UKC and Sporting Dog Specialty....

2 weeks ago, I took Pyro to a local UKC show to see what its all about, try our hand at it, and see if we like it. I do have to say, I love the day of show entries! lol. But I hate the fact that its not as "scheduled" as AKC shows are. Regardless, we had fun, and it was MUCH more laid back than AKC is!! Pyro won Best of Breed 3 out of the 4 shows, and finished his UKC Championship by beating the Champions that were entered. On Sunday afternoon, he also placed third in the large Guardian Group, which was exciting!! I brought Maui along on Sunday and entered her in the Veterans exhibition, and she placed Reserve Best Veteran In Show!!!! It was so exciting!!! She won some stuffed toys, as well as a big bag of Canidae!! I still need to scan the pic and post it.......been too busy!!

Last weekend, I loaded up the dogs and headed down to New Mexico for the Sporting Dog Fanciers of NM Specialty...I only had Louie entered, in both Sweeps and Regular classes. Both days, Louie won Best Pointer in Sweeps, as well as WD. Our class competition didnt show up, so there were no points available :( We had a blast, took Broker out and ran him around and he didnt spaz and throw on the breaks, so we may be on a good start there! lol.

Off to the Pueblo shows tomorrow morning...Louie is entered Saturday (no points available) and Pyro entered on Sunday. I have Maui entered in Veterans on Saturday as well. Heres hoping for a great weekend!!!!!!

A long overdue update...

I havent posted in awhile, mainly due to things being so hectic with Brian gone....

So here goes....

I started Pyro in a Rally Obedience class with one of the local trainers (and also a RO Judge in AKC and UKC...so hopefully we will be off to a good start!) and hes doing well. It was a struggle at first, switching his brain from "Show Dog" to "Smart Dog"...but hes catching on and remembering things quickly, which is awesome. Hes so smart, he amazes me. My biggest challenge is going to be keeping him interested, as he gets bored soooo quickly! I'll try to post updates as we progress through the class and beyond. In AKC, Pyro is sitting on 7 points with 1 major. Again, he gets increadibly bored in the show ring, and I'm hoping our little excursion into obedience might help his focus a little. We are going to try a UKC show this weekend, and see how we like it. I've never done UKC, so it should prove interesting!!

Louie is sitting on 9 AKC points, with both majors. He is a great little boy, loving and sweet, and actually really enjoys showing (I think he just likes the running and getting fed parts, but oh well :) ) So I've been looking for a home for him with a Junior where those talents can be fine tuned and used for good instead of just laying on the couch all the time at my house :) A home has been found, and in late 2009/early 2010, watch for Louie in the Mid-West with his new owner and Junior handler. In the mean time, Louie is going down to New Mexico for the Sporting Dog Specialties down there, and is entered in sweeps and breed. I'm hoping for a good showing and hopefully a few more singles (FINGERS CROSSED!!!! lol) to add to his collection before he leaves here. As it is, I'm looking forward to leaving Colorado (where it is presently snowing - or at least trying to!) and heading towards the desert and warmer temps!! After NM, he is entered in 1 day of the Pueblo, CO shows, and I think that will be the end of his show career at Grandiose, as he heads off to his new home at the end of November.

In late August/early September timeframe, I lucked into 2 fantastic pet homes, and was able to thin down the "herd" a little bit. Tony is now living the spoiled rotten life he loves in Northern Colorado, being the center of attention and only dog in his new family. Prada is also living a spoiled rotten life in New Mexico, where she is also the only dog in her new family, and enjoying it quite a bit. She is definatly developing her "Pointer Princess" personality!!

On October 1st, our long time resident Princess, Maui, turned 7. A milestone age in the dog show world, she is now eligible for the Veterans classes. Sad, but at the same time, exciting. She absolutly loves to show (a trait that has made her a wonderful Juniors dog!) and I cant wait to take her back out in the Veterans classes! Her first appearance as an "Old Lady" will be at the Pueblo, CO shows in November.

Broker is simply just hanging out. A few offers for pet homes for him have fallen though, and I believe fate intends him to stay with us. Hes a doll, and once I get Pyro out of the beginner levels in Obedience/Rally, I'm going to start taking him to class and maybe by making him think, he will grow a brain ;) In the mean time, hes just hanging out, slowly beginning to learn manners and basic commands, and being a crazy fuzzy dog. I really do enjoy him, as hes a sweetheart and loves to cuddle, and who can resist his face???

Annnnndddddd....Stacey and Rodger bred Miss L again (L is Louie and Pradas dam) and she produced 8 puppies, 4 males (3 Lemon, 1 Orange) and 4 females (2 Lemon, 2 Orange). I'm quite excited to be able to go evaluate the litter at 8 weeks.....more info and pictures can be found on my website.

Thats all for now....hopefully more later, hopefully a lot more after this weekend!!

OFA Results!!!

Got the results back from the OFA for Gibbs and Tony!! Both OFA Hips "GOOD" and Elbows "NORMAL"!! YAY!! So Excited!!

Another Great Show!

Last weekend was the Buckhorn Valley Kennel Club shows...I just love this show. They have an awesome site, ample room, plenty of parking, and A/C!! LOL. It was HOT outside this weekend!!
Sooooo...started out the weekend with Pyro taking 2nd in his class. The dog that won the class ended up going WD for his first two points, so not that bad to go second I guess. Gibbs took WD/BOB, and Louie was Best Puppy. I left Prada at home this weekend because shes doing the weird "I'm trying to come in season, but not really." thing, and the boys are going NUTS over her...so I thought it best to just leave her at home. So going BOB left Gibbs with 7 points, no majors. Louie is still sitting on 7 points, both majors! Ugh. Broker...was funny. He decided he didnt like the mats, and didnt want to move on them. He CRAWLED around the ring...like gaiting in slow motion. HILARIOUS! All I could do was laugh. He ended up going Reserve, and Best Puppy. He behaved much better for Melissa in the Puppy Groups! Speaking of Puppy Groups, they were soooo fun!! I handled Louie...that boy can MOVE! Hes all leg right now too....but, at least I know his front will straighten out, he proved it to me in that Group ring...hes just young and loose. Melissa took Broker in for me, he moved a little better for her...decided he *really* had to pee at the very end...yeah. Puppies. So much fun!! lol. Melissa went Best Junior on Saturday, which was exciting as always. Photos of her and Maui in Juniors can be found here: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/thumbpage.aspx?e=4871328
Photos of Gibbs in the Group ring: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/orderpage.aspx?pi=0JMI00C0080035&po=35

