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 Photo Credit: Diane Lewis 2008 USDAA DAM (Dog Agility Masters) Team Qualifier 2006 ASCA Nationals Agility Finals Qualifier 2005 ASCA Nationals Agility Finals Qualifier DOB: January 6, 2000 Red with copper and white 18" and 26 pounds Full Dentition/Scissors Bite Allergy Free Full Length Tail - Docked Spayed Female - Full sister to Curry OFA Prelim-GOOD/ CERF-CLEAR 1/20/01 ASCA, AKC, UKC, NAFA, NADAC, and USDAA Registered This photo of Bree was in the September 2006 issue of the National/Interntional magazine, Dog Fancy! She had a full page photo spread on page 46 - how exciting! It is such a privilege having her in this magazine since her photo was chosen out of probably THOUSANDS of aussie photos! Way to go my "heart dog", Beautiful Princess Baby Boo Bear!
 Photo Credit: Cary Manaton At the 2005 Australian Shepherd Club of America Nationals, which was held in Conyers, GA at the Olympic Horse Park, Bree did the following:
This was such an AMAZING week! We didn't go to ASCA Nationals with any expectations - we went just to have fun. My only "hope" was for Bree to try to finish up her ATCH at Nationals - because what better place to finish up her ASCA Agility Trial Championship, than at ASCA Nationals! When she finished the requirements on Sunday, I was thrilled with her and we got an amazing ribbon and Pamela Bryant-Meeks performed her "ATCH wheel" - which is an ATCH "cheer", ending in a cartwheel, then split. Boy did she do a GREAT job! On Monday, for the agility Finals, Bree did well. We bombed the gamble, but otherwise did pretty well. She ended up placing 13th out of 50 dogs entered in the Finals. I was SUPER THRILLED with her - this was such a "feat" for us. Then on Tuesday and Wednesday, for the Agility Nationals, Bree was "on". She never put a foot down wrong - she just flew through the courses with great speed and perfection. I actually cried on our last run on Wednesday just because Bree had worked her little heart out and I was sooooo pleased with how she had done. She's such a great little dog and she did everything right just to please me, though she definitely has fun doing it because she LOVES agility. After the Nationals trial was over, we were sitting around getting our placement ribbons and plaques (which were AWESOME!). A friend came up to me and asked if Bree qualified in all her runs, and I said "yes". She also asked if Bree placed in any of them, and I said that she had placed in all of them. THEN my friend proceeded to tell me that she may be in contention for High In Trial. I was like "yeah, RIGHT!" It was the FURTHEST thing from my mind - I truly never even thought it was even a SLIGHT possibility! Then when they said Bree was High in Trial Elite dog *AND* High in Trial Overall dog, I could have been knocked over with a whisper! I was so shocked, but THRILLED! I knew Bree had done well, but I didn't have a clue she did that well! Needless to say, I cried like a baby for 10-15 minutes! Bree is my "heart" dog, and accomplishing all of this with her at our VERY FIRST NATIONALS, to say this was truly one of the greatest weeks of my life, is an understatement. No matter what happens going forward, accomplishing all we have this week can never be touched. And I'd like to give special THANKS to Laura Slusher. She's a great trainer/teacher and friend. To Regina Schwabe of PAWS - she's my dogs chriopractor and she has helped me keep all my dogs healthy, even during this difficult time of the year for them because of the change in season, especially for Bree. And lastly to Dr. Steve Chabon and Lisa Bruno. I busted up my knee at the end of July and they worked hard to get it as back to normal as possible so I could compete at ASCA Nationals. To all of you, THANK YOU.  Photo Credit: Tien Tran At the Busy Dog ASCA/NADAC agility trial in Alpharetta, GA on July 3-4, 2004, Bree won HIT Aussie AND HIT Elite dog on Monday, July 5th! In addition, the Busy Dog club held an agility challenge combining the results of the Memorial Day weekend trial and the July 4th weekend trial - Bree won the Aussie Champion award and received a beautiful embroidered blanket! What an amazing little girl! At the Busy Dog ASCA/NADAC agility trial in Gainesville, GA on May 29-31, 2004, Bree won HIT Aussie on Sunday, May 30 along with HIT Aussie AND HIT Elite dog on Monday, May 31! To say I'm proud of this little girl is an understatement! Bree has been awarded 2003 Reserve High Point Agility Dog for the Carolina Australian Shepherd Club. Go Bree! In the January/February 2004 issue of the Aussie Times (the official publication of the Australian Club of