Picture taken on 11/25/06 at age 10

August 19, 1996 - May 11, 2008

Etched In Stone, etched in my heart,

etched in the essence of my soul she will forever be!

When I named her Hob Nob Etched In Stone she became etched in my heart for eternity!  She was born in my hands in the back of my van on the way to meet my vet. 

Her passion and desire to perform and excel at whatever I asked of her in obedience, agility and herding was, and always will be, unparalleled.  She was my first agility partner with a Grand Prix run as our very first introduction to this new arena making it easy for me to get us in the top 7 spot in a class of over 200 dogs!

But that's how it was with Chisel...extraordinary in everything we set out to do together!

To watch her do puppy heeling with such accuracy and animation will always be etched in my memory.  To watch her retrieve so passionately with drive at 9 weeks old was awe inspiring!  Her love of doing scent discrimination was immeasurable.

To look in her eyes and see pure love of heart for me is something I know that I will never experience again in my lifetime!  If a 10 embodied perfection she was a 50!
Our souls were intertwined as if we were Siamese twins conjoined in our spirits.
As we would lay on our pillows, I would merely reach out to her and she would place her face in my palm...this spoke louder and clearer then any verbal communication.

She gave me some precious gifts in her few times at being a mother and most especially my breeder's dream of producing Bezel!  She LOVED being a mother and would often be found in the whelping box of puppies that were not hers. 

Her special qualities clearly come thru in her grandchildren Prada, Prism and Prima

Motion was certainly a mini me of Chisel

Chisel with 4 day old baby Bezel

I can truly say with the depths of my being, that we had a connection that just will never, ever be again.  Nor do I think I would want it with another of my dogs for it becomes more pain then I can bear when we part.

WHAT HAPPENED ON SUNDAY NIGHT MAY 11, 2008
It is not clear as to what happened...she ate her dinner as normal, went out for her last potty break with Bezel and Ledger before all 3 retired to my bedroom.  About an 1 1/2 hours later when I went to bed, I found her on the floor by my nightstand with her head under my bed.  I called out to her wondering why she was not on my bed and on my pillow which was common for her before I got in bed.  She did not respond.  I went to her and pulled her out to find her listless and almost lifeless.  She was non responsive and her tongue was hanging out of her mouth.  I lay her on my bed and I knew...God I just knew this was goodbye.  But my heart and brain could not comprehend...this was my Chisel, she was not old nor sick nor feeble...she was ChiselSTRONG!  She just couldn't be dying...  we had much life yet to live here on Hob Nob farm!

Later, at the pet emergency, at first look over, the vet thought possibly vestibular disease of which she had a minor bout with about 6 months before.  But this was just too severe for me to accept.  blood work was normal.  The vet felt that it could be a brain tumor that put pressure on the blood vessels causing it to burst much like an aneurism.  The outlook was grave and I knew that I had to let Chisel go.  While her eyes were open they were blank, she had already gone to another place....a place that didn't have room for me yet.  I stroked her telling her over and over that I loved her while caressing and kissing her face and that we would meet up again...that this was not goodbye but merely 'see you later'...the syringe pushed the substance into her veins that allowed her to take her final breath.

That'll do Chisel...you still have me to watch over as my guardian angel! 

I love you now and forever my dearest friend, Jan

My beloved Chisel  now rests under the apple tree...no more will she run in the orchard.  From this beautiful spot, Chisel’s spirit can keep watch over her sheep as she so often did in her physical being.    The bunnies may hop by and stop to twitch their noses no more afraid of being stared at.

I would chisel these words as her epitaph on a tombstone...

Hob Nob Etched In Stone...etched in my heart, etched in the essence of my soul for all eternity!

You will always be Simply THE Best!

She earned her utility dog title in obedience and was well on her way to earning a MACH in agility with 16 double Q’s.  Chisel had a zest for working that is still unsurpassed!  She thrived on doing it all and doing it best with the utmost of willingness and enjoyment!

Chisel & I ventured into agility as newcomers to this exciting sport.  Our first agility run ever was to compete in the 22” jump height at a USAA grand prix regional where we easily qualified in the top 10 over 200 other dogs!!!

Chisel is a Herding Champion who also won pro novice in several USBCHA herding trials.

Chisel was more then special...she was incomparable!  She had the infectious ability of making me feel that I was too.