Easter Weekend and more

Busy week, so am just sitting down to mention the lovely weekend I had.  I went to shows in DeKalb, IL, luckily Papillons were late on Saturday, so I was able to get up Saturday morning, bath the dogs, pack and drive over for a 1:30 show time.

The entry was not large, but Gina, (Loteki Touch Rose) was WB both days for a point each day.  Sunday she was BOW, which is always nice.  BOS was littermate sister, Hillary.  We spent a lovely afternoon having a late lunch with friends at a landmark in DeKalb, the Hillside Cafe.  The food is always good and the atmosphere warm and friendly.

After lunch we made our way to Patti Perkins' home, where we chatted and the dogs played in her beautiful yard.  Late afternoon, Patti and Meg Peifer who are both interested in genealogy, wanted to make the drive to Sycamore to visit a cemetery.  Off we went, we had such a nice time visiting the short drive there and the short drive home.  Patti fixed a lovely light supper and we relaxed while the dogs enjoyed running and playing.

Sunday Papillons were late again, so it was a leisurely morning, with Patti being the perfect hostess!  It is always a pleasure to visit Patti!

I headed home shortly after 2 and arrived home before 5, quickly unloaded the van, pottyed dogs, started a load of laundry and off to meet Stephanie, Clay, Sophia and Trinity for dinner.  We had a nice dinner together and then dropped Trinity off at home before heading home.

Cheryl Brown (TN) had a great weekend at the AKC Agility trials QQ 18 and 19 for Felix and 37 more MACH points for Jackson! 

Cheryl is at her local teacup agility trial this weekend with the boys.  On Saturday, Fee went 5 for 5 . He is so steady.   So, Fee has 3 more Standard Q's and 2 more Games Q's after today to earn his TACh5. 

Jackson ran in the 3 Standards and only in 1 game on Saturday.  He Q'ed in the game and in 2 of the 3 Standards. 

Sophia petting Jo

Here in Iowa on Saturday, after I got off of work,  Stephanie, Clay, Sophia, Terry and I went out to my sister, Sue and husband, Curt's place to meet their horses.  Sophia had never been and had the best time.  She was a bit overwhelmed by the size of these guys, but she did sit up on Jo with her mom and walked around a bit.  She was fascinated by their size, their hooves, the noises they made and she LOVED feeding them long blades of grass.  She also made a joke about the horse's tail and her own hair which was in a pony tail. 

She had the best time, as only kids that have grown up in country have.  Horses were the main attraction, but they also have some nice young cats that are just the right size to be picked up.  Their border collie, Lucky, loves kids and wants them to play with him.  He is a bit exuberant and did knock Sophia down in his efforts to get her to play with him.  She talked about him on the way home and said, "Lucky is a bully, he knocked me down."  We all had a laugh and tried to explain he wasn't bullying her, but just too happy to contain himself! 

This is really fun!!!

On the way home, Sophia did ask for a pony several times.  Mom kept telling her that the city did not allow ponies in town, but how can you resist this big smile?

Over night we had some pretty noisy thunderstorms with incredible light shows.  We got some much needed rain.  Spring has come early for the most part, except for the freezing temps last week over night.  Everything is bursting with blooms and bright spring green colors.

Puppies are all doing well.  Interesting to note the differences in the two litters that are just two days different in ages.  Brooke's puppies opened their eyes on day 9-10.  Asia's puppies opened theirs on day 13-14.  Brooke's are eating out of a bowl like little piglets.  Asia's are happy to wait for mom and not interested.  Brooke's are scampering about checking everything out.  Asia's are watching the others!  Puppy breath is wonderful on all puppies!  <GGG>

More rain today, so need to get started on some of my inside chores.  I had hoped we'd be able to till up the garden and go plant shopping.  Have a great week!

National #30 in a row

Pia in the bag she won for going Best BBE

Another National is over.  This year it was in Seattle.  It is quite the trip, but Gibbs, Pia and I made it in fine style. 

We left Cedar Rapids on Tuesday and arrived in Seattle without incident.  Luckily, JoAnne Paulino arrived a short time later and we took the shuttle to the hotel together.

