Lots of the blog folks are doing a summary of their year. I put this together and think I hit all the high points:
January – Kip made three corners on his TD test in Albuquerque, but missed the last leg — about 40 yards from the glove — Sigh! January 25th – We drove to El Paso and Kip earned his TD there
February – Chase was back in Obedience training — loving it
March – Tom and Carolyn and Molly and Phoebe came to visit — the humans had the flu so the visit was compressed a bit. I sent Chase off to Sherri so she could remind him about being a show dog before the CWCCA Nationals and his trip to Canada
April – I went to my first CWCCA National Specialty. It was a grand show for us. Chase was dumped in the Megan; finished 2nd in Sweeps, and was pulled out in Best of Breed. In the Stud Dog/Brood Bitch classes, he was a representative progeny for him mom (CH Mariel Reese’s Alice Springs ROMb) and for his dad (CH Merrymoon Firestorm). Both his parents won — how cool is that? Chase’s dad won his classes in veteran sweeps and regular veterans, as did his mom. His mom went on to take First Award of Merit! Chase’s half-sister Dolly was Best of Winners, his litter sister Libby was second in 15-18 month bitches, his litter brother Pilot was 4th in an amazing Bred-By class, and was also 3rd in Sweeps. We drank wine, talked, and laughed. I met people that I only knew from blogs. We hung out under the rainbow canopy and created an obscene display of rosettes.
May – Chase was in Canada with his G-Ma Shelley and earned his Canadian Championship in five straight shows. Inca celebrated her 7th birthday by doing absolutely nothing useful.
June – Chase came home from Canada and began making Kip’s life miserable, bullying him unmercifully. My friend Jill asked if Kip could come live with them. With a heavy heart, I gave him to them. It turned out to be a wonderful place for Kip, but he took a large piece of my heart with him.
July, August – Chase and I continued serious obedience training. In August, Chase earned his CGC Award (CGC is NOT an AKC title — it’s an award. While it demonstrates that the dog behaves relatively well in public, the letters aren’t appropriately appended to the dog’s registered name). Kip celebrated his 5th birthday.
September – Over Labor Day, Chase earned his RN with scores of 98, 93, and 95 — the 93 was all my fault because I called for an around finish instead of a swing finish. We took a do-over, did a swing and salvaged the Q, but shame on me. Phoebe was in residence, and on September 18th – 19th, I took her to Dr. George for an emergency C-Section at midnight. She was carrying two GIANT boy puppies. Both were healthy. The mismark “Watson” had already been dibsed by Alden. The other boy “Holmes” was a puppy to watch. Phebes ran low on milk so I supplemented the puppies, weaning them at three weeks.
October – I entered Chase for the supported weekend at Valencia Valley Kennel Club. On Saturday, Powell took BOB over Chase. On Sunday, Chase was BOB over Powell and went on to take a Goup IV. He turned two on October 17th. Later in the month, Chase passed the temperament test administered by the American Temperament Test Society and earned the right to put TT after his name. His reaction to the “weird stranger” was really a boost — what character this boy has! He also turned out to be a loving daddy-dog and spent many hours playing with his sons, cleaning their ears and eyes, teaching them how to be great people dogs
November – the puppies continued to grow and be happy, funny babies. It was becoming clear to me that Holmes was a very nice puppy. Alden arrived to whisk Watson off to the land of tofu and Perrier. Both of them seemed so happy with each other.
December – We (Carolyn, Mandy and I) decided to repeat the Phoebe/Chase breeding as soon as Phebes came into season again. We are owed the rest of the litter — so still hoping for a girl. At our place, we had a quiet Christmas (well, as quiet as it can be with Phoebe-the-mouth and Inca-the-mouth both in residence). My human family is fine and we enjoyed the holidays together. None of them asks why all my clothing is embellished with dog hair.
