The 2017 CWCCA National Specialty Finale

I'm down to my last few thoughts I want to record for the National Specialty before I move on....

On Tuesday night, after the two days of Herding,  after the day of Agility, as well as the day of Rally and Regular Obedience, we all got together for what's called the Performance dinner. This is where we talk about how those events went, congratulate the winners, etc.

The club also hands out awards for big titles earned since the last National. Shortly after the 2016 National (or maybe on the same weekend), Jimmy earned his PACH title . This is a championship title so we were given a very pretty plaque to commemorate the occasion. The club takes its working Cardis seriously! LOL!  I have one for my MACH title as well, but I wasn't there for the fun of getting it in person.

This is even prettier in person!

Next up, there is the vendors! The Specialty always attracts good vendors. I've written about how I love bling before. I especially love the silver work of B. Braumuller. I have several pieces of her gorgeous hand-made, one-of-a-kind jewelry. I had absolutely no intention of buying anything new this time. I have several pieces already and my budget is rather bloated right now.

That is, until I saw this piece.....

It could not be more perfect!

Now understanding why this is so special takes either a long-term reader of this blog who has a great memory, or someone who remembers the movie Castaway!

Wilson's registered name is Caduceus Castaway Wilson followed by all his titles. Yes, we named him after the soccer ball in Tom Hank's movie Castaway! We had a long drive to/from Kentucky to get Wilson and spent the time trying on names. We had recently watched the movie and since we get a little nutty about our dogs like Tom Hank's did about his only "friend" on the deserted island, we thought the name was a perfect fit! Plus Wilson's sire's name is Winsome Will....so Wilson really is Will's son!

So when I saw this pendant, my heart just skipped a few beats! It could not be more special especially since it is such an unusual piece. I would never expect to find something like this without a special order! The artist commented it was her favorite piece for this show and she knew it would speak to someone! Boy, was she ever right!

Moving on......The club always holds a photo contest and I always enter. Some years I fare better than others! I entered five shots this year, and only one was selected as a winner. This beach shot was entered in the Portrait category and earned 2nd place. I don't have the ribbon yet, but here is the picture. (You've seen it before maybe....)

I stayed at the host hotel, the Sawmill Creek Resort. I shared a room with Jimmy's breeder Anne (Thanks, Anne!). I was a bit nervous about Jimmy sharing the space with other dogs. He can be a bit snarky and I certainly didn't want any fights. Well, there was certainly no need to worry. He was in love with both of Anne's girls!

This is an awful cell phone shot but
 you can see who Jimmy chose to hang out with!

Two heads are better than one!

No worries! Wilson made friends too.
The beautiful brindles hanging together.

Jimmy's favorite spot. Perfect corgi shape and size!

The very last time I attended one of these National Specialty, it was at the same place. Funny thing is the weather was exactly the same. Cold, rainy, and windy, with one nice day mixed in. I got almost the same picture again! LOL! This time a bit closer up.....

Here are Anne's pretty girls. I've never had a female Cardi, I'm a male dog kind of gal, but I would have taken either one of these beauties home with me in a heartbeat!!!

I am pretty sure I have covered all the topics I wanted to report on. I truly had a grand time! I am going to take this opportunity to thank all the members of the CWCCA who worked so hard to pull this show together. I know it must be an immense task. And the very next day after this one ends, everyone is hard at work on the next one! THANK YOU!

Wilson's Glory Run

So when last we met, before Wilson's Wordless Wednesday and Jimmy's 10th birthday,  we were talking about the agility trial held as part of the National Specialty. At the end of the agility trial,  eight senior dogs were going to try their hands (paws!) at a modified agility course. An easier course would be set up and as each dog ran, a bio would be read. Well, as they say, the best laid plans of corgis and women (to paraphrase a well known expression!).....The trial was held at an indoor soccer building, which the club had rented until 6PM. But for some unknown reason, the building management rented it out to someone else starting at 5:30! You can see where this is going. We needed that last half hour for the Glory Runs! Things got a bit tense,  and the management actually kicked us out! That's right! Despite having the building for another 30 minutes, we were unceremoniously sent packing. Things went from tense to ugly pretty quickly. There were a lot of emotions involved as people had waited all day for their oldsters to play! We had all been looking forward to this part of the day and now it was not going to happen. I would be lying if I said I didn't hear a few FU's thrown about as well as see some one finger salutes. The manager did not back down and we were out in the parking lot in short order!

