Ghillie is very sweet and eager to please, but can be more sensitive than our boys. She likes to be right and she likes to understand what's expected of her. Once she knows, she really turns on and wants to be fastest, best, first. She loves swimming and retrieving, and is determined to beat out the larger boys to snatch away a bumper first. With her love for water, if we don't keep a close eye on her as we walk to the mailbox, she will be in the pond. She is extremely nimble with amazing acceleration, and Ghillie keeps all of us on our toes.

Ghillie got a later start in dog sports than we anticipated, thanks to the arrival of our son just eight months after Ghillie came home. This new family member left us little time for her education, but Ghillie's natural affinity for water and retrieving made short work of the NSDTRC's Basic Retrieving and Tolling Test. Later, Ghillie also took time out for her own young 'uns, proving herself a very diligent mother. We are excited to begin readying Ghillie for agility trials, more advanced field events, and obedience trials-- and our son is now old enough to be (somewhat) helpful!

Ghillie's biggest conformation weekend so far was the NSDTRC Region 2 Backyard Classic in June 2003. From Open Bitch, she beat 15 class bitches for Winners Bitch, then beat 14 class dogs to be Best of Winners-- and she did it twice! Her strengths are lovely balance, beautiful angulation, and sound movement.

We co-own Ghillie with our friend Heather Green, who bred her. She was our pick from the Zephyr Kennel "C" litter, and her name is a play on a camouflage theme. Ghillie is named for the ghillie suit, which is a kind of camouflage which incorporates real leaves, branches, or grasses-- the native cover.