The end of the decade
We are done playing dog sports for the year. We will close out the last month of this decade by doing family things and hanging out with friends.
The dogs had a pretty good year. Of course they life a pretty good life but they indulge me in playing games.
We ended last year doing Scentwork and we added some new Scentwork titles this year too. Bailey added a couple of Advanced titles to her name and started on her Excellent titles. Caliwags earned her 1st Scentwork title, her Scentwork Novice Container.
We did a little Barnhunt, Cali got her 1st Novice leg and did it in style by going High Novice (It was beginner’s luck).
Bailey and Cali each added a Fast Cat Title, Bailey earned her DCAT and Cali earned her BCAT.
We had some fun with some of the International Shows earning ICE and IABCA titles and some big ribbons at their events. Cali also earned more points toward her Grand Championship. She just needs a few singles to finish her Grand Championship.
Mr PJ earned his Farm Dog Certificate and Cali earned her AKC Herding Instinct Tested Certificate.
I added AKC Canine Ambassador and AKC Temperment Test Evaluator to my resume.
The AZ kids did great with Sammich finishing his Championship, Clover earned several titles and is very close to her Championship and Daphne is working on several titles as well.
Of course we had great saddness with the loss of our Lindy Hop. My heart is still broken.
We don’t have a ton of plans for 2020. I am hoping we have puppies in the early spring. But what I really hope is that we have a happy and safe year.
Remembering Lindy
Wow it has been a minute! A Solstice Update
What have we been up to so far in 2019? We ended 2018 and started 2019 with our favorite sport of AKC Scentwork. Bailey did a great job and earned some ribbons and titles we have such a fun time doing this together.
January also brought us a big scare as Lindy had some type of cognitive episode and we thought we had lost her but she recovered and is back to her feisty Momma dog self.
Lindy Hop
In March we traveled a full 20 minutes to attend the new Lake Lanier cluster held just down the road from home. They offered lots of fun doggy activities and we took advantage of them. Bailey and Cali showed in Conformation, Bailey in Veterans where she was BOB Veteran and was awarded a group 2. Cali showed in Breed and she earned points toward her Grand Championship. Then we switched to the fun stuff! Cali got to try Barnhunt for the 1st time and she found her Rat each time but 2 of our 3 runs we ran out of time but the other one was so fast that she not only won 1st place for her height group she beat all the Novice dogs and was high in class. Bailey got to play Crazy 8s and added more points to her total.
Our loot from Lake Lanier
In addition to Barnhunt, we went to do Bailey’s favorite thing, chasing the Lure! We did Fast Cat and Bailey had a blast, she is slower now only running 10-11mph but she loves it so and is only 2 or 3 runs away from her next Fast Cat title (DCAT 500 points). Last year I tried Cali but she wasn’t really interested so we tried again and boy what a difference she was a crazy dog too and ran at about 15mph. I think she will get fast as she learns the game. She is only about 25 points from her 1st Fast Cat title (BCAT 150 points) the girls had a fun weekend.
In April we stayed close to home and I taught an into to Scentwork class for Atlanta Obedience club and worked as the CWCCA Scentwork Secretary for our 1st trial at the Nationals. I also became an AKC Canine Ambassador on behalf of the CWCCA. https://www.akc.org/public-education/canine-ambassador-program/
In May we packed the FIT (boy was it packed) and Lindy, Bailey, Cali and I headed to Purina Farms just outside of St. Louis, MO. We joined our good friend and Co-Owner/Co- Breeder) Kathy Davis and new friend Sheri and our whole tribe of Cardigan lovers at the 2019 Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Speciality Show. To say we had fun is an understatement and our dogs did us proud!
In addition to the fun of competition, the National is all about the preservation of the breed. We look at breeding possibilities and learn new things about the breed and contribute to the health and welfare of the breed. All 3 girls had blood drawn and submitted to the OFA DNA database for future study and Cali had her eyes examined and they were pronounced clear and normal, just one of the health checks we do on our breeding dogs.
