Aug 31
2008

Kip wasn’t limping this morning so he went to the Obedience-Rally trial with Inca and me.  Chase had to stay at home alone.  Inca earned a second Rally Novice leg with a 90.  She just looks so sweet while she’s doing the exercises.  Outside the ring, I caught our Trial chair feeding her potato chips under the table.  Kip made an extremely creative Rally Advanced appearance.  The judge (who has just received her AKC provisional license for Cardis) gave him a generous 77, so he now has a Rally Advanced leg. I think he was rewarded for being happy and clever (and me for keeping my balance despite shaking my head while he ran through my legs and nipped my left calf).

The judge asked me to bring the Chase puppy tomorrow so she could go over him  She said, “Cardis are a really difficult breed to learn.  They are not put together like other breeds.”  I am always happy to try to help someone learn about our breed, so Chase will join us tomorrow at the Trial.

It poured today, but under the steel roof over the Posse Grounds we stayed dry.  No thunder, so we did not have any freaked out dogs.  The Coronado Kennel Club’s show on the 13th and 14th is completely outside — I so hope the weather is temperate.  A rain like we had today would truly put a damper on the occasion.  Even though the CKC’s entry was limited, there is a 4-point major in Cardi bitches.  I entered Chase in Best of Breed on Sunday only.



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation, Inca, Kip, Obedience, Weather  


Aug 30
2008

Please, Please, Judge Anthes, give me that green ribbon.

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Today Inca went to Los Alamos for her first try at Rally Novice B.  She earned her first leg, and a third place ribbon with a score of 95 out of 100.  She lost all five of those points on the first three stations which were set up nearest the obedience ring.  Apparently obedience is of great interest to her (at least as a spectator).  Tomorrow and Monday we will be attending trials in Albuquerque.  Hopefully by the end of the weekend the pretty red girl will have sailed through Rally Novice and be ready for something more challenging.

Kip was entered in Rally Advanced B, but was limping when I got home from work last night — still limping this morning.  Somehow when the Chase-Puppy is home our “skinned-knee percentage” goes way up.



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Comments  •  Chase, Inca, Kip, Obedience  


Aug 28
2008

From the AKC website . . . As you might imagine, I’ve been checking every day:

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Soon we should receive a pretty certificate to keep in Chase’s file.



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


Aug 27
2008

I can’t help myself.  I’m spending part of my evening parked in front of the tube watching (not so much), but really listening to the Democratic National Convention.  Michelle Obama was warm and touching.  She felt real to me and made me happy that I plan to vote for her husband in November.  Hillary — what can I say — she’s a serious campaigner, she’s serious about the need for change.  She’s so dynamic, and she is so right.

My heart aches for our country.  We lag behind in the basics for too many of our residents.  With the greatest percentage of our resources flowing to Iraq (and I truly believe this was all about oil), we cannot meet bottom-rung human needs.  Shame on us for the past years.  So, it’s time to make up for losing sight of the dream.  I believe there’s a place for each of us in making it come true.



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Comments  •  Musing, Thoughts on America  


Aug 25
2008

Really good dogs (like Kip and Chase) got to watch the Olympics — or snooze – hanging over the arm of a leather club chair.  Further down the arm of that same chair is a blob of white duct tape covering the hole that Inca chewed (right through the leather) when Chase came to live with us last January.  To say she was annoyed is an understatement.  She’d rather be boiled in oil than join “the boys” for a snooze on the chair.

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Comments  •  Chase, Kip  


Aug 23
2008

The photo of Chase and Sherri with Judge Christina Hubbell finally arrived.  Besides earning Best of Breed that day, Chase won Puppy Herding Group II.  We may not have a photo from the Puppy Group II or from the Best of Breed on day 2 — so this will have to suffice until the Topeka photos come in.

corpus-cristi-bob-8-9-08.jpg



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


Aug 19
2008

We have no show photos yet — everything happened between the 9th and 15th of August.  So, I thought maybe you’d like to see how we sleep:

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There’s a little tiny space up above Kip and to Chase’s right where I am supposed to fit.  So, I walk up to my side of the bed and say, “Come on, guys.  Give me some room.”  So they all shift (a little bit) and I get to slide into the unoccupied space.

This morning I took Chase to work to give everyone a chance to rest from last night’s frenzied homecoming.  Here’s Chase at the office.  Of course, what was interesting (to him) was off to his left.  This gives a bit of an idea how his body looks these days.  Actually, he is not high in the rear, he’s standing on a slight downslope.  When you’re holding the dog AND taking the photo, there are some challenges!

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Comments  •  Chase, Inca, Kip  


Aug 18
2008

Bonnie Conner called me at about 4:45 and said she was an hour from our meeting place.  She also said that she would turn over to me a couple of shopping bags full of ribbons and prizes, but was keeping the dog.  Her reason?  Chase is “a flower child in a dog suit”.  That’s a new description, but it fits.

So, the flower child is at home.  He raced into the house and promptly marked the leg of a table.  Hey!  What are you doing?  Oops, sorry, mom.  The house just didn’t smell enough like me.  Then the games began — poor Kip, I had just brought his weight back up to good, and the two of them are racing and rolling around.  Inca is in the middle of it all telling the boys that they are ridiculous, but egging them on.  Chase leapt on a leather club chair, flung the cushion in the air and performed some sort of gymnastics maneuver.  Geez, Sherri, what did you teach my puppy?

