We lost our dear Jag this morning. Words cannot express my sorrow and feeling of loss right now. I already miss him so much. We both started as green, newbies and made our way all the way to the big fields. We started out in novice and went all the way thru to open. We made our attempts at the 725 yd field and ran on plenty of 400 - 600 yd fields and had a fun time doing it. Jag was my right hand dog, my go to dog around the farm and I will miss that terribly. I know that there is going to be a difficult task and I'll call for Jag and then realize that he is not here to help me any more. I learned so much about sheep and this whole thing called herding with Jag. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. We both love you Jag and we miss you terribly.
I wanted to share a few pictures of Jag working our sheep. This was his working some of our sheep this past winter, March 2009.
Jag loved to work his sheep and would do it all day long if I asked it of him.
Jag also enjoyed working ducks. We did a few duck trials earlier in his career and he loved it. But he didn't want to have anything to do with chickens tho.
I wanted to share a few shots of him at some of the trials that we ran at.
Here we are shedding some sheep at a trial here in Minnesota a couple of years ago.
9 comments:
What a great life to be celebrated :)
I'm so terribly sorry Kathy. What a wonderful tribute to Jag, though I had to cry reading it.
Good boy, Jag. Rest well.
Good boy, Jag. Rest well
I'm really sorry for your loss. He was way too young.
Dearest Kathy and Steve, this is a beautiful tribute to a wonderful, smart, loving dog. I am so sorry he is gone to the Bridge, but am glad for all the time you guys had with him. Glenn and I send healing hugs and love to you both..
Dear Kathy and Steve,
I am so very sorry to hear about Jag...you must be devastated and completely heartbroken to lose such a wonderful friend, loving companion and amazing work partner.
Kathy,I have so enjoyed watching your partnership deepen and evolve over the years, and one only had to pause and watch you run to experience the profound connection you and Jag shared. He clearly loved to work with you, and was so willing to be your partner, always.
Jag will be at your side in spirit for many years to come...his work with you will now move into a new place of mystical sweetness.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful Jag with me, and blessings of peace to both of you,
Kathy Kawalec
Kathy, it is so sad to lose Jag. You wrote a lovely tribute for him. He was a beautiful soul.
Patti
A Father’s Spirit
He came to me first in a dream, about 3 days after losing my beloved companion. Buck died while in my arms, he had suffered enough and I had to end his pain. While looking into his beautiful brown eyes I watched him leave me, the light was there one minute and gone the next. This profound moment stayed with me and I felt no attachment to his body after that. His light was gone. Three nights later, he came back to me in a dream with red dogs running at his side.
A few years later I saw the word Shen in a book on acupuncture. The “Shen” was the spirit or the soul. I remember thinking what a cool name for a dog that would be. A short while later, a teacher in energy work described the Shen as the “light behind the eyes”. I knew then that my Shen was on the way.
It was a cold Valentines Day, a quiet Friday for me still coping with the loss of my godmother, my 19 month old nephew and the ending of an 8 year relationship, when I got the call from Kathy. I was picking up a hot little red number at the airport.
I remember the terrified puppy still in the airline crate unwilling to come out. I sat in front of the crate and talked softly to him about the adventures we were about to share. I was unaware that we were attracting a crowed as I sat and watched him take a step and reach as far out as he could and then retreat rapidly as his nerves got the best of him. After several failed attempts at bravery, he leapt into my arms while the crowed of about 20 cheered his accomplishment.
That was the moment I met Shen, Jag’s son, my soul mate. For the last 7 years I have shared my life with this beautiful spirit and have grown to think of Kathy as my friend. I loved getting pictures of the dogs and would send emails complaining about how infrequently she would change the website photos. I sent numerous pictures and stories about our adventures always proud of our boy for the agility titles, DVD appearances and magazine ads that he starred in. Through all of this I was especially interested in seeing photos of Jag and Stryker, Shen’s brother. I was amazed at the striking resemblance that Shen has always had of Jag and conversations with Kathy confirmed that they were also very similar in personalities. It was uncanny the strange little quirks they shared. I thought it was like twins, separated at birth, many miles apart that live in exactly the same manner. My stories to Kathy were always answered with a, “Yup…that’s his daddy”
This summer, I had the joy of meeting Kathy and Jag in person. God was smiling on us as my drive to Colorado from Ct had me on I80 in IL on the same day Kathy was heading to a herding trial. I wanted to cry as I met the boy that I had idolized all those years….my black Shen…..Jag. He was all that I had imagined, and more. He was handsome, noble and intelligent in one package full of humor and spirit. When he and Shen sat next to each other it was magical. The two had been cut from the same cloth. I remarked to Kathy that we needed a third person to photograph the scene. My little red girl Bliss was running and playing with her daddy Cash and mom Bett with Corbie stalking them all, while Shen and Jag sat in front of the two of us. Shen’s foot was on mine and Jag had his foot on Kathy’s. Each of them carried that devotion and love for their person that has made them the dogs that they were. Yup…that’s his daddy!
I will always be so grateful to Kathy and Steve for sending me these wonderful creatures to share my life with. I celebrate Jag’s life and the son that he has given me. I mourn his passing as if he were my own. I almost feel like he was.
Kathy and Steve, I am so sorry. I know the dog Jag was, knowing him through his son, and I understand the magnitude of the loss you are feeling. I dread this day myself.
You are in my thoughts
Love
Nicole
Sogn Valley’s Spirit of Kandu (Shen)
Sogn Valley’s Spirit of Contentment (Bliss)
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