Yes, we were packed!
Our dog family brought home some ribbons and any ribbon at a Nationals is extra special.
Our National Scentwork Ribbons
In Scentwork:
Bailey – 2 Qs with placements including our 1st Excellent Q
Cali – 1 Q – her 1st with a placement
Ryan – (from our Dwysan family) High in Trial in Masters – Congrats Kathy Hannah! (Kathy’s Tate also did well in Rally and Obedience)
Herding Instinct
Both the Baby Girls Clover (Kathy H) and Daphne (Sheri) did a great job moving the sheep around. Super fun to watch.
Pretty Daphne and Sammich
The Megan – A champion only event that is divided by color/sex – a very prestigious event.
Both our young specials Sammich and Cali made the cut in their Color/Sex classes and Sam made it all the way to the final cut in Black dogs.
Veterans Sweeps
No Ribbons but it was sure fun show both Bailey and Lindy in Veterans. Our cardigans sure hold up strong. Lindy’s 11+ (she is 14 next month) had an entry of 21, 21 11+ Cardigans! and the indomitable Libby 11+ not only won sweeps, veterans she went BOS in the Best of Breed ring – what a girl!
Puppy Sweeps
Sammich, Clover, and Daphne all showed in sweeps and did a wonderful job and as their co-breeder, I was very proud. Sammich was awarded 2nd in his class and appointed class clown.
Regular Classes
Again the girls show great and this time Daphne got to win the ribbon with a 2nd in her class.
Best of Breed – our entry was huge this year and filled with amazing Cardigans.
Sam at 15 months showed wonderfully and made us proud. I can’t wait for him to grow up!
And just to add to the fun in May, Clover and Kathy H earned their 1st Title and TD! (Tracking Dog) I have never had a Tracking title in our dog family so super congratulations for Team Clover!
New Tracking Dog (TD) Clover
Now it is June and it started with a very proud moment. Bailey was awarded the CWCCA versatility award. This is an award for dogs who have earned titles in at least 3 AKC recognized venues including some advanced titles. It is a wonderful recognition and I am super proud of my good girl!
What is next for us? Well stay tuned and we will let you know as it happens. Our Social media pages are often filled with fun photos and updates. See ya later!
Cali says y’all come back now ya hear!
2018 the year that was!
I also had a fun year hanging with my friends, supporting our young friend Ellie, working for my clubs and just as they say living my best life. Looking forward to 2019 with lots of hope and happiness.
It isn’t just a piece of paper
Bailey got mail this week. She got a new title certificate from the AKC for her latest Scentwork title. We are always excited to add new letters behind the dog’s names and there is always a good feeling when the certificates arrive.
I have a very cool hand painted photo album the one of the dogs won as a prize at one of the Southwest Support entry shows. I use it to store show photos and title certificates and as I was planning to add the newest certificate to the album I realized I needed to reorganize the album to accommodate the certificate. As I took each photo and certificate out of it’s sleeve it made me think about what they all really mean.
There is a very good essay that makes the rounds on Facebook that is credited to Sandra Mowery and I think it is a very good way of explaining why a title is more than a piece of paper. For me the title represents time spent with a wondrous creature, it represents time I spend with with people I love, it represents adventure and shenanigans. The title certificates also represents education, breed preservation, sportsmanship, compassion and good cheer. And, yes it also represents a brag, but it is so much more, I’m proud that my dogs are always willing to play games with me and I am proud of my tribe and all the fun and life we get to share together because of our amazing dogs. As I have said many time before it is my privilege. I hope it is your privilege too.
This represents the new AKC title certificates for the current dogs in the house Lindy, PJ, Frost, Bailey, Banner and Cali. This doesn’t include any titles from other venues.
Why title a dog?