Sunday was fun as well :) Juniors and Dobermans were not only at the same time, the rings were right next door to each other. Maui decided she didnt want to listen very well to Melissa, but they still ended up going second in thier class. In Dobermans, I couldnt disappear, because Pyro won the 12-18 class! YAY! He was being a butthead on his down and back, and just wanted to be a goofy puppy. But oh can that boy stack! OMG...just standing there with him and knowing how gorgeous and intense and powerful he looks gives me goosebumps! He was ON as well. Made me happy. We walked into Winners...went around, stacked. The judge pulled us out and had us do the down and back again....and again, Pyro was a butthead. Started over, and he behaved. Went back to our spot, Judge had another dog do a down and back...and she pointed to Pyro for Winners Dog. YAY! Too bad the major had broke in the classes by 1 dog!!! UGH!! Oh well, there were 2 male Specials, we would just have to beat them! Bitches took seemingly forever, finally time for BOB. 5 Specials, plus WD and WB. Of course, the bitch that Cyndi had in front of me (I think shes #5 or #6 Dobe right now, not sure) was in season, so I spent the entire time in the ring with Pyro facing backwards, with liver shoved in his nose so he hopefully wouldnt smell her too much! WB needed BOW to finish (Dogs were 2 points, Bitches were 1 point...she needed 2 to finish!) and I needed BOS for the major! After all the Specials were examined, we were all stacked up waiting for the judge to make her decisions.......she walked past her entire line of Specials and straight over to Pyro. (At this point, my heart was in my stomach and all I could think was "Dont screw this up!") She stared at him for a bit....looked back up her line, and moved Cyndis bitch up to the front, WB behind her, and Pyro behind the WB. Go around again, BOB, BOW, and BOS. YAY!!! Pyro got his major!!! And the WB finished! So exciting! During pictures, the judge took the time to tell me how much she loved Pyro, and that the second he walked into the ring, she knew he was her winner, and that someone would have to work very hard to have beat him. I'm glad other people love my gorgeous redhead as well :) On to Setters, where Broker actually MOVED around the ring this time!! Still ended up going Reserve. Oh well....he needs to grow up...A LOT! lol. Pointers were next, with Gibbs repeating the same as Saturday, only adding Best Bred By to his group of ribbons. Hung out the rest of the day and chilled. Took a run up the road to Panera for lunch (soooo much better than expensive dog show food!!) and stuck around for Groups. Gibbs showed well in the Sporting group (pictures here on pages 1 and 4: http://www.photoreflect.com/pr3/ThumbPage.aspx?e=4877886&g=0JMI00C104) and in the Bred-By Groups. His BOB win puts him at 8 points, no majors. Pyro is now sitting on 7 points, 1 major.
Our next shows are in Eagle next weekend...singles in Dobes, singles in Pointer bitches...wish us luck!!

What A Feeling...

When everything in your body just sinks. Its horrible. Its hard waking up in the morning knowing its the last time you'll get to wake up next to him for a year. Its hard making breakfast knowing its the last you'll eat together for a year. Its hard to smile and try to have fun knowing its the last few hours before the last car ride together. Its hard sitting at a table talking and laughing with Soldiers in uniform when you know that in mere hours they will be on a plane to Afghanistan. Its harder to watch the final formation before families have to leave and the Soldiers draw weapons. Its harder yet to know its the last hug, the last kiss, and the final goodbye. Putting the key in the ignition and the car in drive have never been harder to do, and never has the drive off post been so long, or the desire to just turn back around been harder to resist. The tears dont stop. Its hard to be strong, but easier to break down in the car instead of in front of everyone. The drive home is long, traffic isnt noticed. Music turned up just to drown out the thoughts. Home to the couch and the dogs, thankful there are no kids to try to explain this to. Heart sinking more and more as the hours pass by in silence. A few texts, "We are on the buses" "We are on the plane" "I love you, goodbye". A quick call to make sure all is well on both ends. Plane leaves, another group of Soldiers off to war.

Good luck, keep safe. Please come home, all of you.

704BSB - especially HHC, most importantly the Security Platoon- you are all in my thoughts and prayers daily.

Flatirons KC Shows

....were interesting.
Pyro went Reserve to the major on Saturday, which was exciting and disappointing at the same time. Would have been much nicer to just win the darn thing! He got completly dumped in his class on Sunday. Prada got dumped on Saturday despite turning in a beautiful performance for me...oh well...the judge either hated her front or hated her lack of pigment. Gibbs went WD/BOW for point #5. Sunday, Gibbs again went WD for point #6 (although the judge marked the book wrong, and I need to call and get it fixed) and Prada, handled by Brian, went WB/BOW for point #8 for her. I just may get them all finished this year! LOL. Just need two majors for Gibbs and one on Prada!!
We are done with shows now until the end of June...plenty of time for maturity between then and now! lol.
Broker will debut at the next shows...and then of course, Gibbs, Louie, Prada, and Pyro as well.

Ugh...What a LONG Weekend!!

