Other Breeds

We do get people, for lessons and clinics, with other breeds besides border collies.

Occasionally they are concerned that Norman may not have the knowledge to train their "upright" breed or that he may be prejudiced toward something other than a border collie.

Rest assured, it's certainly not true!

This brings me to my new greeting card, "That'll Do Pig". Call today to order yours!

P.S. I raise my right hand and swear....That really is Norman, working a pig, on sheep. I did not add the pig. No, the pig is not for sale!

Delta Bluez
Other than this cute image of Norman's Blaze with Don Helsley's guard dog, I am going to leave the blogging to Diane Pagel. She was at The Dirt Blower and did some nice pictures of Norman and Gwen. She was kind enough to post them on her blog. Here is the link to her site.
http://deltabluez.blogspot.com/2010/06/norm-close-and-gwen-first-day-of-open.html
Just a quick note...Congratulations to Ellen Skillings. She won the overall Open award at the Dirt Blowing Trial. Gerri Byrne won the overall Pronovice award, and I am happy to report that Norman's young dog, Blaze, was second in the Pronovice overall.

A good day!

I am home this weekend. I have a job to shoot on Saturday and Sunday, and tonight was art walk where all the galleries in Coeur d'Alene stay open and people come in to look at your art. I sold a piece tonight called "The Dirt Blowing Trial."

Norman, ironically, is at the Dirt Blowing Trial, the same trial, that the image is named after, in Dayton, Washington. Today, he and Gwen won the open with an 88. it was a good day.

Congratulations to Handhills Black.

He has officially landed in heaven. He now lives in Goleta, California with Rita and Paul Morneault. Rita and Paul flew up to Coeur d' Alene to pick up Black, so he wouldn't have to fly home alone.

Great people, very happy dog!

Eve

We are offering Eve for sale. She is 7 months old and is keen on sheep. She is a daughter of my Hanna and Norman's Jake.

Call Norman for details 208-215-4630

Out from under the bed!

I guess the truth is, when I am scared the written words just don't come. It has been a long time since I posted, a lot has gone on.

In a world where we have too much drama, I saved you from a little more. Leah's surgery was a huge success, and then things went south for a while. Her brain swelled, her health declined, she got better, then worse, then worse, she had a second surgery, then worse, then slowly better, and better.

We were in Seattle for 20 days. I saw more tragedy there than I cared to, from the homeless people that finished my breakfast every morning, to Leah's hospital roommate that sat alone, day after day, with half her skull removed.

While I felt like I was in hell, I am thankful for the experience, and have such gratitude for the doctors and nurses at Harborview. They are amazing.

I am so happy to tell you that, two days ago, Leah drove a car. Today she went back to work as a makeup artist for half a day. She is herself, same personality, only slightly funnier-really, no kidding. The part of her brain they worked on has a lot to do with her emotions. Some people come out angry, she on the other hand, thinks everything is funny! Me too, and, like always, we have fun together.

Please know how much gratitude I have for each of you that entered Leah's trial. You helped me help her, and I really can't thank you enough............Now then, back to the dogs!