A year-and-a-half ago, in January, 2010, Remmie flew to Calgary from Chicago to be bred to Macc at Sufat Sheleg. With luck there would be two litters, but with the uncertainties connected to breeding dogs, we'd be happy with even one success.  Larry had planned the breeding with Michelle and me before his passing in September, 2009. The last time I saw Remmie was in the UAL freight office at O'Hare Airport, where she was looking at me from her crate with the same expression as her young son, Rook, gives in his spring photo on Sufat Sheleg farm. It is the kind of gaze that absorbs the situation, accepts it, and penetrates your soul. Last week, Remmie lost her life after a mortal battle on the farm. She survived the battle, but had to be shot to be put out of her misery. Now she lies quiet forever, and resting in peace on Canadian soil. A big rock marks her grave, and a yellow rosebush, signifying happiness and joy, and friendship and sweetness, will grow there. We are sorry to lose her.

At home in Chicago she was the one who most wanted to be free, and I would often leave her loose in the house with hopes that her barks would not be heard too far away. When she was playing in the yard she usually trailed a long lead, so that I could catch her easily when she started entertaining the neighborhood with her barking and singing. Her solos could be heard in the next county, and I didn't want police officers and animal control to be part of her audience.  So it was also with a sense of relief that I sent her off to Canada, to Michelle's 160 acre farm, where she could make as much noise as she liked with no fear of repercussions from unfavorable ordinances and nasty neighbors. There she could play with Macc and Rook, but not with the females, Cybelle and Ash. It was almost inevitable that they clashed, and they did.

 

Remmie is one of the few great bitches of the breed, starting with the incomparable three of yore: Sis, Limor, and Shelah. [ Padre's Yafit von Karstadt, Spatterdash Limor, and Gevaht Noam Shelah ]  Then came Paws, dam of Remmie, Sugar and Noah. Paws was a great bitch, and so was Remmie.  Mishacam is her sire. From him comes happiness, a positive attitude towards life and a great dose of breed type.

 

Remmie's first litter was the result of an outcross to Hosea with the purpose of bringing in Ariel. Their beautiful champion son, Hayyim, lives in England with Ellen and Richard and has sired two wonderful litters for the breed to date. Their daughter, Maraiah, is the beloved pet of Nathan and family.

 

Remmie and Val had three wonderfully beautiful litters during Remmie's last years at Ha'Aretz. Stella brightens up the City of Chicago with her owners, David and Julie Tjhio; her sisters Blanca, Reva, Heart and Princess Tina live happily with Paul Smallwood, Ro & Joe Steinberg, Sam & Karen Pallin, and Helene Betance-Foster and family in South Carolina, Virginia Beach, New Mexico and Florida. Their two brothers live in Texas and Ontario (Boker Tov), and we haven't heard from them in too long a time.   

 

Over the past year-and-a-half we've had the good fortune to see the progeny of Remmie and Macc: Sunny, Shiloh, and Sarah; and Creed and Rook, and their lost puppy, Emeline.  All surviving puppies are good at what they are bred to do as family pets, tracking and herding dogs. They are Remmie's, and Macc's, legacy to the breed. Farewell Remmie!  Ha'Aretz Riddle Rap "Remmie"!