Thankful and hopeful

Ecko's "new champion" photo came in the mail yesterday. I think the photo is the best win pic we have of her so far, but I still love the candid shots I get of her posing herself in the back yard and on walks the best.

A dog's successes can be attributed in a large part to the dogs that came before them. It seems fitting, in a way, that the last dog we bred that finished a Championship was Ecko's sire Kilo back in 1998. Ecko owes a debt to her Mama Stoker and Granny Chili too. Even though those two did not like to show and are not Champions themselves, they passed on many good qualities to their progeny. Many other dogs in her pedigree also contributed to make her who she is. On this day, I am thankful for the dogs of the past and hopeful for the dogs of the future...

Tickled Pink

In my last blog entry I was trying to psych myself up for some upcoming conformation shows. It has been a whirlwind ride since then, and I am tickled pink with how things have been going!

from left to right Reef, Ecko and Cooper
following the last day of judging at Rose City
*thanks to Heidi Erland for the pic

At the first weekend of conformation shows we attended in January, Cooper and Ecko each earned a major, on the same day, with me handling them! What a thrill! The following weekend, Julie was back on the end of Cooper's lead and they won two of the four days to finish Cooper's Championship! Cooper is Julie's first show dog and she has done a super job with him. He was the first of his litter to finish.

Ecko giving Shea a kiss at Rose City
*thanks to Heidi Erland for the pic

I decided that Ecko deserved a more talented handler than I, that could get some points on her a bit quicker, so I turned her over for the Rose City shows to Shea Skinner. Shea did a great job winning Ecko over and making friends with her and he got her to really shine in the ring. They earned three points together at the Rose City shows and then went on several weeks later to win the first two days of a four day show and finish Ecko's Championship too! Ecko was shown as a special for the final two days of the show and took Best of Breed on Valentine's Day. Ecko is the second from her litter to finish.

Lest you think we did not stay busy between shows, Ecko also ran in an agility trial during the same few weeks and earned two Open Jumpers legs and finished her Novice Standard title.

I am so proud of my pups and their accomplishments and can't wait to see what the future holds for them.

Wish us luck

Ecko weaves, originally uploaded by Suz&Jan.

Ecko and I are off to three days of dog shows tomorrow morning, with another four day show the following weekend.

We have been spending the last few weeks readying ourselves for the shows. We've been practicing stacking in front of the mirror in the bedroom almost every night. We've worked on gaiting in the cul de sac with the goal being to encourage her to not trot at top speed dragging me like the tail on a kite. We have gone to handling class a couple of times to give her some dogs to practice not chasing. We've been going biking in the cold, dark rain several nights a week to make sure she is in good shape (I dislike this, while she enjoys it!). I even broke down and spent some money on a new jacket and shoes to wear while showing her.

Lets hope these efforts pay off and the "great white hope" earns some more points soon. We would really like her to become officially the champion we know she is in our hearts and would like to be able to focus more on other games where we get to wear casual clothes (me) and get dirty (Ecko).

The goal for me this weekend is to take a cue from agility - where I try hard to succeed and get those "Qs" but also enjoy the journey with my parti-girl regardless of the outcome at the end of the day.

Dexter Update

Dexter is one of Decker and Shasta's pups (a littermate to Jazzy whose pics I posted recently). His owners (Kristin, Dave and family) were in touch with Cindy recently with an update and a photo, which she thoughtfully passed on to me:

"We are so happy with Dexter. He is a wonderful puppy and gets along so well with everyone he meets, dogs and people. He has such a calm, easy-going personality.

He graduated from his puppy school and we're thinking of doing some agility classes with him in January. Here is a picture of him after his first grooming done by Jonathan and Mike.
Thanks again for trusting us with Dexter and giving us a wonderful addition to our family."

What a super report! So far these pups are getting an "A" in the personality department and I think they are looking quite nice too.

Jazzy's Dentist visit

Decker's pup Jazzy had to have a couple of puppy teeth extracted yesterday. Sometimes puppy teeth are retained past when they should be and letting them stay can cause problems and throw the puppy's bite off. I hope Jazzy weathered her dental procedure okay. I'm sure Karen will let me know...

Since I'm thinking of her, here are some cute pics Karen sent me a few weeks ago. You can see that Jazzy and Karen's older PWD Roxie love to play. I think Karen's kids might be pretty fond of Jazzy too...

Road Trip to the National Specialty

My recent road trip to CA for the PWD National Specialty brought lots of memories, as well as being very fun!

Here are some random thoughts on the trip:

I am always fascinated by some of the junk art near I5 in the Weed area so this time I searched the internet when I returned home and found some photos of the dragon and cow sculptures. That is Penelope the dragon to the left. Penelope is the creation of Ralph Starritt of Yreka.

Another of Mr. Staritt's creations is "Moodonna".

The town of "Talent" Oregon (we drove past the sign on I5) was the inspiration for the call name for my friend Jessie's dog.

The last time I headed that far south with the dogs was when we went to the National in Ventura in 2007. Kilo died just a few months before that trip. This was truly a special week for me as I got to see his kids and grand-kids having fun with their people at the National. Kids Bella, Cooper, Ecko, Reef and Sydney represented him well at the National, as did grand-kids India and JoJo. Kilo came back to me in a dream recently, but he lives on every day in our house in his daughters and grand-daughter. Makes me teary just thinking about it...

It's not all about the "stuff" anymore

My birthday was yesterday and, no, I am NOT telling how old I am! Reflecting back on birthdays past, I can remember when I was young and my birthday was all about the "stuff". I would spend a month prior to my birthday thinking of all the great gifts I would like and counting the days off on the calendar until the grand day arrived and I got to dig into all those presents.

Karen sent me a birthday photo of Jazzy (Decker's daughter - right)
and her housemate Roxie - too cute!

In addition to noticing the sprinkling of lighter blonde highlights in my hair (I refuse to acknowledge that they might be GRAY highlights!) I also realized yesterday that, at some point, my birthday has come to be more about celebrating all the good things that are already in my life instead of wishing for more. I spent the day celebrating lots of birthday wishes from friends, the beautiful sunny day, the flowers my hubby surprised me with, the extra TLC and great training sessions I had with my dogs and the knowledge that I am blessed to have the most important things in my life on an everyday basis.