weekend (10/31-11/1) was the Heart of America Keeshond Club Specialty show in Kansas City , Kansas. Nancy Cameron and Waldsee made the trip down for the show. Waldsee was the youngest dog entered at the show at just short of 7 months of age.

Waldsee (Tamarack's German Waltz at Darkenwald) took first in his 6-9 month puppy class both days and first in his sweeps class on Saturday. On Sunday he also won Reserve Winners Dog to the dog that went Best of Winners over all of the other class dogs who were all much older than him. This was reserve to a major win which just meant that Wally had to beat a lot of other male dogs to get his ribbon and trophy.

The judge was Mr. Eugene Blake and he really liked "Wally". After the photo Mr. Blake spent quite a bit of time with Nancy and I talking about how much he liked him. In addition many exhibitors asked about him and his pedigree. It was a proud moment for Nancy Cameron who owns Waldsee and for us as the breeders of this fine young dog.

Congratulations Nancy, Amanda and Waldsee. I see a very bright future for this nice male.

Waldsee also has a Best Puppy in Show at a B match when he was 4 months old. His brother Loki (Tamarack's Boot Scootin' with Darkenwald) has 2 reserves at the Hutchinson all breed show as well as a Group 3 puppy win at Hutchinson at the age of exactly 6 months. Loki is owned by Peter and D'Nay Rampaart. This litter has done some nice winning right out of the gate.

I also should point out that our male special Walker (CH Tamarack Northern Bogwalker) took Best of Breed both days at the Hutchinson shows in October (10/3-4). Walker has been entered in 5 shows in 2009 being shown just 10 times and he has won 9 of 10 Best of Breed ribbons and appears to be ranked #17 in the country as of today.

Walker takes Best of Breed again!

Walker was shown at the Rochester Kennel Club Dog show on September 12-13 and took Best of Breed both days again. Walker is Am CH Tamarack Northern Bogwalker

He now has been shown 8 times at 4 shows in 2009 and has 7 of the 8 Best of Breed ribbons to his credit. He is very close to cracking the Top 20 with the dogs ahead of him being shown much more often than he has.

Walker is almost 22 months old and really maturing nicely. He wont be 2 years old until late November. He was the pick male from our first litter between Lily (Am CH Dreamwoods Our Little Secret) and Strider (Am/Can CH Darkenwald Aragorn).

Video of Waldsee winning Best Puppy in match taken by Amanda

Hot off the presses-Waldsee Goes Best Puppy in Match!!!!

Congratulations to Nancy, Amanda and Waldsee!!! Nancy called to say "Wally" went Best Puppy in Match up in Cambridge, MN on Saturday!!!

This is a first for us at Tamarack Keeshonden and a nice accomplishment for one of Maya and William's puppies.

A "B" match is an AKC sanctioned event held by clubs to give exhibitors a chance to show their dogs at a young age or for practice for older dogs. You can show a puppy in a B match as young as 3 months. Waldsee was the first of Maya and William's puppies to go out to a show.

The B match was held up in Cambridge, Minnesota and was well attended. The judge was Tim Bergeron who is a Cambridge member and is also and AKC judge with a few breeds approved and many others provisional.

It was a great accomplishment for Waldsee as he competed against many older dogs (up to 12 months) and some tough competition. Congratulations to Nancy for her wonderful training and handling and to Waldsee for showing so nicely. Everyone in the Tamarack Keeshond family are proud of your accomplishment!! Way to go!!

Another good weekend for Walker

Walker (CH Tamarack's Northern Bogwalker) competed at the St. Croix Valley Kennel Club shows in Lake Elmo, Minnesota on August 22-23. The entry was 13 Keeshonden both on Saturday and Sunday.

Walker went Best of Breed both days at SCVKC and got a good look in the group ring on Saturday and he made the cut in the group ring on Sunday under judge Mr. William Bergum in a very tough group with some of the top winning dogs from around the country competing. Judge William Bergum remembered Walker as he was the first judge he ever showed to. Judge Bergum gave Walker Best of Winners for a 2 point win as a 6 month old puppy.

Walker is progressing nicely and is close to being one of the top ranked Keeshonden in the country, having shown only three weekends in 2009. It helps the three shows were well attended shows with larger entires.

Walker has taken 5 of the 6 Best of Breed ribbons he has competed for in 2009 and he won't be 2 years old until November 24th. He is really settling into becoming a nice specials dog for us.

