Happy 2nd Birthday Ban Ban!
An October to remember
My last update was about our wonderful showing at the Chili Bowl Cluster in Alamogordo, NM. Guess what there is more good news to report. The NM Cardigan gang built majors all 4 days in Los Lunas and my girls won 3 of the 4! On Friday Banner was WB/BOS for her 2nd major. When the judge handed me the BOS ribbon she told me “She is really my best of breed, but I wanted to give the worthy WD they points so I put him BW”. (There was only one special so if she had put Banner BOB, she would have been BW too and not points would have been available for the WD). The next day we had a judge from “down under” and she gave me a critique of my dogs as I put them on the table. She loved Frost, her lovely movement won her over and she gave Frost BOB over 2 specials which bumped it up to a 4 pt major. On the final day Banner once again went WB/BW/BOS for her 3rd major. I was really fine with the WB and would have loved for the dog to cross over for the points but the judges are going to do what the judges are going to do.
To add some icing to an already tasty cake, Cody and Bonnie completed their Beginner Novice obedience title. Bonnie as well as Charlie make up what we call team CCB (Cody, Charlie, Bonnie), Charlie and Bonnie are PJ x Lindy kids.
So the final tally for the New Mexico circuit is:
Frost, Rockie Top Flying Snow, RN BOB over specials 3 times, 8 pts 2 majors
Banner, Arylan Flying the Colors at Solstice, BOB over specials 1 time, 10 pts 3 majors
Bailey, Solstice Flying Circus, BOB over specials once for her last single points.
Bonnie, Arylan Flight from Justice, RN and new BN title.
Frost and Banner now just need 3/4 singles for their championship and Bailey needs her majors. Of course the baby FiFi needs to grow up and look more like a Cardigan and less like an otter.
If our dogshow success were not exciting enough, I started my new position the next day (Monday) I have been in the same position for almost 24 years and it is exciting to be moving to a new department. The 1st week was long and exciting!
Then just to add some additional good news I have completed to the requirements to be designated an AKC Breeder of Merit http://www.akc.org/breederofmerit. I’m happy to have the designation to show to the general public that I am one of the good guys!
There is still a little over a week left of October so we will see what else happens but it has been a heck of a month!
Poor Sienna
This is what happens when you don’t win, we dress you up and make you look stupid.
The hard life of a showdog
The Solstice dogs live a hard life.
Wowzer what a weekend!
What a fabulous weekend the Solstice gang had at the Chili Bowl Cluster in Alamogordo, NM. The cardi girls Frost, Bailey, Banner and baby Fifi were entered along with little Sienna. And we had the best time! On friday Frost started us out by going BOB from the classes for 1 point, on saturday Bailey did the same, BOB from the classes for 1 point. On sunday, there were major points available and Frost repeated here BOB win for her 1st 3 point major and on monday not wanting to be left out of the party pretty Banner followed the older girls lead and was BOB for her 1st major. A pretty wow weekend! Of course we wouldn’t have had the chance if the SW folks hadn’t worked hard to get those majors build, this time my girls were the winners, next time it could go to one of the other outstanding dogs in our area.
In addition to the Cardi Party Sienna had her best showing to date with 2 major reserves this weekend, her time is coming we are almost there in the grooming department.
Team CCB was also in attendance, as always Cody is a huge help with the dogs and in fact she was showing Banner in the winners class when she was awarded WB. Of course aside from being a great friend/helper Cody and Bonnie got their 1st BN leg at the Obedience trial.
The 1st two days weather wasn’t the greatest so when we weren’t showing/stewarding we hung out at the RV the dogs were pooped as were the people.
As with the beautiful sunsets, the weekend closed and we came home. We are now packing up for a trip up I-25 tomorrow to Los Lunas for the next set of shows. Majors all weekend so we will see what happens.
It is that time again…..
That’s right, entries are in and majors are built so hair must fall off!
The day the world changed……….
Yes, I remember exactly where I was when this attack happened and No, I will never forget.
But I also remember with pride what happened afterwards, how we once again became American, the “Land of the Free and the home of the brave”. I hope that on the 10 year remembrance of 9/11 that we can remember that we are lucky to live where we do and that our neighbors are our neighbors. Maybe if we all try a little it could change a lot of things.