Not just a brag, not just a stepping stone to a higher title, not just an adjunct to competitive scores, a title is a tribute to the dog that bears it, a way to honor the dog, an ultimate memorial. It will remain in record and in memory for as long as anything in this world can remain. Few humans will do as well or better in that regard.
And though the dog itself doesn’t know or care that its achievements have been noted, a title says many things in the world of humans, where such things count.
A title says your dog was intelligent and adaptable, and good-natured. It says that your dog loved you enough to do the things that please you, however crazy they may have sometimes seemed.
And a title says that you loved your dog, that you loved to spend time with it because it was a good dog, that you believed in it enough to give it yet another chance when it failed, and that, in the end, your faith was justified.
A title proves that your dog inspired you to that special relationship enjoyed by so few; that in a world of disposable creatures, this dog with a title was greatly loved, and loved greatly in return.
And when that dear short life is over, the title remains as a memorial of the finest kind, the best you can give to a deserving friend, volumes of pride in one small set of initials after the name.
A title earned is nothing less than love and respect, given and received, and permanently recorded.
-Sandra Mowery
GCH Rockie Top Flying Snow, RN, BN, FDC, CGC, RATI
Photos from the Farm
Frost having a great time at Farm Dog Certification. She had a great time.
Caliwags and Cody doing the Farm! Cali (and Cody) spent a good part of the day working the event as the ” Friendly Dog”.
They had a fun day and so did we!
For more information on the AKC Farm Dog Certification Program check out the the AKC website:
http://images.akc.org/pdf/FDC_Test_Guide.Revised.11.2017.pdf
The new Cardigan Farm Dogs from the Day. Frost, Cali, Rune and Zoey!
How much is too much?
I started to write my usual Brag post (and of course I am going to brag) but after our doggy day yesterday and some discussion on Facebook about how many sports can or should you participate in on one day and made me think about how much is too much.
Yesterday we participated in Farm Dog Certification testing given by our friend of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of Greater Atlanta. We had a fun day at this well run event and came home with not one but two new “Farm Dogs”. This is the brag part of the post, Frost and I qualified twice to earn our certification and Cali and Cody also qualified twice also so the girls have new letters after their names.
Farm Dog Certification (FDC) is one of the newer AKC events
( http://images.akc.org/pdf/FDC_Test_Guide.Revised.11.2017.pdf )
There are lots new and fun things that people can do with their dogs. Some require lots of training and some are more instinct driven but all of them strengthens the bond with your dog
The event yesterday was held outside, yep on a farm, and the morning was overcast but it is June in North Central Georgia so by afternoon it was 90 degrees. Since it was a farm there were lots of shade trees and everyone took care that the dogs were comfortable and everyone was checking on one another to make sure folks stayed hydrated. It was a smaller event with around 40 dogs, their people and the volunteers so it was easy for everyone to stay aware. But what if it had been a bigger event?
There are so many fun things to do with your dog and we overachiever dog people sometimes want to get the most bang for our buck and we enter everything!
Some of our big clusters now have lots of things to enter. Our big one in Perry, GA offers All Breed Conformation (sometimes with matches), Obedience and Rally (sometimes with matches), Agility, Course Ability Testing, Fast CAT, Barnhunt, Dock Diving, CGC/CGCA, Trick Dog and Scentwork might be added as well. That is a lot of things to do on a weekend. It is important that we remember we are the advocates for our dogs. They can’t tell us in words what they want to do, we often time ask them to do things that might not make sense to them and it is important that we pay attention.
Don’t get carried away, have fun but make sure your dog is having fun and isn’t being over worked or over stimulated. We think a 2 or 3 minute Scentwork run isn’t any big deal but it is a mental exercise add that to multiple Agility runs and maybe Dock Diving and you have a tired dog, add weather conditions, crating conditions and multiple days and you have an exhausted dog. Think about how tired you are at the end of a busy weekend and remember your dog did most of the work.
Have fun! Because you have the best dog ever, I know I do!