You know how some weekends just seem to never end? Yeah, we had one of those this last Memorial day weekend!! I mean it wasnt ALL bad, just mostly bad. LOL.
I had entered the WY shows Saturday thru Monday (had to work Friday). The Saturday show is up in Casper, which is about 5.5 hours from home for us. Onofrio gave Pointers an 8 am ring time (which really sucked since I had the only 3 and staying for Groups would mean a LONNNNG day with a LONNNNGGG drive home!!) We woke up at 1 am to get ready to leave and I was in screaming pain, so decided against even getting out of bed. It ended up being a pretty decent day, we went out for breakfast, it rained all day, and we spent most of the day playing videogames and just having fun :) The puppies were upset they couldnt go play in the mud, but otherwise it wasnt too bad.
Sunday and Mondays shows were in Laramie, which is about 3.5 miles from our house. I should have known when we loaded the van and plugged the address into the GPS (both of them, the portable and the vans GPS) and neither could find the address, that it was going to be a bad day! Mapquest "found" the address on my phone, and off we went, following those directions. We had left the house with 2 extra hours of "buffer time". We hit HEAVY fog right around the WY/CO border. That took an hour off our buffer time having to slow down in the fog. Once the fog lifted, and we were finally in the "right" area (according to mapquest!) we realized that we were just heading out into the middle of NOWHERE! After about 30 miles and fewer and fewer buildings, I finally was able to reach someone on the phone who could tell me where to go!! We pulled into the parking lot of the show grounds with 15 minutes until ringtime. We pulled the puppies out of their crate, and they were both covered in poo! (and they had both gone before we left! ugh!)Oddly enough, they had covered it up at some point, and we had never even smelled it in the van!! Thank goodness for wet wipes!! We got the puppies cleaned up the best we could, and over to the ring (bouncing and spinning and playing and having a ball the whole way!) with just a minute to spare! The worst thing ever is to take a puppy out of a crate they have been in for a few hours, and walk into a show ring with them!! They were HORRIBLE! So horrible, in fact, that the Judge handed me Pradas ribbons and said "I'm going to tell you now that I'm not going to give her BOW." LOL...cant really blame him!! Gibbs went WD/BOW/BOB for another point. He was such a good boy :) We hung around for Melissa to show Maui in Juniors, and they made up for the Puppies being so bad by winning thier class! So it wasnt a bad show, just stressful to get to! lol. The drive home was GORGEOUS, although long. Still raining in Colorado Springs when we got home. I just put all the dogs out and let them get good and muddy. I also re-bathed 4 dogs before bed :)
We left the next morning EARLY...we had afternoon ring times, but there is NO WAY I was having a repeat of yesterdays fiasco! We got to the show without incident, and spent most of the day walking the puppies around and having fun browsing the vendors. Ring time finally rolled around, and we took the Pointers over. Louie was still acting crazy...but hey, hes 9 months old and wanted to play, so cant blame him. Prada was being a twit and wanting to RUN.........But my Gibbsie boy was an angel :) LOL. Another WD/BOW/BOB for him, and another point. Brings him up to 4 total now. 5 more singles and he will just be hunting majors. Another gorgeous drive home to more rain in the Springs (well, it was raining in WY too, and most of Colorado, but with the dirt in the backyard, rain in the Springs SUCKS!!). All the dogs loved it though. Oh, Melissa and Maui got thier 6th class win in Juniors. They are currently #2 Pointer Junior team in the US.

It was nice to get home. We re-arranged the dogs and put the crates downstairs, so they arent stacked anymore. Poor Tony keeps jumping up on top of Pyros crate and getting really confused that his crate isnt there!! LOL. Hes my acrobat though...he walks on the rail on the back porch...can almost jump up on it from a dead stand but prefers to use the chairs to climb up. He started doing it because we close the curtains on the patio door to keep them from jumping up on it, so he can peek in the dining room window if he is on the rail. Silly, smart boy!

Brian leaves in less than 2 weeks. (I'm about to cry thinking about it) Another dog show this weekend. Majors in Dobes. I have the only class Pointers entered. Large Juniors entries, so I'm hopefull that Melissa and Maui will SHINE like always and do well :) But its MUCH closer to home than the last shows! We arent really doing anything after that until the end of June because Brian is deploying the weekend of the Colorado Springs shows, and there isnt anything local until the end of June. Besides, all my money will be going to health testing in June! LOL.

Reality....

Has a funny way of hitting home. Mine came in the form of the Advon Party leaving this morning for Afghanistan. Its real now. It hit me at about 4 am when Brian came home from driving the bus of Troops to the Airport. I couldnt sleep the rest of the morning. From what we now know....deployment is about 3 weeks away. Part of me cant wait because I HATE the build up to deployment, but part of me is heartbroken over facing another year in agony never really knowing whats going on or if hes ok. The dogs help. Keeping busy helps. I have a LOT to do around the house while he is gone, and hopefully that will help keep me occupied so the time will pass quickly.

Rio Grande Kennel Club Shows and New Mexico Trip Update

Let me just say this off the bat: I will NEVER help someone move AND do a dog show in the same weekend!! Talk about DRAMA!!

