A little kennel that could! 2012 Show ring wrap up

It was a weird year for us dog show wise.  My new job kept me on the go and out of training class and away from dog shows.  I am enjoying my new job and hope that after a year in the role things will be a little easier to handle and I will be able to have more time for shows. 

We started the year in January with Rally and Obedience.  Baby Fifi completed her Rally Novice title at the RGODC/DOCLC trials.  Charlie and Cody completed their Rally Excellent title and began work on their RAE title.   I’m always proud to brag on that team!

We started off the conformation show year at one of my favorite shows, Hobbs KC in Hobbs, NM.  It is a nice venue with nice people running the club.  I wish more folks would attend.  I entered PJ one day as a special and he was awarded Best of Breed for his 1^st Grand Champion major.    He and Frost also won Group 1 for Herding Group Brace competition which was pretty hilarious!   It was a fun weekend with my friends as always.  Our next show was in Midland, TX at the West Texas KC where pretty Banner finished her AKC Championship.  Banner and I are the 1^st Cardigan owner handler team to complete a Championship from the Amateur Owner-handler Class and she will be invited to the AKC National Championship.  It was a fun show and I was glad to share the weekend with my friend JP Yousha who was a great hostess and helped me out both days. 

The next show I got to go to was the CWCCA Nationals which was held in Ohio.  It was a girl road trip as I flew to Huntsville, AL and then drove to OH with Leslie Reed and Kathy Davis, just fun!  We met up with Helen McClure and looked at a lot of Cardigans.   I got to cheer on my boy Rider as he placed 2^nd in his Nationals class.  I also got to present him to potential new Cardigan judges during the CWCCA judge’s seminar.  Good boy Rider!

In May we went to Albuquerque for the 4 day cluster.  Bailey won the major the 1^st day and I moved her up to Best of Breed where she was awarded BOS the next 3 days for Grand Champion points.  The problem was that she wasn’t finished.  I made a mistake on the points and when her certificate didn’t come realized that I had made the error and she wasn’t finished after all.  What a bummer!!!  Time to hunt for that last major, boo!

I spent the rest of the summer working and aside from my annual trip to Dixon, CA for my club; the Richmond Dog Fanciers shows the 1^st weekend in August I was in a dog show drought.  Mostly I worked and tried to stay cool during a long hot summer.   Because of work travel I was in the South in Mid-August and got to join Leslie at a dog show in Mississippi and helped her take her Pem girls back in the ring.   Kept me from having the dog show crazies!

September brought the 1^st of the three weekends I was going to get to show at this fall and it was a good re-start.  Frost continued her “go big or go home” winning by BOB from the classes to finish with her 3^rd major.  She beat her daddy PJ who was BOS for another GCH point.  The next day PJ was BOB for a GCH major and Frost was Select bitch for her 1^st GCH major.  My friend Wendi Luce handled her for me to her BOB and BOS wins while I showed PJ.

In October our New Mexico tour continued with a back and forth trip to Alamogordo, NM for the Mesilla Valley KC shows.  The 1^st day PJ was awarded BOB for 1 GCH point and our friend Dr. Handler Handler Ryan Churchey Buzard showed him with great style, they looked great.  I showed new Champion Frost.  The next day the placements were reversed with Frost going BOB and PJ going BOS.  The day wasn’t over as Judge Donna Buxton gave Frost a Herding Group 4.  It was the 1^st Group place our kennel has been awarded and I could not be happier!

Then New Mexico trek continued in October as we traveled up I-25 to Los Lunas, NM for a 4 day show weekend.  I was hoping to re-finish Bailey as we had 5 point majors available everyday but it wasn’t our weekend for Bailey points.  She showed nicely and was 2^nd in BBE the first 3 days of the show and 1^st on the final day.   It was a strong BBE class as a different girl won each day.     In addition to Bailey, both PJ and Frost were entered in Best of Breed.    Frost came into season and PJ was Mr. Hormone Head and had no interest in the show ring.  My tall friend, Robert Churchey didn’t want me to pull PJ so he guided him around the ring and was awarded Select Dog 2 of the 4 days, picking up some additional GCH points.  Frost was BOS 2 days and Select 2 days for a bunch of GCH points.  I’ll wait for the AKC to sort them all out.  Aside from PJ’s bad boy behavior the kids showed great for me all weekend and made me proud.

In addition to my own dogs, young Rider was awarded Best of Breed on the 1^st day of cluster for a 5 point GCH major.

Of course, PJ had a reason to be a bad boy as Miss Frosty Flake was very smelly and was bred to the handsome Rider.  Puppies are hoped for around mid-December.    

So being on puppy watch (Banner will be bred this fall as well) and traveling for work in October and November will negate any opportunity to hit any of the Arizona shows this year so we are wrapping up a pretty good year.  Two new Champions, some Rally titles and some nice breed wins for GCH points and our 1^st group placement makes it a pretty successful year for a little kennel in far West Texas aka the middle of nowhere.  Happily looking forward to the next chapter in our doggy lives.