Wednesday of the National was the day I was suppose to show Ty. Squishy Squishy Squishy. Well, I needed a break to just walk around and look at dogs. Last year, for some reason I was not able to get around to see the dogs I wanted. This year, I saw several. Melinda Sunnaborg and I went to a few different set ups. I've bred out to two different families in the last 3 years and not sure I want to go to a 3rd, but my wants are probably a little different than a lot of people. Temperament is on the top of my list and structure is also very high up there. I can forgive on some details that maybe put me where I am with my dogs, meaning, I might not win the National any time soon, but it's been hard to find exactly what I am looking for. I have 3 bitches and am really looking for a tri male but I saw 2 sable-merles I really liked. That just doesn't help me. I'm not interested in doing another litter with sable-merles right now, EVEN though they are one of my favorite colors.
What was most frustrating to me is see bites that don't make me happy. I must be the only one who opens mouths, because so many people I talk to seem to miss that step in looking at a dog. I saw dogs with absolutely gorgeous heads and expressions that had the canines smashed into the gum lines of their mouths. I even had a breeder give me some wazoo story on bites & canines, like it made it better. I still didn't want her dogs bites on my dogs. And, this was not just one dog, but sons & grandsons. Then, the other thing that just about sends me over the edge is the flakey temperaments. Dogs who are flicking ears, cowering, getting scared at something outside of the ring (or accidentally running across the electrical boxes underneath the mats). That was sometimes a good temperament test. And, of course, I am not such a dumb shit that the dog shouldn't spook at the sound, but get over it. Like soon. I live with a dog who can't handle REGULAR life on a regular basis. It is not fun and these dogs do not make good pets for the average public, unless they never leave their homes. And that idea is even suspect.
So, my quest continues. Every dog comes with a pedigree who has issues in it. It's a fact of life, so like Julie told me yesterday "Pick your poison". If a breeder tells you there are not problems in the pedigree, or they have never had problems, either they are lying, they haven't bred much, or they are dumb shits.
There is a dog I am interested in seeing more of, and by no means have I decided to breed anyone to him, but he made me smile in the ring. He moved beautifully, had a cute, showy temperament and up close, had a GORGEOUS eye (not too small) and very decent bite. I will keep my eye on him and of course blog him later, if it so happens I do breed to him. The other thing I found (and this of course is not new) ~ Smaller eyes are not better. Miniscule eyes are not in our standard. Granted, my bitches have larger eyes and I know I get dinged for that in the ring, but when I look at a dog and wonder how they can see at all because their eyes are so tiny, that makes me ill. I don't want to win that bad. There has to be a balance and we're losing balance on certain traits.
Speaking of eyes.....Blondie in Bred-By. We did nothing. She was stellar. Fluffy, showy, and eyes that seemed to be too much for the judge. I was ok with it because I had won with Cardiff. That made it all better. I also went in the ring knowing that her expression might be a problem. But her dark eye is dark and it's not altered.......
These are really over-exposed photos so they're fuzzy, but I still like them. Soleil's always ready to bark or be bad ~ hence the tail.
Photo by Sue Larson. I love Soleil's movement.
Photo by Sue Larson.
Here is Nancy with her Open Blue dog, Tallywood Paradox. She won 3 classes with her boys. I was sure she would win Winners Dog with this boy as he was just stunning in the ring and big beautiful coat and outline. Don't you love the balloons over her head??? She probably felt she had those things on her head after winning 3 classes & WD!!! Funna Funna!!
Here is Nancy's 6-9 month puppy dog Tallywood Radioactive. He was cute, cute, cute!! Long, lean head, lots of bone and just a big happy puppy. He was playing in the Winners class with a toy. I was hoping he'd win Reserve.......
Paradox again. Can you say coat factoring??????
I also loved this dog. Highcroft Worth The Wait. Pretty, nice body and I love the length to his head. You can't knock the color or big white collar either!
Getting Cardiff ready for Winners Bitch. I can't say I wasn't nervous because I was. But, I can't say I wanted to throw up from nerves because I didn't. It just was so much fun to be able to go in for Winners. It was the National. What a thrill.
At ringside waiting. Posey.
I just love my Cardiff. This was such a highlight of the trip.
After Winners Bitch there was a tornado warning. That was a new one for me. It was pretty weird outside and I decided to put all my pens back in Winnie as I didn't want to retrieve them somewhere down the block or worse yet have them wrecked or hurt someone flying thru the air. While I was there, Secret Service came to help me put stuff away. Since there seems to be a chance of grave damage with tornados, I figured if I lost Winnie, I'd take a few things with me that were small and important. My Nikon, my Mac Laptop, Stuffed Lana & my makeup bag with earrrings from Pierre (I was wearing the ones T gave me for Xmas) & my toothbrush. Important stuff. The dogs were already in the building.
Stuffed Lana in my windbreaker. I was not going to leave her in the RV alone. This would have stressed me out.
We were told to leave our dogs in crates (I didn't have any in the building, so Pete Denbow next door to me just happen to have 4 wire crates ~ Yeah Pete!!) and then we were suppose to go into the bathrooms of the Expo. I was like all of these people. Not much fear. Or maybe being stupid. Honestly I really didn't want to be stuck in a bathroom with 150 people. Ewwwwhhhhh......I was going to take the chance and stay loose.
There was A LOT of water!!! The whole tornado warning episode seemed to last some 2 or so hours. After that, all was good. The CCA activities continued. I was tired. Time for beddie.
End of Part II.