It all started out ok, but got progressivly worse as it went along. Brian and Zack got the UHaul all loaded up and ready to go by Thursday night. Brian only worked a half day on Friday, so was home early taking care of a few last minute things around the house. I got off a little early, and Brian helped me take the dogs that werent entered into the show over to my good friend Patricias house (THANK YOU again, Patricia, for watching them for me!!). After that, I bathed 3 dogs (OUCH! Hard feat given my circumstances!!) and loaded up the van and off we went. Wait, I forgot to mention that my younger Brother, Zack, and his girlfriend are with us (and now living with us while they get back on thier feet down here). So we have 3 dogs and 3 people in the van, and Brian is driving the 26 foot UHaul. Now, as we get started down I-25, we realize that this UHaul not only can not drive over 60, but it can barely make it up a hill!! And mind you, we are leaving Colorado, which is ALL HILLS!! So our 5.5 hour drive turned into a 7 hour drive. We finally pulled into my Parents new home around midnight. Brian and Zack quickly set out unloading the UHaul, and since Brian forgot to bring our air mattress, and I refuse to sleep on the floor, my Mom and I left for Wal-Mart to buy a new one, and pick up some food as we were all starving! LOL....well, Wal-Mart was open, thankfully, but coming from a city where everything is open 24 hours, to a small town where everything closes by 6 was...well...weird!! To say the least!! We drove around looking for food and finally decided to go pick up some premade sandwiches at Walmart and just bring those home. So an hour later, we finally get back. The boys had made short work of the UHaul, and everything was stacked in the garage. The dogs got a late dinner and another quick walk, and we all collapsed in bed at about 2 am. Thankfully, Onofrio gave us late ringtimes!!!!!!!
More drama followed in the morning when I finally did get up around 8 and walked the dogs. Louie tends to bark if hes not let out first, so I took him out first (I can really only walk one at a time right now or I'd have taken all 3 out at once.....and since my Parents house is brand new, they dont have landscaping yet, much less a fence, so it was one at a time walking on lead...which the puppies hate) I walked up one side of the driveway while Louie sniffed around, and when I stepped forward, I felt something spiney sink into the side of my calf. I was wearing my pajama bottoms, which are kinda like capris, but have really thick knitted cuffs...and I got a piece of giant dead dried thorny cactus stuck IN my leg, through the cuff of my pants!! I tried to get it out to no avail, and no one in the house could hear me screaming....so I walked to the front door, with this cactus thorn digging deeper into my leg with every step I took. Thankfully my Mom was able to pull it out quickly when she answered the door...Brian just laughed at me and finished walking the dogs while I took care of the wound on my leg. (You'd be suprised at how hard it is to do simple things that require bending over at this point in time!!) So cactus drama over, dogs walked, and everything settled down and ok, I went to take a shower. Well, my Parents had opted for the fancy new "hot water on demand" instead of a normal hot water heater. LOL...the builders hadnt programed it at all. There was no hot water. We thought we got it all figured out, I got in the shower, and as soon as I got all soaped up, ice cold water again! LOL...figures. Brian fixed it, and I quickly finished my shower. (Builders of course didnt leave the book for the darn thing either!!)
Off to the dog show in the early afternoon, with Louie, Gibbs, and Prada. The parking attendants sent us out to park in the middle of timbucktoo (I guess they thought we were going to the graduation??) which was about a 2 mile walk to the actual show building. Brian, my lifesaver, found a MUCH closer parking spot while we were walking to the building. I got to meet some new Pointer people (Again, Brian, awesome meeting you, and hope to see you and your dogs at more shows in the future!!) and some new Pointers. Under Paula Hartinger, Louie went Winners Dog for a 3 point major from the 6-9 Puppy class, and his sire, Gibbs, went Reserve Winners Dog from Bred-By. Prada was a goof, and I didnt think she would be Paulas cup of tea since she is sooooo immature still, but she held her stacks and actually rocked up over her front!! I'm so proud of how well she has come along in that regard. Anyway, Prada went Reserve. The Winners Bitch (Owned by Brian Dofford-Johnson - Envy & Takaras Whirlaway) also went Best of Winners and Best of Opposite to Josh, and picked up a 3 point major as well!! Congrats!!
The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful besides me Dad and Brother fighting, but that always happens.
Sunday was crazy. The hot water kept cutting out while I was taking a shower, again. No cactus attacks while I was walking the dogs, thankfully!! We loaded up the van and left a little early so we could grab some breakfast. We got a flat tire right outside the show grounds. Flat tires on Sundays are NEVER a good thing!! The hole was right on the edge, so was unrepairable anyways. We managed to find an open tire shop, and thankfully they were NOT busy at all, and they had a new tire put on the rim and back on the van in less than 15 minutes!! I was soooo impressed!! Not impressed with having to pay for a brand new tire though!!!!! LOL...back to the show grounds, actually got a close parking spot this time without being redirected to timbucktoo!! Walked the dogs in on normal leads instead of show leads which helped save our fingers! Under Roger Hartinger (we had a Judge change from Ann Savory Bolus to Mr Hartinger) Louie went WD again for his second 3 point major!!!! YAY!!!! I'm sooooooo excited about that!! Gibbs got dumped in Winners, although the Judge gave him every opportunity to do well, he just wanted to be a goof!! Prada went Reserve again, although she behaved much better than she had the day before. The drive home was LONG, although much quicker than the drive down!! Felt good to sleep in my own bed again!! All the dogs were glad to be home again.


We are off to WY for the shows over Memorial Day weekend. I have the only Pointer entries, so hopefully we can add some singles to the points counts ......we shall see if the judges cross Prada over since there are no specials.

Pyros Win Pics And A General Update

Things are moving along around here. We finally got a window for Brians deployment! YAY! Ugh...now if I could just get a FIRM date, we'll be good to go and plans can be made!!!!

My recovery is still moving along well. Pain was subsiding, but I had to go back to work, which made it peak again. Oh well. I know it will go away once I get used to moving around a lot more again. I cant tell you how much I've missed my dogs. Being in the same house but still seperated from them has been hard on me and them! I spent pretty much the entire afternoon and evening yesterday playing with them, and I think we are all happier for it.

I got Pyros win pics in the mail the other day from his WD placements at Terry All a few weeks ago. I dont like the pic from Saturday much...Pyro just looks, well, blah, in it. I do like the pic from Sunday, quite a bit in fact. Just wish his head was turned a little more toward the photographer. But, otherwise I think its a pretty good picture!!

We are off to NM with the Pointers next weekend for the Rio Grande KC shows. We managed to build majors in dogs, so hopefully one of the kids will come home with a major for the effort! lol. Wish us luck :)

Recovery...

Is DEFINATLY NOT EASY!! Oh wow...I never imagined I would be this sore! The best way to describe it is that I feel like my entire upper body was used as a punching bag. I've never seen bruises this nasty (but, all to be expected, so its ok) and my arms, neck, abs, even my JAW hurts! LOL. I've been trying to get up and moving around quite a bit, and I think the compensating to keep pressure off my chest is making me sore everywhere else. Showering this evening was increadibly strange. I feel like a child again, since I cant even wash my own hair!!

BUT, I'm loving the new size already!! Dr Heinz took 3.5 pounds from one side, and 4 pounds from the other. Its CRAZY just the noticable difference already. OMG...my shirts actually FIT ME CORRECTLY!! I love it, even if I am hurt and sore!! I cant wait to be all healed up again :)
Thank you to everyone for your kind wishes, prayers, and thoughts for me during all of this. It means more than you know just to know that everyone is out there thinking about me during this time and hoping the recovery goes well. Its also nice to be able to talk and text and email to break the monotony.

My poor boys dont know what to do without thier Momma...Pyro and Broker wont eat...Louie is making himself sick...Tony keeps frantically looking for me. We let them out one at a time this afternoon so they would stay calm and get to see me again. Hopefully it will help them all relax a little. The house is a little tense right now since Brians in "protection" mode over me...I make a weird noise, he freaks out! Poor guy. He was so worried during the procedure too. 2 seconds to me was 3 hours for him...sitting in the waiting room staring at a wall. I loved my doctors, nurses, and the entire procedure was wonderful. They made sure I was comfortable the entire time, even if the bloodpressure cuff nearly killed me!!
Maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling ok and able to stand up straight (I've found hunched forward is a little more comfortable) we can take a picture and post the before and after shots...you'll be amazed at just the amount of sheer MASS that was removed...the first thing I said when I was coherant and looked down was "Where did they go??"