We met Meg Peifer and then off to the store for refreshments and supplies.

Sweeps was on Wednesday.  We watched all the puppies and Veterans compete and then had a great get together in our room to talk Papillons.  It was wonderful!

Thursday was dogs.  Our judge was former breeder, Kenneth di Lorenzo.  I was very proud to have Gibbs (Loteki For The Good Of The Team) win the 9-12 puppy dog class.  He is his silly self, although he shows beautifully. 

Friday was bitches and Pia (Loteki Una Piccola Brezza ) won the BBE class I was so happy.  She is such a serious little gal in the ring!

Saturday was BOB and all the non-regular classes.  BOB went to a bitch this year.  Non-regular classes such as best puppy, best veteran, etc. were judged afterward.    Pia and I were lucky to win Best BBE.

Saturday night a banquet was held, which was well attended.  Packing and up early for the flight home, it was a short week full of beautiful Papillons, a nice venue, great friends, and a lot of laughs.  I am looking forward to next year in Louisville, KY.

It is so good to be home!

A Busy Weekend

Spring has come early to the Midwest.  Terry finished the other two runs with patio blocks on Saturday morning - boy do they look nice and so easy to keep clean.

I ventured to the dog show in Dubuque Saturday morning.  Gibbs was WD/BOW for point #2.  Gina pulled a toenail, so I was not able to show her.  Hillary was BOS, so very close to her Grand Championship.

I had a phone call from Mary Gail Holcombe with some very scary news of an experience in her motel room in Little Rock, AR, this past weekend.  McGee ingested meth in the room and spent Friday night through Sunday at an emergency vet with IV fluids, flushing his system.  Mary Gail reported Monday night he was doing so much better, but still was not McGee yet.

Cheryl Brown reminded me that Spencer won his 2nd major towards his Grand Championship two weeks ago.  Cheryl is having fun with Spencer making the transitions between conformation, obedience and agility.  Spencer is a lot of fun!

Better finish packing - I hope I have wonderful news to report from the National, but realistically, I hope to have fun! 

Agility News from Tennessee

 

Cheryl Brown had a good weekend last weekend. She reported that Felix ran all four of his runs cleanly. He was overtime in both Jumpers runs.   He did get his 9th and 10th Standard Q and finished his MXP3

. 

Jackson only Q'ed once on Saturday in Jumpers. This is really weird. Since I brought him back into AKC last June, he has been a little Q'ing machine. The good thing is that he absolutely nailed every set of weaves including two off-side sets of weaves with really hard entries. 

Cheryl also was very excited that Spencer earned his CGC a couple weeks before. 

Congratulations to Cheryl and the boys.

The weather in the Midwest has been unseasonably warm and sunny.  It has inspired us to start some landscaping projects early.  We managed to get patio blocks laid last weekend, completing 1/3 the project, so we finish it and move on to the other two similar projects before the weather gets too warm.

Local shows this weekend and getting packed to leave for the National on Tuesday.  Lots to do, hope we can bring home a point or two and still have time to do all the things that need doing.

Conformation and Obedience wins

Saturday, Cheryl Brown (TN) is happy to report Felix has an obedience title!  He is now Loteki Total Windfall BN RAE MXP2 MJP5. 

We are both very proud of him! 

At the shows in Des Moines, Trinity and I left Saturday morning for a late show time.  I am happy to report that Gibbs, a.k.a. Loteki For The Good Of The Team was WD and BOW for his first points.

Sunday arrived early with 8:00 a.m. show time, today Pia was WB for another point.  Hillary won the Select for two more points towards her Grand Championship!  Trinity and I were on our way home by 9:30, leaving time to stop at the outlet mall for a little shopping before we arrived home.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and Trinity helped by bathing, and drying five dogs!  What a great help!

Chery reported that Jackson earned his BN on Sunday.  What a great weekend for everyone!

