On the Move and Standing Still

We headed down to the Western New York Shetland Sheepdog Club Specialty in Albion NY over the weekend with three of our hopefuls and our 3 year old girl Jivara. This is "Finn", Laureate Inception showing his lovely side gait en route to his Best in Sweeps win under noted breeder Tray Pittman.

Making a picture showcasing in the ring.  He won WD/BW for a major on the first day as well.  We were very pleased with how he behaved and how well he was received by other breeders and exhibitors.

We were lucky to have our friend Joyce Woolridge visiting from Calgary.  She handled Finn's brother "Corbin" (Laureate Double Exposure) who was in the same class.  He is a darling little guy who is so easy going and just does everything that is asked of him.

We are loving how sound these puppies are!  Showing off his reach and drive, which is impressive for a 6 1/2 month old puppy.

Our clown "Rehannah", (BPIS Can Ch Laureate Immortality) won her class both days in Sweeps and 6-9 puppy. 

Great drive in the rear, but went around on three legs quite often trying to scratch her collar off!  She makes us laugh...

Cocoa is in full coat and has been sitting at home as we had bred her (but she missed), so now we need to get our act together and get those last two points for her US title.  She came close this weekend and picked up two more Specialty major reserves.

Her wide open side gait.  Standing still or on the move we are very pleased with the young dogs we have at the moment.

We had a great time at the Specialty.  It was great to spend time with our good friends.  The club spoils the exhibitors with coffee and donuts in the morning and held a pot luck dinner Saturday night.  We were well looked after.  Afterwards we lingered and practised our puppies in the ring.  We hope to make this a yearly event.

Rainy May Show Weekend

It was a wet day on Friday at the Ottawa Kennel Club show...it rained on and off all day and there was a cool breeze as well.  It was a good thing Rehannah doesn't mind being wet as she went into the ring and thought nothing of trotting around in the rain.

She loved running in the wet grass...

...and looking for treats!

At only six months and nine days old, she acted like a pro.

She had plenty of ring practice as there were two shows in one day.

Final selection

She ended up taking Best of Breed over Specials both times in the ring and a Group 2nd, Group 4th and a Best Puppy in Group for nine points of the needed 10 for her Championship.

So Saturday we drove up to Thetford Mines and she finished her Canadian Championship at the first show.  The Sunday she won a Group 2nd under breeder-judge Guy Jeavons and Best Puppy in Show under judge Allan Brown.  It was a good thing the show was indoors, as it rained all weekend there as well.  Rehannah may have been OK with it, but I didn't like it so much!

Rehannah became our youngest Champion finishing at 6 months and 10 days of age!  We also got 3 points on Finn, Corbin was shown the Saturday in Ottawa by Diane Biggar and he picked up a 4 point win.  Then we got the great news that "Player" became an American Champion, so is now officially known as Am/Can Ch Laureate Cold Play (owned by Sherrie Sparling, Skyehaven Shelties).

So a great weekend despite the rain!

Oh Miki You're So Fine

Three weeks ago I dropped off Miki to handler Diane Biggar for socialization. He wasn't walking on the leash very well at that point, and strollers, clapping and other "oddities" bothered him. Well, the little fellow has come a long way...

Entered for fun at the Thousand Islands Kennel Club (TIKO) dog show, he did great his first time out. Winners/Best of Winners/Best of Opposite Sex/ Best Puppy in Breed for 3 points. He went on to win Best Puppy in Group!

I didn't go the first day, but went today. Just before Shelties were judged there was a downpour. I stayed in my car with the wipers going watching as the Hound Group was judged. The poor dogs wondered why they had to go around in the rain. It more or less stopped, but when the Shelties went in, it started up again. Miki isn't much of a mudder, but did well enough to win Winners Dog. I went in with my jeans and pink boots and handled him to Best of Winners and Best Puppy in Breed. So off to the Puppy Group!

The rain held off and he showed like a little trooper.

