In loving memory...

Miller's Ben Roaming, NA, OAJ, RS-N, JS-N, NJC, NAC

"Ben"

October 12, 1997 - November 6, 2009

Ben was the poster child for Aussie Attitude. He put the Awesome in AussiumAgility, and is the model for the joy in agility I hope to give all my students. In the midst of his 'celebrations' in the ring, there could be no doubt that he was having a ball! When we run agility with our dogs, we are always aware that each and every run could be the last. Ben reminded me to make the most of each opportunity, and those transcendent moments of connection with a luminous spirit like his put the bleakness of his loss in harsh contrast. Those who heard his 'aaahrooo, ahrroo, ahhhhroooo' when we walked onto an agility venue, couldn't help smiling. As with all great dogs, our time was too short. Losing Carrie last year put our world into turmoil. Losing Ben has stopped it completely. Momentarily, I am all out of love.

Please join me in a gallery of wonderful moments in Ben's life...

ASCA Nationals, Paso Robles, California November 2004

Ben loved...

The jumps

The weave poles,

The chute,

and seems to say 'I do them all for Val...BUT...'

The tunnel...is MINE!!!  :-)

& one of me with my best friend Carrie!

I don't have a lot of photos of Ben alone, he and Carrie were always together.

Ben was quite a dude!

Don't think of him as gone away
his journey's just begun,
Life holds so many facets
this earth is only one.

Just think of him as resting
from the sorrows and the tears,
In a place of warmth and comfort
where there are no days and years.

Think how he must be wishing
that we could know today,
How nothing but our sadness
can really pass away.

And think of him as living
in the hearts of those he touched,
For nothing loved is ever lost
and he was loved so much.

                                                            ~ Ellen Brenneman

Behold Outback Carrie'N On OA OAJ

"Carrie"

9/6/97-8/19/08

Sadly, I lost my 'golden girl', Carrie last night. She led me to the agility path by insisting that obedience was BOOORRRING, and she was my first agility teacher.
If she had a better handler, who knows what she might have accomplished?

Carrie was a gift, and in my defence, I always was aware of how much I had been given. She gave 100% every time, without fail.
I now have to 'carry on' without her, somehow.

Look not where I was
For I am not there
My spirit is free
I am everywhere

In the air that you breathe
In the sounds that you hear
Don’t cry for me Mom
My spirit is near

I’ll watch for you
From the other side
I’ll be the one running
New friends by my side

Smile at my memory
Remember in your heart
This isn’t the end
It’s a brand new start
                                                       (Author Unknown)

    
Running agility with Val at the controls
(Val says "when you take all the fuzz off those ears, they really fly!")

2004 ASCA Nationals
Paso Robles, California

Faith Shimamoto handling Carrie in the conformation class

I LOVE to jump!

and jump again...

Then I run the chute...

and the weave poles...
  

and tip the teeter...

and the table...

and, finally, I can relax with my best friend Ben!

Carrie was a very serious puppy

She got the rules from Lucy, and had five weeks alone
         
before Ben came to the house, to learn them all

She used her eye to move the ball closer, but when she was getting tired....

it was snooze time!