It has been a joy to watch this boy grow up and mature. He is really starting to get noticed.

In addition Odin (Tamarack's North Star) took Reserve Winners Dog on Saturday and Winner's Dog on Sunday to bring him a point closer to his championship.

Bijou (Tamarack's Jewel of the North) and Dixie (Tamarack's Northern Misty Rose) split Reserve Winner's bitch with Bijou getting it on Saturday and Dixie on Sunday.

Overall it was another good weekend for Tamarack Keeshonden at the St. Croix Valley Kennel Club show.

Lily and Cooper's puppies head for their new homes.

Chloe with Suzanne and Sean



Niko with Kelly and Shelley



Ruby with her boys Jacob, Daniel and Marty



Ruby with Deb and Ed-the mom and dad of the boys

A couple of weeks ago Lily and Cooper's puppies went to their new homes. They all are settling in nicely and growing fast. We did not get a picture of Amy and her daughter when they picked up Indigo before their flight back to Texas.

Steel and Ava are still with us and will be going out to the show ring in a few months.

Good Luck to all of the new Tamarack Keeshonden family members with their new puppies.

Chloe goes to her new home.

Chloe (Tamarack's Chloe Bluebelle) went to her new home with Sean and Suzanne on Friday August 7th. They sent us a short video of Chloe and her new pool. It was so cute we had to share it. I think you will appreciate the antics of the breed. Enjoy!

The Lily-Cooper puppies begin going to their new homes tonight.

Tonight the first of the Lily and Cooper puppies go to their new homes.

Niko "Red Boy" (AKC reg name: Tamarack's Baby Blue Eyes) goes to his forever home tonight. He will be owned and loved by Shelly and Kelly of Lakeville, Minnesota.

Friends and others always ask Betsy and I if this is a sad day. It can be, but it is more of a celebration for us and for the new owners. We look forward to the smiles on the new owners faces as they set off with their new family member who brings with him or her many, many happy moments, some challenges as they raise the puppy into a well socialized and obedient dog and some heartache as they never live as long as we would like. The good news is the happy times, affection and companionship outweigh the sad parts by a lot. The other dogs going to new homes will head out over the next 10 days with the last of the 4 leaving on Saturday the 15th. Betsy and I are keeping 2 from this litter.

We obviously aren't breeding dogs for us to own every dog that we breed. And at the same time we are not breeding just so we have puppies to sell to new people. First and foremost we breed to improve the breed and to progress toward the long term goals of our breeding program. We will never breed just to produce puppies to sell!

Each time we breed we have a specific improvement or goal in mind. We are looking to improve on the mom and dad and bring a new dog into the world that hopefully helps us head in the direction that we have established for our line. Betsy and I sit down before each breeding to discuss what we want to improve upon in our dogs. Based on those established goals we decide who to breed, what to look for in the puppies and eventually what puppy we will keep based on it meeting those goals.

We truly love each and every puppy that we have helped get started for the first 10 weeks or so of their life, and yet we look forward to the day that they start their life with their forever home. We enjoy seeing them return to our home with their owners and really enjoy seeing how much they are loved and how they share that love back.

I offer you one of my favorite quotes related to dogs by the great Roger Caras who you probably have heard. He was the voice of the Westminster Kennel Club until his passing a few years ago.

"Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made." ~Roger Caras

May all of Betsy and my love be with Cooper and Lily's puppies all of their days. They hopefully know how much joy they have brought into our life. Good Luck to all of you.

Puppy pictures and news.

It was a busy week and weekend for the Lily and Cooper puppies who are 8 weeks old now.

They received many visitors all week long. There were soon to be owners, to friends in the breed to help evaluate, to interested friends. They got a lot of visitors and lots of holding and activity. All good things for socializing these pups.

On Tuesday 7/21 they went to see our vet Amy for full checkups and first shots. They passed with flying colors.

On Wednesday we finalized who we were keeping, with help from another Keeshond breeder Susan, so we could start to take the other puppies and decide which puppy fit which family best. It is not a perfect science but I really feel we did a nice job matching family to pup. I hope they all agree.

On Saturday they went to see Kristen who takes our puppy pictures for their photo shoot. If you have never tried to get 6 puppies staying somewhat still and all looking the same direction then you don't know what fun it can be. It is entertaining and a lot of work but is one laugh after another. It amazes me everytime I see how good the pictures are.

It was a very busy week.

