Grand Ending
I still haven’t learned how to count Grand Champion points but this time less was more. The AKC has finished tallying the last days of the NM show circut and this is how we ended up Grand Champion wise:
Ch Mariel’s Flying Spirit, RN aka PJ
| Number of Points | 18 |
| Number Major Wins | 4 |
| Number Major Judges | 4 |
| Total Number Judges | 6 |
| Events w/CH Defeated | 5 |
Ch Rockie Top’s Flying Snow, RN aka Frost
| Number of Points | 23 | |
| Number Major Wins | 5 | |
| Number Major Judges | 5 | |
| Total Number Judges | 6 | |
| Events w/CH Defeated | 1 |
Not bad for the kids, PJ was shown 8 times and Frost who just finished her Championship in September was shown 6 times. PJ just needs some single points and Frost needs two wins over specials for her last 2 points.
Here is how the Grand Champion program works:
A dog must be (1) a Champion of Record or (2) have been transferred to BOB competition based upon the owners’ records of their having completed the requirements for a CH title to be eligible for Grand Championship (GCH) competition.
The American Kennel Club requires a dog to obtain a total of 25 points with three major wins (a major win is worth three points or higher) to become a Grand Champion. The majors must be won under three different judges and at least one other judge must award some of the remaining points – so you need to win under at least four different judges. Also at least one Champion of Record must be defeated at three of these shows.
Best of Breed – BOB
Best of Opposite Sex – BOS
Select Dog – SD
Select Bitch – SB
Remember, point schedules vary by show location. If you are not at the show, make certain you get the points schedule for the event region where your dog won. Refer to the Schedule of Points.
The Grand Championship (GCH) points awarded are determined by the same divisional point schedules that are used for the calculation of championship (CH) points.
PJ Breed win photo
Yes I am wearing pink in this one too, must have been the winning color for us this fall.
This is PJs 2nd Grand Champion major. He has all his major wins and his Champion competition wins now so he just needs a few single points to finish out the Grand. Isn’t he a handsome man!
Pretty!
Are you on my list?
As recently announced CH Frost has been bred to CH Rider and we are eagarly waiting for signs of puppies. We should know in a few weeks if the puppies are pending. I’m excited! Are you?
If you are excited and would like to be on my puppy list I need to hear from you. Several of the Frosty/Rider pups are already spoken for and will be going to some of the doggy family our previous puppy buyers but depending on litter size there should be puppies available for Show/Performance/Companion homes.
This is how it works with me.
Kennel Policies:
Interested parties are asked to provide the following information:
(please copy and paste the information and email to solsticecwc@gmail.com)
Name:
Location:
Phone #:
Email Address:
Male/Female preference:
Interested in a Show or Performance or Companion puppy!
I keep an interested party list for puppy buyers. I do not take deposit until the litter has been born and we know what sex/colors are available. Once we know there are puppies available I will then take a deposit to hold your puppy. Currently the cost of a Solstice puppy is $800 plus shipping cost. Puppy prices sometime change depending on the how the litter is bred but you can expect somewhere between $700 – $1000. There is no difference in cost of a “show” puppy vs a “companion” (pet) puppy. All puppies are raised with exactly the same care and concern. Show puppies have additional requirements in their contracts and companion puppies are placed on AKC limited registration and must be spayed or neutered.
I prefer not to ship but if flights and connections can be worked out I will ship a puppy if conditions are correct.
Puppies come from Solstice with age appropriate vaccinations, microchip and are AKC registered. I will consult puppy buyers on their chosen names prior to sending in AKC registration. Each puppy comes with a contract that spells out expectations and guarantees for both the breeder (me) and the buyer.
I understand that people who are looking for companion puppies often times are on other people’s waiting lists as well and all I ask is that you let me know if/when you choose a breeder or there is a puppy available for you so that I don’t hold a puppy for you and put someone else on a waiting list.
So let me know if you want to be on “the List”.
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 1st 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 1st 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 2nd 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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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 3rd 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 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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 2nd in BBE the first 3 days of the show and 1st 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 1st 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 1st 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.
It is cool to be first!
The following dogs have completed their Championship with all points awarded from a combination of the Puppy and/or AOH classes. Not all of these dogs listed will earn a place on the Puppy/AOH Honor Roll. ONLY those who can attest to being Amateur/Owner/Handled should send in the form. If your dog was Amateur/Owner/Handled on each day that points were awarded, you are eligible for the Honor Roll.
