Wednesday, December 29, 2010

May the Force be with You

Since Frank accepted the Bed Dog position with Meredith, things have been a brewin'.

Last nights incident....

Frank and the Cat sitting on the bed.
Dog bowl with Frank’s dinner on the bed.
Cat between said bowl and Frank.
Staring and staring at each other.
Alec walked by with a “May the Force be with you” comment and they continued to stare at each other.
Furrow in Frank’s brow getting deeper and deeper as he tried all his Jedi mind tricks to get the cat to move.
Frank "The power of the Dark Side is strong in the Cat."
Cat "I sense something... A presence I have not felt since...."

Jedi Master Meredith stepped in at that point and banished the Cat to the farthest reaches of the universe, ie, under the bed. Frank thanked her and asked her to teach him the ways of the Force.

Jedi Master Meredith " Live for thirteen years you do, see how powerful in the Force you become, hmmmm?”

I'm picturing the Cat in one of the Tie fighters(gerbel ball), spinning aimlessly across the cold dark space known as the underside of the bed. Frank having finished his dinner, looking at his paws and reflecting while looking off the side of the bed, light saber at his side, ready for when there is another disturbance in the Force.

Later gators...
C

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

by the light of the tree

Okay, so my dogs are a little off. Really off. After a rough day of entertaining guests, Moose decided he needed a little relaxing by the light of the Christmas tree.
Please note, yes I have a real tree. Yes the branches are purposely high. And yes, it's full of antique glass ornaments. Not a one broken, not an attempt to pee on the tree or snag and run with anything. One rule is that no presents are under the tree till Christmas Eve- I hate rewrapping presents.
Later gators....
C

Enough already


Luna says that she's had more then enough of the howlidays! Or was it too much turkey? Or did she over indulge in Grandma's homemade doggie treats? Which ever it was, she's assumed her great granddad's favorite position with her feet waving at the ceiling in surrendor to it all!

Later gators...
C

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Blessings

Well, one more partial day of work! Since I'm still having issues on the old computer at home, unless we get ambitious on Sunday and set up the new computer, no postings until I get back to work on Monday.
And yes, I know, the corgi is sitting a little crooked in the photo--darn wind tipped it then it froze in the ground that way. Kind of fits our life though, just a little off kilter!
From all of us at Foggy Bottom and Summit, Christmas Blessings to all! May those out west have wellies without holes, hoping Santa brings those in the midwest a new shovel and for my friends in the south, wishing you warm downy jackets and earmuffs in your stockings!
Lator gators...
C


The most scenic drive to work



Later gators....
C

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

shaking my head....

Text just sent:
Can U please shovel the drift at the top of the drive? Notice the word shovel not drive.

Reply:
Yes


See, it seems that last winter instead of shoveling, he would take the tahoe and run it back and forth up the 150 foot drive to pack the snow. Just found this out on Saturday. No wonder a sitting vehicle got such crappy mileage last winter.

Later gators...
C

Call backs

The first round of call backs started last night. Frankie was first up. All went well, though Alec says she needs to be fair all the way around and offer auditions to the evil blue dogs too. Unfortunately, the roll calls for short small dogs, not long legged pushy dogs who kick her out of bed.

Frankie spent the night laying on the Ms, not always a good thing. But to his defense, part of the roll means that you have to keep track of the cat. Vantage point is best when laying on the highest ground, ie, the Ms. The biggest issue was when Daisy decided to jump up on the bed. That involved jumping on the Ms, touching Frankie on the way to curling up on the Ms' head. The infamous OMG eyes came out and he went- too close, too close, too close! After a slight break to regain his composure by retreating to the foot of the bed, he decided to suck it up for the part and returned to his mark and spent the rest of the night draped across her chest.

Right now it looks like Frankie's got the part locked up, but it's not been posted for sure yet.

Later gators....
C

Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas decor

Too cute not to share. From Kim S, this is Gavin with Annie(aka Beverly) and her new Christmas decorations.
Enjoy!

Later gators....
C

Shout out!

It's nuts out there right now. Cars, crazy pedestrians and snow. I hate shopping so I usually have a detailed list, that was except for yesterday. No list, just a leisure day of tripping through cute shops and finally getting up to our favorite winery - Tabor's, in Baldwin, IA. Came away with a fine selection for gifts and of course, lots of wine for us!

But the main reason we were in our favorite town up north, Dubuque that is, was to deliver a very special package to a very special person. My dear friend Colleen, of Murphy and Porter fame, met us up just across the river in WI to pick up Shooter! After the lose of her very dear Porter a few months ago, she contacted me wondering, if by chance, I might have a lovely little girl that could befriend Murphy. All indications from yesterday's first meet and greet is that things are going in the right direction. Waiting to hear later in the week if it kept going well. Shoo-bug is now going to try some herding and of course, her best attribute, keeping laps warm, will be well used!

With that note, Ms Meredith is now holding auditions for the replacement bed dog. Clairee and Shoobug slept with her, and the cat. Clairee on the floor beside the bed and Shooter on the bed, sucked as close as she could get or under the covers or with the cat sleeping on top of her. Frankie already got his first audition and Merlot's turn was last night. From what I heard, there will be call backs for both dogs as it's a very tough decision.