Meet Casper

Casper is about 12 weeks old in these pictures that were taken late June. Casper is owned by Mari who will show him when he reaches 6 months of age.

Casper is out of the William and Maya litter that was born April 3rd and is one of 4 males. Three of the males will be shown in conformation. Casper has striking coat and color and is very nice structurally. He should hae a fun show career ahead of him.

He is a little trouble maker at times and loves to play with his older friend Smoki. Mari has owned Keeshond for many, many years and is very excited to have Casper. Good Luck Mari and Casper.

Lily-Cooper Puppies are 7 weeks old on 7-21-09

It is amazing that Lily and Cooper's puppies are already 7 weeks old.

All 6 went to the vet on Tuesday and got their first shots and a checkup. They all are doing great and have a clean bill of health from Amy our vet.

This weekend Lily, Cooper and all 6 of their puppies go for their photo session with Kristin.

All of the buyers have been over to see them except for the one new home for one of the girls down in Texas. They will be up to see them very soon. The puppies love when visitors come to play!

Here are a couple of pictures that Betsy took over the weekend while the pups played in the front yard. They do love being outside!

Meet Bear

This is a picture of Bear who lives on Cape Cod. His registered name is Tamarack's Northern Thunder Bear and he is from Lily's (CH Dreamwood's Our Little Secret) first litter born in November 2007. His father is Strider (Am/Can CH Darkenwald Aragorn). The picture was taken by Nathan in July 2009. Nathan is one of Bear's owners. Nathan is the son of Karen and John who have owned Bear since he left the nest. If you left click on the picture it will enlarge.

Bear is Walker’s brother as well as the sibling to the other 7 from that litter.

Bear is a happy and very content Keeshond who lives in a small town out on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with his owners Karen and John and their two kids Nathan and Jaclyn. Nathan is the talented photographer who took Bear’s portrait. Thanks Nathan!!

We received this note from Karen about Bear with the picture:

“Bear has had some obedience training and specifically some for "reactive" dogs. He was quite a barker, but we mostly have that controlled.

He is a lover, he likes to be in a chair or bed with us and displays his belly for a good rubbing all the time.

He actually has his own chair at the dinner table, he just watches and waits for his dinner, but he knows it's coming with something good mixed in it. He's a rather fussy eater, but his weight is good. He does get really mad at us if we leave him to go out for dinner though, he knows that is his time and resents missing it.

He always looks great and is quite proud of that!

We just spent the weekend of the 4th in Maine. He doesn't really like the car ride (5 hours), but he has cousins up there he loves to play with, a border collie who is 1 month older than Bear and a chocolate lab who is just 9 months now.

He's a rather lazy boy, I would call him a lounger...we have to work on getting him up and out in the morning, he'd just assume sleep in though.

We love him!!!!”

Thanks for sharing Bear’s story with us Karen and family!

Lily and Cooper's Puppies are 4 weeks old already!

I have been so busy with our Summer Solstice show, work and everything else I have been bad about taking pictures. Last night Betsy helped me take pictures of Lily and Cooper's six puppies at 4 weeks and one day old. I hope you enjoy them.

Anoka/Cambridge show is a success!!

We just got back from our clubs summer solstice show in Cambridge, MN. The Summer Solstice cluster ran from Thursday June 18-Sunday June 21. I serve as chief ring steward which is a full time job for 4 days but lots of fun. I get to meet lots of exhibitors, work with and coordinate all the ring stewards and get to be really close to the action all week. I don't have time to show, but some of the dogs we bred did show.

Odin is an 18 month old male who is owned by Peter and D'Nay. Odin went Best of Breed over the specials on Friday for a nice 3 point major. He also got a good look in group and almost was pulled. He went Reserve Winners dog the other three days. With both majors out of the way he is close to finishing his Championship now.

Dixie is Odin's sister and showed only Sat/Sun and went Reserve Winner's bitch on Sunday. Dixie is owned by Jim and Kathy and shown by Kathy. She already has 3 majors and 13 points.

Bijou is Dixie and Odin's sister and showed well and had fun in the ring and looked really good showing.

The puppies are at home and are all doing fine. All their eyes are open and they are getting up on their legs and playing with each other. I'll try to take more pictures tonight.

Friday night we had a get together and their was a reunion of the April litter with Loki. Waldsee and Lola all playing with each other. They dumped their water bowl and then rolled around in the water like a slip and slide. They were all a mess by the time the evening was over but it was fun to watch!!