Of course if you saw this week's Wordless Wednesday, you may be thinking, Wait! I just saw a bunch of photos of Wilson playing at agility! What we did was re-group back at the host hotel, borrow some agility equipment, and set up our course in the ballroom! I have to admit the carpet makes for some very interesting photo shots! Not your everyday soccer turf!

This didn't have quite the feel of a true agility run, but I don't think the dogs minded. Wilson certainly had lots of happy expressions in the photos. I know he felt special because Jimmy was left behind in the room!

Here is a video of his run! I certainly wouldn't miss catching that on camera!





And just as special, maybe even more, the CWCCA had gorgeous ribbons made up. Each one was printed with the dog's name and the Specialty information.

Close-ups....

And finally a group shot of all the participants! Look at the size of the smiles on our faces! This was a very happy group. All's well that ends well!

I still have one more post to do on the Specialty just to wrap up a few loose ends. I don't mean to drag it out, but I want to cover it all. I am hoping to make a Shutterfly book as well, but in case that doesn't happen, my posts will help me remember it all!

Wilson Was a Weekend Warrior on Wordless Wednesday!

 All photos are Phyllis Ensley Photography.

The 2017 Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America 75th National Specialty

On Saturday April 29th I headed northwest to Huron, Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie. I've been there before. Some of it, like my agility results and the weather, felt like a repeat!

Of course I went for the all-Cardigan agility trial. Last time it was held outdoors in just horrid weather conditions. This time the CWCCA rented an indoor soccer building. Yay! And we needed it as Monday May 1st was a very rainy day! A big thank you to the club as I would not have even considered going if the trial was held outside.

If you read my last Weekend Report, you know that the day before was also an agility trial. Alas, my results on Monday were not as successful. That doesn't mean I didn't have fun, it just means I was a bit disappointed with our results. Jimmy is a wonderful little agility dog and I wanted him to shine at a trial filled with his own kind. There were two back-to-back trials held that day. It ran Jumpers then Standard for Trial #1 and Standard then Jumpers for Trial #2.

Here are the maps for Trial # 1:

In Jumpers Jimmy was super speedy and I left the ring thinking we had qualified. Happy, happy! When I saw our results on the electronic score board, we were NQ'd. WTF? When I watched the video, I could see where the judges hand went up. I didn't understand the refusal called and even asked him afterward. I sort of understood what he said but was still incredibly disappointed, especially since I thought we had Q'd!

Here is the video:

My favorite photo from Trial #1 !!!

Next was Standard. I didn't have to wait long to know we would not earn a Q. It was tunnel, tire, teeter , jump, to the weaves. It was a bit of an odd angle so you needed to shape it just a bit. Looking at the video I can see where Jimmy thought he might be going to the Aframe instead, so he blew right past the weaves. NQ!

Here is the video:





Trial #1 was over with no Qs. It really hurt. It may be just a game, but a lot of emotions get invested in it! Just as with the NAC, this will be Jimmy's last time at this big event. It moves around the country and he will be fully retired before it comes within a day's drive again.

We had a short intermission between the trials, and I have a really cool photo to share. We did a group shot against the far wall (my idea, ahem!). The photographer had to get waaaay back to get us all in! This was a completely full trial with 60 some Cardigans playing agility. The club actually had to turn away a few final entries as it was full before the closing date. Be sure to click to enlarge this photo for full effect. Jimmy and I are to the left of the tall man in green in the back row (on his right). The other thing that was cool was that with all these purebred Cardigans gathered together it just so happened to be National Purebred Dog Day! How cool is that?!

Photo credit: Phyllis Ensley Photography

A short while later, Trial # 2 started. Because the last one ended with Standard, #2 started with Standard. (No point moving all the large, heavy equipment out of the ring!)

