O'Hanluan Kerries of Alaska

My interest in Stirling had started several years before with a trip to the midwest to pick up my first sweet Kerry, Aoife.  I had decided upon Aoife before realizing there were plans in the make to breed Stirling’s grandfather Brogan.  Now Brogan was a handsome silver stud that melted my heart from the first moment I laid eyes on him.  But of course being the silly woman that I am, I felt completely bonded with Aoife even before she took her first breath.  So I stuck with my original plan, and picked up my dear little girl in the summer of 2009.  Within a month or two Brogan’s litter was whelped, and from that came Picasso.  And like his sire, Picasso grew to be a fabulous silver stud.  …And in due course of time Picasso sired Stirling O’Hanluan.

Our life has changed so much since the arrival of Stirling.  For one thing I was in Maine, away from our pack, spending precious time with my mother during her last days when news of Stirling’s whelp-day was announced.  And though the news of his arrival paled in importance to everything else that was going on for my family at the time; it will always be a treasured part of Stirling’s past that I could share it with my mother as I did.

Anyway, …As to life’s changes; Yes, there are many.

Jaspers in Deep

…Once upon a time there was a pack of terriers that roamed harmoniously through the woods of Alaska with their monkeys.  There was a gnarly male Airedale who was the uncontested pack leader.  There was the youngest dark-Airedale runt who thought she was queen-of-all-she-sees.  And the middle pack-child was a small Airedale who seemed to be the cross between a sweet tiger-lily and a hand-me-down-rose.  …Anyway all three terriers knew their place in the pack, and the pack was happy.  And the pack knew it was a pack-of-dales.

…Then one day the pack-mother-monkey went away for a while, and later returned with a very small terrier.  Oddly enough this forceful little fellow resembled the queen-of-all-she-sees, and was three times more in-your-face.  At first there didn’t seem to be much anyone could do about it; given the little pecker-head was so tiny.  But over time the boy grew, and this one was not settled with his role in the pack.  …So things had to change.

Me & My Jog-Joring Team

Ramming Down a Hill…

Jog-Joring Down the Power Line

Someone in our pack is always on leash, which has made necessary a whole new mode of pack exercise.  We call it Jog-Joring, and it puts pink cheeks on the monkey!

“The Mother-Monkey”