Ch Rosewood's Sabrina Lindenhill CD TT TC CGC TDI  Thirteen Club, #11 Futurity Dam 1996, Dual Award Excellent, OFA H&E (Sabrina, Bri)  (Sel Ch Hoheneichen's Magnum X Linhill World Series V Cnbar)

Sabrina, a Faithful Friend August 15 1990 - March 24 2005   Photo taken at age 13 10-20-07 Sabrina was given a page on the GSDCA German Shepherd Reviewed web page Click here to see it

Sabrina was the matriarch of Black Forest.  She passed away at 14 1/2 March 24 2005.  All the other dogs of Black Forest are descended from Sabrina.   This picture was taken at age 13.   Scroll down to see a brief review of her life in pictures.    GSD Review memorial page

I have had the honor to be the companion of Ch Rosewood's Sabrina Lindenhill CD, TT, TC, TDI, OFA  H & E (Sel Ch Honeneichen=s Magnum x GV Crunch daughter).   You may remember in the December 1999 issue of the German Shepherd Review Sheila Metz wrote an article on her aging yet motherly bitch, Dreamy Mimi, who helped to nurse her orphaned grand puppies.   Sabrina, 14 this year, was the show-stopper sister referred to in that article.  

From the moment Bo told me about the litter I knew I was supposed to have a puppy from the Magnum litter that Bo Vujovich and Sheila Metz planned out of Sheila's GV Crunch daughter .  I was expecting a Magnum litter from my Sammy at the same time, but I just knew there was to be a puppy in Sheila and Bo's  litter that was meant to be mine.  When Sheila described the three puppies in her litter to me over the phone  I knew the one she called Baby Violet was the puppy that was the one.  The male went to Bo and the other female, Mimi,  was kept by Sheila and became the foundation of her kennel.  Sheila brought the two females to the Minneapolis KC show that year (1990) to make her final decision on which one she would keep.  I could see she was emotionally bonded to her Baby Violet, and I was thrilled when the handler trotted the pups up and down and Baby Violet did not compare with Mimi.  I knew one day she would be a star, but if she showed a glimmer now, I would lose her.  She hid her brilliance well and I got to take her home!  She was to become my Sabrina.  

 I wasn=t prepared that day to take a puppy home in my big old van and had no leash or crate with me.  Sabrina started to wander into the back as I was driving and I called her back. She came back and lay down by my side and stayed there the rest of the trip home.  That is the way she has always been, incredibly obedient.

	Humble beginnings.  Bri at 2-3 months
Bri's first specialty show - Best Puppy!
	Sabrina won all her puppy classes at specialties.  She didn't really see dogs of other breeds until she was about a year old.  She was at a specialty and someone walked in with a different breed and it looked like her jaw dropped and she just stared.  She seemed to be wondering what the heck is that?
An early morning romp  through the mud.  Bri was about 6-9 months at the time