Hopefully the next few weeks go smoothly.....will definatly keep everyone posted!!

And Away We Go!

Its been crazy around here lately. Getting everything prepared for my surgery hasnt been easy, although I am looking forward to the break from the insane!

We attended the Terry All Kennel Clubs shows this last weekend in Brighton, Colorado. Overall, it was a great weekend :) I handled Pyro to back-to-back WD placements, which added 2 points to his total. This will be his last show for a bit due to my surgery/recovery time, and that he is just soooo much dog! We will probably be sending him out with a handler later this summer to try to pick up some majors and hopefully get our silly redhead finished!! Melissa and Maui won thier Juniors class back-to-back as well, which added to thier points, and as far as we know, makes them the #1 Pointer Junior Handler team in the US at present! YAY!!! Go Girls!! Louie behaved beautifully for me on Saturday, but wasnt the Judges cup of tea, so got Reserve, and he behaved well for Melissa on Sunday, but acted his age in Winners and again got Reserve. LOL. Gotta love puppies!!!! We brought Broker along for some experience on the show buildings and general getting out and about, and he adjusted well. Not as fast as I would have liked, but he was walking through the building wagging his tail just fine by Sunday. He is absolutly adorable, and was loved on by everyone, so I think he had a good time, got lots of love and lots of cookies, and had no problem getting back in the van Sunday morning to do it all over again ;) Hopefully he has a nice little show career ahead of him!!

Maui cut her foot open last week and so we made a run to the E-vet...not cheap, but she'll be fine. 3 stitches in between her toes that will come out in a week or so. And Louie got kicked in the nose by one of the other Pointers running up the back porch steps and had quite the bloody nose going on for a bit. All is well now, and I HOPE it STAYS that way!!

On to the people drama! After spending most of the night in the ER with a good friend, getting home and getting 4 hours of sleep before heading off to work...lunch finally came around and I went and picked up Brian and his friend Tony, and we headed off to grab some food...and got rear ended. The back end of my Cadillac is destroyed, including my backup sensors and entire exhaust system. I'm just glad though that the airbags didnt deploy. My neck is aching pretty good, and despite denying EMS at the scene, I have a feeling I'm going to end up in the hospital later on this evening. YAY!! Just what I need a week before my surgery! Oh well. At least the Cadi can go into the shop while I'm recovering. I feel bad for the Soldier that hit us...he was driving a leased vehicle and he was going to turn it back in this evening!! Poor guy.

I'll post Pyros pictures when I get them....

Health Testing and CHIC

I think we have a few EXPENSIVE months ahead of us here. Its getting to be health testing time!! YAY!

Actually, health tests make me insanely nervous! I sit on pins and needles until I get the results back!

Maui, Tony, and Gibbs are going to get thier eyes CERFd next month. After that will be a Cardio exam for Pyro. Provided he passes that, we'll do his eyes as well. In June, Tony, Gibbs, and Cosmo will be going in to have their hips and elbows done for OFA. And then probably in June or July, I'll have Maui, Tony, Gibbs and Pyros thyroid pulled as well. So, hopefully, by July, we will have met all the requirements for our "of age" Pointers to be included in not only the OFA database, but to aquire a CHIC number as well. Pyro will take much longer! lol.

The CHIC program is a strange thing...its in place to encourage broad spectrum health testing and reporting of ALL results, and is NOT an idicator that a dog actually passed, only that they were tested. BUT, if its there, and recommended, I'll test for it. Why not. At least I'll know my dogs (and those I bred!) are healthy :)

Onward to surgery and health testing!! (One for me, one for the dogs! Can you tell I'm excited?? lol)

Quite The Adventure!

