I got my start in dogs in 1997. After searching around, I ended up at Heidi Mobley's (Western Hills Aussies) house meeting dogs. After attending a few shows, I was hooked. I joined ASCA and began participating in the Texas circuit.

Realizing that working and playing with my dogs was truly a passion, I decided to register a kennel name with ASCA. I thought long and hard about it and after talking with my sister, Dorena, decided on Blue Eagle. Blue Eagle is my dad's Indian name. I had him write a short dissertation on how he was given his name.

"I acquired the name "Blue Eagle" from my Cheyenne friends early in high school. I had two circles of friends all during my school days. One was a small circle of Anglo friends. The other was a larger circle of Indian friends. My closest friend and buddy was Kenneth Kauley. He lived a half mile west of us. His home was just across the road from Great-great grandpa, Jacob Flick's house. Grandpa John bought the land that Kenneth's mother owned. The land lays against the river there across the road from Grandpa Jacob's dilapidated house.

Kenneth and I were in the same grade all the way through school (grades 1-12). We rode the same school bus played on the same basketball team, and took all of our classes together. We were almost inseparable from the 6th grade until we graduated.

When we entered high school, I began to hang out with my Indian friends most of the time. I went with them to their parties. Kenneth and I played together and ran around together all the time during my high school years. It was during high school that I began to learn how to speak Cheyenne. Kenneth was the one who started the process.

The first car I ever owned was a blue & white '55 Ford. One day when we were all together at a party, someone suggested that I have an Indian name. All of my Indian friends had Indian names that were given to them by parents. The Indian name is different from the given name. For example, Kenneth's Indian name is "Black Stone." During that party my Indian friends decided to give me the name, "Blue Eagle." I think it grew out of the fact that I drove a blue & white Ford. After the naming ceremony, one of my friends, Roy Howlingwater, asked his mother to make me a pair of full-beaded moccasins with a blue eagle on the toes. I still have that pair of moccasins. About a month after the naming ceremony, Emma Howlingwater gave me the moccasins. I was and still am proud of my Indian name. I am proud that I am accepted as a full brother and member of the Cheyenne community. I am proud that I am intimately acquainted with Cheyenne culture and Indian ways."

-David Flick
http://www.baptistlife.com/flick