Lily and Cooper puppies at one week.

Finally we announce the Lily x Cooper litter with pictures. Here are all 6 (4 girls, 2 boys) at one week of age. You will see their eyes are showing signs of opening. They are all at or over a pound and they really get around in the whelping box. Lily is a great mom and really loves her babies.

Enjoy the photos.

Announcing the birth of the Lily and Cooper litter-plus the first of the Maya and William litter goes home

On Tuesday June 2nd, Lily gave birth to 6 healthy happy new born Keeshonden. We had 2 boys and 4 girls that weighed between about 8 ounces to just over 9 ounces. Amazing how small they are when they are born.

This litter is a combination of Lily (CH Dreamwood's Our Little Secret) and our male Cooper (CH SouthCar's High Noon). This is Lily's second litter after having a successful litter back in November of 2007. One from that litter is already a Champion (Walker) and a couple of others are showing and getting very close to finishing their Championships as well.

Cooper was allowed a supervised visit and was so overwhelmed by the puppies that he did not know what to think.

I'll post some pictures of the newest Tamarack puppies in the next few days.

The puppies out of the Maya and William litter have started heading for their new homes and all will be with their new families by the middle of next week. Nancy and her daughter Amanda picked up their new show male Waldsee (Tamaracks German Waltz at Darkenwald) last night. Amanda loves the German language and selected the call name Waldsee as it means Lake of the Woods in German. Waldsee is Nancy and Amanda's second show Keeshond. Good Luck with your new puppy and show dog Nancy and Amanda. We think you are in for some fun and many wins with him.

Icy finishes her AKC US Championship in style!!!

Icy (CH Darkenwald Black Ice) finished her AKC US Championship in Fargo, North Dakota this past weekend by going Best of Breed/Best of Winners/Winners Bitch and getting a Group 3 placement in a strong Non-Sporting Group for a 5 point major win under judge Mr Richard Miller!

Thank you judge Miller for recognizing her spirit and attitude. Icy showed herself very well and wowed the crowd with her ring presence and attitude. She had quite a few fans by the time she finished showing.

Icy is owned by Suzette Lefebvre in Virginia and she has lived with us since last August to go to shows and finish her Championship. I am proud to have been part of this girls Championship but she pretty much shows herself and she just takes me along for fun. Icy has more confidence than most dogs I have ever met.

After the Fargo show Icy went home with our friend Lynne Hewitt to Canada who will show her to her Canadian Championship over the next few months.

Thanks for living with us for a little while Icy. Your spirit and energy will always be a part of our home and we all look forward to seeing you again in the future.

Pictures of Maya's and William's puppies at 8 weeks

http://www.kristinmariephotography.com/Freeman_Litter0509/

Attached is a link to our friend Kristin Marie's website who takes pictures of our puppies. These are proofs of the pictures we took last week.

We have yet to choose what pictures we will have printed but they are fun to look at-even some of them that did not turn out quite how we envisioned them-LOL Keeping puppies still takes patience and a quick shutter finger. It was a fun time taking the pictures.

Key City Show in St Peter-Walker goes Best of Breed both days!!

Last weekend (May 23-24) we went to the Key City Kennel Club show in St Peter, MN. It was a nice weekend with just a little rain Saturday morning and moderate temperatures. We had Walker entered and friends entered a couple of Lily's puppies (Odin and Bijou).

One year ago we entered the first Tamarack bred litter of puppies and they had a great show. Walker (CH Tamarack Northern Bogwalker) started his show career with a bang taking Best of Winners both days for his first 4 points. He finished his Championship at St Paul in January at 13 months and he is coming back to St Peter as a an AKC Champion. This year he was entered as special and took Best of Breed over another special and the other class entries both days. He had fun, looked good and enjoyed his time in the group ring. He even got a good strong look on Sunday from judge Mr. Joe Walton.

Odin (Tamarack North Star) took Best of Winners on Saturday and picks up another point toward his Championship. Odin is off to Fargo, North Dakota for shows this upcoming weekend.

Bijou (Tamarack Jewel of the North) looked great taking reserve winners both days.

The St Peter show is a fun show for us as it is not too far from home and we have a great time. Sunday evening we had a little get together barbecue with friends at our house and we played with puppies. It was a nice evening of socializing and puppy fun.

