An excellent morning

First, tracking with our friends. Both S & S had great tracks. And if you want to see adorable puppies doing their first ever tracks, click on CardiTube down on the right sidebar. Envy is an 18 week old cattle dog and Spruce is an 8 week old Terv.

Then grocery shopping at Publix, which happened to be near our tracking site. What a wonderful shopping experience - I just want to hug every employee's neck every time I go in there.

Like it grows on trees

I spent an obscene amount of money at the frame shop today - even
after the 50% off coupon. I am in the wrong business.

I have become a Facebook Lurker

A couple of years ago, I was trying to get in touch with my college roommate, and the only place I could find her was on Facebook, so I opened a FB account just so I could contact her.  I didn't add any personal information or pictures, but I began to get friend requests from various people - folks from work, a few college and high school friends, dog show friends.  Seems like every week I get 3 or 4 requests.

So, I finally wandered over and started poking around, added a little more into to my profile, started checking out all those friends I had "friended" because they asked me first. 

Now for the last couple of nights I have gotten sucked in to just hunting and pecking around, peeking into the lives of people I have not seen or thought about in years.  I discovered tonight that a girl I spent every high school summer with hanging out at the Y pool is now a "Certified Organization Coach" who has been featured on "Hoarders."  I found pictures of Liz Hillebrand's cute red cardi puppies out of Lucy and Sam and a whole slew of my cousins that I haven't seen or heard from since we were kids.

I really don't need another excuse to sit around in front of the computer when I should be doing things like vacuuming up the bales of dog hair that are accumulating everywhere in my house - but I feel like I am getting sucked in  . . . . . .

Baby wants a new bed - vote for Scout!

The folks from Dogpedic had a booth at the Hotel Penn where they were taking pics for a contest they are running.  Winner gets $10,000, a custom made dog bed, and a trip for two plus Scout to New Jersey!  For real - New Jersey!!!!  The trip is for a photo shoot for their new barks-model ( I'm assuming that's the dog equivalent of spokes-model.) 

Scout hopped right up on the bed for her modeling session.  In fact she was so comfy we forgot she was there.  Laura and I got to talking to folks standing around the area, but little miss priss did not move from her throne.  She really wants her own bed!

And - following in the tradition of her model-grandfather Sam (who is featured in Plow and Hearth catalog this spring), I pledge that if Scout is the winner, 100% of the prize money will be split 50-50 between the Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Rescue Trust and Corgi Aid. 

Here's how you vote - and I warn you in advance, the contest site is clunky.  Go to http://www.dogpediccontest.com/  and click on "vote here".  First you will have to register your name, email and a password.  On the next screen you have to re-enter the email address and the password.  Then you get to start looking for Scout.  The picture above is the one I robbed off the site, but you will notice that pictures are in squares, so they squshed the girl up to fit into a square photo.  As you move through the pics, you will will see Harvey yawning, keep moving, Scout is a few rows below him.

One vote per email address.  Voting goes on all of 2010. 

Please forward and crosspost as you wish! Or, grab the code for the button up and to the right!

Last WKC Post. For real.

The picture came in the mail today.  Wish that the judge was having more fun.

Also wish that I left this damn yankee cold bug that I brought home with me.

Fortunate Timing

The day before they left for NYC, Cheryl started to give Scout her pre-
show bath and groaned when looked down and saw her hands covered in
wet, shedding fur.

Monday she worried about grooming her too much, afraid that more hair
would come out. When Scout blows coat, she changes from a rich red to
apricot, but you can tell from the pictures, she still looked great
for the show.

It's probably just as well that she didn't have to go back into the
ring Monday night, because in those hours on the bench, she massively
blew coat.

Sitting in my lap tonight she is still losing hair. I'll start bathing
and conditioning her everyday to get the dead coat out and hopefully
have some back for Loiusville and the specialty.

NY Eats

As I posted before the trip, we were looking forward to finding great places to enjoy NY cuisine. Laura and I looked at all kinds of possibililities beforehand, but once we got there, we opted to stick close to our home base. We never ventured far from the hotel or the Garden this year - the weather was cold and snowy/rainy most of the time. However, our lack of adventurousness did not stop us from finding tasty eats!

