Kira is a wonderful spunky little girl that has captivated our hearts, in spite of herself.

When Tish Toren's Suzy was expecting this litter, I was so impressed with the pedigree along with Tish's descriptions of both Suzy and Sam.  I had the opportunity to fly into the Elmira, NY airport, meet Tish, Suzy and 3 of the puppies before flying back out that stormy Tuesday after Thanksgiving.  Kira flew like a trooper in spite of the turbulent weather.  Some of the rest of us didn't fare so well.

To see pictures of Kira as a young dog, interacting with Bec's puppies, click here some pictures of a young Kira with Bec's 2006 litter.

June 3, 2007 - Kira & I have been working off and on for the past several months (nothing serious) with Claire Apple in Pittsboro to see what sort of herding capabilities Kira might have.  Kira is obviously a natural at things, unlike me.  Herding is a totally new concept which I hope to grasp eventually.  On a spur of the moment type thing, Claire took Kira with her to an AHBA trial held in Burlington, NC this weekend.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend due to other commitments.  Kira was entered as an alternate dog on both days in the Junior Herding Dog category.  Claire felt Kira would do okay with an actual working type situation instead of just showing that she had a herding instinct through the HCT.  I felt that Claire is more than a capable handler, & if anyone could put a JHD title on Kira with as little practical experience as she had, Claire could do it.  Kira was able to run on both days, and earned both legs required for the AHBA Junior Herding Dog title!   We are very excited about this development in Kira's life.  For more information about our trainer, Claire Apple, click here.

August 2009 - At almost 4 years of age, Kira has developed into a dog that I love immensely and wouldn't want to be without, in spite of herself.  Extremely smart, totally devoted, highly biddable, beautiful and above all, my English shadow is how I would describe her.  Yes, she is a little bit of an alpha in the dog kingdom & has pretty much taken over that spot in our dog pack hierarchy.  However, she will always defer to her human alphas without question.  We continue to do some herding in an off and on fashion.  I am still a hindrance to her, but am beginning to learn how to do things with her daughter, Holly.  Hopefully one day I can transfer what I have learned to Kira and we will be a team there as well.  Kira also does some off and on agility training which goes better for me than the herding.  Photos of Kira working stock may be seen here.  So far, Kira has had 3 litters.  The first and third litters were one pup litters.  The second litter was a litter of 7.  You can see pictures of her previous litters here.

July 2010 - Kira is now almost 5 years old.  It is hard for me to imagine a life without her and her spunky spirit.  She continues to mature in her actions and sometimes amazes me at the intentional things she will do just so she won't do something bad.   She has a wonderful habit of picking things up and carrying them in her mouth inside the house.  Not only does this give her something to do, but it allows her to make sure she has control over her actions and to remain "good" and calm.  Kira is showing maturity in her herding ability as well.  She is quick to pick up on what I want her to do without me having to explain things in great detail.  I absolutely love the brains on this dog.  She remains alpha in the dog pack, but is tempered by Holly which has really turned out to be a wonderful combination.  We are working toward some possible herding trials, but to be honest, we are having a lot of fun just going to classes.   I am looking forward to another 10 years with this girl!

September 2016 - We are just two weeks away from Kira's 11th birthday!  Where has the time gone?  She was retired from our breeding program after her final litter with Dillon.  As much trouble as I had trying to get a natural breeding with Kira over the years, her final 3 litters were natural, instead of going the route of an AI.  Over the years Kira has proven herself to be an outstanding mother while the pups were here.  I was surprised, but pleased, to see her interact with GG's puppies last fall.  She "requested" to go out & be with Gypsy, who was with us a little while longer than the rest of the litter.  Kira is still my constant English Shadow, loves to sleep under the be at night (yes, she can still get under & back out from there), still very intuitive when asked to do things, still loves to chase a ball although is slowing down in speed.  I love being able to see some of her special traits crop up in her pups and/or her grandpups.  We never did any further herding trials, but did attend several clinics.  While she understood what she was supposed to do, unfortunately she had a handler that never quite grasped it all.  Kira has still gone to agility classes over the years.  I have not competed with her in the past since she does seem to get distracted pretty easily in the ring by things like predatory birds in the sky or traffic coming onto the premises.  That though, is about to change.  Kira & I are scheduled to run in her first ever agility trial around the end of September.  I am only running her in the beginning level, but what fun it will be to see how she does in this setting!  Almost 11 and running in her first agility trial!

Update!  The weekend of the agility trial was really, really hot so I wasn't sure what to expect from Kira when it came time for our turn.  She did not disappoint!  Out of the four runs for the weekend, Kira pulled off three perfect scores of 200 and a score of 195 on the other run.  This was enough to earn all three legs of her AGI title, plus an extra run for fun!  I am so proud of her.

November 2018 - It's hard for me to comprehend the fact that Kira is 13 years old. She is "my" girl, or perhaps it is a matter that I belong to her. Brian was complaining last night that she only has eyes for me. While she doesn't run as fast as she used to, Kira still can get up on the sofa & jump up on the bed. If she is in the house, you can bet you will find her camped out right near me. She still likes to pick up toys, the food bowl or my shoes to carry around as she moves through the house. I am fortunate to be able to share my life with such an incredibly smart girl!