It is finished

At least for me.  Last dog show of the year was this past weekend and I know, I know, I've been a bad blogger and not posted for what, almost two weeks?  That means I haven't caught you up on the Kalamazoo trip, the Mystery Machine's maiden voyage and then our MN trip.

Kalamazoo weekend/Mystery Machine maiden voyage....success, sort of.  The show itself was fun as always, love this show.  Great friends, helpful and looking out for you.  Mal went to his first show, walked out of the ring with a 3 pt major, WD/BOW!   Then the judges showed no love for the baby the rest of the weekend.  That's okay, I referred to the Katie Gammill article about prefferred breed type.... http://www.thedogplace.org/ShowDog/Preferred-Type_Gammill-0901.asp 
Not to take away from anyone's wins in the ring, but when your dog stands out from the crowd of otherwise similar dogs, it does on occasion make the judge do the old "one of these things is not like the other....let's not even look at it"

Cy managed to take WD for his first major on Sunday.  Seem to be having a long drought in that area.   Roughs were about the same though the tri boy I've shown for Rebecca off and on went WD to finish on Friday, moved up to breed the rest of the weekend and I piloted to his first select competition major! 

Alec is now showing bedlingtons and Sheila brought over a couple  nice girls for the show.  Cindy got her final major on Thursday and moved to breed and went select the rest of the weekend.  The Ms showed a lovely little girl all weekend and pulled out WB on Friday for her first major then went RWB the rest of the weekend. 

Loki, was Loki, wd all weekend, now just looking for those darn majors!  Is it all possible that other akita people can help and enter a few dogs now?

And in juniors, a last minute dog change due to ring conflicts, sent Malcolm aka Smelly into the ring with the Ms and wouldn't you know it, that darn puppy and the kid went 4th in a huge juniors class!  

The Mystery Machine is awesome-we had room to spare, packing is a dream, dogs have room and the Ms can stretch out on the long 7 hour drive and read.   Thanks Dad for finding it for us!!!  I'll try to get photos over the holiday weekend, during the day light.  It's definately not new, but it works perfectly for what we need it to do.

A long drive back home in the rain, wind and cold, we made it home in record time, dropped off a very happy Loki, gave Olive some scritches and headed home. 

During the week, which seemed like it took forever to get through, Alec took a few dogs to Doc's for rabies.  Heehee, breaking in a new vet tech is just his joy in life.  See he worked for Doc while in high school until FFA duties called.   So he knows the ropes better then most of them in there.   Seems Frank is like 40 lbs of solid dog.   On the other hand his sister, Dove is 34 lbs of pure mink.  The tech thinks the table isn't working right.  There is no way for Frank to be that big, he just doesn't look like it and honestly, he's a little skinny right now.  Dove, about the right size for her, like her momma was.   Well I know that it's not his well, boy toys, causing him to be heavy, those have always been small.  I think it's big head, like a rock.  Just wish it was filled with the right kind of brain matter.  No he's not stupid, just uncooperative at times.

Now the fun one is that he had to take Tango, the pom and Ace, the griff, in.  Ace is a whopping 8 lbs.  And I have him shaved right now.  Tango is all over 5 lbs or so.  Tech said again, that can so not be right, scale must be way off today.  Hello, anyone seen the amount of hair on that thing lately?  Tango is all hair, there is nothing under the fluff, heehee.   Alec tried but gave up on explaining these things to the tech. 

So then it's Thursday night, I think it's Wednesday.  Mal did not get bathed, Cy and Penny did though, Alec did those two.  I just could not bring myself to do it then watch all my hard work go to waste as he finds more dirt and mud to get into.  The look last week when get got his first official show bath was one of dismay, watching all the hard earned dirt flow down the drain in the tub.

We are packed and off.  The best feeling in the world to start of with $2.99 gas!  Bought the office lottery tickets(we didn't win), then got the call that Shelley had broken down just north of the Cities, hadn't gotten grooming yet and we were still 2 hours out!  Shout out to Dawn and David who went over and got us a primo spot.  Life savers they are!!!!

Then it's crash at the hotel, I'm not sure but I think we were all exhausted.   Early up, find the show site, Dawn's awesome grooming spot and realize, we had plenty of time to get the bedlington done. 

Let me say this right now, I'm not impressed with some people, at all.  We make every attempt to present to the judge a dog that is well behaved, has some idea of what is expected of it in the show ring, is socialized and offers to those standing ring side, a true looking into what the real temperament of the breed should be.  On that note, dogs, okay, I'll be blunt, smooth collies being shown this past weekend, made those watching ring side cringe.  I heard comments about not knowing that the breed was flakey or spooky or unsocial or tended to be scared at the least movement of a chair or cart rolling by.  AND...having had a dog get spooked by a rough judge recently and not getting rewarded for that behavior and knowing damn well that the dog should not get rewarded, to have a judge reward that behavior and poor lack of presentation that made the dog move very incorrectly was just uncalled for.  Now all that hard work of making this breed approachable was thrown out the door.  You should be ashamed of yourself for thinking that this was acceptable and that oh it's a puppy excuse would work.  Sorry, I had 6 mo old cardigan puppies in the ring this weekend, hanging around outside that were perfectly fine with the chaos, the noise and knew how to behave.  And that is a breed totally different then the collie in temperament. 