Later gators....
C

Friday, December 17, 2010

Pupdates

As the year draws to a close, I'm taking a look back at 2010 and going, holy moly, this one is a record!

Let's see--
~rePete, Peterman, Pete-Pete the Sweet, got a Group 4 in the spring.
~Margie, at the ripe old age of 5 1/2 and having taken 4 full years off of showing, got her final points to finish her championship.
~Ruff is on his way to his GRCH with extremely selective showings--getting all his current points at a supported entry!
~The loss of a great dog, the eternal keeper of the couch, Hope.
~Almost loosing the Evil Blue Dog in the spring to a close pyo. Eeek!
~Another very successful dog show in the books and now to next year.
~The Ms and Merlot were BJIS at the fair and took a couple Bests for her poultry too.
~Rio joined the horse gang-turning into quite the silly boy.
~And of course, we can not forget the now infamous, Dirty Dozen. I still feel for poor Abbey.

And speaking of the Dirty Dozen, here's a few pupdates:
~Maxwell(James) is in a performance home in WI. Doing awesome and the star of the recent dishwasher photo.
~Annie(Beverly) and Tannet(Connor) are big time Hawkeye Fans living in Indiana.
~Sam(Drew) is charming his dad in IA and his dad promised him a playmate in 2011.
~Einstein and Percy are now organic farm dogs in IL. Oh beekeepers too!
~Gryffin(Adolph) is in IL with his own boy and two cardigan friends.
~Bud(Junior) lives in TN and I have been told that he now barks with an accent.
~Chipster(Ruffles Jr) as you know, is up in MN to play show dawg with his pemmie cousins.
~And last but not least, Luna the Princess, Walt the Goof and Charlie the Woofer are still here and creating havoc aka running AMOK AMOK AMOK AMOK!

It's been a very busy year around here. I am so hoping for a quiet 2011---like that will ever happen!

Later gators...
C

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

deja 'vu

Guess who?

Later gators...
C

Friday, December 10, 2010

Must see

Dawn just sent me a link to the most amazing site. I had to pass this on.

http://www.andiesisle.com/creation/magnificent.html

Here's a link to her main page. http://www.andiesisle.com/ I haven't had a chance to look at all her other video clips, let me know if there's one I must see. Enjoy!


Later gators....
C

In the genes?

Granted it's not the mini-me(he's up in MN going to his first fun match this weekend) but this is like way too scary!

Kim----might you have the matching photo?????

This is Maxwell(aka James of the Dirty Dozen). His mom, Liz, sent this to me today and I choked on my tea when I saw the photo. This litter takes after their father in so many ways, it really concerns me. I'm now waiting for someone to relay a Christmas present story.

Maxwell is doing great by the way. He has the tunnels down in agility as well as played on the bobble board for a little bit. Not a care or fear in the world. Way to go Liz and Maxwell!!!

Update: I found the link to Kim's blog post about Russ and his love of the dishwasher. Take a look. Like I said, scary isn't it?

http://cardicorgicapers.blogspot.com/2008/02/dishwasher.html

Later gators...
C

Started a trend!

I started a trend! The last week and 1/2, SD-L(one of my favorite chat groups) has been having a dog show vehicle discussion. And to top it off, most of the conversation was about the rust, trusty 'burbs!!!

I'm ahead of my time. I wish. Not really, just keeping up with the flow.

Later gators....
C

Friday, December 3, 2010

Spending money

David and I have some fun conversations at night. Earlier in the week he was all excited about the NASA news conference refering to life on other planets. Okay, so it didn't turn out like he hoped(little green men and all) but in a twist it was exciting to know that the limits we put on how life an exist, are about to be stretched.

As we are also looking at spending more money on a new "dog bus", there have been some interesting articles out about millionaires and their spending habits. Like more normal people, I have a mortage, kids in college, soon to be going to college child, work to support my dog habit and we have economized more in the last couple of years. Cook more, leftovers for lunch. Carpooling to work. Recycling most of our garbage. Love doing the thrift and consignment shop thing. Looking into solar for the house, windturbines on the property, etc. But what was most interesting is what the billionaires have to offer the rest of us as to how they spend their money, especially on vehicles.

Did you know that only 23.5 percent of millionaires own a new car and 25.2 percent have not purchased a vehicle at all in the last four years. Millionaires don’t mind driving older cars. The masses who are in debt, love owning new vehicles that cost $25,000+. Meanwhile, they can’t make their minimum car payments. Example, Ingvar Kamprad, Founder of the Swedish furniture and home goods company IKEA, drives a 1993 volvo. Or Jim Walton, CEO of Arvest Bank, Youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, drives a 2002 Dodge Dakota Pickup. Part of the reasoning is that a new car will not be worth what is was in a few years. Insurance is considerably more and in all honesty, the quality just isn't what it was!

David recently sold his old pickup, a 98 GMC and got a new-to-him 2000 GMC with a larger cab. Various reasons for the upgrade. But what was most interesting was that when he sold the older truck, the blue book value was within $100 of what it was a few years ago and he sold it for only $500 less then he paid for it 4 years ago.

