Almost Heaven Kennels

08/26/2026

14 month old Millie(Kricket x Murphy the Diabetic Alert Dog), owned by John and Ashley McClinton. I can't show the work that got her to this find from her break away, but suffice to say that she made about a 700+ yard loop getting there lol!

08/19/2026

After seeing the most recent rankings in the GSPCA Journal, I was confused by the absence of Clyde(Kricket x Duke), owned by the Poss family. I had Steve reach out to Rick Petersen and due to a small oversight, Clyde/Steve hadn't been recognized as a member. I'm happy to say, Clyde is now recognized for having a pretty good Spring season. 😎
With Jonathan Sensinger

07/29/2026

There's something strangely, but ohhhh so satisfying, about the crunch of a horse fly between your fingers and hearing your horses sigh relief. 😈☠️

07/19/2026

Some of what's going on today 😎

07/12/2026

I've had a few questions on how our habitat work has been coming along, so thought I'd share some pix of the pollinator plots and stump regeneration.
A clear cut that only a few short months ago, appeared to be dead and devoid of life, is turning in to a teaming oasis of new life in a habitat desert of mature forest. We are seeing deer and fox on the daily, a huge increase in various songbird use, various Wood Peckers; hawks, Ravens, Bald Eagles, Buzzards and Vultures perching in the trees regularly, including one that was tagged! I've seen one Pepe Le Pew, which I could do without lol, but was none the less entertained to see waddling AWAY from me toward shelter. Lightning Bugs every eve and a few bats. Every time I stop and look around, I notice more.
I'm going to go with it is becoming a success, but there's still more work to do! Time and patience!

07/02/2026

I'd advise clients and friends to consider this wisely, as well as The Society for Theriogenology position statements on early spay/neuter, in my comments. Though many Vet's continue to recommend these harmful early procedures, evidence has consistently rebuked these early procedures.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1DzLG56Dwo/

We need to talk about early castration

Six to seven months old. I still see it regularly - intact male dogs castrated at or before sexual maturity, on veterinary advice, as routine practice.

This is not supported by the largest bodies of research produced over the last two decades. Numerous studies have linked gonadectomy (particularly early) to increased rates of joint disease, certain cancers, and behavioural problems including anxiety and increased fear-based concerns - with some breeds at more of a health risk than others.

The evidence has become substantial enough that Stefano Romagnoli, then World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Reproduction Control Chair, stated: “For many years, our default advice has been that dogs should be neutered and bi***es spayed - but, in the light of new scientific evidence, it’s time for a paradigm shift in our thinking.”

The 2024 WSAVA Guidelines go further, expressing concern about “increasing moves to early neutering or for neutering to be used as a method of behavioural control,” and advising that “for clients who are responsible pet owners, it may be advisable to leave dogs intact, particularly in breeds prone to health detriments associated with gonadectomy.”

This is not a fringe position. This is the WSAVA - a global community of more than 390,000 veterinarians worldwide drawn from 113 national member associations. Routinely recommending early castration without discussing the risks, the alternatives, or the current evidence base is no longer defensible. Guardians deserve informed consent.

If your vet or behaviour professional recommends castration for your young male dog, it is essential to ask what the evidence base for that recommendation is, and then do your own research.

06/06/2026

Trooper, owned by Carla Mitchell and L A Bryfogle Aguilar. This boy is some kinda special! 😎

05/25/2026

Well Jonathan Sensinger, Alayna Sensinger and I, were able to wrap up what has been a great Spring Trial season this weekend at the Oak Ridge PDC Trial. I absolutely adore my western PA Field Trial family and this Trial has always been our end of season wrap up.

I started the weekend off with a win in Open Gun Dog retrieving stake with Cooper, owned by the Ploeger family. Cooper has been a bit of my hard luck dog this Spring, in his first broke dog season after his initial win early on, having missed out on the ribbons for things that leave you scratching your head. He put it together Saturday with probably the most powerful run on the grounds of the entire weekend, picture perfect bird work and a clean retrieve in the callback. This boy is an hour dog all day long and as young as he is, has a brilliant future ahead. Here's to finishing him in the Fall.

