And The Winner Is.....

We had a great show weekend. Denver finished his Altered Championship with one win on Friday and one on Saturday. Ike won Winners Dog and Best of Winners on Sunday for two more points towards his championship. Such good boys :0) Now... on to agility in a few more weeks. We're having such fun !!

Doggie Winter in New England

This is just about what life is like for our dogs right now. I laughed my head off!!

New Champion

Well we finally did it!!! Tucker was picked as Winners Dog over 25 dogs for a 5 point major to win his ASCA championship. We persevered for about 1 1/2 years chasing the 3 points he needed for his championship. He is now dual champion AKC/ASCA CH Buff Cap Sterling!! He also had qualifying runs in his Jumpers Agility classes. Great weekend Tuck!! Couldn't ask for a more awesome dog....

Happy Birthday Bailey

Happy 15th Birthday Bailey..... 3-1-95.....3-1-10. Our first Aussie... where it all began :) Keep going girlie!!!

Weekend Stuff....

We went to our big Fall "Harvest Moon" Australian shepherd dog show and agility trial this past weekend in Westfield, MA. We had three shows from Friday thru Sunday and an Agility trial on Saturday and Sunday. Friday was cold and raw, Saturday was a monsoon and Sunday was a beautiful fall day. One out of three ain't bad. After two agility runs on Saturday and entire day was cancelled for safety reasons. Lots of people and dogs were slipping and falling on the wet, muddy ground. Our conformation show was moved inside a small barn so we were able to continue with that. Sunday things dried out and both events went on without a hitch.
In spite of the crummy weather we were able to snag one picture of Kyra and her sister "Flossie". Flossie lives in the Portland, ME area and her owners brought her to the show to compete in Obedience. You know Kyra usually doesn't like other dogs, but she was fine with her sister and posed next to her for this picture. Maybe she's mellowing in her middle aged years.
I think there is definitely some family resemblance :)

Pennsylvania Dog Show

Well, I got home from VA on Thursday night, and, thanks to my dear husband, who had bathed dogs, I was able to get it together enough to drive to CT on Friday morning to meet Nancy for our trip to PA. The drive down was LONG and we hit bumper to bumper traffic just outside of Philadelphia. It was our first outdoor show of the season and the weather was nice and sunny, but Saturday was so windy that it felt more like a hurricane. We had two shows morning and afternoon. Tucker and Denver each won their classes and I had to take them both into the winners class. Nancy took Denver and I took Tucker and we were in line back to back. Denver kept turning around to look for me and wouldn't put up his ears for Nancy. The judge picked Denver for the cut for Winners, but then gave it to another dog and gave him "Reserve" (second place to the winner... but no points). At the end the judge chastised Nancy and I for switching handlers because if I had been handling Denver she would have given him "Winners". Oh well... just my luck, I guess. Nancy did take a nice "Best of Breed" with her altered girl on Saturday morning and another "Best of Breed" with her boy Bolero in the afternoon show. We were both exhaused after being sun and wind burned all day and got the dogs and us fed and settled and went to bed early.
Sunday morning it was less windy and there was only one show in the morning. Neither one of us won anything in that show and we headed for home. The trip back was much smoother than on Friday and the traffic was light. We arrived back at Nancy's around 7:30PM and I started loading my stuff in the Suburban to come home. I then looked for my keys where I thought I had put them and they were nowhere to be seen. I tore apart all my luggage, but nothing!! They were just gone. Lee was on his way back from Maine and was too tired to drive to CT, so I stayed at Nancy's overnight. Monday morning I had to cancel my Dr. appointment and go about trying to get a key made. Apparently, you have to produce your registration and a picture ID. Since Lee is the only name on the registration, we had to call the Maine dealer where we bought the car and they had to call in a "key code" to the CT dealer. After all that hassle, I was able to get my key. Nancy and I had lunch and played with Bolero and Swizzle's puppies and then I headed for home. Kyra was SO happy that her "pack" was together again.

Kyra's New Present

Here's Kyra's new dish holder that Pop Pop made for her. We only had three of them at camp, so she had to have her dish on the floor for a while (she didn't really seem to mind as long as it had food in it). This one puts our others to shame, so I think that Pop Pop will need to make three more so the others won't feel left out :)

Puppy Pics

Here are a few cute pictures of Nancy's new puppy "Spirit". He won Best of Breed Puppy at the show on Sunday and thought that he needed his own chair to watch the rest of the action. Lee would have easily taken him home were he available :) (JK)

HARVEST MOON MANIA

We had a glorious fall weekend dog show and agility trial in Westfield, MA. The weather couldn't have been better. We had cool mornings in sweatshirts, pants and jackets and warm afternoons in shorts and T-shirts. The events began on Friday morning with stock dog trials, obedience trials and a conformation dog show in the afternoon. I was able to watch some dogs at the cattle herding venue on Friday morning before my show and that was very interesting. Some of the stock dogs were amazing working around those big cows. Saturday and Sunday we ran Kyra, Denver and Tucker in a total of 9 runs each of agility and also showed Den and Tuck in the show ring. It is a little crazy doing two events, but there were only a couple of conflicts and Lee took over to run Kyra in one run on Saturday and Denver in another on Sunday. Bailey was just happy to go along and hang out at the camper or in the truck. It was the last big outdoor multi-event show of the season. We have one more show indoors in November. Then it's off for the holidays.

CAMPING

We uncovered the trailer and brought it up to it's summer home in the driveway to get ready for our first outing this weekend. We're going to the Greenfield Fairgrounds in Greenfield, MA to our first outdoor agility trial of the season. We love camping with all the other dog folks and always meet new people. Wish us luck....

PROJECT 306 :: 32

A Shampoo and a Blow Dry, Please!!

We took advantage of temps in the 60's today to do some spring cleaning. It would have been more enjoyable had the sun been shining, but the rain stayed away... so we'll take it. Back in the 40's tomorrow....

PROJECT 306 :: 27

AUSSIE AFTERNOON

This print was comissioned by the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue Group here in Hudson, MA as a fundraiser. A girl that is in charge of the group takes agility class after mine and just couldn't resist bringing it to show me after she saw Tucker. I bought the print and just picked it up today after having it matted and framed at "Michaels". Now ... where to hang it????

Project 306: 2

Our annual New England Australian Shepherd Club Awards for Agility