Maya's puppies will go to their new homes in a couple of weeks. They get their pictures taken tonight and they go to the vet for shots on Wednesday. Lily is looking and acting as if her time to whelp puppies is very close. She was getting her pads arranged just so in the whelping box last night. It is probably less than a week before we have new puppies again.

Rub-a-dub-dub 6 week pups in a tub

We celebrated the puppies 6 week birthday by having Betsy give them a bath. They sure smelled better afterwards.

Puppies are 6 weeks old and Lily is getting big

I'll take more pictures this weekend.

Maya and William's puppies are 6 weeks old today and getting big and active. Ears are coming up, stairs are being climbed, poops are getting bigger....It is a lot of work, but fun. Maya has stopped feeding them for the most part and her milk is drying up. This weekend Betsy and I will do our systematic evaluation for the first time They will go to their forever homes in the next 3-4 weeks. BTW-all of her puppies are sold.

In the mean time Lily is definitely pregnant and her puppies are due in early June. She is getting really big which has us nervous as to how many she will have. Many of you remember that her last litter was 9 puppies. We are not hoping for that many, but I have a feeling she is having more than the 5 that Maya had. The father of Lily's litter is our male Cooper. Cooper is the son of Strider who was the father to Lily's first litter so this litter should be very similar. That is OK as her first litter was filled with many nice dogs both for show and companion. More dogs like those in the world is a good thing. Depending on the size of the litter there may be puppies available, but for the most part they are spoken for unless we have a really big litter.

Pictures taken 5-4-09. Puppies are a month old

I know you have been patiently waiting for new pictures. Well finally last night Betsy, Katie, Kevin and I took the 5 puppies out to explore the big new world outside the house. It was fun keeping track of them as they roamed the yard and found lots of interesting things to see and smell.

Puppies are 4 weeks old today

It is amazing how fast 4 weeks have gone and how much the puppies change during that time. The puppies are eating ground up puppy food and starting to be weaned from Maya. They all are walking around, playing with each other and even playing with toys now. They even find ways to get out of the whelping box!! They are all very good about going to the bathroom on the paper-they are smart puppies.

All 5 have grown a lot in 4 weeks and are really developing personalities and attitude. Betsy and I are going to try to take some more pictures this weekend and post next week.

Stay tuned for more developments and pictures. Our lives are a little less crazy over the next couple of weeks so we should be able to give more frequent updates and get some more pictures posted.

Eyes are open and they are getting up on their legs

The puppies all opened their eyes yesterday and are starting to walk and wobble around. It will start getting to be a lot of fun for Maya and us to keep up with them.

I'm hoping to get some more picture taking time in this weekend and get those posted soon. They change so fast at this age.

Two of the boys now weigh 2 pounds or more and everyone else is close to two pounds. This is a good weight for not being 2 weeks old yet.

Personalities are starting to emerge and we are getting to know these new dogs really well now. More fun to follow.

Puppies are growing fast.

I don't have any new pictures yet but will try to get some more posted this week.

All of the puppies are at or over 24 ounces now with the Red Boy over 28 ounces. Maya is doing great as a mom but is able to take longer breaks away from the puppies which is good for both.

A couple of puppies look to be opening their eyes ever so slightly, so in a day or two they will see their new world. What an exciting and maybe scary thing that will be for them.

Pretty soon they will start getting more visitors to help them socialize and prepare themselves for the world they are entering. They all seem very relaxed around people and love being handled so they will probably be very easy to socialize.

I'll get more pictures soon, but for now just know they are doing great, growing fast and being well taken care off by Maya

Maya's and William's Puppies April 7-8, 2009

Here are some new pictures of the puppies that Betsy and I took on the evenings of April 7th and 8th 2009. Everyone is over a pound already with the smallest at 17.8 ounces and Red boy just below 20 ounces. They have almost doubled there birth weight. Today they are 6 days old.

Puppies are growing fast

Maya and William's 5 puppies are growing fast with everyone over one pound in weight at 5 days of age.

On Monday they went to our Vet Amy for a quick check up and dew claw removal. Maya was nervous as they were away from her for a little while. The pups were a little sore and fussy that evening afterwards. All pups were said to be in great shape after Amy's check up. Maya was very happy to see them come back to her.

Maya is still an amazing mom keeping them fed and extremely clean. They have all bonded with her and are very calm when mom is near.

Knock on wood-we hope the rearing of these pups keeps going as smoothly as it has to date. If all litters were this easy.....

