Good Friday indeed :)

I mowed today after the dog show, so the dogs are showing off their pretty front yard....   (never mind the towels and dog bed in the dead tree....  *sigh*)

 Aside from Mia's nose being too near to Glory's rear... and Chance's tail covering up her front leg, I liked this shot of baby Glory....  :)  

Sedona and her son.... :)  two totally different types of Cardigans..... 

 A nice shot of 11 month old (today) Mia on the move....  :)

 A back shot of Glory.... i LOVE the backs of her ears!!!! :) 

MayMayPuppyFace

 Such an elegant sweepy dog

Sedona was enjoying the cool wet grass on her tummy....  :) 

Candy (who owns Mia's littermate, Ranger) got some shots of us at the dog show today.....  THANKS SO MUCH, CANDY!!!!!

(Mason, 4 days shy of 1 year old)

Mia (11 months)

 Love this shot of her head :) She's such a pretty girl...

 She's finally starting to come together...  had a funky stage there for a bit :)  

THANKS AGAIN Candy, for the great shots of my babies!!!! :)  

Did this really happen??

I am home from the trip to San Bernardino and can hardly believe it all really happened!!!

I've always been the cheerleader to those who bring home the loot, and I can hardly believe it was MY turn this year!!  

From Left to Right:

Mason's Winnings: 

First in 9-12 sweeps class (pink ribbon)

First in Bred By class Morning Specialty (blue ribbon)

First in Bred By class Afternoon Specialty (blue ribbon)

Reserve Winners dog Afternoon Specialty (large purple and white rosette)

(extra blue ribbon we picked up somewhere along the way)

Above the rosette is Mason's prize for placing in his his AM sweeps class (nice green wall hanging made by Barb Tanahill)

Next to the rosette on the left is Mason's prize for winning his AM specialty class (martingale collar made by Barb Tanahill)

Between the green wall hanging and the first tile is a crystal creamer container, which was the Winners Dog prize from the supported entry Saturday.

The small tile to the left is Mason's prize for placing in his class at the PM Specialty.

The large tile is Mason's prize for getting Reserve Winners Dog at the PM Specialty

Between the large and next small tile is a crystal votive holder, given for Best of Winners at the supported entry Saturday.

Beneath that are the ribbons Mason earned:

First place in his class at the supported entry Saturday

Winners dog at the supported entry Saturday

Best of Winners at the supported entry Saturday

Beneath those ribbons are Mason's First Place and Winners Dog Ribbon from Sunday's supported entry, as well as the picture frame with Cardigan art (by Barb).

Mia's Winnings:

The last tile of the three is Mia's for placing in her Specialty class (third)

The pink wall hanging is Mia's from her sweepstakes placement (third)

Her ribbons are beneath that:

Third in sweeps

Third in 6-9 AM specialty

Second in 6-9 PM specialty

Third in 6-9 supported entry Saturday

Third in 6-9 supported entry Sunday

Sedona's Winnings:

Beneath THAT is Sedona's loot:

First place in Rally Novice B
Qualifying Ribbon for 2nd leg of Rally Novice B

Collar (made by Barb) as a prize for Rally placement

(She hadn't done rally since last year at this specialty before she came into season (the first day)). 

WOW

It seems like an amazing dream.

I am beyond proud of my first bred baby.... and yes.... I guess I'll keep him now ;-)  

Southern Cal screw up...

I received my entry confirmation today in the mail for the Southern Cal specialty.  When I went to double check the entries, I didn't see my entry for 7-9 Veteran sweeps.

I've waited since Kota was 19 months old to show him as a Veteran...  what the heck happened!?

I called the superintendent and she explained that I'm an IDIOT and didn't specify SWEEPSTAKES on Kota's entries.  All is not lost though...  Seems I entered REGULAR Veterans class instead of sweepstakes.  Instead of being able to win Best Veteran in Sweeps, I guess he'll possibly be in the running for Breed (which I didn't want, considering I have Chance entered in breed).  Now, I have no false hopes of him doing anything in breed provided he even wins his veterans class...  but i had hoped for maybe a sweeps win or something...  The other problem this raises, is that I have Chancey entered in Breed.  IF by chance Kota wins the Veteran dogs class, I'll have to get help from my friends in handling the boys.... 

All Kota wants is to be clapped for.  My friends better at least clap for my old-man-dog :)

Sedona is all set up for Rally all weekend, and I can't wait!! :)

Friday the 28th I will meet a lady who might be interested in a Sedona puppy...  Saturday the 29th Piper-puppy goes off to her new home and Sunday the 30th I hope to report that Sedona earned her RN :)  Good thing she doesn't have to look good for rally.  She looks like a raggedy little critter right now...  :) 

Operation Championship Photograph accomplished

The girls and I went to Tucson to have Sedona's CH picture retaken.  When Curtiss finally had time, we couldn't find 'the photographer' so we called another who Curtiss liked.  She was understanding of the situation and took what she said was a great shot.  Now I wait. 

Sedona had fun seeing her dog show people and one of her dog show buddies, a Cavalier named Newman. 
It was a good day... now cross your fingers that the picture turned out great. 