		Bri leads the way with her best friend Sam
Bri and Sam romp on the playground
		Sam holds the hose to give Bri a drink
		John Schacht gives Bri Best in Match
Bri gets her first points, a 4 point major!
Bri at the flying trot  For more pictures of Bri trotting Click  Here
		Another 4 pointer!
		Bri going Best of Breed and finishing at 2 in Kansas City.  Liz Oster was Sabrina's handler.   Bri and I shared a room connected to Liz's and her parents (Joan and Paul Johnson) room.  After the show I realized Bri had left my room and I rushed over to make sure she wasn't bothering anyone.  I found her curled up on the bed with Liz watching a Clint Eastwood movie.  I was wondering how often one would find their new champion curled up with their handler.   Liz and Bri were always good friends.
Bri going Best of Breed at St Croix Valley 1994,  Her grand daughter, Am Can & Int'l Ch Oak Haven Xena of Blk Forest TC, took Best of Breed and Group 2 at the same show 10 years later, in 2004.
		Bri going BOB over a Canadian Grand Victor and a US Futurity Victrix.
At five Sabrina was bred to Ch Saxony's Zeppelin TC ROM OFA.  She had 4 puppies, 3 males and 1 female.  Sabrina wasn't the super mom that her sister Lindenhill's Dreamy Mimi was.  She seemed surprised by her first puppy, Amy, and tried to cover her up with bedding.  She started to get into the birthing process after another puppy was born.  When she was all through she gave me a look as she was nursing the puppies that clearly stated "How long does THIS go on?"  Then she got up and came and laid down next to me to watch the puppies from outside the whelping box.  After a few minutes I told her she should go back to her puppies and she slowly got up and returned to her litter.
One of Bri's sons, Saxony's Fly by Night (Flyer)		Sabrina's only daughter, Black Forest Amelia Earhart TC OFA H&E(Amy) at 3-4 months shown with  Liz Oster.
		Bri posing in the park at about 5 or 6 years of age
Bri (on the left) and her daughter Amy on the couch
		Bri shares her wisdom with Her grand puppy, Gabby.  Bri seemed  to enjoy being a grandmother more than being a mother.
Bri assists her daughter Amy in watching over her litter.  Amy was happy to have her mom's help.
Sabrina at age 11		A few winters ago  Bri saw a sled dog team mushing around the lake at a local park and she stopped to watch.  She gave me a look that clearly said "Gee, can we do that?"
Sabrina only had one hour of formal obedience class and did a few run throughs before showing and qualifying in 3 consecutive shows for her CD title a few months after she completed her championship.  She was so eager to perform that she would literally tremble waiting for me to give her a command.   For her finish she would leap in the air and land in a perfect heel position.  I wish I could say I taught her to do that, but she taught me to give her a hand signal for the finish and the rest she did on her own.   Her second Obedience competition was at an all breed show and there were a lot of Portuguese Water Dogs.  As we were waiting for our turn in the ring, she was sitting next to  one and its tail was going up and down a little.  She saw the pom on his tail and seemed to think it was a toy.  I took up the leash just in time to stop her from pouncing on what must have looked like a toy bouncing up and down to her.
There were only two times at our specialty (GSDC of MSP St Paul) that Bri was shown in both obedience and breed and both times she was high scoring dog also shown in breed.  Here she is at age 11, the second time she received that award.   She won Veteran Obedience and Veteran Bitch.  When she was younger she took the high scoring also shown in breed  title going  Best Opposite and receiving a 192 in Novice B obedience.
Bri started agility in 2001 at age 12.  She filled in for her daughter Amy, the last 3 sessions in a block of ten.  The tenth class required going through the entire course off leash.  Some of the obstacles she had never seen before since she had only attended two lessons prior to that.  I did not ask her to go up the A-Frame, but she did all the other obstacles and was so pleased with herself she was hopping up and down woofing in delight when we finished.
Bri went to the 2002 US Nationals to show in the senior veteran class 10 and over  in St Louis.  She didn't seem quite right, but she tried to show.  She got into a trotting race with her grand daughter on the way home and beat her, but when we got back I found out she had pyometra and she had to have emergency surgery.  The vet said she would have been  dead within a day if she hadn't had surgery.  Sabrina with her participation ribbon from the US national show.  At the age of 12 she was the oldest dog in her class.
Although Bri was practically perfect in every way ( a regular Mary Poppins of the dog world) She decided that she should remove her own staples after a few days and had to wear a cone.  She resented that so much that she would crash into things with it unless she was confined.  So I put up a pen in the living room where she could be the center of attention.  She still didn't appreciate being a cone head, but she settled down and started to watch soap operas.
I came home early to check on her and she was so involved with her soap opera that she didn't notice that I was there until a commercial came on.   When she didn't have a good soap to watch she liked to scrape her cone back and forth across the bars of the pen like a prisoner trying to get the guard's attention.
		Bri and family. L-R, Sabrina's daughter, Black Forest Amelia Earhart TC OFA, Sabrina, Amy's daughters Am Can, Int'l Ch Oak Haven Xena of BLK Forest, and Black Forest Amazon Queen.    I have been told it is quite an accomplishment to have 4 adult bitches pose next to each other.
Bri Age 13. She really didn't like the trip to the photographer with her daughter and grand daughters.  She rode in my friend Laura's Subaru so it was easier to get her in and out without a big jump.  I took the others in my Explorer. They were up on a big bench with the background draped behind and over it.  Bri protested by sitting down  facing the background .
		Bri age 13 At 13 Bri  decided that a can of spray cheese was fair game and I found a crushed can in the living room and cheese on the ceiling, across all the walls, the entertainment center, TV, fireplace. and the couch.    She never told me how she managed all of that.  I never would have guessed that the cheese could spray that far.  I still have two lines across the ceiling left by the grease in the cheese.
		Bri just after her 14th birthday.   I had to chase her down with the camera to get a picture.  Its amazing how fast she could  go to avoid having her picture taken!
Sabrina March 19 2005 a few days before she passed on at age 14 1/2
		Bri early morning March 24 2005 several hours before she passed on.  I told her that morning that if she had to go that day, it would be best if she did so before I went to work.   I brought her back in from the yard and I checked on her every 5 minutes until it was time to go to work.  My last trip in to see her, she was gone.  Obedient to the end.
My Sabrina memorial garden  with life size Shepherd  statue painted with her markings.   Unfortunately I could not find a statue that really looked like her.

Click here to see a short video of Bri.  It may take a few minutes to load if you don't have DSL.

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