For more on the mom (Maya) and Dad (William) visit our website at www.tamarackkees.com

Stay tuned. More pictures will be coming soon.

Maya and William's puppies-12 hours old

Maya x William puppies have arrived!!!

Everyone at Tamarack Keeshonden is proud to announce the arrival of our latest litter of puppies!

This morning between 6:00 am and 7:20 am Maya (Darkenwald Chasing Moonbeams) delivered five healthy puppies. Maya has blessed us with 4 boys and 1 girl all of whom weighed between 10.1 ounce and 12.6 ounces. They are all eating well and doing great.

The proud Daddy is our male William (Am/Can CH Twin Trees Aristocat).

We need to give our thanks to our son Michael who assisted Maya with the delivery of the first three puppies, our daughter-in-law Katie for assisting Michael, and to Cathy Bosnic for rushing over this morning to observe and help. We also want to thank Gloria Zopfi who helped us throughout Maya's pregnancy.

A very special thank you to Suzette Lefebvre for allowing us to co-own Maya.

Mom and puppies are doing fabulous. Pictures will follow soon.

Steve & Betsy Freeman
Tamarack Keeshonden
Nowthen, MN
www.tamarackkees.com

X rays confirm what we knew.

Last night Maya had x-rays taken by Amy Morgan and her staff. Amy is Maya's vet. Amy confirmed that Maya has at least 5 puppies. All the puppies are of good size and appear to be ready for birth.

Maya (Darkenwald Chasing Moonbeams) is the mom and William (Am/Can CH Twin Trees Aristocat) is the father. Both mom and dad have extremely strong pedigrees with numerous Hall of Fame champions, Westminster winners and Eukanuba Champions behind them. We are extremely excited for what these two Keeshonden will produce.

Maya and William's puppies Birth announcement will follow soon. Probably sometime this weekend.

Stay tuned.

Maya definitely has puppies!!

Betsy and Katie were holding Maya yesterday and all of a sudden the puppies started kicking so she definitely is pregnant. We were pretty sure she was but this confirms it. Maya will go to the vet on the 31st for x-rays and we expect puppies to be born about April 5th.

We have lots of help with this litter with friends coming over no matter what time to help whelp the litter and learn. We hope it is an easy delivery but we are ready for whatever happens. The whelping box is in the house and ready and we will start getting all the stuff we need including scale, warming pads, laudry basket etc, etc to help.

We have many people interested in this litter and probably have 4 puppies sold already. We real do not want another litter of 9 like Lily had. 4-6 would be fine.

Stay Tuned.

Headed for Canoecopia

Every year in Madison is a large paddle sport expo called Canoecopia. I have gone numerous times and have even given seminars at it in the past. One of my other passions is wilderness canoe camping and travel in the Boundary Waters of Northern Minnesota and other destinations in Canada. Betsy is joining me this year at Canoecopia and we will be going there without the dogs. Betsy does not share in my passion for canoecamping and actually thinks I am a little nuts. She's not the only one who thinks that.

Kevin, Michael and Katie will be home with the dogs and Betsy and I will have a quiet weekend away looking at canoes, canoe accesories, meeting friends, having dinner with them etc. We will drive home Sunday morning.

The weather forecast calls for nice weather and easy travel. It will seem strange going someplace without the dogs, but it should be very relaxing.

Just arrivied home from the Columbia, Missouri dog shows.

We got back late Sunday night after driving home from the shows in Columbia. It is about an 8 1/2 hour drive for us. We did not pick up any points this weekend, but we had lots of fun seeing friends and seeing some nice dogs compete. Betsy and I took Odin, Bijou and Icy to see what might happen.

Odin showed well both days taking first in his class and getting good looks for winners both days. He had blown his coat just before the show so his lack of coat may have been one reason he did not fare better. He enjoyed the show and showed well.

Bijou was missing her mom and yet looked fabulous all weekend. She is in good coat right now and also got good looks both days. She took first in her class both days and yet always seemed to find just the wrong moment to do something silly in front of the judge. She may have been her own worst enemy.

Icy has never shown better and she won her class on Saturday but the provisional judge that we had on Sunday did not know what to make of her and put her second in her class. Most everyone who watched the class thought differently outside the ring, but....Oh well we were extremely happy with how she showed both days. She just had the wrong judges.