Snow, snow, blowing snow

Winters in the Midwest make entering dog shows a risky endeavor.  This past weekend was one of those weekends.  I had entered shows in St. Joseph, MO, most of the week the weathermen were forecasting a major winter storm moving in.  It hit late Friday and Saturday for most of the day.  The southwestern part of the state was hit hardest, but it fan all the way to mid-state, including Des Moines, which was the mid-point on our drive to St. Joe.

Out comes Mapquest and alternate routes....Saturday morning, Terry packed the van, while I bath the dogs for the show and off we went, south almost to Hannibal, MO and then west to St. Joe.  We had ran, but temps were all above freezing, so we made the trip without incident or any white knuckle driving!  Thankfully Papillons were late in the afternoon.

Saturday the show site was crowded with spectators.  We met friends, Dan & Marlene Edgerton, as well as Eleanor's breeder, Ann Street.  It was not a stellar day at the show, but Hillary, CH Loteki Down The Garden Path, made her debut after about 8 months of maturing at home to win the Select bitch points - a major, her 2nd towards her Grand Championship.  YEAH!

We made the trip down to Dan & Marlene's a quick potty of the dogs, I changed my clothes and off to dinner.  We had a great time at a nice Mexican restaurant in Leavenworth.  We had so much fun visiting!  The food was great and the company fantastic!!!  Ann headed home, while we returned to the Edgertons for a quiet evening of TV and puppy antics.  It started to snow about 10, with the last potty trip. 

Loteki Una Piccalo Brezza

Sunday morning, Paps were early.  Terry got up grabbed a quick bite, after loading the van and heading north.  The landscape was stunning as everything was laced in a sparkling, fluffy covering of new snow.  The sun was shining and the roads were clear.  Sunday morning the aisles were less congested and the Paps were able to stretch their legs a bit.  Pia brought home a major by going Winners Bitch!  YEA!  Hillary was a real show girl and was award BOS for her 3rd major!!   YIPPEE!  We took photos, pottied dogs, I made a quick change of clothes and off we went towards home.  This time we took the more direct route through Des Moines.  The sun was shining until just north of the Iowa Missouri border.  We started counting cars in the ditch.  Des Moines did have quite a bit of snow on the ground, but by the time we had traveled to 45 minutes east there was no more snow. 

We picked up Adam and Trinity on the way home.  Everyone helped unload the van.  The dogs had a lovely romp and then the four of us went out for Chinese!  A lovely end of a nice weekend!

Cheryl Brown (TN) had good news with more double Qs!!  Jackson now have the required 20 QQs towards his MACH, but needs a few more points.  Felix earned one double Q over the weekend, his 16th towards his PAX!  Congrats!  A great weekend on all fronts, wins, good friends and family - can't get any better than that! 

Obedience and Agility news

Jeannine Rash (PA) had a great weekend at the obedience trials near by.  Her OTCh CH Loteki Ima Firecracker UDX was HIT and HIgh Combined winning both Open B and Ut B on Saturday.

The next day Jeffrey (OTCh CH Loteki Surprise Party UDX) got his first Rally Excellent leg, with brother, Benji, (Loteki A Party Favor CDX) earning his first Rally Advanced leg with a 97!

Sunday, Jeannine did not make it in with Nicholas, but Chloe (Loteki Ima Cupcake) and Up And Down's Higher And Higher did Beginner Novice. Willie was doing great with Cecelia (Jeannine's sister) until the recall--he ran away to find Jeannine.  Miss Cupcake was great and earned a 199.5.  She tied with a little pug and won the run off.

Cheryl Brown (TN) had a great weekend at a locak AKC agility trial.  Both Felix and Jackson earned double Q's!  Saturday, the dogs ran low to high so he was on the start line at 8:02 (second dog of the day) in Standard. He ran 9 seconds under his Preferred time which is really really fast for him! Slower in Jumpers but we eeked it out for a QQ! Yesterday, we ran high to low so he didn't do his first run until 2:00 and his second 4:00-4:30. We still Q'ed in both classes for a double Q.  Yay FEE! He now has 15 QQ's towards his PAX. 5 more to go!

Jackson did great too!  I'm thinking he will get his MACH.  He now has 18 QQ's.