My bags are packed...I'm ready to go.

Not leaving on a jet plane. Instead Ben and I are headed south in style in the Princess Palace, on our way to Klamath Falls in Oregon for the USBCHA finals. 

Apparently there's just no such thing as packing light for these things. Does it ever rain in Klamath Falls? Who knows, but we've got rain gear. Don't worry Kristi, the Best In Show chair didn't make the picture, but it did make its way into the truck - as did the zero gravity chair. A girl can't be too comfortable sitting out in the blazing sun (why am I bringing rain gear??) for a week watching dogs and sheep. 

Really looking forward to seeing all of our friends that we just don't get to see enough of, watching great dogs work, and running Ben in Nursery. 

Starting

Shit disturber

Baby's all grown up.

This morning I realized that Sam is two years old. 

It's hard to believe that he looked like this when we got him. 

I'll be the first to admit that raising a guardian dog has had its ups and downs, but now that we're two years in I can say that for the most part it's very much been worth it. We have yet to lose anything to predators and hearing Sam's bark at night is reassuring (I worried before I got him that it might be annoying - but other LGD owners were right - you get used to the barking and it does give you peace of mind). I like visiting with him when I go out to the sheep, and he's a good reason to go out to them. He's very bonded to his sheep and, knock on wood, has not gotten into any trouble at all for a bit now. He's also very entertaining and definitely a conversation piece. While he doesn't live in the house with us, he is very much a part of the family. 

Happy Birthday Sam.