Actually, I’m so glad to have him home that I just ran along behind the dogs steadying lamps and figurines.  I think they’ll settle down in a couple of days.  Tomorrow I’ll take Chase to the office so we can have some one on one time.

He grew a bit, filled out a little, his chest dropped.  He looks grand, but he’s still the dog I probably should have named  “Chaos”.



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Comments  •  Chase, Dog Friends, Inca, Kip  


Aug 17
2008

Chase has begun his trip home.  This morning Keith and Mary Bestgen (Labradors) picked him up from Sherri in Topeka.  They drove him back to Wichita and handed him off the Bonnie Conner (Vallhunds).  Bright and early tomorrow morning Bonnie will be heading back to the Albuquerque suburb in which she lives.  Tomorrow evening I’ll meet her at her home to retrieve him.  Today is Chase’s 10-month birthday, and he is definitely having an adventure!  It does take a village to get one little (Champion!!!) Cardi puppy back to his family.  Thanks to everyone in the transport crew, the show crew, and the production crew.



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Comments  •  Chase, Dog Friends  


Aug 16
2008

For the experience, we moved Chase up to Best of Breed class for today’s shows.  He has 19 points (just the way it worked out), so there was no good reason to show him again in the classes.  He behaved beautifully, but is a nine-month old puppy with the grown-up dogs.  (Actually, he’ll be ten months old tomorrow.)  Tomorrow morning, he’ll have one more turn in the Best of Breed class.  Then he’ll be on his way home.  Monday night I’ll give him a hero’s welcome: some organic lamb ribs — yummy!



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Comments  •  Uncategorized  


Aug 15
2008

Our Chase-puppy finished his championship this evening at the Three Trails Cardigan Welsh Corgi Specialty as Best of Winners for another five point major.  The Judge was Candace Kramer.  He is now Champion C-Myste Baledwr Pursuit of Happiness.   He’ll be home Monday night and we’ll be out in the fields by next weekend.  This little guy loves to track.  We’ve lost two months of training time with this conformation stuff (note: tongue-in-cheek), but he’s only nine months old.  Before long, he’ll be appearing at a test or trial near you.

I cannot say enough good things about the way that Sherri Hurst handled and loved our puppy.  She brought him along exactly the way he needed to be brought along.  This is the only time I have ever sent a dog out with a handler, but I will not hesitate to send him with her again.  She’s quite simply the best in our book.  Thank you so much, Sherri.

. . . and for the thousandth time, thank you to Tom and Carolyn Cannon who let me bring Chase home to New Mexico.  He has a beautiful body — all well and good — but more important for the long haul — he has a beautiful mind.

I also want to recognize Chase’s co-breeders, Mandy Katasse and Jennifer Kramer.  Thanks to Shelley Camm who made Hunter available for the long distance romance with Alice.  That liaison produced the “Constitution Litter”.  Chase’s siblings Pilot (Free to Disagree), Libby (Liberty), and Molly (Free Speech) are all pointed.

For those of you who watched this litter on the C-Myste puppy cam, Chase was “Ikey” — the littlest puppy of the original ten.



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


Aug 15
2008

Holy cow!  Our Chase-puppy went Winners Dog, Best of Winners, and then Best of Breed — this time for a five-point major.  He needs one more point to finish and I am so excited!  I’m not sure if I’m excited because he and Sherri are doing so well, or because he might get to come home on Monday.  There will be photos.

Thank you, Sherri.  Thank you, Dr. Harry Smith.

More holy cows!  Little Chase was placed fourth in the Herding Group!  Thank you more, Sherri.  Thank you, Pat Hastings.



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


Aug 14
2008

The Topeka dog show cluster is a real bargain: six shows in four days.  Today was the first.  Our puppy was Best in Sweepstakes and won his 9-12 puppy class, but did not medal (oh, wait, that’s the other current sporting event) — so I mean no points.  Tomorrow there are two shows — the all breed show and then, following the best in show judging, there is a Cardigan specialty.  On Saturday they do it again.  Sunday is “just” another all breed show.

So think good thoughts for the brindle baby!



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


Aug 10
2008

The Red Goddess/Empress of the Known Universe is entered in Rally Novice at the Labor Day weekend trials.  Last weekend at a match, Inca had a tail-wagging 93 (out of 100 possible points), and today she went through a drill course with only a couple of crooked sits.  Her attention is remarkable, and I’m pretty confident that the red head will be able to add RN behind her name.  Meanwhile, Kip is entered in Rally Advanced.  As always, I’m not sure what inventive moves he’ll demonstrate, but he’s certainly worth watching if you’re in need of a smile.



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Comments  •  Inca, Kip, Obedience  


Aug 10
2008

Chase again went Best of Breed and earned another two points.  We’re up to nine points.  Today’s judge gave his Mom, Alice, a Group placement years ago, so it’s no wonder she liked her son.  He’s entered at Topeka (six shows in four days) next week.  I hope he finishes his championship there so he can come home.

Chase showed well in the Group, but did not place.  An Australian Shepherd won the Group and went on to Best in Show — so the baby was in good company.  And he is just a baby, so I’ll cut him some slack.

He’s entered in Louisiana over Labor Day weekend, but I hope to forfeit the entry fee (because he needs no more points).



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Comments  •  Chase, Conformation  


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