Speaking of my spooky dog, we've worked damn hard coming back from that horrible incident and work we did for the sake of our dog.  She's now a rock star on the table, allowing anyone to approach her, not shying away and enjoying being outside the ring.  Granted she's always wondering if we are done yet and knows exactly how to get back to her crate in grooming when done showing as well as where the Mystery Machine is parked.  But she's not freaking out, spooking at every sound, shying away from the judge, totally not paying attention to the handler, etc.  

So now you ask, how did the weekend go?  Cy got RWD on Sunday in a group of dogs that paddled as they moved, clipped in the rear, moved on their hocks and had horrible untypy collie heads with prick ears.  Type?   I'm so confused now, I'm not sure if I understand what a correct dog is supposed to be now.  I guess that stringing a dog's head up, basically walking around the ring instead of moving and making the dog stand under itself is how they are to be presented these days.  I've got to get off this topic, I might explode.  I always try to find the good, why did a dog win, what was the judge looking for?  I just couldn't do it.  Oh and forgot to mention, this crap on running up on other dogs, running into other dogs and allowing your spooking dog to mess up another dog, you should be ashamed with yourself. And you call yourself a handler? 

Bedlingtons were fun this weekend, especially when you are the only one.  Cinderella and Alec are becoming a great time, no love in the group, but he's mastering grooming of the lamb like dogs.  And she's an awesome snuggler in bed and is totally getting into playing with the cardigans.

Cardigans?  Oh that's right we had a few of those to show this weekend too.  Ms Penny is getting so much better, but would like mats over that black stoney floor from the weekend.  WB both days for another 2 points.  Next, the wonder twins.....Malcolm and Wash.

What silly boys they are.  Wash is all goober and a big one at that.  Eeeek, 27 lbs and stands easily an inch over Mal, with tons of extra skin, he kind of reminds me of Wally at that age.  Both boys were on their best behavior and kept four feet on the floor, though Mal did a few Tigger impressions.  Saturday Wash was the star and went WD/BOW for his very first point.  Way to go Dawn and Wash!!!  Mal was just too small for the judge, honestly he looked a small fish next to the whales in the ring :)   Just kidding! 

Sunday both boys looked just as good, the judge was slow and we had plenty of time to hang out ringside.  I do need to find out who the lady was that took all the photos of the gang.  She even got the litter theme when she heard us talking to the boys.  She loved the Firefly theme!   Mr Frog Dog aka Wash, was entertaing folks, getting all kinds of love and Mal was trying to figure out which end was which on the OES's ring side.  The look on his face was priceless.   Now for my next beef....

Again not to take away from the wins, but rewarding a dog that is squirrelly on the table(after the handler literally dropped him on it), can't move, can't stand still, I mean seriously how do you get a good look?  Both Mal and Wash were statues, not a muscle moved, no need to repeat a down and back, stood correctly with expression.  Ugh.  So Malcolm ended up RWD and the WD?  Went on to BOB, I so did not understand the judging this weekend. 

At some point after handing out chickens and eggs to eager people, we packed up and left.  It was just intolerable the way things went.  Again, I never have an issue with being beat by a better dog, never.  But I have an issue with being beat by a dog that is out of control, poor handling and buddy buddy politics.  It does no service to the breed to reward that.  I need to get out of this rut.

Made it home, had DQ on the way and made me feel better.  Another day, another judge, another dog show.  Hubby spent the weekend cleaning carpets, digging holes to find the septic lid so we can get it pumped, chasing rogue clydesdales and taking Max to see Doc.  No really, he didn't chase the horse, but when he came home and it was standing in front of the garage snacking, it just wasn't where it was supposed to be.  Seems Rosie jumped the fence, again.  And is bored. 

I was happy to sleep in my own bed, snuggle with Cora and tell Frank he's a dork.   Now it's Thanksgiving planning, put the furniture back-it's all in the kitchen right now, and defrag.  A month and 1/2 till our next dog show, good thing too, I might not make it through another one!

One little ol'brag before I go!   Team Liz went agility trialing this weekend and woo hoo!!!! Max came home with another title, this time his OJP and a leg in standard and a leg in novice fast.  She makes me tired just thinking about it all!

Now, where is that pumpkin fluff pie recipe mom sent me....

Later gators...
C