Well, the title says it all. We had quite the adventure last weekend. And it started on Thursday. A Spring storm popped up and blanketed Colorado in snow and ice. Well, since we are in Southern Colorado, we got blanketed in ice! My 10 minute drive home from work took well over an hour, and we were even released 2 hours early because they shut down Fort Carson and sent all Soldiers and Civilians home! The roads really werent that bad, just the people who dont know how to drive in inclimate weather that were causing issues. CO DOT ended up shutting down I-25 due to multiple accidents, both south of Pueblo and north of Denver. So, going north or south out of Colorado was out of the question!! We woke up Friday morning to snow covered ice. The dogs had a ball playing in the snow in the yard, and since Fort Carson was closed, Brian and I both had the day off work. Only a few problems with that: 1) We were supposed to leave after work on Friday for Nebraska. 2) We needed to get dog food before we left or the second we got home on Sunday we would be running out to get more food. 3) I-25 was still closed.
With 5 dogs to bath before we left, we decided to just take our time, get the dogs and crates cleaned, get the van packed, and then figure out what to do from there. After bathing Miss Prada, I checked the CO DOT website again, and found out that we could take HWY 85 as the alternate route to I-25. It would add an hour to our drive, but at least it was passable. So, alternate plan in place, we started moving a little faster. After getting Louie, Maui, Gibbs, and Pyro bathed as well, the van mostly loaded, and everything ready to go, I checked CO DOT website one last time: I-25 was now open. We were on our way! I had already changed our hotel reservation to add Friday night as well. We said goodbye to Tony and Broker, who were being left home with my Parents for the weekend, and we left. We made it to Denver in good time with no problems...and got stopped dead in Denver traffic. 2 hours later, we finally made it through Denver and back up to highway speeds. It was a rather uneventful drive after that, flat and boring, as usual! We got checked into the hotel, had dinner with a friend, and then went back and settled in with the dogs. The Scottsbluff KC had pushed the show time back an hour to allow people more travel time due to the weather, so our 9 am ring time was moved back to 10, which was nice. Allowed us to take our time and get breakfast and everything else and get the dogs ready. Since Dobermans immediatly followed Pointers at 10 am, in the same ring, with the same Judge, we had to bring all 4 dogs into the building at once. Melissa was able to come and help me out with the Pointers. She handled Louie for me, since I had Gibbs in BBX. Louie won his class (only one) and Gibbs won his class(again, only one). Louie ended up going WD, and Gibbs went RWD, so Lou got his first point! YAY!! (Thanks Melissa!!) I took Prada in next, and she was the only bitch entered, and won her class and went WB. Going back in for BOB, the BOB winner was the gorgeous "Josh" - Ch Taharis Too Wild To Be Serious, and Prada won BOW/BOS, for another point, bringing her total to 5 points with one major. I ran out of the Pointer ring, grabbed Pyro out of his crate, and went straight back into the Dobe ring with him. He is not a dog you can do that with!! He galloped and bounced and was esentially just a wild puppy wanting to play, all the time he was in the ring. He ended up getting second out of 2 in his class. Oh well, valuable lesson learned!
We got to hang around the rest of the day waiting for Juniors. At least I got to change into regular clothes!! We watched Josh in the Sporting Group (he made the cut, should have got a piece of it, but the judge had other ideas) while we were hiding from Maui while her and Melissa were in Juniors. All the waiting was worth it, since Melissa won her class, giving her another win towards Euk and West, and as far as we are aware to this point, making her the #1 Pointer Junior handler in the country. (Shes #2 through the end of February)
Back to the hotel, where Pizza, movies, and just plain good old quiet time with the dogs and away from the house and "normal" life awaited.
Unfortunatly, someone left a yappy dog (ended up being a Shiba Inu) in the van that was parked under our window, so that, combined with our own dogs who decided they needed to fuss all night, and the kids running up and down the hall (loudly!) led to a long, sleepless, eventfull night!! Louie, Prada, and Pyro all ended up getting put out in the van at about 2 am because they just wouldnt shut up. Thankfully, the weather was warm enough that we had that option. 5 am came way too soon, so we snoozed the alarm until 6 and promised to pack quickly. Come 6 am, getting ready for the day, packing the room back up, getting the dogs walked, grabbing breakfast, checking out, and getting to the show was all done in record time. 8 am ring times are never any fun!! Lucky for us, Pointers were at 8, Dobes were at 9, and Juniors at 11, so we had plenty of time to relax between ringtimes today. Melissa was there to help with the Pointer kids again, so she took Louie back in the ring for me...winning thier class, and I took Gibbs into BBX, winning our class. Today, Gibbs took WD, and Louie took RWD. I handed Gibbs off to Melissa and took Prada into her class, again going WB since she was the only one. Back in for BOB, Josh again wins the breed, and Prada again goes BOW/BOS for another point, bringing her total to 5. Shes 1/3 of the way there ;) YAY. Pointers went back to the van, and we brought Pyro in to calm down in the building a bit. Going in the ring under Jon Cole, Pyro actually behaved for the most part, even if he did try to do the whole "I love you so much Mom, I have to look at you all the time!" act, and won his class and continued on to get RWD. So exciting :) We hung out and got to talk with friends for a bit while waiting for Juniors. Hiding from Maui is becoming easier...I dont think she looks for us as much anymore, and we can get a little closer and still be able to watch a bit. Melissa ended up getting third in her class, and we said goodbye to everyone and hit the road! It always feels good to start driving home after a long weekend.

5 hours later, we pulled in the driveway and unloaded. It always quicker unloading than loading, anyone else noticed that? Sure felt good to be home, thats for sure! Tony and Broker were happy to see us :)
We ended up having to run out and buy dog food as soon as we got home :( Oh well.
We had a good weekend......but I'm so happy the next show is a lot closer to home!!!!

Happy Birthday To Pyro!!

My baby redhead is growing up! Tomorrow is his first birthday, and on one hand, I cant believe he is already a year old, but on the other hand, I cant believe he is only a year old!

Despite everything we have endured and been through over the past year, Pyro has been a gem of a dog. He is a big, goofy sweetheart, and we thouroughly enjoy having him in the house.

Some of my favorite photos of my baby boy growing up:

We have spent a lot of time working on obedience and attention, so hopefully, by the end of the year, Pyro will have at least a Rally title to his name. Hopefully by then, he will have picked up the remaining points he needs to complete his Championship as well, and we can concentrate on obedience and such full time.

In the mean time, we enjoy life day to day, with our beautiful goofy redhead making us laugh!

Oh Boy, What A Weekend!!

Its never a good sign when you look at the calendar and realize that not only are you going to a show in a time zone an hour ahead of you, but that Sunday is daylight savings as well!
We left at 1am Saturday morning to drive out to the Garden City, KS shows. Its a 4.5 hour drive from our house, so figured we could take our time and have some time to rest and relax before we actually had to show. Two hours into the drive, I suddenly realized that the only shoes I brought with me were the flipflops I had on my feet. You would not believe how deserted Wal-Mart is at 3 AM!! lol. I'm just glad they had shoes that fit, and that would work for dog shows :) Problem solved for $8.99!
Got to the show site around 6 am, got all our stuff set up and we were able to play with the dogs and relax for a few hours. Pyro was first up at 9 am, and, the goofy redhead decided he needed to skip his way around the ring (lol...at least he has fun!!) and came out with second place out of 3 puppies. This is his last show as a puppy, btw. We got to relax and play with the puppies until noon. Stacey and Rodger brought thier boys, and we got to play with ZZ and Gibbs and Dex and get them to relax in the building as well. Pointers were HECTIC! LOL. Between Stacey and I, we had brought the entire class entry, and I was handling 3 of the 5! Louie won his puppy class by bouncing around the ring and generally having a great time! Gibbs won the BBX class with his son ZZ going second. Dex won Open Dog, and looked great with Rodger handling him (and it was Rodgers first time ever in the show ring!). Winners dog (and the major) went to Dexter, with Reserve going to Gibbs. Prada won her class and went Winners (only bitch entered) She hopped, skipped, and bounced her way around the Best of Breed ring and the judge gave BOB to the GORGEOUS special, Josh (Ch Taharis Too Wild To Be Serious), BOW to Dex, and BOS to Prada. Louie ended up going Best Puppy over Prada.
Sunday, we had Dobes and Pointers both straight up at 9 am. Cynthia Huckfeldt was kind enough to take Pyro into the Puppy class for me so I could handle the Pointers. Pyro won his class with her expert guidance. Going into Pointers, Louie won his class, and judge Charles Trotter couldnt stop telling me how gorgeous he was, but how I needed to let him move out to his true ability. In Bred By, Gibbs won the class again with ZZ going second, and Dexter won Open. Winners dog again went to Dex, with Reserve going to Lou. Prada actually kept all 4 feet on the ground, and went Winners bitch (again, only bitch entered). Best of Breed again went to Josh, with BOW/BOS going to Prada (for a major!! YAY!). Best Bred-By went to Gibbs.
I got back over to the Dobe ring in time to take Pyro back in for Winners, and he ended up with Reserve to the major!!
All in all, it was a great weekend, with Sunday being just awesome. Gibbs came home with us, and will stay out here for a bit. We are going to see if we cant pack some weight on him while hes out here as he has the same "I dont really want to eat" issues that his Mom and Brothers have! So we DEFINATLY have a full house! lol.
Off to another show in a few weeks, hopefully one of the boys can pick up another single or two (dont think there will be majors) and Prada can cross for another single or two.

