Tommy is The Man - Updated!

Yesterday Tommy picked up a 4 pt major in Atlanta. Such a handsome boy!  Sunday update:  Tommy wins another 4 pt major!

Sally seems to want to make sure she keeps going to lots of dog shows, and was Reserve the three days we were there. She thinks hotel rooms are the most fun places ever - because she gets to fly between beds and play with her BFFs (TJ, Alley and Ginger).

Next stop Lexington, where on Saturday the five brindles from the Ocho will have a frapping reunion on Saturday. Ginger, Tommy, Lowri and Sally are entered, and David, who lives nearby, will come out to the site as well.

Our wild ride

We had quite a day today, filled with ups and downs. By the end of the day we had an obnoxious display of ribbons on our tent at the Western Reserve show.

Unfortunately, as I said, there were downs too.  I received word this morning that my mom is not doing well, and I had to deal today with faxes back and forth to get her in hospice care. Tomorrow morning I am heading back home. Scout is going to stay here with Cheryl.

Hope the girls continue kicking butt tomorrow!

Ochette in the ribbons in Sweeps!

Lowri second, Ginger third, Sally 4th!

We're International

Spencer and Scout are mentioned in an article about lure coursing corgis. Look under news here: http://www.welshcorgi-news.ch/

Sent from my iPhone

Was this really necessary?

Nothing like working a 16 hour day and coming home to see that a certain puppy has learned to read. Perhaps she was clipping coupons.

A Surreal, but Nice, Weekend

(First - name the movie that title was inspired by!)

Saturday was ummmmm, interesting.  We were brought back to earth by the dog show gods - after our big double major weekend two weeks ago, yesterday Sally was 4th in the Bred-by class.  4th out of 4.  Ouch. 

On the good side, the judge liked brother Tommy and Mama Scout  - Tommy got Reserve and Scout was BOB.

Sally and I were both a bit off yesterday - we got in very late to the hotel, and lazy me did not take a crate inside for her.  I think she had trouble settling down because of that.  Then we had an 8 o'clock ring time, the hairdryer in the hotel room wouldn't work, and at 6:30 in the morning it was already 85 and 110% humidity or as we call it, "air you can wear."   It was also Sally's first time at a big show - noisy and lots of people and dogs - and it didn't even hit me until late yesterday afternoon  that I had not even thought about how difficult that probably was for her.  Any or none of these could have contributed to it - but it just was not our day.

We all crashed early last night and today was a better day.  Sally and I walked around a good bit before we went in the ring I played "hooman pez dispenser" and gave her lots of treats.  We were both more relaxed and it showed in how she moved in the ring.  And I was pleased as punch when the judge gave her Winner's Bitch and a 5 point major.  That gets her to 14 points.

My puppy has springs.

Sally is one bouncy puppy. While we on the dogshow trip to Richmond, she figured out the shortest distance between the two beds was to take flight between them. And she did over and over and over again.

On the next dogshow trip to Southaven, she reprised her act many more times. But today she shocked the heck out of me. I have taught the dogs to "help me" - that's the command when they are getting in their crates in the Element. The put their front paws on the tailgate and I boost them up.

But today went I asked Sally to help, she looked like she was going to do the normal thing, but instead she sprang straight up and landed lightly on the tailgate. Neither Scout nor Spencer have ever thought about doing this. This pup never ceases to amaze me.

Home Again

Chattanooga traffic was a beast tonight. Major arteries shut down by two wrecks and road constuction. Side roads (i.e., paved goat trails) clogged by drivers who idled their gas away. The last 10 miles of our trip took over an hour.

But overall, it was a great weekend. Laura and I drove over to Southaven MS for a show. Heidi met us there Saturday morning. Lots of old and new friends were there, including Betty and Ted, owners of the Intrepid Tommy of the Ocho.

Sally had a big weekend, picking up two 4-point majors. Scout picked up a Group 2 and 9 more Gch points. Tommy and Betty had lovely showings - his points will come in due time. Up in Michigan, lovely littermate Ginger went to her first show and got a 3 pt major, making Kathy very proud as well.

I am so proud of all the Ocho. The show dogs have made awesome starts, and all eight are champions of the heart with their great families. I feel very lucky to have had such a fabulous first breeding experience.

Great day for Mockingbird!

Sally gets a 4 pt major in Mississippi, Ginger gets a 3 pt major in Michigan, and Scout gets a Group 2!!

Sent from my iPhone

It's not just a party wagon

It's my new pickup truck! Off to recycle.

Coming soon to a dog show near you . . .

(I'm thinking a photo opp with three brindle girls in the wagon in OH!)

Last weekend's Cardi Party

I was lounging on the porch and did not even pull out my camera, but here's a link to Elizabeth's post on the festivities - at Chronicles of Cardigan. 

