I know it is just mid October and we are just coming off a week + dog show trip to New Mexico but it is time for our year-end review of Dog shows.  Since Lindy has been bred we will staying close to home on puppy watch for the rest of the year.  Her 1st due date is 12/6/10 which will cause us to miss the local El Paso shows.

I didn’t get to show as much this year because of a 6 month work assignment which kept me mostly at home from mid March thru mid September.  Even with the limited showing I’m happy with the results.  Lindy finished her Championship with a 5 point major.  All the little girls, Frost, Bailey and Banner were awarded minor points this year so they are well on their way towards their Championship.  

Our little fuzzy face Sienna, the Brussels Griffon is learning to be a show dog and my Mom and I are learning to groom a Griff, Sienna was 1st or 2nd in her class 6 out of 8 day in NM with major competition last week so with some maturity she should be a contender the next time out.  We attended the Griff seminar and learned a lot and got some nice feedback on the littlest one.

As always with dog breeding and showing sometimes you have to make a tough decision about a dog you love and that is what we have done with Charlie.  Although he is a nice doge he didn’t grow into his potential and promise and although he is pointed and with some time and effort could certainly finish his championship we have decided that he will move from being a nice dog to a Super Star!  His owner Cody Smith is really enjoying training Rally and Obedience with him and she has been working with her trainer Dina Whitehouse of K9 Funworks http://www.k9funworks.com/training.html.   Dina asked me once “have you seen this dog work?” which is obedience trainer speak for “he could be a superstar”.  Cody is doing a great job with both Charlie, Solstice Flying Ace and Bonnie, Arylan Flight from Justice and we hope to be cheering them on at the local trials this winter.  Depending on puppies, Frost may be ready to try her paw at Rally this January too.

In other performance news PJ’s red daughter Lucy, Rockie Top Fire and Ice has her 1st Agility title.  Her red brother Finn is working on Obedience too.  Polly Cole (Frost, Finn and Lucy’s breeder) and Pippen (their Mom) are working towards their MACH and even more herding titles.

Speaking of herding, Lindy, Charlie and Bonnie all passed their 1st leg of the AHBA herding instinct test this past spring.  Lindy now thinks she should herd everything; me, the other Cardis, Wicca etc.  Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea :-).

So now we sit and wait on puppy watch, our next outing will most likely be in March since I don’t think we will get to start the year in Hobbs like we normally do since the babies will not be old enough to travel (I’m thinking positively).  If we don’t make AZ in March our next show will be the CWCCA Nationals in Houston, TX in April 2011.

Stay tuned for puppy news.