America), under the ASCA Agility Standings, she was ranked #10 in the Top 10 Agility Merit for 6-1-03 through 11-17-03 for the Regular Novice dogs! I had no intention of getting another dog, but Bree beguiled her way into my heart almost from the beginning. On my first visit to see the litter (about 4 1/2 weeks old), I fell in love with a little girl who is much prettier (I prefer dogs with very little white). However, after my second visit with the puppies (a few days later), I had a funny feeling Bree was the puppy who was going to come home with me. After the third visit (5 weeks old), it was definite. There was something very special about Bree - something that words can't describe. All of this happened after I decided Tess would be best off in a working home. This has been one of the toughest times of my life because I love Tess very much. However, Bree has brought me joy during such a dark time. She will never be able to take Tess' place (no dog ever could), but Bree has earned her own special place already. The name Bree is short for Sabrina. In the movie "Sabrina", she was talking about how her father came up with her name. Her father had read a poem about a water sprite, named Sabrina Feir, who saved a female from a fate worse than death. I'm hoping Bree will be my savior by helping to ease the pain of having to let Tess go, which has definitely been a fate, for me, worse than death. Bree is a very outgoing and friendly puppy. She also exuberates confidence (however, as she matured, she lost some of that "puppy confidence" and she is quite soft). She was the first puppy in the litter to do everything (she taught the others to drink real milk as well as how to get out of the puppy pen), is by far the most inquisitive, is the most independent, yet is also extremely sweet & loving (though not a cuddle dog like her littermates). She is so much like Curry was at the same age and he has been the most perfect dog for me. I have no doubt she will be also.  Photo Credit: Diane Lewis Bree (aka Bizzy Bee/Biddy Boo/Boo Bear/Princess/Princess Baby Boo Bear or just Boo) has more than lived up to her name. She makes me happier than I ever imagined. She is absolutely phenomenial and adding her to my life was one of the best decisions I ever made. She is an extremely happy little girl who accepts everyone. I thought she was going to be a serious and hard dog, like her full brother Curry, but there isn't a serious bone in her body and although she isn't extremely soft, she isn't a hard dog either. She has such a zest for life and is such a fun and sweet little girl. She is a dominant puppy, which is not something that everyone can handle, but it's what I work with best. Since I know how to handle dominant dogs without crushing their spirit, she has become such an incredible member of the family. Bree is the most biddable dog I have ever worked and is such a joy to train. I find myself working her way too much, which is something I have never done before. She's just so much fun to train and as long as I'm willing to work with her, she'll keep going until I quit. She has such an incredible work ethic and amazing focus. By four months of age, she already is very solid on her obedience commands and does several tricks. She is already learning agility equipment (contact obstacles and tunnels) and absolutely loves it. Now, if I can just get her to quit terrorizing Cody and Curry. Well, she quit terrorizing my other dogs long enough on May 23, 2000 to be able to pass the Canine Good Citizen test at only 4 1/2 months of age! This is her first "title" and I am so proud of her. She is just awesome. Because of her big brother Curry, Bree has been able to have experiences that most dogs will never get a chance to have. In May 2000, she got to come along as Curry performed an agility demo, along with other dogs from the Winston-Salem Dog Training Club, at the MudCats Baseball Game in Raleigh, NC. She got to sit in the stands with me during the game and was held by the kids while Curry performed the agility demos. In March 2000, our Flyball team performed Flyball demos during half-time at the Harlem Globetrotters Show in Charleston, SC and Raleigh, NC and Bree got to come along. At just 11 weeks of age, she was inside coliseums with thousands of people cheering and she loved every minute of it. While in Charleston, SC, several of us visited Folly Beach - a dog friendly beach in the area. This was Bree's first time in the ocean! Additionally, our Flyball team will be performing Flyball demos at the MudCats Baseball Game in Raleigh, NC on August 13, 2000 and Bree will be there to cheer on her big brother Curry! 
