Rough week

I have some very sad news to report. Kathy Heilenman of Iowa City who has been a leader in our organization and a part of so many of our events, has passed away. I just found out that she died last night after a valiant struggle with cancer. She was very aware that her condition was tenuous but she kept going, doing what she loved and was so good at with very very few complaints...She is an inspiration to us all...I will never forget her.


Boy, has this been one helluva a week. First Jag yesterday and now my friend, Kathy H. from Iowa. I hope that Jag was there waiting to greet Kathy until one of her own dogs can join her. We will all miss Kathy dearly.

Thank you Kathy for my Corbie. If it hadn't been for you, I would have never met Jenn and then Jeep. Thank you for you friendship and the wonderful conversations.

On July 30th, 2009, we lost our Jag, Our hearts hurt today

Although I sit here with a broken heart and tears in my eyes I need to express what Jag meant to us through my eyes.


We will never forget you,
We will always love you,

Our hearts hurt today

You were a herding champion, both sheep & ducks,
You were the CHORE DOG!!

Our hearts hurt today

You were always dependable and faithful,
You were the proud father of Styrker,

Our hearts hurt today

Sheep held the up-most respect for you,
The squirrels in our bird-feeders had the up-most fear for you,

Our hearts hurt today

The rest of the dogs will miss you, Jag

Our hearts hurt today

You ran your last trial just last week, had some trouble on the big field, but never gave up,
We now know why

Our hearts hurt today

Sogn Valley Farms will never be the same, Jag
Our hearts hurt today

But as we all know, that with time, the memories and thoughts of you that today fill our eyes with tears, will someday fill our hearts with laughter and joy, Jag.

But for now, our hearts hurt today.

by: Steve Beatt
A loving tribute to a fine and one of a kind, working, caring, loving friend, Jag.

That'll Do, Jag

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.

Things and goings on around here

I know that I haven't updated my blog for awhile. Life has been busy around the farm and with work. Well, just busy enough to keep me from updating here.

First off, after running Jag in a trial this past weekend I have decided to retire him from running on any big fields/courses. He just could not keep his sheep covered on his second run on Sunday. So he lost them back to the set out. Poor guy. It took him until at least Tuesday to recover. He will still continue to help me around the farm with chores and such. This was a hard decision, but the best for him. Jag will be 10 this October and has earned a well deserved retirement. That'll do, Jag.

This, of course, means that I really need to buckle down and get Cash and Corbie ready to trial this next year. They are both really close to being ready, I just have a few things to work thru with both of them.

Secondly, I will be undergoing surgery this fall. I have been having some female issues, which I won't go into detail here unless someone asks. I will be having a hysterectomy. Luckily they will be doing it vaginally for me so that means an easier recovery for me. Secondly, they will be using a spinal block as opposed to putting out under general anesthesia. That is another good thing. If I recover well and am able to dress myself, etc, I might be able to go home the same day as the surgery. But still, surgery can still be a scary thought. But Steve will be there at the hospital waiting for me and probably driving the staff nuts with wanting updates. :o) He is a worry wart, but he is the one who prompted me to go into the doctor in the first place. Bless his heart for being persistent.

Introducing Sting

This is the newest addition here at our farm. His name is Sting. He is a 7 week old Border Collie puppy. We got him from Mary Sullivan in River Falls, WI. He must think that if he plays with sheep poop that it makes him a sheepdog.

Here he is running to catch up to me on one of our walks down to the barn today.

He says "don't you think that I am cute?"

He has been such a good puppy. He didn't let out one peep his first night here. I got to sleep all the way to this morning. I am not used to that with puppies. He also did not have an accident and has been letting me know when he needs to go out to potty. What a good boy.

Some of the grass and weeds around the farm are taller than him right now. But he loves to tromp thru it all.