Sunday night we went in search of the Stage Deli, which I thought was at 8th and 34th. When we got there and couldn't find it, we opted for Lucy's Cantina, where we sampled roast pork with pineapple and lime chicken quesadillas, guacamole and chips, and had fabulous mojitos - so yummy we had to order a second round. On the way back we stopped at one of the three Starbucks that we passed in our block and a half walk and got hot coffee and tea.

Monday: Showtime! Stomach was too tipsy turvy for breakfast, and then the day was too crazy to find time to eat. I had a package of peanut butter crackers in my purse, and at one point in the afternoon I opened them up and Scout and I each ate one of them. About 5:00, Cheryl came by and relieved me from the bench.

Laura and I went in search of sports bar and grill allegedly somewhere in the bowels of Madison Square Garden. We got two sets of directions from two different security guards, and the elevator operator sent us a third completely different direction. Actually, she ended up sending us to the Club Bar and Grille, which was not a sports bar at all. We decided to stop looking around and just go with where we were, and it was a great choice.

It was a beautiful, dark paneled dining room, and our fellow diners ranged from grungy exhibitors like ourselves, to the tux and diamond crowd there for the box seats at the show that night. The only service in the Club that night was a buffet, and it was quite a spread: filet mignon, roasted duck, ravioli with truffles, a carving board with prime rib and roast turkey. The cold table had caesar salad and an asian chicken salad, enormous boiled shrimp, and cracked crab claws. The dessert table had all kinds of little sweets to try.

We dove right in, and wondered if we would have to take out a personal loan when the check came, but were very pleasantly surprised that it was actually reasonably priced.

For brunch Tuesday we checked out a little pizza shop just down the block from the hotel. We had both been wanting a slice or two of good New York pizza, and we were not disappointed.

Later Tuesday afternoon, I ended up on an extended tour of the Garden as I fruitlessly searched for my lost prescription glasses. It was not a complete loss, as I found myself on an escalator overlooking the Stage Deli that we couldn't find Sunday night - it was at 8th and 33rd - not 34th. So, we headed there early that evening for big New York deli sandwiches, which were too huge to finish. They packed the leftovers for us and we enjoyed them later that night while we watched the dog show in our jammies from the comfort of our palatial room.

The breakfast menu at the Stage Deli looked so good, we went back Wednesday for breakfast and to get to-go sammies to eat on the train home.

We made it back to Atlanta on time and I was back in CHA by 10:30. Cheryl dropped Scout off around noon, and we picked Spencer up from jail shortly afterward. I have been a slug all afternoon - snoozing a while, responding to emails for awhile and snoozing some more. Back to work tomorrow and then hopefully a recovery weekend!

Tuesday at WKC

Here's a view of breed judging today. We are waiting to see Cheryl
show her Brittany in Ring 1.

It's a different experience being here today as just a spectator. We
have parked ourselves in great seats and are enjoying people and dog
watching.

We slept in this morning and watched the replay of last night's
judging. Scout is very contentedly sacked out in her crate in the
hotel room; she was one tired girl after the long day yesterday.

She was a good ambassador for the breed yesterday, and made alot of
new friends. I learned a little from last year and took a smaller
crate so that I could rob a little room and sit in front of her on the
bench when I got tired of standing.

What I didn't expect was that when I sat down that she would curl up
on my shoulder like she did in the picture I posted last night. We
spent a good bit of the afternoon like that, and must have had our
pictures shot a hundred times, including video by the NBC affiliate.
When I think back on our trip here, remembering how my girl wrapped
around my neck will be every bit as sweet as watching her perform in
the ring, if not more so.

Hanging out on the bench

Can we go home now?

BOB and BOS

BOS

I know there is something I am supposed to remember to do today . . .

Oh yeah!

Now this is a room!

Last year our room was so small we had to go out in the hall to change
our minds.

We only had single beds and I was using a knee walker that I could not
even turn around in that room.

We have room for a major frap now!

Nearly there

We are pulling in to Trenton NJ. About another hour to NY Penn Station. Cheryl, Scout, et al have been sitting in the lobby of the Hotel Penn since before 11:00 waiting to check in.

I think we have had the better end of the deal. We have been enjoying a beautiful day rolling down the tracks. I have also seen more snow than I ever have in my life!

Sent from my iPhone

Adventures in Moving

That used to be the tagline on U-Haul moving vans - "Adventures in Moving."  I always thought that the last thing you wanted when you were moving was an adventure.