Judge June Penta awarded Miki Best Puppy in Group. She just loved him.

On to judge Gerard Penta for Best Puppy in Show.

Final look...

Best Puppy in Show! I said to her as she was leaving the ring that she was a rock star! She has handled our dogs five times in the ring and has won points all five times!

Diane and Miki; he just adores her!

Thank you Diane!

Addendum: Miki scores a hat-trick, winning WD/BW and on to Puppy Group the Sunday to finish!

Retirement and the Next Generation

We took "LuAnne" (BISS Am/Can Ch Laureate Louisiana) to her last show on Sunday. At every stage of her life, she has been a breeder's dream. She won Best in Specialty Match under the late Mona Hartwig in 1996, and at that show there was a group of breeders that wanted to start a syndicate of ownership; they said we could keep our names on her as well! Haha! She was brought out only once to an all-breed show as a Special and won a Group First. We wanted to reserve her for Specialties and only showed her selectively. So, over the years she won 13 Specialty Bests including the Canadian National, and four BISS at the DCSSA Specialty (every time she was shown). At ASSA, she won Best of Opposite Sex in 2005 and two Awards of Merit from the Veterans Class...in 2006 and 2009.

It was hot and muggy...hard on the old girl. Pete wet some little cloths and put them under her feet to help cool her down.

Line up with BIS Am/Can Ch Shelhaven Sweet Seduction and Todd Foley, BISS Am/Can Ch Toven Rikadon Makin' Waves with Shelley McHugh-Boumans, LuAnne and the Winners Dog, Avebury Grandgables The Graduate with Guy Jeavons.
Tom Coen looking at the dogs from the other side...
Keeping my eye on the judge...

Showing her outline which was always one of her strengths. She still has a strong back, and lovely elevation of head. She won Best in Specialty...a fitting way to end her career!

On Tuesday, LuAnne's great-great granddaughter "Emma" gave birth to a single puppy. We knew there was only one puppy, having had her up to the Vet for an ultrasound and X-Ray. We only hoped the baby would be female; and we are happy to say she is. It took her about two minutes before she took a breath and an hour or so before she was breathing without effort.

Pretty sure she is bi-blue...time will tell. I haven't seen any brown under her tail. My fingers are crosses as that would be so fitting!
Sired by Ch Lynphil Timeless Piece http://www.lynphilshelties.com/jasper.htm

Cocoa Has Been Busy

Cocoa has a busy social calendar....attending Birthday parties, taking puppies to the market for socializing (with Miki above) and then hitting the road for shows.

She just returned from Vermont...this could have been her tour bus! This rolled in to the motel we were at and two guys came out; must of been the bus driver and the camera man. :-)

First show was held outdoors in the prettiest of locations. Summer shows don't get much better than this. Shelter from the sun (and later the rain), a ring surrounded by mountains and good company.

We packed up and headed down the road to Burlington VT where we welcomed the air conditioned building. Cocoa showed great and went on to win Group 2nd for another point.

Cocoa looks pretty pleased as the judge handed us the ribbon and a cheque for $100. We bought a directors chair from a vendor and will have Cocoa's photo embroidered on it.

Back home she is busy chasing her half sister Juno through the clover...

And trying to avoid the thorny raspberry canes!

Fur flying! She and just about everyone else here is blowing coat. Hopefully she can get the last two points to finish in the US before she is wearing a bikini (and gets her photo on a tour bus)!

Road Trip: Toronto, Stockton NY, London, Hamilton

I had two girls entered four days in Stockton NY (south of Buffalo) and planned on bringing Paris, Cocoa and the two youngsters along for socializing. Car packed, I did a MapQuest search Tuesday night to find the best route. Travel time was estimated at over 7 hours going via Syracuse or 8 1/2 hours through Canada. By that time, after washing the girls and packing I didn't feel like going at all! Pete suggested I call my friend Brenda and meet somewhere (like Hamilton) on Thursday and drive the last leg together in one vehicle. I ran it by Brenda and we were able to park the car at a friend's, so it seemed like this was a go. Since I had to fit my dogs/gear/luggage in Brenda's Van, I decided to leave three at home and just take Cocoa. It was a decision I was later very glad I made!

