Catching Up…

To say the past few weeks have been insane would be something of an understatement!

To start, we went out to Canfield, OH at the beginning of August for a few reasons…to show dogs, to meet up with some friends we never get to see, for Specialties and Supported Entries, and to pick up some new passengers for the trip home.

Oh wait, back up…before we went to Ohio, I drove up to the Denver airport to pick up another new arrival – one that will be here for a few months so I can have a Cardi to show while Domi grows up. Dash (Ch Coedwigs Cracker Jack) is owned by Dominos breeders, Kim and Mark, and we think they are awesome for sending this little guy down to visit us for awhile 🙂

Ok, back to Ohio. So we went to Ohio. OMG was it HOT and HUMID out there!! Ugh. Wanted to die from the heat!! So, since I had obligations back here in the West on Monday, we only went for Friday and Saturday. Friday was the 4-6 month puppy exhibition thing that AKC has started offering at certain shows. Since Domi had just turned 4 months, we entered him. He had soooo much funnnnnnn!!! LOL. It is so hard not to instantly fall in love with Domino as soon as you see him. He is such a cool little dog. Anyway, he did his thing, and won the breed (only Cardi puppy entered…) and then went on to place 4th in the beginner puppy Herding Group! And he won some money. How neat is that?? Found out the judge is a long time Cardi breeder, and he came over to talk to us afterwards about Cardis and Domino and so the whole morning was pretty neat. I completely missed out on showing the Pointers….but it was still fun to get to show the baby Corgi, and I got to SEE the Pointers being shown, so it wasnt all bad!  So Saturday was the Pointer Specialty. And I had entered Maui, the old Queen dog that she is, in Veterans. She was the only Veteran bitch entered, and won BOSV in both Sweeps and the Regular breed classes. Both judges commented on what great condition she is in for being almost 9…and then dumped her. Oh well. We love our old lady 🙂 She got some awesome prizes (a big fluffy dog bed that has yet to be removed from the van after nearly a month…anyone who doesnt have to ride in a crate has much enjoyed sleeping on it!! and a Pointer tissue box holder – Thank you to everyone who donated prizes, we love them!) and she had fun. Poor Melissa and Maui were stuck running between Juniors and Breed…and were EXHAUSTED by the end of judging.

So, we hung out with friends, got to talk about Pointers, took some photos of dogs I never get to see because they are far up in the North East…and I never get up that way 😉 and I brought some more visitors home with me. Maggie Platt was so kind as to allow us to “borrow” Inca, Stella, and Gravy for a few months.  So we drove home with a VERY full van!!

Then I went and spent a very emotional week of discovery helping my Parents in New Mexico…its a long story, and I wont get into it here, but I will leave it at the fact that it was a very eye-opening week, and one I would prefer to never repeat again in my life.

So after New Mexico, I spent a few days integrating a bunch of new dogs into the “group”…which went very successfully. With everyone playing and running and having a great time….was time to move on to the next step…

Our first show with the expanded crew was Greeley, CO on August 20th and 21st. We had majors in Pointer girls, and major entries in Cardigans. Lorne went WB on Saturday for her first major, and Stella (one of Maggies girls that is visiting us) went WB on Sunday for her third major. In Cardis, Dash went Select Dog both days for two 3 point majors, leaving him 1 point shy of his Grand Championship. Not bad for his first Colorado show!

A few days later, we headed out to Topeka, KS…which was a show I was supposed to not go to, but ended up going anyway since my stupid phone didnt allow me to cancel the Pointers entries. I was sad that Dash was not entered, but to be honest, not having to groom him or worry about him being shown made my life a little easier with 10 dogs along for the ride, and only 2 being entered! UGH. Weekend from hell!! I went out planning on leaving after judging on Saturday, so for those of you who called me a poor sport, or a bad loser, or the gang of other things I heard being said, can shove it. It was just me, with 10 dogs, cooped up in crates for 4 days already at the point where we packed up and headed home. It was NOT a good situation for me or for them, and I knew it going in. Sorry, but I chose to leave on Saturday and skip Sundays judging. It was my personal decision, and one that was approved by the dogs owners WEEKS before we even went to the shows. Anyone who feels I should have stayed is more than welcome to take 7 Pointers on the road (plus a Dobe, plus 2 Corgis..) for 5 days, by themselves, with no help to feed, walk, or clean up after them…and see what happens. Oh, 3 of them have to be puppies, as well. Needless to say, we got dumped all weekend. Which doesnt really bother me. Shit happens. Judges like a different style dog. Dont really care about not winning. Congrats to all who did, btw. Was just a frustrating weekend for me. Capped by a HORRIBLE drive home. …lets just leave it at August hasnt been very good to me!

 

So, tomorrow, I start bathing dogs and finishing up all the dog laundry so we can do it all again. A 2 day show in Cheyenne, WY. There are bitch majors again, and I am seriously hoping that we can get Junos majors out of the way so that she can be finished…since she is singled out, all she needs are those majors!! But, best laid plans never work that way…….so we shall see how this goes!! At least this time, we get to come home in between, so its not being on the road with mass amounts of very active dogs. Which makes me much happier 🙂

Lets hope that September decides to be kinder to me than August was!!