Here are the maps:

Fortunately there were no bobbles to report! It went fairly smoothly and we came out of the ring with a good time. We earned 2nd place, beat by about a second or a bit less. I didn't care about being beat to the blue, I was just SO thankful for a Q at this point! I knew I would have at least one ribbon as my souvenir!

Here is the video:




All photos are from Phyllis Ensley Photography!

And last up was the final Jumpers run. We made it so close to the end. I was thinking we would get it. But Jimmy ran right past a jump, heading for the tunnel a bit too soon. SIGH!!! I was hoping this would be our Double-Q trial, but again it was not to be.

Here's the video:

Coming out of that tunnel one jump sooner than he should have!

A few observations from the day. This was a very noisy trial! There is always lots of barking at agility trials (duh!), but these Cardis were extra talkative! Holy Moly it was loud! Jimmy was of course happy to contibute to the din. The percentage of intact dogs was much higher here since many were going on to show in the breed ring. I think this amped up the energy level for all the dogs. Jimmy was much higher than usual which may have had an affect on our runs, who knows. And I was more nervous than usual wishing to do well. When it is all said and done, I am just glad I got to go. In the long run the results don't matter. It's the being there and sharing that day with Jimmy that counts!

Now, there is yet more to this tale. Following the regular trials, the club so wonderfully scheduled what they called Glory Runs for any retired dogs who might like a go at it. The jumps would be set to 4 inches or the bars taken out altogether. But what is an emotional day without a bit more drama? Check back for my next post where I tell you all about Wilson's turn. There are photos and video!

Jimmy's Q ribbon and 2nd place ribbon

On our only sunny day, Jimmy posed on the edge of Lake Erie

The Weekend Report: Cleveland DTC Agility Trial

I am so very far behind on my blogging. I really have lost the drive for this. Beautiful spring days, lots of errands, travel, and so much more seem to have taken over. It would be very easy just to let it go.....

But I am not going to let that happen! I still have agility trials to record and another big event! I need to get busy.

On April 29th I drove out to Huron, Ohio to the Sawmill Resort. This was the location of the 75th Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America's National Specialty. I arrived one day early so I could do an agility trial given by the Cleveland  Dog Training Club on Sunday the 30th. The trial was held at an indoor soccer building about a half hour from the resort. It was a warm-up for the "real" trial held as part of the Specialty also at the same building.

I signed up for 4 runs. Two regular classes, Jumpers and Standard, and also the tricker and faster Premier Standard and Premier Jumpers.

First up was Premier Standard. Here is the map:

We did it all perfectly except the #4 dogwalk u-turning to the #5 tunnel. He never even saw the tunnel and flew past. Refusal called! Oh, well....

Then came Standard, followed by Jumpers....maps:

These went very well and we qualified in both! Even earning blue ribbons! WooHoo! Qualifying in Standard was my 50th Standard leg (you would not want to do the math on entry fees X # of legs! Just sayin'! LOL!)  There was no ribbon available for this big title so they gave me a nice MXP ribbon and I wrote the S on it myself. It was also Double-Q #15 toward our PACH2 big championship title.

This club also gave the best toys for placing so we came home with quite a haul!

The day finished with Premier Jumpers. I can't find the map for this one but here too we had success! Our day ended with 3 out of 4 runs being "in the ribbons"! What a good little boy my Jimmy is!

This trial was fun because it was a new set of agility teams. I got to see lots of new people running dogs I haven't seen before. Quite a change of pace! And because it was the day before the Cardigan Specialty trial, lots of Cardigans were there. That never happens!

Be sure to check back for all the news on the Specialty. Lots to report in my next post!

Tracking Jimmy's PACH 2 progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Sunday 5/1/2016

QQ#20: 
Masters JWW legs: 56...MJP Title 01/25/15 MJPB 10/11/15 MJPS Title
Masters STD legs: 50...MXP Title!10/24/14 MXPB 04/30/17 MXPS Title
Double Q's: 15(out of 20 needed)
PACH Points: 1582 plus many more! I have lost count!