Adventures can be fun when traveling for fun though, right?  That's why we thought we would take Amtrak to NY.

Well, Amtrak is throwing an adventure at us right away.  I just checked the status of the train that we were supposed to catch in Atlanta at 8:21.  The website just said, "ummm - maybe you better call our customer service."

So I did, and it seems we will be catching a bus in Atlanta instead of a train and taking the bus 140 miles to Greenville, SC and then catching the train.  You think the bus has a dining car with linen tableclothes?

Looking Forward to Riding the Rails

Laura and I are headed up to New York Saturday night on Amtrak's Crescent.  We decided to add a little travel adventure to this year's Westminster trip.   While I'm sorry all of our friends in Va and DC are suffering through "snomageddon" we were also sweating out whether we would be able to make the trip.    But it looks like the trains are running close to on time again. 

We leave around 8:30 Saturday night from Atlanta, arriving early afternoon Sunday at Penn Station, which is under Madison Square Garden and just across the street from the Hotel Pennsylvania.  16 Cardigans (10-6) show at 9:15 Monday morning after 21 pems under Judge Klaus Anselm. 

Last year several folks said they enjoyed reading the ringside twittering and blogging, so I will attempt to repeat this year. 

Another day, another leg!

Spence nabbed #27 today. I initially thought that his Excellent run was ugly, but it was good enough to get 4th place. Our downfall was the offset figure 8, with food in a bowl on one side, and a toy on another. He was a bit of stinker on that one - I had to call him off the food, and then off the toy, and then off the food again! The rest of the run was pretty clean other than a crooked sit and a couple of bumps.

On the Advanced run, that same figure 8 was in there, but I got his attention as we went into it, and he stayed right with me. I left before ribbons, but we were in a three way tie for 4th place, and since neither one of us are speed demons, I doubt we finished in the ribbons.

OK - I will never be a rally judge (never say never??) but if I ever was one, I would never (really, never) put a stationary sign as the first exercise - they are so demoralizing. All four runs this weekend had either had stationary signs as the first, or my personal least favorite sign, back up three steps. Judges! Start the course with something where the dog and handler can connect and work together! My personal favorite first sign is the serpentine weave. Forward movement, moving together through the cones.

Next up for us is Louisville. Rally on Thursday and Saturday, Graduate Novice on Friday and Sunday. If we work hard and the planets align, we will only need one leg of each to title at the Specialty, but we'll sign up for both days just for insurance!

RAE leg #26!

Just noticed that this pic shows off his new patch of maturity in his brindle.

Training Day - Week 2

Very proud of the boy again this week! We did lots of heeling drills, recalls, fig 8s and stand for exams this week.  Pretty boring stuff, but the boy worked so well.

In my post last week, I made a couple of references to the "silly" dumbbell recall.  Here's the story - in regular Open obedience, the dog must sit at the handler's side, and the handler throws the dumbbell when instructed to by the judge.  The judge will then tell the handler to "send your dog" and the dog ideally fetches the dumbbell and returns to the hander and sits in front.  Then the judge tells the handler to take the dumbbell and then instructs the handler to "finish" or have the dog return to heeling position.

The Graduate Novice class is meant to be an intermediate step between Novice and Open obedience.  In GN, the dumbbell exercise is that instead of throwing the dumbbell, the handler gives the dumbbell to the dog, then leaves the dog and walks across the ring.  When the judge instructs, the handler calls the dog (who is hopefully still holding the dumbbell, to front.  The exercise is then finished the same way as the open exercise.

The silly part is getting the dog to take the dumbbell and hold it.  Dumbbells are made to be fetched, not handed to the dog!  Last week before class, I worked for a few minutes handing Spencer the dumbbell and then taking it right back and treating him.  I got him to hold it a bit before the night was over.

The instructor told me to practice this past week while we were sitting around the house.  Well, the dumbbell never made it out of the car!  (Bad trainer, bad trainer ~popping my own leash~)

Tonight while others were taking turns, we went over the side of the ring and worked with the dumbell.  To jump to the best part of the story, in just a few minutes, he was taking the dumbbell, staying and holding it while I walked about 6 feet away, and then bringing it to front like a trooper!

This weekend we are entered in Rally two days in Atlanta.  It's been a long time since we went into the Rally ring after actually practicing the week before!