Rest In Peace My Beloved Julia

Julia – Artistry’s Another Thing Coming, SWA, SCM, NW3 Elite, DDCN, EN

Sunrise - November 15, 2009 / Sunset – February 16, 2023

My beautiful Julia peacefully passed away in our home at the age of 13. My heart is broken to pieces. She was a once-in-a-lifetime dog and will never be replaced. She was so special and I’ll miss her every single day.

I met Julia at 5 weeks old and took her home at 8 weeks. We always had fun and spectacular adventures through the years. I will cherish those memories forever.

Some proud moments - Julia loved scent work! She started scent detection training under Penny Scott-Fox in Altadena, California at the age of 8 months old in 2010. Julia is the 10th Golden Retriever in the country to achieve the National Association of Canine Scent Work ORT Title at just over a year old. She is the 31st Golden Retriever in the country to earn a NACSW NW1 Title in 2011 and the 10th Golden Retriever in the country to receive her NACSW NW2 Title in 2012. Then, life events put trials on hold for a few years. When Logan (Artistry’s Long Time Coming) passed away in 2017, Julia continued trialing with NACSW and started with AKC, & USCSS. She captured her NACSW NW3 Elite Title in January 2022. Julia’s last trial was a NACSW Elite Trial in Tampa, Florida on November 19, 2022. Julia earned 28 overall scent work titles with NACSW, AKC, and USCSS. Lots of good fun times with my girl. That’s what it was all about!

Rest in peace, my baby girl. You taught me meaningful life lessons like living each day to the fullest, smiling, and never taking anything too seriously. It was an honor and privilege to be your companion and I thank you. I’ll miss everything about you. Run free until we meet again. Kisses!

Julia Earns Her NACSW NW3 Elite Title

Julia earned her National Association of Canine Scent Work NW3 Elite title on January 9, 2022. She found all 9 hides and overall it was a great day. Unfortunately, on the first container search, after clearing all containers, I turned around and went through the containers again. My gut told me it was blank but I just had to run it again and got a false. Trust your dog. Yet another lesson learned. Either way, she was able to earn her NW3 Elite with 1 error and a qualifying score of 90.00 on the day.

Thank you to Absolutely Spot On Dog Training for hosting, CO Peter Ensch, judges, volunteers, and other competitors for a super fun day!

Julia's Second Nose Work Trial

Over the weekend I received more videos from the National Association of Canine Scent Work vaults. This was Julia’s second trial at 2 years old. The trial took place on January 29, 2012, in Los Alamitos, California. Her total time was 9:08.75, zero faults for a score of 100 which earned Julia her NW2 title.

We didn’t set any speed records but it’s great seeing these old videos. NW2 at that time consisted of 2 interior searches (which only one video was found) and one search of Container, Exterior & Vehicles. There were 1 or 2 hides per search area and the number of hides was known. A long time ago.

Julia's First Nose Work Trial

These are old videos that I just obtained from the National Association of Canine Scent Work of Julia’s first-ever trial. The trial was held on August 21, 2011, in San Pedro, California. Julia was not even 2 years old yet.

For our first trial, we did pretty well. We got hung up on the exterior but we eventually got it. Her total time was 5:37.31, zero faults for a score of 100 which earned Julia her first title.

NACSW NW3 - Macclenny, Florida

Julia and I took part in the National Association of Canine Scent Work's NW3 trial yesterday at the Baker County Fairgrounds in Macclenny, Florida. The trial was hosted by the K9 Obedience Club of Jacksonville. Chilly start to the day (39°) but turned into a beauty of a day (70°). Fantastic place for a trial. Very well organized. Thanks to the host, CO, judges, and all volunteers.

Julia completed her NW3-Vehicles and NW3-Interior titles. Although she didn't get an outright NW3 title, under the new 2020 rules she did get a qualifying score of 88.89.

She located 7 of the 8 hides. The elements for this trial were 2 container searches, 2 vehicle searches (1 was even a blank or 0 hides), 1 exterior search, and 1 interior search.

Once again, my girl always amazes me. Even at 10 years old she's still full of beans, yet can focus when she needs too. It's super fun to have this kind of special time with her. Rock on Miss Julia!

• All video elements below

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Vehicle Search 1 - 0 hides / 0 alerts (Blank)

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Vehicle search 2 - 2 hides / 2 alerts

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Interior Search - 2 hides / 2 alerts

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Container Search 1 - 1 hide / 1 alert

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Container Search 2 - 1 hide / 1 alerts

NACSW NW3 Macclenny, Florida Julia's Exterior Search - 2 hides / 1 alert / 1 miss