Lost : one important photograph..... Part Two

So (insert photographers name here) called me just a minute ago.  He said he did a baseline search (explaining to me what he meant - looked at each frame he took that day) and there was no photograph taken at the dog show.  I assure him that Curtiss said there ABSOLUTELY was a photograph taken.  He said "I am not going to argue with either you or Curtiss.  I will be at the Tucson shows in a couple of weeks, and I can bring the sign.  I'd be happy to take the photograph again". 
Thankfully the judge was Gloria Kerr, who happens to LIVE in Tucson!  She will be there in one capacity or another (she has stewarded the last few times) and I'm sure would be willing to take a photograph, given the circumstance. 
Curtiss' reply?  "I'm not surprised.  He's a (insert expletive here)."

Guess who is getting a bath to look all pretty and have to act like a show dog ONE LAST TIME?? 

Lost : one important photograph.....

The photograph taken when a dog finishes is pretty special to me.  I'm pretty sure most people who will read this will feel the same.  The photo was taken on 10/16.  Another person who won that weekend has THEIR photograph.  I am not happy about this.  I wrote an email yesterday asking for a status update and received no reply.  Today I called and spoke with the photographer, who says "I don't see that in my notes" "I'll have to look through all of the image files". 

WHAT!?!?  Yes.  You can imagine my face.

So I called Curtiss and asked, "It WAS (insert photographer) who took the picture of Sedona in Los Lunas, right?" 
"Yes, he was the only one there."
"Ok.  Because he's saying he can't find the file"
"He's a (insert expletive here)."

Great.  So help me, if this guy doesn't find my photograph, I will have the biggest cow ever known to human kind.  :(

Stay tuned.  He's supposed to call me tomorrow morning. 

Something pretty for the dogs....

I've LONG had lead envy...  those pretty kangaroo leather ones with the pretty beads...  I just couldn't fork out that much money.  I found this lady at the dog show in Flagstaff (and I think I had seen her before too). 

Her name is Jamie, and her website is at www.arizonaridgebacks.com/id47.html

She was great and helped me customize it the whole way.  She showed me so many bead options, but in the end, I went for the below...  I thought it was nice and gender neutral, and will work with my "favored colors" :) 

The darker bead is actually Hemotite .

Now I get to wait until the fall to use it...  *sigh*  LOL  Tho, I did just find out there is a dog show in the Denver area (I think) while I'm in CO for school....  I'm tempted to enter....  ;-)

Sunday - Flagstaff, Oak Creek Canyon, and Sedona in Sedona... :)

I loved this last weekend, in some of the most beautiful places in the state.... :)  Below is the trip home, from Flagstaff down through Oak Creek Canyon and into Sedona.

The above and below were taken at the top of the 'switchbacks' on 89A (the highway).  There is a view point there looking down into the Oak Creek Canyon. 

Walking back to my car in the parking lot, I found some pretty things to photograph....  :)

I stopped at a pull out after the 'switchbacks' and took a short hike down to the creek.  When I got out of my car, I found myself in a group of dragonflies. 

The Oak Creek...  :) 

There was a rock slide....  you can see it in the pictures from the 'view point' - the first few pictures.... 

Some of the creamy orange rock in the mountains.... 

I stopped to take a picture of some lovely mountains, and I saw this.  There was a fire in the area, and I thought it was neat, to see the new growth coming from the charred tree....

And when I turned around, this is what I saw :)  Pretty orange box in the trees.... :) 

More pretty mountains......

This one is my favorite.  Snoopy Rock.  See it?? 

Hey - I had to do it....  :) 

It's some of the most beautiful country, in my opinion.  If you ever find yourself in the area, it's an absolute MUST in my book.  :)

Sunday, dog show wise ended up good too!  In the breed ring, Chance earned his first points towards his Grand Championship, which was fun.  He really enjoying being back out there! He may have to dip his paw into the Breed ring from time to time ;-)

A few hours later, Dakota and I went into the Rally ring.  I was really worried because it was outside with all those yummy smells, but he did REALLY well!  We only really fumbled on one station, but we got through it.  During the honor exercise we were to have them sit.  The last station before the finish (which was right across the ring exit from the Honor exercise) was Halt, Stand, Down.  Well I'll be darned... Kota heard that lady tell her dog 'down' so he did!  At the very last second....  I couldn't believe it! LOL  He blew the Honor exercise his first day in ABQ too!  I swore it said "DQ".  I chekced the score and it was a 79.  When I left there, I thought that because we blew the Honor exercise.  What I learned THIS weekend was that messing up the honor exercise takes away 10 points.  So the reason I thought I saw DQ, but maybe it was NQ, was because of the -10 points, we no longer qualified (need a 70).  So THIS weekend, we got a 97, but then he goofed the Honor exercise, so we ended with an 87 and 3rd place!  :)  I was super pleased that he ended with a good performance! It was his best, by far.

**EDIT**
I failed to mention that this 87 and 3rd place finished up his RE title!!!  Duh, me!!  Kota is (pending AKC confirmation: CH C-Myste Dakota, RE, CGC :)  Up next either Freestyle, or his CD.... or maybe both :)

It made the drive home even better!  :)

Friday in Flagstaff

This was the view from my hotel room door Friday afternoon....  the San Francisco Peaks being the subject, - not the Basha's grocery store! :)

A tired Kota - tired of being in a crate, he says! 

my two gooney Carbon kids...  :) 

The kids - together - on the Motel 6 bed :)  Chance was pouting for some reason ;-)

She of the incredible neck....  (don't ask what's on her head - I dunno!)

Hi little one!! :)

a cute group shot - just relaxing by the door :)

Brotherly love..... 

more brotherly love :) 

Despite the wind, the weather was beautiful...  every trip up here reminds me of how much I love it....  more of the trip coming next!!!!