Sunrise and Sunset Times 
Taos area weather 
Current night sky phenomenon
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| 10/2005 - She has always had a very gentle disposition. |
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10/2005 - Ashley learned to sit right
away. Then she learned to take Joel's favorite chair. Ok, who's training who? But she's so cute and fluffy, how can one resist? |
| 10/2005 - Ashley loves to go places with Joel. She became a pro traveler right away and is very good in the car. |
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| 11/2005 - As she grows, her nose gets long and lean. Ashley is starting to loose that puppy face and is giving hints of her adult features. |
| 11/2005 - When asked about this photo, Joel said, "I train her in disaster areas: like my backyard." :-) :-) :-) |
| 2/2005 - Joel and Ashley have loaded into the Care Flight helicopter at an avalanche training in Taos Ski Valley. Search dogs must be calm and unafraid of the high winds and noise generated by helicopters, as their work as a search dog may entail having to be dropped in or lifted out of an area during a search. As well, the handler must have complete obedience control over his/her K-9 during take-off and landing if a helicopter. |
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1/2007 - Ashley takes Joel in...she has already found the subject, has returned to get Joel and is now taking him in to where the subject is lying on the ground. Super find/refind, Ashley! Dogs in wilderness search are often taught a find/re-find. Since the dog travels much faster on their four legs than we humans can travel on our two and an air scent dog is trained to search off lead and to range in front of the handler, the handler may lose sight of the dog when the dog makes the find. Often the dog will speed up as they get more concentrated scent getting nearer the subject and will move forward quite rapidly during the last part of the search. They often leave their two-leggeds behind. Therefore, a find/refind is taught where the dog returns to the handler once she has made the find, gives the handler a special alert to let the handler know the find has been made, and then takes the handler back to the subject. It is a complex series of actions for the dog to successfully perform, but the search dog must be up for the task. |
| 12/2006 - Joel is working on a jump command with Ashley. Since Ashley naturally likes to jump up, Joel will harness this and use it as Ashley's find alert. The find alert will tell Joel when Ashley has found a subject before leading him into the them. |
| 12/2006-1/2007 - In each of these photos, Joel rewards Ashley with a stick, which is her favorite toy, for a successful find. Ashley will tug with Joel for at least 5 minutes after she has successfully completed her search mission. |