On a personal note, got my approval letter from Tricare for my surgery! YAYYYYYY!!!!!!!! After it is all said and done, I will have to post (*clean*) before and after pics. I'm so excited, but I'm so nervous as well. They are going to remove between 8 and 10 pounds overall to get them down to a managable size, and I cant wait to be NORMAL! LOL.

In the mean time, dont forget to vote for Pyro in the Bissell contest!!!!

New Pics of The "Babies"

Broker at 4 months

Prada 6 months

Louie 6 months

Pyro 11 months

We are off to Garden City, KS this weekend for the shows out there. Its majors in Dobes and Pointer dogs, so hopefully we can come home with some pointed kids!! Wish us luck!!

6 months already?

The babies turned 6 months this weekend. I almost cant believe they are that old already! Seems like just yesterday Pyro and I were driving out to Doberman Nationals in Topeka, KS and took a side trip to see Gibbs litter in Kansas City, and a pretty little Orange/White Pointer baby stole my heart! BUT, both the babies are doing awesome, couldnt ask for much more! Louie is a chunky little guy, and Prada likes to keep her trim figure ;) Both are absolute sweethearts, crazy for ice cubes like the rest of my crew. Louie is just gorgeous! I cant wait to see how he does in the ring. Prada needs to fill in, A LOT! lol. I have a feeling shes going to take after the very slow to mature side of her lines, whereas Louie is coming right along. BUT, Prada has the nicer head of the two, very feminine, and dishy. Brian and I went for a drive up hwy 83 to Parker on Saturday, just to get out of the house, and we took Miss Prada with us, and she had a blast. She loves being the center of attention, gets so happy and waggy. Shes the lowman on the totem pole in our house, so we've been trying to get her out and about on her own so she can develop her own personality and attitudes. Shes a completly different dog away from the rest.

Our next shows are in Garden City, KS. We built a major in Pointer dogs, and have Louie, ZZ (Louie and Pradas liver brother), Gibbs, and Dexter entered. And then Prada is the only class bitch. So, hopefully, Prada will be able to cross for the major both days and then I wont have to worry about her getting majors! The Doberman people also built a major in Dobes, its a 4 point major (if everyone shows, since its on the *nose*) on Saturday, and a 3 point on Sunday. Again, I would be on Cloud 9 to major-point Pyro!
After that, I'm not sure if we will go to Scottsbluff or not. Gibbs may come back here with us from the Garden City shows, but I'm not sure on that or not yet. Regardless, we will go to the Terry All shows here in Colorado as well, probably only with Louie and Pyro. Prada needs to grow up some before I get too serious about showing her. Broker will be too young for Terry All by 3 days :(. After Terry All, I'm not sure what we will be doing, because I'm having my surgery on April 22nd, and Brian deploys in late May. I really enjoyed the Albuquerque shows last May, but not sure if I'll be up to it this year since its just a few weeks past my surgery. Anyways, thats all a ways off.

I'm going to try to get Brian to build me some agility equipment to play with in the backyard before he leaves, so that I can avoid paying out hundreds for agility classes since he is in the "pay off debt or else" mode right now.

Thats my updates for now......

Catching Up...

Things got kind of crazy around here with Brian coming home from training and the new puppy moving in.

Broker has been here for over a week now, and has adjusted very well. Since I havent introduced him yet, Broker is officially known as Set'r Ridge's Day Trader, and is an English Setter :) Hence the reason I call him the hairy beast. He has adjusted well to our house, and is a goof, which is great cuz he fits right in!!! Hes also a true Monkey, and will climb on ANYTHING he possibly can!! It is so different having a fuzzy dog in the mix!

The puppies are continuing to grow like weeds, Prada is in a very ackward stage right now, and Louie is looking better and better with each passing day. I havent been doing much other than teaching them to "wait", "stay", and "stand" besides general manners. Pyro has been doing great though. Since his obedience crackdown started, he is behaving much better. He has become obsessed with carrying things in his mouth, which is fine. He always takes a toy out with him to potty, and always picks one to bring into his crate with him while we are at work. Silly Goof.

Tony is continueing to gain weight, which is really exciting for us!! I am so thankful for Purina Pro Plan Shredded Blend!! Hopefully he can put on another 8-10 pounds, and then we can finally get him nuetered.

Its the weekend of the Rocky Mountain Cluster, which is 4 days of all breed shows in Denver, CO. I only entered Pyro Sat/Sun because of work and I wanted to spend some time with Brian, so limited my entries. Melissa has Maui in Juniors those days as well. Today (Saturday) Pyro got 2nd/2, but showed well, moved like a twit, but stacked like a dream. Tomorrow is another day, and I've got a really gorgeous young dog on my hands, so I'm not too worried about finishing him fast. Melissa and Maui placed 4th in Open Intermediate today as well.

Fun Match....again :)

This past Sunday, I took Pyro out to the Irish Setter Club fun match. Left the babies at home since Prada is kinda in a weird stage right now, and Louie wasnt feeling too well the night before. So I just took the big red dog, and figured it would be good for him to get out with just me for the day. Typical Pyro, walked into the building acting like he owned the place, and within 2 minutes, was like "Oh, another dog show" and just chilled the entire time outside the ring. Besides slippery-feet issues with stacking and gaiting (floors were smooth cement with no mats!) he did soooooo good! He listened, he behaved, he even ignored a bitch in heat! (I guess if its not spotted he just dont care! lol)
And in the end, he beat another Dobe puppy for Best Doberman Puppy, and went on to place Second behind the Mastiff in a LARGE Puppy Working Group! I'm so proud of my little(big!) man!

