ASSA 2011

I travelled down to the ASSA National located in Gray Summit MO on Tuesday. I had a 'cowboy' pilot that flew in between two thunderstorms and had a wild landing but made it none the less.  The event was at the new Purina Farms Event center about 45 minutes from St Louis and was a super facility.  Bright and very large and with cushioned carpeting for the ring and lots of grooming space. Outdoors there was plenty of grass and a fully fenced area to exercise the dogs. 

What a nice surprise to find Can Ch Laureate Cold Play, "Player" entered at the show...he is owned by Sherrie Sparling in Manitoba and was in the Open Blue Dog class. He was shown beautifully by Becky Johnson. 

Showing his lovely profile.  Player is a litter brother to our "Eva"...the dam of our current AOAC hopefuls.

A lovely moderate dog...he placed second in the class.

His sire is Am Ch Macdega Notorious, ROM and his dam is our Louisiana daughter, Laureate Nuance.  He is going out with Becky in pursuit of his American Championship and hopefully will finish fast.

We also had our young blue girl Laureate Dominatrix, "Trix" entered in 6-9 puppy AOAC class.  She looked wonderful and though she didn't place, we were pleased with how she looked and how she behaved.  Thanks to Kim Wendling for her expert presentation!

Doing what our guys do best...

Little miss "Mokie"...aka Cocoa (Can Ch Laureate Jivara) was in the open sable bitch class handled by Julie Desy and made the cut.  She looked good, but could have stood to lose a couple of pounds before she was shown. However since she was bred, we didn't want to ration her food, so she was a bit of a pokie Mokie.  Our congratulations to Evelyn Susin (Crinan Shelties) for her girl Crinan's Diva's Reserve winners bitch win from this class!

Checking out the judge...

On the go around.

Friday night there were bad thunderstorms and tornado warnings.  I was in the building and didn't think too much about it...a lot of rain on the roof and some booming thunder.  I went back to the motel and turned on the TV to discover there were three touchdowns and the St Louis airport took a direct hit!  We saw some of the damage to homes and property as we drove our rental car back, but couldn't get photos...this photo above was taken just outside the terminal.  I felt very fortunate it didn't touch down at the show, and no one was injured despite the devastation.

The airport was closed Saturday while the broken glass was cleaned up.  Many people at the show were making other arrangements as the status of the airport was unknown.

Unbelievably 70% of flights left on Sunday...it was business (not quite) as usual.

Despite the weather, the National was wonderful...lots of beautiful dogs and deserving winners.  Lots of laughs and great gatherings with friends.  That being said, there really is no place like home!

The National

I have uploaded lots of photos on the travel blog of the ASSA National Futurity where I had the privilege of judging.

March Break

Miley is still smiling even running through the very heavy and granular snow.

I'll be taking a break from blogging for several weeks while I gear up for the ASSA National in Tucson. I am very excited to have an entry of 103 for Futurity, and I can't wait to judge some of our Breeds finest youngsters. But before we leave I have to transform this farm dog and three others into show dogs!

With Age: Wisdom

'LuAnne' closing in on her 13th Birthday (June 27) has learned it's best to keep your eye on the one who provides food!

ASSA: Behind the Scenes

"LuAnne" enjoying the attention!

This was my first time showing our dogs at the National since 2003...and for the next one, I'll buy a new wardrobe. I could have been on an episode of "What not to wear"! Those that were there, know what I'm talking about; those that weren't too bad you missed the show! ha ha!Cocoa lounging in the "hamster cage"! Stormy was helping cover her with shavings by wagging her tail and dropping them on her! Next national, we'll use the absorbent pellets...they don't cling to the coat like shavings do.

Our girls were fabulous travellers and seemed to really enjoy themselves.

LuAnne: Then and Now

LuAnne at eight weeks of age. She was our first blue merle and our smallest puppy born that has ever survived! She weighed only 2 1/2 ounces at birth! I didn't leave the whelping area for three days...every time she moved, I put her on Lexus to nurse. Luckily, she was a survivor!

We have just returned home from Georgia, having attended the 2009 ASSA National. We are delighted that the three we brought all won their classes, with Cocoa also winning her Futurity class and LuAnne an Award of Merit.

I agonized on whether to bring LuAnne. She has had success at the National level in the past (BOS 2005, AOM 2006), but I have not shown her at ASSA since she was a puppy in Chicago. Pete wanted to see me in the ring with her, so in the end she made the 2,000 km journey along with Cocoa and Stormy. Once she was there, I agonized whether or not to show her. LuAnne in the past would cut her corners, and she doesn't like slippery footing. The ring had concrete floors (slippery) however, they were matted two wide. By Friday, I was pretty much committed to giving it a go...though I didn't sleep well the night before, and was pretty anxious the day of the show.

So at two months shy of 13 years she returned to the ring for first time since 2006. She entered the ring to thunderous applause, and she had a HUGE smile on her face and was so happy! She moved well, she didn't pull, didn't slip, and had a wonderful time! Every hair stood up on my body, it was such a thrill. She won her VERY competitive class and on Saturday went back in for the Breed competition. She was a crowd favorite, and every time she moved, the place erupted in applause. It was a wonderul moment, a memory to last a lifetime. Thank you LuAnne...thank you Rachael, Diane and Julie for helping with her hair; and mostly, thank you Pete for suggesting we do this!