Since Chase hasn’t needed to be in the ring since Wednesday, I’ve had a couple of days off — sort of. The truth is that Shelley and Carolyn have ten dogs between them — there is the visiting Lizzie, Pilot, Molly and Alice, Dragoon, Hunter, Dolly, Chip, Libby, and Ember. (Chase is under the care and feeding of Sherri.) So, they (dogs as well as Carolyn and Shelley) have to be walked and watered and fed. It is a round-the-clock, rotating series of chores. Since I cannot claim that I need to be in the ring, I’m helping with the dog chores. I walk, I carry water, I scoop poop, I rescue food from the hotel kitchen freezer. It thaws on the vanity in our bathroom. I also take photos of whoever is in the show ring, I hold dogs, find misplaced chalk brushes, get lunch. This is a tough life.
Today Carolyn gave Dolly a blow job before she went into winners — well done — and Dolly was Winners Bitch! She looked lovely. The judge is doing a splendidly consistent job. If the dog can move and hold its topline (and is typey) it will be in the ribbons. I’m a huge fan of judges that always look for the same thing — you can make informed decisions about showing under them. You don’t have to figure out who their friends are.
We are a group of happy campers! Our rainbow canopy sports an ostentatious display of ribbons, we have had some good Canadian wines (courtesy of Shelley), we have laughed a lot, arranged doggy seks of some sort, had fun with our critters, met a bunch of the bloggers . . . a wonderful few days.
On a serious note, we attended the seminar on Degenerative Myelopathy this evening. Dr. Coates from the University of Missouri Vet School showed us charts, and drawings, explaining what is known about DM so far. The night before (at the annual meeting), we learned CWCCA will pay for the necropsy of any dog that was diagnosed with DM and then died. The spinal cord section will be sent to the lab for testing. What Dr. Coates emphasized is that breeding requires strategic decisions, and that we must not create a bottleneck by avoiding all carriers. However, our breed is in a position to eradicate DM because we have enough dogs that are either clear or carriers only. Dr. Coates will send me a CD of the presentation. I will look into copying so that those of you who could not be here are able to review the presentation and make your own decisions about your breeding programs.
Tomorrow is Best of Breed Competition. Sherri groomed our Chase tonight and he looked splendid. Think good thoughts for us tomorrow. There are exceptional dogs entered so he will have to be on his best behavior.
You’re the best bucket bitch I ever met.
Fingers and toes firmly crossed for the Chase-man!
Sounds like you’ve got the Bucket Bitch job down pat, Now go get me a beer woman Ha Ha 🙂
Sounds like it’s been a fabulous national for you–good luck today!
If you can make copies of the DM presentation, I’d love to get one.
What a wonderful time…. aren’t Nationals Great? (yet exhausting?) 🙂 I’m so jealous that I’m sitting at home having to READ about the happenings, but am SOOO happy that my friends are kicking BUTT out there in Topeka! 🙂 Fingers are crossed for Chase-man tomorrow – Keep us posted, and give hugs to every person and dog too! 🙂
[…] making our door and grooming table signs, all of which she wrote about on her blog in a post called “The Duties of a Bucket Bitch”. Without Penni I would still be taking down the grooming space in Topeka Carolyn also tried to […]