Mar
19
2011
Scout (DOB 2006) Welcomes new baby to household
From: Rebekah
Sent: March 19, 2011 9:00 AM
To: Black Bear Farm
Subject: Re: Scout (DOB 2006)
Hey Brien
We’ve had lots of changes here and I will try to send you some updated pictures. We have a baby girl in our life now (14 months) and she has decided Scout is all hers. They are adorable together. She even gives him his treat when he comes in from outside.
I’m glad to hear from you. Hope all is well.
See more photos of Scout
Rebekah
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Nov
08
2010
Judy's GBSD 'Storm'
Judy,
Thank you for your photos of Storm and your comments. I am glad that he has found a wonderful home.
Brien, Black Bear Farm
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From: Judy W
Sent: November 7, 2010 7:54 PM
To: Black Bear Farm
Subject: Re: Storm
Hello again – thank you for sending us that information on Storm and his puppy pictures – it’s hard to believe he was that small at one point! Right now he is almost as large as most great danes around here – easily over 100 lbs. and he is sleek and well muscled – he gets lost of exercise – both unleashed walks and in dog parks.
He lives with myself and my husband Alan, and two other dogs, one a mixed breed border collie named Star and an older dog (greyhound mix) named Smokey. He has fit in very well. He is a bit of a challenge as I think he may not have had a lot of training – but he is responding well with encouragement on recall and learning to walk nicely on leash.
As far as socialization he is awesome – he gets along with every dog he meets! And he hasn’t met a tennis ball he didn’t like – he can actually fit three of them in his mouth – he is attempting a record four – but we are discouraging this as a trip to the vet to remove tennis balls would not be fun!
He is unbelievable at tracking, in fact on a recent 2 hour walk, we had brought tennis balls with us to throw for the dogs, Storm kept collecting them all so we stopped throwing them. Along the way he hid three in the bush. We were away from the road we walked in on for at least an hour – upon our return to the road he dashed off into the bush – got one ball and then accurately found the other two, including a fourth that my husband had thrown into the bush and lost! I have never seen anything like that before and I have had dogs all my life.
We will keep in touch and pay attention to your site as you have some great information there and it is interesting to hear about his family!!
Thank you for getting back to me on this gorgeous dog!! He is becoming very popular around here – everyone thinks he’s beautiful!
Judy and Alan
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—– Original Message —–
From: Black Bear Farm
To: Judy W
Sent: Sunday, November 07, 2010 5:39 PM
Subject: Storm
Judy,
Here is the info on Storm, your GBSD purchased recently from the original owner, privately.
http://blackbearfarm.com/dogs/08/081214-puppies/2008-weimaraner-lab-puppies-0001.html
Storm was born to Annie (click link) and Chief (click link). 3/4 Weim 1/4 Lab born Nov 2008. Please send me some photos and and some of your impressions of Storm. I will publish the photos and your story.
Please don’t hesitate to call me or contact me anytime.
Thank you.
Brien – Black Bear Farm
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Jun
06
2010
- GBSD Penny has a proven protective nature
- Duke is a BBF Weimaraner
Weimaraners and GBSD have a protective instinct that is not well known. When we first acquired our GBSD named Annie and Avro, black 50/50 dogs, they started chasing all the black bears away or more often as not, they treed them. Some of these bears were 400 lbs plus. Avro, our big 90 lb male, actually bit the bears or jumped on them as they ran for a tree. These dogs were fearless. I supposed at first that this was their hunting instinct at play and thought little more about it for lots of dogs chase bears. Some two years later I purchased a large Weimaraner male named Duke. Duke was young (2 years old) and very playful but he had a habit of inviting one to play ‘Take My Stick’ by picking up a stick and shaking it and growling and prancing like a menacing dog! It was all in play of course but my much smaller and older Weimaraner Chief didn’t understand. He charged Duke from about 30 yards away. He leaped on top of Duke after flying through the air for the last ten feet and knocked Duke to the ground. I was startled but rushed to pull Chief off of Duke in time. After thinking about this performance I realized that Annie and Avro’s interest in chasing bears wasn’t to please them but to protect me. I was thunder struck and dumbfounded at the realization.