Wednesday I drove through some torrential rain, but it was nice and sunny once I got to Toronto. I didn't bring the camera, so these grainy photos are taken with Pete's cell phone!

Toronto was preparing for the G-20 summit, so the city was getting fortified with chain link, concrete barriers and the cows were gone!

In this patch of very long grass are usually five grazing bronze cow sculptures. They were removed for security reasons. I exercised Cocoa here in the afternoon while it was full of people, and she was not at all phased by city life. Later on (when these shots were taken) I wanted to find where they put the cows. They had been relocated across the street to a very small patch of grass. I took Cocoa over to see them and she went "whoa what the heck are you doing here?" She was scared of them, and then she was edgy on her walk after seeing the creepy farm animals!

In the lobby of the Royal York Hotel. She was a perfect guest...

She loved the bed...

Out the window there was a demonstration. Drums banging, chanting. It was hard to know what they were going on about...but there will be plenty more of that in the next few days... You can see the barriers between the train station and the hotel. The police were out in force on bicycles and they were also in the lobby by the entrance. It was a little unnerving.

She could get used to this life!

Cocoa looking for room service...

(((From here the story has no pictures...)))

The following morning we called for the car and when I got down, the Valet said "you have a problem". Yep...a flat tire. He found a pump and pumped the tire while I exercised Cocoa and then when he tried to put the stopper on the valve, the air kept coming...we had a leaky valve. So with the morning subway commuters looking as they marched past, the Valet changed the tire. I called Brenda and said to go on ahead. "Oh no, that's OK, I'll wait" she said.

Off to the dealer to fix the valve in the tire. Cocoa came out and we went to the show room. This dealer also sold Aston-Martin's and I suggested to the receptionist that perhaps they could give me one since I shared the name! (hahaha) An hour or so later I'm underway. I call Brenda to let her know I'll be there in an hour. Ten minutes later I'm calling her again...bumper to bumper traffic! Once again I urge her to go on without me, but she wouldn't hear of it.

Finally I make it to Hamilton and we load my stuff (lots and lots of stuff) into her Van. It is going to be tight to make it to the show on time and I'm counting the dogs in front of Shelties and determine we could possibly make it. Brenda gets us there with five minutes to spare! The Old English Sheepdog is in the ring and then as we are changing I see the Shelties beginning. A quick spritz to dampen the girls coats and off we run to ringside. Some frantic brushing and in we go. Sable girls are first and Cocoa wins the class and then Brenda goes in the big AOAC class with Keva and she wins also. Back for Winners and Cocoa takes the points with Keva going reserve!

We show the next day with Keva going reserve and the judge thinking Cocoa is fat! (She wasn't fat, she was fluffy) :-) We stay to watch groups and BIS, and I notice my arm is starting to swell. The swelling continues and by morning it is clear that I can't show that day and we make plans to pack up after Brenda shows her girl and finds a handler for Cocoa. Keva once again takes reserve and Cocoa wins her class. She finds handlers for the Sunday show and a ride back to Canada with breeder-friends.

As Brenda is from London and works at the Hospital there, that is where we went. A few hours wait in Emergency and they were pretty sure my arm was infected and that I'd be staying a few days. I have to admit, I was pretty worried as the swelling continued despite the antibiotics. However, the next day it was determined it was thrombosis so they put me on blood thinners and I was discharged Monday afternoon..

Brenda got home from work Monday and drove me to Hamilton where I spent the night with a dear friend. I got home finally on Tuesday with Pete meeting me in Perth...he'd been so worried the entire time, he couldn't wait any longer!

We're having a quiet couple of weekends and then might get going again to shows mid July.

Thanks to all the fellow exhibitors for helping out and my deepest gratitude to Brenda (for everything.)