Jon and I followed up with 3rd place finishes on Samson, owned by the Perkins family, in very competitive Open and Amateur Puppy stakes on Saturday and Sunday. Samson gave some fantastic performances both days, including with Jon handling him for the very first time, but was ultimately bested by age and experience of some other fantastic pups. This youngster is going to be something special!

I followed up with a second place finish on Trooper, owned by Carla Mitchell and L A Bryfogle Aguilar, in the Open Limited Gun Dog. This is also Troopers first broke dog season, in which he has placed or won in 5 of 6 runs. He's fast become one of my favorite dogs to run, because he's just plain exciting and cool! It was a tough decision for the Judges between 1st and 2nd, but I'm happy to know it took Holly to best him, as she's one impressively solid and consistent contender to compete against. Her limb find was the separating factor over Trooper. This boy is going to Michigan this Fall 😎

Last but not least and to wrap up the weekend, Clyde, owned by the Poss family and under his owner Steve's hand, won the Amateur Gun Dog retrieving stake with authority. Steve makes the 3rd different person to now have handled Clyde to blue ribbons. Clyde doesn't need a handler, he only needs a flusher with a gun to follow him! His mother Kricket is the same way and was also handled by 4 different people to multiple wins and placements. Bidable and cooperative, as well as pure "burd dawg" might be in the genes?

Huge thanks to the members of Oak Ridge that put on these events, particularly the small core that do the Mother load of the work, including the gunners and bird planters! Be good to these folks, without them, we have nothing. Better yet, if you have the free time and desire to learn, step up and offer to help!
Also a huge shout out to my owners, that make it possible for me to show the best in their dogs abilities and trust me to care for, nurture, love and bring their dogs along. Couldn't do it without you!

05/18/2026

Thought I'd share a series of videos showing our new training course we're working on. Not a lot of green yet, as we're nursing our newly planted native warm season grasses and pollinator plots that are just coming up. We need rain for them and failing that, we'll start taking tanks of water out in the back of the utv and spray them once or twice a week in the evenings. The short course presently is 1 mile, while making a second reverse pass on the top loop adds another 3 tenths of a mile and one we've cleaned up the drainage on the second half and finished fencing to keep the dogs contained from the road and neighboring properties, we'll be adding yet another quarter mile.
Second and third videos will be in the comments, as well as some images of the plots and course.

05/11/2026

So being a slow learner and a glutton for punishment once again, I decided to leave the trailer home, load 4 of my bullet gun dogs in the truck Saturday morning, and do a same day, up and back to the VCGC Trial up at Polk PA Brittany Club Grounds. Ran Trooper, Cooper, Huck and Vega in Open Gun Dog. Talk about a longggg day, getting home at midnight Saturday night, but I had to be home to take Jen and the girls out for Mother's Day dinner yesterday. It's the least I owe her, for all of my shenanigans she puts up with!!!

I was proud of all 4 dogs for their overall performances, disappointed with a few bobbles, the kind that leave you asking "Did that really just happen?!?!", that took them out of any chance at ribbons; but Trooper, owned by L A Bryfogle Aguilar and Carla Mitchell, came shining through! He was the first brace of the stake and set a bar that would remain untouched for the rest of the stake! Five finds later, a run that started with a strong break away, finished with him 300 yards to the front running an edge and boxing the final corner, and seemingly not missing a single objective in between, I called the lil guy in to snap the leash on him with a huge smile and praise. I knew his performance had the potential to be a winning run, but there were still a lot of really great dogs to go yet.
At the end of the 3 point major stake though, Trooper still was on top of the podium!

Huge thanks to the VCGC crew and everyone that made the event possible, my owners that trust me with their companions, couldn't do this without you and a special thanks to my wife Jennifer Shaffer on this Mother's Day weekend, for tolerating my craziness and giving me my two most valuable gems, our daughters Raine Shaffer and Storm Shaffer!