It took the other BBF dogs some time to understand that Duke wasn’t a threat. A week later Duke started his growling and prancing with a stick routine and Penny, a mature 85 lb daughter of Annie, did the same thing to Duke as did Chief. I saved Duke from Penny in a flash as Penny was determined to fight him to protect me. Duke was young and not experienced and would not have had a chance defending himself against Penny.
Chief is a Weimaraner with a proven protective spirit.
It took me years to see the first instance of the protective spirit of the Weimaraner and the GBSD. The GBSD protective spirit will show itself as the dog matures but only if something or someone threatens you or your family. Sasha from Saskatoon learned first hand about her dogs protective spirit. Here is her story (Sasha name her GBSD ‘Duke’ too). http://www.blackbearfarm.com/wp/?cat=67
When they were bred as a ‘forester’s dog’ or ‘game warden’s dog’ hundreds of years ago by the aristocracy of the Weimer region of Germany, they were bred in part to be bold and fearless in the face of large game like a stag or a wild boar. Weimaraners are used a police dogs even today in some European countries. Its probably safer to go walking, hiking or jogging with your Weimaraner or your GBSD at your side than to go alone.
Avro is our original 1st generation GBSD
History of Weimaraners and excellent articles about the general character description of Weimaraners.
1. bellaonline.com/articles/art4814.asp
2. breederretriever.com/dog-breed-history/226/weimaraner.php
3. weimclubamerica.org/weimaraners/index.html
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Apr
19
2010
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From: Sasha Semenoff Libby
Sent: April 14, 2010 4:05 AM
To: brien@blackbearfarm.com
Subject: Duke (Libby, Saskatoon 2007)
Hello Brien,
Ben and I just wanted to give you a little update about our beloved Duke.
He is the most affectionate dog anyone in our family has ever known – including my father who owned a wiem back in the 70′s. Those who remember the wiems on Ben’s family farm growing up remember them as temperamental and high strung. Duke is anything but that.
Wherever Ben is, Duke follows. From the moment Ben leaves for the office in the morning, Duke is my constant companion. And so it goes… if I leave the house and for some (rare) reason that Duke does not accompany me, sitting upright in the passenger seat watching the world go by – he stays to the side of whoever else is in the house… and if left alone, he simply takes his spot on the mat at the door and awaits our return. We have NEVER returned to the house to find destruction or mayhem. We began leaving him at home for short periods at two years of age and now we can safely leave him for three to four hours.
As I said, Duke is extremely loving and affectionate. He almost considers himself a lapdog. He is always in a snuggle position with one of his people, head buried under our arms or simply resting on our shoulder.
Duke has personality to spare! He is full of joy and life at the dog park and makes friends wherever he goes. At home he is mellow and gentle, even if he misses his daily walk for any reason he manages to stay fairly calm, cool and collected. He has his crazy moments of course but they are more a source of laughter for the family rather than an annoyance.
I especially can attest to the fact that Duke is a sensitive dog with a “sixth sense” for our feelings. I suffer from chronic illness and if I am bedridden, he will lay bedside for hours at a time, snoozing and watching me. Absolutely hours. Just yesterday I was on the sofa for the better part of the day and he remained there with me all afternoon, snuggling under the electric blanket. He snored a bit but I was so comforted by his presence it didn’t matter 
One last thing – I was alone at home one weekend while Ben was away on business. There was an attempted break-in and Duke leapt through the front door, I could not hold him back and he barked ferociously (I’d never seen him like that) at the man attempting to come through the porch. The man backed away and Duke proceeded to push his head through the porch door and stand on the step growling and barking! No one was as shocked as me – except maybe the bad guy!
Thank you for sending us our Duke. He is a treasure for all of us. He is loving, loyal, protective when need be… but most of all… a member of the family. A 90 pound lapdog.
Take care,
Sasha Libby
Saskatoon
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Duke at about six weeks.
Duke at about six months of age.
Duke three years old
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Feb
02
2010
From: Nicole
Sent: February 1, 2010 11:44 PM
To: Brien
Subject: RE: Thank You!
