Photos from Richland

First photo is of Brewer's WD at the Supported Entry under breeder judge Emily Fish. Shown by Mandy Katasse. Thank you both so much :)

Below is Brewer winning Reserve Winners dog at the NWCF Regional Specialty. Thank you judge Kay Reamensnyder for this win and Mandy Katasse for showing him for me :)

Brewer's had a good weekend so far

I was unable to go to the Richland WA shows but Brewer still has done me proud!

Friday at the NWCF Regional Specialty Brewer was Reserve Winner's Dog to a 5 point major! Yolanda's Token was WD to finish. His Daddy Pilot was Best of Breed!

Saturday at the Supported Entry Brewer was WINNERS DOG for a FIVE POINT MAJOR! Joanne and Ferris' bitch London that is owned by Terry Devine was Winners Bitch! What a great weekend so far. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there to watch it

Catching up!

It has been a crazy busy last six weeks or so.  After Western Reserve in Ohio my job, personal life plus the farm and the dogs were all very busy with classes, training for shows, finding homes, getting new clients, upgrading systems in the farm management etc etc. You get the idea.

Daisy has found a new home, and most of the puppies have moved on as well. Cleary a 'clear red'/'pink' girl is getting some socialization with a dear friend of mine in Minneapolis area and Campbell the brindle girl and I are doing table time every day and becoming better on the lead.

I've entered the Regional Specialty in Richmond, WA Sept 30 and the Supported Entry on Oct 1 and 2. Its a long trip but I recently traded in the Expedition for something a bit smaller and more economical. I can't believe I'm driving ALONE again out west but I love driving and hopefully the Volvo V70 XC will NOT disappoint me on my trek west!!

Most importantly I will reunite with Zoe, Minnie and Huxley for a mini family photo opportunity, and Mandy, Carolyn and Denise can see Ava. The first two have never seen her, so will be nice to show her to them, albeit a little less hair :) I can't wait to see all my friends out there! I missed the national and by golly I'm going to see them come hell or high water!

The Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival was a huge success and I had the judges from the UK come home with me to inspect my flock and give me some helpful pointers. I'm really excited for breeding season but you can read more about it at my farm blog Ramsay Farms.

This weekend I am in a wedding and will be home a day before I head out to WA state for about 9 days. I have friends and family staying at my house to watch the few dogs I'm leaving behind so will not have to worry about that.

Hope everyone is having a great fall! We've had 3 nights of hard frost, and today's high was 51. Pretty chilly so early. let's hope its not an early winter. cuz its long enough as it is!

For those not on Facebook....

Ballantyne's Sweeps photo finally came in the mail! We usually wait 4+ weeks for our show photos. Unlike in the PNW where they get them the end of the same week! Ballantyne is stacked a bit nicer here, than her major win under Emily Fish, but I still like both photos :) Thank you to both breeder judges for seeing her merit.

FMKC win photos

Too tired to say much else right now. Just got home from Oregon :) It was a fantastic week! More soon about my trip I promise!

Ava winning a 3 point cross over major on Sunday under judge Jon Cole. Ava is now at 12 points with both majors. 

 Ballantyne is shown here winning BOS/BOW at the CWCCA Supported Entry on Saturday. Thank you breeder judge Emily Fish!

Now I'm just waiting for my Best of Opposite Sex in Sweepstakes photo. Maybe tomorrow?

FMKC weekend

The Fargo-Moorhead Kennel Club weekend is over! Thank God! I had to take a nap when I got home! :) Its always so much fun and work, but it is so worth it!

I went up Thursday to help my KC out. I am in charge of locking and opening all buildings every day, cleaning up the grounds and making sure there are tons of poop bags and garbage cans around the entire grounds. I even get a golf cart to tool around in!

Although numbers were down for the entire 3 day cluster, there were quality dogs to be had.

On Friday the judge Linea Linn Brown chose the Winner's Dog, Jasper, Shortdog's New Moon Rising, for Best Of Breed for a 4 point major to finish him! Congrats on your 4th major on him Teresa! Brewer was RWD and Ava was WB for a single point.