Fun Match

I'm a bit late posting this but this week has been really crazy!

Last sunday, I took the babies up to the Terry All Kennel Club fun match, just for the practice and to get them out since I havent really done much with them since they got here! They both suprised me with how well behaved they ended up being, and how quickly they adjusted to their surroundings! Since, like I said, neither of them have been out much at all other than going to the vet and the occasional car ride, when they both had tails out and wagging within 5 minutes of walking into the building, I was impressed. They met all kinds of people and dogs, got loved on by everyone, and we just had an overall good time. I came home with two very tired puppies, which is always pleasant!

I entered them both in the 3-6 month puppy class, since they were a week shy of 5 months old at the time. Melissa was kind enough to handle Miss Prada for me, although Prada decided she was going to be *very* uncoperative on the moving part! The judge definatly made them work for the prizes! (Which were jumbo-sized cookies, btw) Both won thier class, and best male and female puppy since they were the only Pointers entered! Louie ended up going Best Pointer Puppy, and so we got to hang around and wait *forever* for groups! Eventually though, it was time for Puppy Group, and since Louie was getting tired, he was also behaving himself :) and managed to be awarded the Sporting Puppy Group Second. I was very pleased with the little guys performance. I think he is going to be a gorgeous boy when he grows up, and so far, is off to a great start.

Next weekend we plan on going to another fun match, so will update more when the time comes.

In the mean time, I have been working on getting the puppies to walk on leashes (LOL...yeah, I forgot about that part!) and to stand correctly. Happy Legs are a blessing!

The puppies first show is in March, Pyros next show is Valentines weekend (puppies will be too young by a week!) and Maui will be in Juniors with Melissa at that show as well. We have a new addition coming in early February, which is exciting. Nope, not a Pointer. Right now, we will just call it the "big hairy beast"... lol. More on that later. :)

Peace and Quiet, kind of!

Brian left yesterday for a month of training...so things will be quiet around here for alittle bit! YAY! LOL. I'm always amazed at how much more I get accomplished when he leaves!

Anyways, the updates:

I decided I should focus my clicker-efforts on just one dog for now, since I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, and I get frustrated quickly and dont want to just give up completly. Since Pyro has the most training of everyone, and the bigger brain of the 5 (:)) I decided that he will be my guinea pig! The rest I'm just gonna do the "old fashioned" way, with lots of cookies and praise. Seems to work well with Pointers anyways.

So, Pyro has been doing well. We have been working on "remembering" how to "Sit" on command. As well as "Stand", "Hold", "Release", and "Wait". Seems like a lot, but he already "knows" them all, just doesnt want to think he does! LOL. He has completly forgotten how to "Down", but I have also gotten the impression that it is because he thinks he is a big boy now, and that he doesnt have to lay down when I tell him to. Hes beginning a power struggle with me as well, which is one of the biggest reasons I have started the "training crackdown" on him. He is too big and too strong for me to push around anymore, so I really need him to listen at all times. He is a *really big* boy!

We are going to a conformation fun match next weekend, and I'm planning on taking Pyro and the two puppies (Louie and Prada) and I expect that Pyro will listen to me, that Louie and Prada will get exposure, and hopefully Prada will get a little bit of confidence out of it. I am going to see if I can get someone else to handle Prada for me, so that she gets handled by other people and exposed to different things. The more she realizes good things can come from different people and places, the more confidence she will get. Pyro...I just want him to come away having put in a good performance. If he listens to me in and out of the ring, and isnt a butthead, then we will have won no matter what.

Will try to update again at the beginning of next week...

Clicker!

So I finally bit the bullet and decided to try clicker training. I really like the concepts behind it, so figured I would at least give it a try before I write it off completely!
We went out and bought a clicker today. One of the blue ones with the little orange button that you press that makes the "click". I came home, put a wrist strap on it, put loads of cookies into the treat pouch, and grabbed a dog!
Tony was my first victim! The information said you have to teach the dog first off that the click means something good will come, so it was "click, treat....click, treat" for about 25 repetitions! Louie was next, then Maui, then Prada. I'll do Pyro later. They all seemed *really* into the cookies. Prada was the only one that actually acknowledged the noise of the clicker. Dont know what that means at all (if anything!), but I guess we will see when we actually advance onto teaching them to do something! I'm excited...I love having new toys to play with!

Brian leaves this week for a month of training. It would be nice to have all the dogs a little bit better trained by the time he comes home next month!

New Year, New Adventure!

The new year has brought many new asperations, and since the top of the list was a new job, and that has been found, its time to move on to other things!
New on the top of the list is to get serious about training! I have 4 dogs I need to finish Championships on, and 3 that I would like to put an obedience or rally title on by the end of 2009.

Let me introduce them:

Maui - 6 year old spayed Pointer bitch. Very very very soft, and shuts down on you quickly. EXCELLENT showdog(finished champion), and currently being used in Juniors by a very talented young lady. Would like to at least get a rally title on her.

Tony - 18 month old Pointer dog. Just plain crazy. Really smart, but I havent taken the time to focus him on anything, so he is aimless and wild right now. Obedience here we come!

Louie- 4 month old Pointer dog. Just a baby. Needs manners. Will finish CH before we get serious on obedience beyond the basics.

Prada - 4 month old Pointer bitch. Louies sister. Just a baby, needs manners and confidence. I may do obedience and agility with her first just to get her more sure of herself before we hit the show rings.

And the Pointer-wanna-be: Pyro - 10 month old Doberman dog. Knows the basics, needs to be tuned. Turning into a huge butthead, and needs to be given a job to do so he doesnt get out of control. He will be shown selectivly this year, and hopefully I can focus him back in and work on titling him in obedience/rally.


I have never titled a dog in Obedience, or rally. I have never really been able to take the time to do the training! With 5 dogs in the house, I've realized things are a little out of control! But, I also work full time, I go to school full time, and I have a million other things to take care of every day. I've always been a Conformation-only person, but have realized its high time I make my dogs work a little harder for their livings! LOL. I'd love to get into agility and tracking as well, but for now, I think obedience will be a big enough undertaking for me! I may try the puppies in the field later this year, and see what they think of birds, but, they have to know how to listen first!