Please download this form if you believe your dog is eligible for having gained all their championship points with wins from Puppy and/or AOH classes. Dogs who obtain their championship with ALL points earned from the AOH class can be found on the AOH list. Please contact Michael Canalizo, mlc@akc.org for any additional information concerning the Puppy/AOH eligibility.
AKC/Eukanuba National Championship – December 15, 2012AKC/Eukanuba National Championship – December 17, 2011
| Dog Name | Breed | Confirmed |
| CH Arylan Flying The Colors At Solstice | Cardigan Welsh Corgi | x |
| CH Conifer’s Sunday Morning Service | Cardigan Welsh Corgi |
If a dog you believe should be qualified for the upcoming AKC/Eukanuba National Championship and is not shown in the list above, please contact Michael Canalizo, mlc@akc.org. Please be sure to include all relevant information about the dog and how you believe it qualified in your email.
The symbol (x) indicates that eligibility has been confirmed by the AKC and the dog will receive and invitation to the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship.
Ain’t that Special…….
It is rare that I go to a dogshow without a class dog, I am a breeder/owner/handler and I spend most of my dog show dollars showing my dogs to their championships. Lots of us BOH folks do the same and then came the AKC and their Grand Championship program. Just like the AKC planned more of us are bringing our nice Champion house dogs back to the show grounds and I am no exception.
PJ finished so fast from the puppy class that his show career was over almost as soon as it started. As a young boy he was entered as a special a few times shown by Kathy and my friends and pro handlers Ryan Churchey Buzard (now Dr. Buzard) and Robert Churchey and of course he made some appearances at the CWCCA nationals with both Kathy and I. I figured why not work on the Grand every now and then. PJ won a 5 pt major the one day I entered him in February and then another six points in September even losing to his daughter Frost when she was awarded BOB from the classes to finish her Championship.
This weekend the local show (2 hours away) had no planned Cardi entry so I entered PJ and our newest Champion Frost to support the local club and maybe add some GCH points (Frost has one 3pt GCH major). It was HOT on Friday in the 90s with 1pm ring times. Our friend Dr. Handler Ryan was on site (first time we have seen her since she went off to Vet school) and she handled PJ to BOB and a lovely showing in group filled with some top herding dogs including the #1 Australian Shepherd and Smooth Collie. I showed Frost to the BOS award.
Saturday was Frosty day, Frost is my “go big or go home” girl. She finished with 3 majors all by going BOB over specials. She celebrated her first weekend out as a special by going big again by beating out her Daddy PJ for the breed and then being awarded a Group 4 placement by Judge Donna Buxton. I am very proud of the Fabulous Frost! This is the first Group placement for Solstice.
Both she and PJ are entered all 4 days next weekend along with Bailey in the BBE class who is looking for her last major. We will see what happens.
Champion Frosty Flake!
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Back in the saddle again
Wow, I can’t believe I haven’t been in the ring with my dogs since May but we had a good first weekend back.
We went to Roswell, NM and no we were not abducted, but we were winners. Roswell was good to us, the RV generator needs to see a specialist and I was worried about it being hot, like normal but a cold front came in and we had a very cool drizzly weekend so I was ok without AC. Dr. Barb lent me power so I could groom the dogs which was helpful. Of course as always team SW Cardi always work together. We built a major and worked it out class wise so the four of us Barb, Wendi, Lisa and myself could get everyone in the ring. And our efforts paid off there are two new Cardigan Champions.
As reported yesterday Frost, who needed 3 single points came away with a 4pt major by going breed over her Daddy and another special to finish her Championship . Wendi did a great job handling Frost!
Today PJ went breed and got a Grand Champion major and Frost was Select for her 1st GCH points. Lisa’s Friday crossed over for the major to finish this weekend too and Barb & Cathy’s Deedle got today’s major.
The dogs are glad to be home and the ones that stayed home are glad we are back.
Here are some photos from their rough life on the road.
Bailey my co-pilot
Dogs out of the rain, no room for me…..
No room on the sofa for me either.
King PJ!
Fabulous Frost
Miss Frosty Flake became Ch Rockie Top’s Flying Snow, RN today. She did it in fine style by taking the breed over specials, including her daddy PJ. PJ went BOS.
This isn’t the first time Frost has gone up over specials, both of her previous majors had the same result. Judges either loved her or left her at the end of the line.
Good girl Frosty! Tomorrow our friend Wendi is going to show her in Best of Breed.
Solstice Kennels 