Saturday bright and early Tom Stewart was the Sweeps judge and chose Jasper for Best in Sweeps Puppy and my Ballantyne for Best Opposite in Sweeps Puppy. Best in Veteran Sweeps was Sully, GCH Cardidreams Blue Sullivan and Best Opposite in Veteran Sweeps was Cochen, CH Rhiwelli Cochen Cun O Gwenlais, owned by Barb and Steve Peterson.

Emily Fish was judging regular classes and she chose Teresa's boy for WD (she kept him in the classes to hold the major) and Emily chose Ballantyne as WB/BOW/BOS for her first 3 point major! Ava was RWB and Brewer was RWD. Ava was also best BBE and went on to win the Herding Group BBE! Thank you Teresa for being a good sport!

Not to be outdone, I had Ava and Ballantyne CERF'ed and Cardiac tested and they were both NORMAL for both! So healthy AND beautiful! :)

Sunday's judge was Jon Cole and he chose Teresa's boy again for WD (although he was really looking at Brewer as well...who was showing quite well, but Brewer was RWD to the major for the third day), and Ava was WB/BOW for her second 3 point major! Wahoo! She now has 12 points with both majors! Thanks again for holding the major Teresa!

It was a phenomenal weekend for me and one I can't believe happened, or will happen again any time soon!

To top it off, I picked up my new Briard puppy, Margot, at the show as well. She is a black AND natural eared, so I will have my work cut out for me with that, but she is very sweet and very fun so far. I can't wait to watch her grow up!

There was a potluck/picnic at the campers for the Briard and Cardigan folks and it was well attended with lots of food, laughs and we got to see Barb and Steve's puppies and super spoil them while we sat around and talked dogs. Saturday night the Cardigan crew went out to eat and afterwards had some ice cream to celebrate the eventful day and the beautiful 85 degree weather with a slight breeze.

Everyone commented on how they loved the show site and the KC members and they will be returning for the show next year too! I can't wait until next year's Supported Entry and hope that many others will come out for it as well next year!

Fargo Supported Entry

I had a quick moment to sit down at the computer.

I wanted to thank EVERYONE who helped to make the CWCCA Supported Entry a huge success its first year! I really appreciate everyone who helped donate for trophies, entered dogs, and drove the sometimes long distances to get to Fargo to support it. Without your willingness to do so, it would not have been as big of a success as it was.

The FMKC members were excited to see that the Supported Entry brought in such a large entry and are banking on other breed clubs to follow suit and make the entries worth while in Fargo. It was the first S.E. show and it went really well despite some anxiety on my part. Many thanks to the FMKC members and our show chair who helped during the show to make sure it went smoothly, Mary, Janelle and Lois you ladies rock!

I really hope that next year will be just as successful and hope to make it a yearly thing with breeder judges and Cardigan friendly judges. I have a list from last year that you guys had sent me for the show chair to pick and I can add names to it if you request some one special :)

Again many thanks to everyone who entered and congratulations to all the winners! I was really happy to just be a part of it, in and out of the ring and I hope that the mileage doesn't scare you away next year :)

Melt down

Hmm. I'm starting to do the melt down.

Having never done a Supported Entry, or a dog show chair position in the past this is all mind boggling.

First of all there is no 'list' of things that need to be done for a S.E. At least I never got one.

In passing, during several conversations with different people I keep finding more things that need to be done.

Oh. JUDGE'S gifts??!! really??

A CWCCA MEDALLION? Oh, that was supposed to be in the premium? Now to track one down and get it here by Saturday.

Special rosettes? hmmm

The towels I was to get embroidered ...well... only 3 were done today. They were wrong. They won't be done until Thursday late afternoon. I LEAVE Thursday at noon. I hope they are right.

NO ONE in the upper midwest does engraving for water buckets. NO ONE. Closest place? New Jersey! And its 4-6 weeks waiting. Thank goodness for improvising!

My order from PetEdge still isn't here and it was shipped on Thursday. From Iowa. To Minnesota. REALLY? I could have drove down to get it.

Silent Auctions, raffles, pot lucks, reserved grooming, bathing area, judges seminar, shuttles for the judges, proper paperwork to CWCCA AND AKC AND Onofrio. I'm really glad I"m not a show chair. Sheep and Pigeon shows are a breeze in comparison! And no one hates me if I do those wrong! :)