A chapter has closed.

Last night my best friend Dan called to inform me that Zeke has passed away. Since the beginning of our friendship it has always been Dan and Zeke. Dan and I met through our dogs. I had a Chocolate Lab puppy and Dan had a 2 year old Akita named Zeke. Dan was kind enough to loan me a book on how to raise a well behaved puppy and Hershey my chocolate lab pup had me return it with the cover having been mostly chewed off. We quickly formed a fast friendship and since then it has always been Dan and Zeke and Adriaan and Hershey. Sadly two years ago my chocolate lab died. However the passing of Hershey affected me less than the passing of Zeke. When I got off the phone with Dan ( who was a lot more prepared than I was) I actually cried. I have been blessed with the kind of friendship with Dan that has surpassed any other friendship that I have ever had. My best memories of my twentysomethings all contain Dan and Zeke.

From Zeke trying to lick the milk shake from out of Maritza's mouth, Zeke allowing me to sneak into Dan's bedroom partially dressed while Dan was asleep so that I could steel a pair of socks. To Zeke standing guard over Hershey at 6 months in Prospect Park so that other dogs could not go near him.

I believe that it is because of our dogs that our friendship bloomed into what it is today. I think that I can truly say that it is because of Zeke that Dan is my brother, that without Zeke I would not have met my wife who in turn has blessed me with the most amazing son and through this marriage has freed me from the grips of New York to live out here in lovely Western Mass.

If one were to look for an example of a dog truly being a man's best friend. I would then suggest that anyone who was blessed with being a friend of Dan's look back at all the memories that you have with him since Zeke and see how intertwined Dan and Zeke were in all of that.

I will truly miss you my friend.

I hope that where ever you are. You and Hershey are giving dogs the flying hip check and the Chewbacca battle roar while you are putting the smoosh on them and Hershey is chewing on their necks. Dan and I will be there to lend human comentair some time in the future.....the far...far... future.

Love,

Adriaan

This Past Weekend was one of those great weekends. My wife finally kicked me in the butt and we got rid of a ton of much unwanted furniture. Her grandparents. The sweetest people in the world tried to do us a favor and bought much of the furniture from the apartment of one of there elderly friends. Told us to trust them and that we would love it. They hired movers to pack it all and ship it over to our house. When it came I was mortified. The side tables and wardrobes were a pink formica. The china cabinet was nice but just did not go. Last year I moved all of this stuff into my barn were it was destined to die a slow death. Well my genius wife called a trading post. My friend came with a trailer and I came out $200.00 richer. Woohoo.

So with that $200.00 Willow bought a pair of shoes and I ordered my training vest.

Which leads me to my favorite day Sunday. The day that I get to go with my dog and my son to Schutzhund training.

Ethan got together with his new found buddy Lenny and the two of them spent the entire gorgeous day playing together. Climbing up A frames that the dogs climb. Jumping in and out of the back of trucks and doing the things that little kids love to do, I got to work my dog. Here are some pics.

Well let me start this blog by saying how sparse the level of Schutzhund activity is in Western MA.

Thankfully after posting on GERMANSHEPHERDS.COM I was introduced to this club in NH. The atmosphere is amazing and the people are wonderful. To my amazement the majority of the people at this club are mothers. Who bring there kids. So amongst the German Shepherds, dobbies, Rotties and Mali's there are 4-5 year old kids running amongst the pack. It is wonderful.

I own a pure bred 10 month old GSD named Zach who to my sheer enjoyment has so far turned out to be pretty good at the sport. He has a very nice bite and hold and good drive. Steve and Claudia the trainers are amazing at what they do. I couldn't have found a better place to work my dog. This place is turning out to be one big extension to my family. I am having so much fun here.

I will post some pics and a description of the sport.

Taken from the United Schutzhund Club of America site.

Schutzhund and the German Shepherd DogWhat is Schutzhund?
Schutzhund is a German word meaning "protection dog". It refers to a sport that focuses on developing and evaluating those traits in dogs that make them more useful and happier companions to their owners. Schutzhund work concentrates on three parts. Many are familiar with the obedience work of the American Kennel Club's affiliates and will recognize the first two parts, tracking and obedience. The Schutzhund standards for the third part, protection work, are similar to those for dogs in police work.
While dogs of other breeds are also actively involved in the sport of Schutzhund and often follow similar criteria for breeding purposes, this breed evaluation test was developed specifically for the German Shepherd Dog. Schutzhund is intended to demonstrate the dog's intelligence and utility. As a working trial, Schutzhund measures the dog's mental stability, endurance, structural efficiencies, ability to scent, willingness to work, courage, and trainability.
This working dog sport offers an opportunity for dog owners to train their dog and compete with each other for recognition of both the handler's ability to train and the dog's ability to perform as required. It is a sport enjoyed by persons of varied professions, who join together in a camaraderie born of their common interest in working with their dogs. Persons of all ages and conditions of life even those with significant disabilities enjoy Schutzhund as a sport. Often, it is a family sport