Dog Days and Angel Ways

27th Anniversary Cruise Countdown

Day 17 - Early in my hubby's career he trained as a K-9 handler. The State's procedures were to do a home visit and interview the family, not just the police officer. They came in and built a kennel in our backyard to house the K-9. I remember riding to the main office with my hubby to see the dog that would become his partner. He was a beautiful German Shepherd named Zach.

We wondered how he and our family pet, Bear, would get along. Our sons took to him right away. He became another member of the family.

When localities realized there was a K-9 assigned to our area, my hubby was called out a lot. There were days he didn't get much sleep. Zach was a track and attack dog. And their training together did not end when they finished the academy. One day I stuck my head in the front door to tell Zach to have a good day. That was the first and only time he growled at me. He knew the difference between working and being off-duty. Once he was in the patrol car he knew the only other person allowed in that car was his handler. He was very protective of my DH.

There was one exception to that rule for Zach. Our sons could do anything with him and he never growled or showed any signs of aggression toward them. There were many days my middle son would be in the backyard pretending to be a police officer and Zach would fully comply to any command he would give him. Dogs are such amazing animals.

My son shared with me that a blood hound tracks off the person's scent where as other dogs track off of ground movement and scent. He learned that even their ears play a part in how they track for a scent. It was very interesting information. I wonder if he will follow his dad's footsteps as a K-9 handler one day?

My FIRST ATC (artist's trading card) TRADE

FAT is having an angel ATC trade. I have been pondering what to do for my first ATC. I had heard about painting fusible webs and stabilizers. So I ran a page of Victorian clip-art on Pellon stabilizer through my copier. I wanted to see if it would work. The Pellon didn't jam in my copier. The copy was faint but legible. I chose an angel, fussy-cut around it and painted the backside with glitter paint. The paint made the design pop. So I painted the front the same way. I added the ribbon with "Imagine" to the bottom and a wire/pearl wrap for a halo. I am pleased with how my first angel ATC turned out. The face is lighter than photographed.