On to our current mission of finding the perfect "dog bus". I want another suburban. I've had 2 now and the tahoe is okay but just not enough room. I'd love to have a van or an element, but driving on gravel roads out in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle just prohibts that train of thought. I'm pretty specific about what I want too. Rear air and heat are a must. Extended version with the removable 3rd row seat. Has to have a tow package on it and 4wd. Nothing newer then a 2000 as they changed the body style and you loose 6" or more in inside width(very important when it comes to putting crates in it) and a couple of the new models are higher off the ground and lose some rear head clearence inside too. I don't want to have to lift a dog any higher then needed into the back. Color, could care less but I did love the last one I had-the gold burb. I've had my eye on a nice green one in town too. The best part, my dad's a car dealer on the side. So I'm going to get a good deal, have a great warranty on it and have a lot of options to look at.

I might not be a millionare, billionaire or whatever yet, but I'm sure going to take some advice from them. They didn't get where they are or stay that way by buying for status, one up's manship but instead were practical.

Later gators...
C

This and that-showing

I figured it would be easier to express my thoughts here then muddle up Garrett's blog with my rambling.

The condensed version of his pondering is basically, when is enough enough for showing a dog. How many shows should it take or should you expect to finish a dog and at times is continuing to show a dog in attempt to finish them justified.

I was blessed with my first two cardigans. Fred finished when he was 13 mos old, Phoebe was 19 or 20 mos old. We spent the summer of that first year going to shows and being the only entries. No points, but figuring I'd paid my money and both the dogs and I needed experience, so might as well go. Inbetween as girls do, Phoebe went in season, then blew coat. By the time Fred was done, the majors started appearing, but naked Phoebe, stayed home. I didn't expect it to go as quickly as it did. I was blessed.

After that we specialed Fred, Phoebe had finished and then hit the whelping box. Tuli stayed out of that litter and it was a totally different beast. Majors were hard to find but the number of total dogs being shown was much greater. I learned about judges then. And in the end, after one litter, Tuli retired. Multiple RWB to majors, lacking just her majors. Unfortunately, her last show was beyond a horrible experience for her with a rude exhibitor running into the table during their down and back, completely wrecking an already fragile dog(she'd been recently attacked by a large dog outside the ring). That was it.

So to my point, we all have decision to make on why we are showing our dog, why we are pushing for those CH letters and we have to be honest with ourselves about why we are doing it. Tuli retired that day, never to see the inside of a show ring again. Was she worthy of finishing, yes I think so. Was I willing to keep pushing, no. As for the following generations, I've been blessed and it's not due totally to having superior quality dogs, that I will admit. But they have their own unique qualities that make their title worthy. I feel a lot of it falls into place with the judges on that day, the other entries and our dog on that day. We have to be honest about how our dogs are doing and why they win on that day. We have to get past the kennel blindness of the dog winning under a judge-what I mean to say is that know why your dog won. Was it for a good quality or bad? For example, the judge put up a group of dogs that are similar, but was it a quality worth rewarding? Was it color, toplines, how big your dog was?

If you want to take the stance of showing only to breeder judges, go for it. But I think breeder judges are harder on their own breed then all breed judges and are much more critical on specific faults then all-breed. Are you willing to get an opinion based on their preferences, of your breeding program? Pros and cons with that. Also, that means you will spend more time showing a dog as the supported entries and breeder judges aren't at every show. And are you only going to show to a judge who shares your views? Is that getting an honest opinion or just scratching someone's back?

Putting time limits on how long and how much you will invest in a dog can have it's draw backs too. I look at it this way when showing new puppies. Unless they are a cookie cutter of a dog a previously have shown to a judge, I will give many a second chance to see me with a different dog. But I also have a list of judges that I won't enter under because of what I've seen them put up on the past, even if I won under them. There are judges that might make good decisions, but have horrible manners, are rude or just not likeable. With the cost of showing now, I'm pickier then I was, which means less shows and yes, more time involved in showing a dog.

So let's look at Pete. I love this little dog. But I'm honest when showing her. She has a head that is not to many's likings. So I have to be careful about who I show her to. And that means she won't get her CH in the magic time frame that the rest of my dogs have been blessed with. Am I in a hurry?? Oh God no. I understand her limitations but I also love her great attributes of good structure and the best moving dog in my house(I just stop and watch her float across the yard some days). Like Alec and I agree, I am in no hurry to finish her, she will in her own sweet time. It's actually fun to not have the pressure of the time limit that everyone else thinks a dog needs to finish in. I'm enjoying showing again and the little Group 4 doesn't hurt either :)

BUT....to this I will add, that there are a lot of people out there that are more then willing to spend the money and the exceedingly long time needed to finish a so so dog. How long is too long? Are you having to create your own major with less then stellar dogs and go to specific judges that have rewarded you with multiple single points over and over again? There's been a few dogs recently that in all honesty, were not made for the show ring. Do you have to justify the dog by the title?

Last I might add this, are you so consumed about showing that you want to win at any cost? That you are willing to go anywhere, do anything, to win? Are you doing it for the sake of the breed or for your ego?

Later gators...
C