Tommy's a rock star!

Robbed from Betty on Facebook:

Weekend Wrap-up - First Dog Show in 10 months!

Heidi and I loaded up the Element and my new little "Cardi Party Wagon" and headed up to Richmond VA this past weekend.

Mama Scout and Sally in one crate, Papa Rush and Alley in the other. Uncle Grump Spencer reclined on his (my) king sized tempurpedic pillow right behind the front seats - he loves being the special boy.

On Saturday, Miss Sallywags picked up her first CH point. She also came home from the show with a new tag for her crate, her very own Show Octopus, and a very blingy new show lead.  Mama Scout was BOB, too.

After showing Saturday morning, Ann Taylor graciously invited all of the cardi folks to her home for lunch and cardi play time.  We got to spend time with representatives of the Red Horde, an international man of mystery, "Dwayne" and JF, and their respective people.

Sunday was Rush's day to shine and boy, did he - with a Group 4 placement.  (Also congrats go to Dewi (Dwayne's alter ego) who earned his CGC certification at the show!)

And as usual, we always find a way to enjoy the local fare when we travel to shows.  Saturday we had a fantastic dinner at Pescados, a latin-caribbean seafood restaurant.  On Sunday, we hit the Edelweiss Restaurant in Staunton VA on the way home, a place I have always wanted to visit - wonderful home-style german food and charming as all get-out.

We made it home today, and got a chance to rest up a bit before heading back to work tomorrow.  Oh how I have missed going to dogshows!  Don't forget to sign up for Southaven MS shows - they close on Wednesday!

More points by an Ocho girl!

Alli, the pretty red girl, went out today with her pretty red headed junior handler, and was winners bitch, crossed over to pick up another point as best of winners, and also best of opposite sex! Congratulations Madison and Alli!

Yesterday Alli was reserve winners bitch, Best puppy, and Puppy Herding Group 2!

What a great start!

The Spookiest House on the Bay

These pictures were shot from the back deck of our vacation house in Fort Morgan AL. Our house had decks on both the east and west side - almost all day one or the other had a delightful breeze and view.

This house, however, kind of skeeved me. Is it not the spookiest looking thing?

(These pictures are actually a bit misleading - the house looks like it is in a fog, but actually the fog was on my camera lens - after I brought it out of the air conditioned house to the high humidity outside. But I think the fog just illustrates how creepy this place was.)

One thing that was strange about this house was how it changed colors during the day. In the morning, it was a yellow-y beige, but in the late afternoon and evening, it turned gray.

One night I noticed that there was a sign over the front porch which I figured was the name of the house.  (The name of our happy house was "You are My Sunshine" which was a perfect name for it.)

There was a pair of binoculars in the house, so I got them to see if I could read the name.  It was . . . .

"Journey's End."    How creepy is that???

One last video postcard from the beach

Wish we were still there!

Lowri is the First with the First!

Look what Princess Lowri did today:

Congratulations to Penni, Susan and Cheryl!

Sally's Beach Report

From Sally:

Hey everybody! I see now why that lady I live with was so excited about going to the beach! It is really fun. We go to the beach every morning and late afternoon when it is not so hot. We run and play in the water. Sometimes the water chases us, and sometimes it runs away from us. I try to catch the birds that are flying low over the water. I haven't caught one yet, but I have one more day to try.

We are always on our flexi leads on the beach, because that's the law, but sometimes we see other dogs breaking that law, in particular this one German Shepherd Dog who is staying at a house right on the beach. His people just let him do whatever he wants, and whenever he sees us, he wants to run up where we are.

As you may know, my Uncle Grump has "issues" with GSDs. This goes way back when a crazy GSD tried to get our lady, and Uncle Grump didn't like it one bit. Ever since, he thinks all GSDs are up to no good.

Yesterday we were walking towards the water, that GSD came up behind us. We all decided to protect our lady so we all ran back to try to get to him. In the process of doing this, we managed to wrap our flexible leads all around our lady's legs. Of course, we were barking very loud and she was yelling at the GSD's people to come get their dog. About that time, there was a large gust of wind that blew somebody's big beach umbrella right on our lady.

This caused her to yell out a pretty ugly word for all to hear. A man came and got the umbrella and asked her if she was ok. Finally a woman came and got the GSD, but for some reason, she didn't feel like she needed to say anything to our lady. We finally got ourselves untangled and went on to have fun playing in the water. Today we did not see the GSD - we hope he went home.

We only have one more day here - it has gone by so quickly!

This time next week . . .

I'll either be serving drinks on this deck:

or lounging on this deck:

or walking the dogs on this dog friendly beach in LA:

And by LA, I mean Lower Alabama, Fort Morgan to be precise. 

 A jillion things to do between now and then - but knowing this is on the other end of the week makes it bearable.