United we Stand Divided we Fall
Emergency Prep!
With mother nature causing havoc all over the country I am once again posting this article I put together for my breed club magazine. And yes, you have my permission to share.
Are you prepared?
Submitted by Jinnie Strickland, Solstice Kennels, El Paso, Texas
Fires, floods, hurricanes, blizzards, long term power outages. Natural and man made disasters can spell trouble for you and your dogs.
The key to surviving these traumatic events is preparation. Everyone should have an emergency kit available in case they have to evacuate their home. This kit should always be on hand either in place that is easily accessible or in a vehicle. Put it together now so that during times of stress it is one thing less to worry about. Everyone should have a kit for their family and one for the dogs. The following is a suggestion for your dog emergency kit.
Your Dog emergency kit should contain the following items:
Your emergency contact list, this information should be kept current at all times, make sure you include:
Your own contact information, cell phone numbers, email addresses
A friend or relative who lives outside of your area, preferably some one who knows your dogs
A Local contact
Veterinarian’s contact information
A local boarding facility
The local Animal control facility
A contact with your local or regional dog club or All breed club
Dog ID information:
Each dog should have a folder, notebook or file, which contains a copy of:
Copy of the dog’s identification records
AKC registration
Microchip number
DNA profile
Local licenses and copy of current vaccinations
Current photo and physical description and a premade poster for missing animals to attach current photos to if needed.
Emergency items:
You should be able to quickly locate crates for all dogs being evacuated. Folding wire works best since they can be more easily stored.
A collar for each dog with an ID tag attached with your emergency contact information
Leashes short and long
Food and Water bowls
Dog rug or blanket
Muzzle
A tie out stake
Waste bags/pooperscooper/deodorizer for accidents
Familiar toys/treats/rawhide or hoof to fight off boredom
Vitamins and/or nutrition supplement (helps with stress)
Food and water, recommended minimum 7 day supply and water with a 5 year shelf life
First Aid kit
Most of us travel with a First aid kit, you may want to have an emergency kit that includes eye wash, Betadine, Peroxide, scissors, gauze and tape, quikstop, tweezers, anti diarrhea medicine, antibiotic cream, Epsom salts, baby wipes, vetwrap, Flea and tick treatments, 7 days worth of prescription meds or normal supplements. Check with your veterinarian for more suggestions.
Now that you have your Emergency kit prepared take a moment and think about how you would get your dogs loaded and evacuated with less than 1 hours notice. How would you leave your property, what are the routes you would need to use to evacuate? Hopefully your emergency kit will never be needed but being prepared can help make an emergency safer and less stressful.
Look who made the Dailey Corgi
What are we doing here?
Countless people ask me about the dogs, dog showing and what it is all about. Do your dogs do tricks? Do you win money? Those of you who show dogs know the questions. We often roll our eyes as the nice people walk away.
I have been thinking about the eye rolling we do ever since I got sucked into watching the show “Toddler and Tiara” while I was in a hotel room last month. Yes, I watched an entire episode and it almost felt like I was watching porn in a hotel room “thank goodness no one can see me watching this” As the show went on and the hair got bigger and the makeup got thicker and the Mom’s got crazier I kept thinking “what the hell are these people doing?” Then I had one of those moments…….
I have a $400 blow dryer, I just calculated almost $700 in entry fees for 8 dogs shows, my dog wears a shiny blue lame coat to keep her hair straight, I spend $30 a night to park in a parking lot and I have better dog show clothes than work clothes. My vacation days are taken up traveling to exotic places like Hobbs, NM or Sierra Vista, AZ or the truly exotic Roswell, NM to spend a weekend walking, brushing, washing, blow drying dogs for a 10 minute show that nets me a scrap of ribbon and hopefully the most sought after points towards a Championship. So I guess it would be fair for the Toddler Moms to ask “what the hell are those people doing” and I should not roll my eyes, or at least not too much.
I am convinced that dog shows started in a bar, gentlemen having a post hunt adult beverage started to compare their dogs and pretty soon because we are humans and can’t help ourselves it became a contest. Then it became about breeding better dogs. Good dog men (and women) were already doing their part before the contest started but once there was a prize, whoa doggy! here we go.
