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!

Living the T-Shirt Life - Volume Six - Dazzling!

Long time readers might remember a topic I revisit from time to time where I highlight a T-Shirt I got. My last post was also a corgi themed shirt and you can see it here.  It provides links to the rest of the series as well. At any rate......

Nice Cardigan Corgi T's are much harder to find than ones for Pembrokes. The market is a lot smaller so the incentive isn't there, I guess. At one of my recent agility trials, a vendor was debuting a new line she had. It was very colorful embroidery in the breed of your choice. She didn't have a Cardigan on display, but I was able to order one and have it mailed to me.

I think it is just gorgeous! You can pick your t-shirt color but it really stands out best against black. I had bling (swarovski crystals but my photos don't show them off well) added to the outline, but that is totally optional. You can also pick the color thread that provides the outline. I love teal so that's what I chose. If you pick a different outline color, I think it changes a few of the colors in the middle.

Here is what I'm talking about.....

Is it still a Selfie if you crop your face out?!

And a close-up.....

The bling is very sparkly but my camera couldn't catch it.

This weekend is the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of the Potomac Agility trial

 and I can't wait to show off my new Tee!

UPDATE: Here is the website for this vendor:
http://www.whiskazzandpawzz.com/art-deco-series.html

The Weekend Report - Thank doG!

This weekend we attended an agility trial given by the Potomac Valley Golden Retriever Club. They always throw a good party!

So, of course, based on my last couple of weekend reports, you know Jimmy had a bad scare due to A/C noises sounding like thunder. He remembered the building and was even more scared the next time we went. This weekend, the trial was held at a different location. Getting out of the car, Jimmy was fine. He walked around, did his business, and seemed OK. He even wanted to head inside. Since the morning was fairly pleasant and I was parked in the shade of a building, I planned to crate from the car for the morning. A/C noise or not, the car is much less stressful. I went about my routine, getting checked in, watching some of the 8 inchers run so I could get a feel for the course, and finally doing my walk-thru for the Standard run. Jimmy and I were about midway down the 12s, so that meant at least 30 minutes to wait. I tried to time it so Jimmy wouldn't have to spend too much time waiting....and thinking! He came in the building just fine, but when we headed toward the ring gate, he started to balk. Nope, don't want to go near that! So, interestingly, he took the fear association to another building, and it isn't just the noise he's scared of. It seems he blames the queuing area as well. As luck would have it, I had thawed out raw tripe (gross!) for their breakfast. There isn't much more high value than that! So I thought, nasty smell be damned, I'm going to bring some of that along just in case....I was so glad I did! I broke off tiny little bites and fed them to Jimmy pretty much non-stop while we waited our turn. While he was still very nervous, he loves tripe, and kept focused entirely on getting another, and another, and another bite. It certainly isn't the most person friendly treat as my hands were nasty, and a few of the nearby dogs were very interested in what I had, but it did the trick. Jimmy didn't have a chance to think about the ring. He ate the last bite I had and into the ring we went. And he ran great! It wasn't a terribly difficult course and Jimmy kept the bars up. Yay! We got a Q and 21 points!  It was also my 20th MX leg so technically we now have our MX2 title although I don't think AKC tracks that.

Now started the long wait for Jumpers. The day was heating up, the sun was moving around the building and we lost our shade. I had no choice but to set up my crates indoors. This location has two buildings with soccer fields, and the crating was set up in the upper building, in the ring area. Jimmy wasn't thrilled about that, but he didn't have a choice. I settled them in and went off to do my leash-runner job for the 20 inchers. When I came back later, Jimmy was sound asleep in his crate. I guess he let go enough to relax into a nap. When Jumpers time came, he once again did not want to hang out by the ring gate. As long as we stayed a good distance back, he was fine enough to even demand some tripe in a loud voice. When it got down to the last 3 or 4 dogs, we had to queue up, so I became the human Pez dispenser of raw tripe, bite after bite. It did the trick again and we made it into the ring without him too freaked out. He ran another clean course! We had a Double-Q. Yay! This was #14!