Dear Brien,
Well Brien I don’t know where to begin. After Sandy passing away so suddenly our whole family was devastated. Sandy was absolutely a perfect match for us. Then you did it again, offered us another companion and family member “Victor”. A perfect match again, it’s like you have these unbelievable instincts to connect people with these beautiful GBSD. Words cannot express what we feel right now having Victor a part of our family.
He is absolutely a wonderful dog and has already brought so much joy and happiness to all of our lives. The kids are truly in love with him and I know he feels the same way. He has adjusted so quickly that it’s really hard to believe, it feels like we have had him for a very long time and it has only been two days. I will say it again you have the best job in the world. You definitely have something to be proud of Brien, the happiness and joy you bring to families lives with your special breeding capabilities. But it’s not only the breeding that makes them special it’s also the way you are able to match these dogs with the right families as well. Thank you again over and over, we will definitely be in touch and keep you posted with sharing our special times with Victor.
Thank you Brien and keep up the good work!
Nicole, Jeff, Brett, Karli and VICTOR
See a follow up post about Victor: http://www.blackbearfarm.com/wp/?cat=51
A Note From Black Bear Farm. Victor is a black Georgian Bay Sporting Dog from Chloe (a daughter of Annie) and father Reddy Fox (a ‘Fox Red’ field trial Labrador Retriever). Victor is directly related to Sandy. Its not a coincidence that Victor has turned out to be so similar to Sandy. Victor: http://www.blackbearfarm.com/dogs/09/091214-pups/IMG_1159.html and http://www.blackbearfarm.com/dogs/09/091025-may-pups/index.html
Victor with Brett and Karli – Wanapitei ON
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Jan
16
2010
This is one of the kindest things you may ever see. It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.
Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:
Dear God,
Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick. I hope you will play with her. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.
Love, Meredith
We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it.. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven.. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had..
Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, ‘To Meredith’ in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, ‘When a Pet Dies..’ Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:
Dear Meredith,
Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.
Abbey isn’t sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don’t need our bodies in heaven, I don’t have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by. Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I’m easy to find, I am wherever there is love.
Love God
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Oct
16
2009
From: Colleen L (Kingston)
Sent: October 5, 2009 7:23 PM
To: brien
Subject: RE: Killarney Photos
Hi Brien
Shiva is an absolute angel. She is very laid back. She has not had an accident inside yet. She had her second set of shots.
She loves to cuddle. We have had many naps together already. I left her alone for 2 hours and she was fine (while I worked).
She loves everybody and goes up to every person we pass in the conservation area and looks up at them with her big brown eyes and everybody falls in love with her. I cannot tell you how much I love her and how grateful I am to you for helping bring some sunshine back into my life.
Colleen
Photos of Colleen, her friends Christine, Oscar (a Weim), Reddy Fox (A Fox Red Lab) and little GBSD Shiva, taken in Killarney.
Black Bear Farm Note: We have place over 150 puppies and sooner or later tragedis happen and dogs are lost. Colleen lost her two year old GBSD this fall (2009). We replaced her dog with Shiva in October at no cost, complete with a vet inspection and first vaccination. Colleen drove to Killarney to pick up Shiva and we took lots of photos. BBF.
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Jan
18
2009
—–Original Message—–
From: Jake C.
had a good Christmas and has made many new friends. Pics attached.
Jake
Jakes photos of his family, Solo and Larry.
http://www.blackbearfarm.com/dogs/owners/jake-solo-larry/index.html
—–Original Message—–
From: jake
Sent: December 22, 2008 8:19 PM
To: brien
Subject: RE: Larry
Larry has fit in great. Kids love him and he has quickly made himself at home. Thanks again for everything.
Jake
Recently Jake lost his GBSD dog named Solo to to an accident. Jake and family live in Whitby Ontario. His young son was heart broken. I explained to Jake that he needed another dog and that I too had lost a dog when I was five or six and my grief affected my school work and my relationship with my parents as I blamed them and the world for the loss. I offered Jake the choice of any dog on my website to protect his son and daughter from the grief of losing their dog. Jake chose Larry. Larry was Solo’s brother from the same litter. Larry was my own house dog. Jake drove to Killarney to pick up Larry, just before Christmas. Jake has since written to me explaining that Larry has helped heal their grief. BBF.
Jakes Daughter Alyssa and Larry
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