There are lots of places in the dog game, all the wonderful performance venues, the original jobs of dogs, hunting, herding, tracking, guarding etc and then of course our made up games that most dogs love, Agility, Obedience, Rally to name a few. There are also Freestyle i.e. Dancing with your dog, Disc dogs, Dock Diving dogs, weight pulling dogs and dogs that star in Youtube videos surfing or skateboarding. People love it, dogs love it and most of the GP (general public) can understand it but let’s get back to the Fancy.
Most people don’t understand the Fancy (that is what we dog show folks call it) To me there are two parts to a dog show, the DOG and the SHOW, pretty simple right? Not really, we dog show folks aren’t even sure half the time what is going on in the Fancy. After those old gents in the bar started their competitions it was because they were trying to breed better dogs. A dog with a better nose, a dog with a better run, a dog who could herd sheep or a dog who could bring down a stag or even better dog to sit sweetly in his wife’s lap and catch the fleas off the Mrs. They had a purpose, better is better and should be rewarded, other people then wanted to have some of the “better” so they bred their dogs to the “better” and they became better. There was a purpose, old Spot could hunt the neighbor dogs into the ground so all the hunters wanted on just like him. Makes sense when you put it like that right?
Fast forward to the present, the Fancy is now just that, Fancy, Dogs are bred for physical appearance and hopefully temperament. I have cow dogs and there isn’t a cow anywhere around my place. I like the way the Cardigan Welsh Corgi looks, they are short and bossy and I like that but lots of folks think they look like a cartoon character. I love the look of the German Shorthaired Point, a classic dog but guess what? I don’t even own a shotgun so it must be their looks and temperament that attract me and I am betting that many other people in the Fancy feel the same way.
Most of us are no longer in it for the historical purposes as were the old gents. We are in it for a lot of reasons, we love dogs, we are competitive and some of us are just down right crazy (thinking about the those Toddler Moms again).
Up a paragraph or two I said there are two parts to the dogshow, The DOG and The SHOW. Now the DOG part is the core, I like to think I’m in 75% Dog and 25% show. I live with my dogs, I love to hang with them and they are my “kids” I hate placing them when my dog show dreams for them don’t come true even knowing that they normally have an even better life when they go to their non show dog home, I struggle with the balance between spoiled pet and pampered show dog. I like dogshows, I take great pleasure in showing off my dogs. I like the exotic places and camping in the RV in a parking lot with 40 other dogshow gypsies. I like the competition but mostly I like being part of the Fancy. That part of belonging to a tribe of people who love the same thing. I generally hang out with the DOG people much more than the SHOW people.
The 2nd part of the dogshow is the SHOW and you can’t have a show with out show people. They make us better, they make the DOG people work harder because you can’t win if you can’t beat the SHOW people. The SHOW people are not just the pro handlers but the great owner handlers, the backers, the great groomers all the folks who love the competition and the thrill of winning. They are the 75% SHOW and 25% DOG, these are the folks who if they had fallen into tennis or growing orchids or having their toddlers in tiaras are going to be good at it but they had an affinity towards dogs and we are lucky to have them.
The ones we are not lucky to have are the 100% Crazy people. These are the ones who lie, cheat and steal to win. They are the black mark on the Fancy. They are the ones who don’t really care about the dogs. They aren’t truthful about their dogs and they aren’t truthful in their dealing with people. They try to cut corners and the win is the most important thing. These are the people the rest of us need to beware of and not fall for their smoke and mirrors game. They are like a fad diet, people know they are too good to be true but are so desperate for the success or acceptance that they throw down their money and most get what they pay for….crap! Real dedication and hard work is what success is made from so watch out for the Fancy Shylock and reward the “better”. These are the crazy people who end up on the reality shows, I’m sure most of the parents of the pageant kids are perfectly normal folks who have a good time with their kids like my friends at the dog shows a little weird to the outside eye but the crazy people are the ones who make normal people roll their eyes.
So I ask the question again what are we doing here? I know what I’m doing, I’m going to enjoy my dogs and my friends,I’m going to do my best for the dogs, I’m going to work hard and play fair. I’m going be nice to new people and not roll my eyes too much and I’m going to try my best to be a good competitor and be happy when I win and gracious when I lose and remember that the dog that goes home with me is the same superstar I came to the show with.
How about you?
Solstice Kennels 