 Bree at Folly Beach, SC Photo Credit: Laura Slusher On April 5-6, 2002, Bree competed with the Flyball team, the Blockade Runners, at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge. To view pictures and stats of our experience, please click here. On Saturday, June 3, 2000 Bree saw sheep for the first time. She was almost 5 mos. old and I didn't think she would do anything since she was extremely soft on ducks the first time she saw them (she herded them at a local park). She did an awesome job with the ducks, but since sheep are larger, I thought she would be intimidated. Well, Bree wasn't. In fact, she was incredibly awesome. She has a nice natural & wide balance point, doesn't put unnecessary pressure on the stock, but was confident enough to use force if necessary (came close to gripping one of the sheep, but decided not to all on her own). My border collie friends (whose sheep I was using) said they wanted to keep her they liked her so much! Needless to say, I was very surprised, but also very proud. One of these friends told me, "she sure knows why she was put on this earth." It was an awesome day. Bree also loves agility. In her first agility show-n-go, she was amazing. She had decent speed, nailed the contacts, and had a ton of fun. She has the potential to be a really speedy little agility dog. Although Bree did well in her first trial agility trial, she was worried about everything that was going on. I've taken her trialing very slowly and now, a year later, she is definitely gaining confidence - she ran an ASCA/NADAC Novice jumpers course in 12.7 seconds (there were 12 obstacles) - it was the second fastest time in the entire Novice Jumpers class and was only beaten by a border collie by less than one second! She even beat her brother, Curry! In the March/April 2002 issue of the Australian Shepherd Journal (the official publication of the United States Australian Shepherd Association), under the USASA Agility Standings, Bree was ranked as the #2 Novice A - 16" agility dog from January 1, 2001 - September 30, 2001! That is so awesome! She is also listed as the #2 Novice A 16" dog in the May/June 2002 Journal (ranking for Jan. 2001-Nov. 2001)! She has this distinction with having received only ONE agility leg in ONE AKC trial! In October of 2003, she ran an ASCA/NADAC Elite Jumpers course - course distance: 164 yards - Bree's time was 26.38 seconds - which means she was running 6.22 yards per SECOND! She is an awesome agility dog! We attended Clean Run Agility Camp on 3/21-25, 2004. On Tuesday evening of camp (3/23), they offered the 60 Weave Pole Challenge. Bree had never done more than 20 weave poles in her life - and she had only done that two times back in January of 2004. So, I didn't expect her to complete the 60 weave poles, but she DID! And she had an awesome time of 16.03 seconds - only .17 of a second faster and she would have tied the fastest aussie in this event! She constantly amazes me - she is such an incredible dog.      Bree competed in her first Flyball tournament in Charleston, SC on April 28-29, 2001. The tournament was hosted by the Blockade Runners (our team at that time). She went into the tournament on two teams (the A team and the MB team - our two fastest teams) only to do warm-ups and possibly run a heat or two if she did well. She did well! Well enough, in fact, to run some on both teams. She only ran 9 heats, yet earned 150 points - enough to earn her FDX. She only messed up once and that was on the first day. She also amazed me with her speed - she ran a 4.85 on a hot day, running lane of sand, and without a running start! She went into the tournament a fun/happy little dog and left the tournament a true addicted flyball dog! Bree is now a strong flyball dog. Her average times are 4.3-4.4 over 9" jumps! Her fastest time over full height (13") has been 4.26 seconds and her fastest time over 9" is 4.173! She is really becoming an awesome flyball dog and truly enjoys the sport! And she's thoroughly enjoying her new team, Dogsmack, which we joined in May 2005.   Bree at her first Flyball tournament Photo Credit: Diane Lewis  Bree at the DogSmack Tournament - March 27-28, 2004 Photo Credit: Vic Steele 
Pamela Christian and may not be reproduced without written permission.
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