Anyway we had a great time in Missouri and got to enjoy the 78 degree weather on Saturday. I don't think the dogs liked it as much as we did. When we arrived home on Sunday it was in the 20's again with a strong wind. Glad to be home??? Yes.

Twin Cities Food and Wine Expo

Not really Keeshond related, but.....

Betsy and I took a day off on Sunday and attended the Twin Cities Food and Wine Experience. It is a large event where you get to sample fine wines, good food, great cheeses and see other interesting food related things. It was an amazing experience.

The funny thing was-we saw many of our dog show friends at the event. It was fun seeing them in a different setting then just at a dog show.

Of course when we arrived home all of the dogs pretty much scolded us for not taking them along and sniffed us all over to try to figure out where we had been.

Snow-Snow-Snow

Yesterday we received about 6 inches of fresh, powdery snow.

All the dogs just love to go outside to romp and play in the snow after not having much snow to play in for a couple of weeks. It was extremely difficult to convince Cooper, Walker and Icy to come in after they were able to get outside. It did not matter to them that the wind was howling and the snow was blowing creating wind chills below zero that kept us human types inside.

Betsy and I enjoyed their antics from the warmer confines inside the house looking out the window to witness their pure enjoyment.

When they finally came in they had snowballs caught up in their coat that needed to be carefully removed.

Can't say I enjoyed the 6" of snow even half as much as they did.

Steve & Betsy

Our friend Larry Ricker was up taking pictures. Here are a couple of the results.

Our friend Larry was up a week ago and took 400 picture of our dogs. He has started processing them and sending them to us to look at. The picture at the very top is of our 13 year old girl Chloe. She still has that sparkle in her eye, bright smile and spring in her step. Chloe's registered name is Chloe Allante's Silver Shadow.

The second picture is of our 4 year old girl Lily. Lily is the mom to our November 2007 litter of nine!! Lily runs the house and is very much in charge of everyone. Lily has produced some great dogs including her son Walker who finished his Championship at 13 months, In addition 3 of her offspring (Walker, Dixie and Odin) had amassed 5 majors by the age of nine months. Lily is Am CH Dreamwood Our Little Secret.

Thanks Larry for taking these amazing photos. All of us, especially the dogs really enjoyed the afternoon a week ago. If you would like to see more of Larry's work go to: http://www.lhrimages.com/ or click on this posts subject title and you will go right to his webiste.

Cooper passes his eye test with flying colors!!

One of the things reputable breeders do is take their dogs in for health testing before using them for breeding. Someday we will use Cooper at stud, so we took him in today for his CERF eyes test. Cooper is Am CH Southcar's High Noon.

After his test he is fine, other than his eyes being very sensitive to the sun today. The vet said his test came back with no serious abnormalities and he passed with flying colors.

His results will now be part of an ongoing database of dogs that is breed specific to help breeders and vets identify hereditary issues to pay attention to. We will also share his results with any other breeder that may wish to use Cooper in the future as well as any puppy buyers of his offspring.

If you are buying a puppy this is a good thing to ask your breeder-"What health tests are you required to do and can I see the certficates and results of the puppies parents?" A reputable breeder will probably offer this information even before you ask.

I forgot to mention that we crowned 2 new Champions in January

In Janaury at the Land O Lakes Kennel club 2 Tamarack Keeshonden were awarded their AKC Championships.

On Saturday January 3rd "Walker" (Am CH Tamarack Northern Bogwalker) went Best of Breed/Best of Winners and Winners dog over the special for a 4 point major. That finished his Championship at the age of 13 months.

On Sunday "Cooper" (Am CH Southcar's High Noon) went Best of Breed/Best of Winners and Winners Dog over the specials including Walker for a 4 point major to finish his AKC Championship. Cooper was only entered on Sunday. Cooper turned two just before Christmas.

Walker is our first home bred champion with all points of the of the bred by exhibitor class.

For pictures and details go to our website http://www.tamarackkees.com/

Getting ready for the Columbia show March 7-8, 2009

We are going to Columbia in a couple of weeks. The show count is out.

6-6-1-0 which means 6 non-champion dogs, 6 non-champion girls and 1 champion male special.

The count of 6 boys and 6 girls means we will be competing for 3 point majors both days in both sexes. That is great news. Finding majors is getting hard with the economy the way it is.

Wish us luck in Columbia, Missouri.

Website is up and is fabulous

Go to www.tamarackkees.com to see Larry Ricker's work. He has been a great help in putting together the website. Let us know what you think!!