Now, I won't bore you with another blow by blow of how Sunday went. I brought more tripe and did need it. The Standard course was quite tricky and unfortunately I pushed Jimmy just a little too far past his triple jump in an effort to keep the bars up, and that sent him over an off-course jump. I screamed for him to stop but momentum and my bad body language sent him over. Sigh. But he ran nicely and that's all that counts! I considered just heading home after that and skipping the long wait for Jumpers since a Double-Q wasn't going to happen. But I decided to stay and I was glad I did! Jumpers was a fun course that was basically a counter clockwise inward spiral. Jimmy ran it fast and clean, and we got 17 points!  That's a lot of points toward my AKC Nationals tally!

And finally, if you are still here reading this long drawn out report (I do these write-ups mainly so I can look back one day. If I didn't, all the trials would just blur into one hazy memory. I want to be able to re-live this journey to our MACH), let me show you something I bought at the trial. Some trials get lots of vendors, some get none. This particular location always gets a few, and this time it attracted three jewelry vendors! Now if you remember my long ago post about bling, you know I have a weakness for dog-themed jewelry. So when I saw this little pendant, I knew I was in trouble!

It makes me go SQUEE!

It's about the size of a quarter and I just love how the cord runs through the heart! I justified it (yes, I feel quilty!) by the fact that the club holding the trial actually pays us to do the ring work. You work two classes, they pay you $5. So over the weekend, I earned $10, which I of course applied to the cost of this pendant ;-) Yea, I'm never going to be able to retire at the rate I buy jewelry, but what the heck, I'll have some great bling as an old bag lady! (Here's the website for this vendor just in case you are interested..... This pendant is right on the home page, front and center: http://www.pawsitivelyaccessorized.com/ Lots of other nice stuff as well! I have no affiliation, I just like her products.)

Tracking Jimmy's MACH progress:
Masters JWW legs: 33  Now he's working on his MXJ4!
Masters STD legs: 20 We earned our MX2 and are working on MX3 now.
Double Q's: 14 (out of 20 double-Q's needed for a MACH.... 70 Percent! The snowball is headed downhill!)
MACH Points: 821 (out of 750 speed points needed for a MACH...... We've got our points and then some!)

Time 2 Beat legs: 7 (out of 15 needed for his T2B) 58 points (out of 100 needed) 
                               On 5/19/13, Jimmy actually WON the 12 inch T2B class! 


AKC Nationals 2014:
Double-Q's: 6 (out of 4 needed)
Points: 260 (out of 500 needed)
Masters Legs: 16 (out of 20 needed)

I Am All About The Bling!

From my very first piece of jewelry I mail-ordered as a grade schooler (we lived rurally, no malls way back then either :-) ), I have always had a thing for bling! In my teen years it was Native American silver and turquoise pieces which I still love, to the gold chains popular in the 80's. I can definitely say I have a weakness for pretty baubles. Somewhere along the way, I started buying special pieces as souvenirs on vacations. I have a very lovely pair of gold dolphin earrings to commemorate a trip to Jamaica. They have certainly lasted well past the point any T-shirt would have survived!

As my dog hobby took off, I began to see more and more dog-themed pieces creep into my collection. To commemorate my first Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Specialty, I got this wonderful pendant. I searched high and low for the artist's business card to give her credit, but I couldn't find it. Based on her TM on the pendant she is B.Braumuller. Her work is beautiful and if you don't get to her vendor table ASAP!, you find she is sold out!

 

When Jimmy and Wilson got their HTs recently, as hard as it was to believe, there was actually a jewelry vendor out at the farm. She had the cutest little ribbon with paw print center, and of course I had to have it! Now when I wear it, I think of how fun it was to go herding.

Next a great paw print ring at the end of a good weekend of agility, and a Cardi ring by the same artist as the pendant above.

In my area, Italian charm bracelets were all the rage. I don't think they are quite as popular now, but I have kept mine going as we have a vendor who makes the best charms, Beauty of the Beasts . These pictures didn't turn out as viewable as they looked in my photo viewer but there really are some great charms here. I add one for each title we earn, so the lettered ones represent that. This first one is Jimmy's and a couple of the ones you probably can't read say things like " I am barking and I can't shut up" and "The King of NOT Quiet". Both are SO Jimmy :-) There's a little sheep to commemorate the HT, a squirrel since he loves to chase them, and a tennis ball, plus a nice black Cardi head and full Cardi.

Click to enlarge

Wilson's has his titles, a little sheep, a set of weave poles which was always our nemesis in the ring, a little dog face with Zoom!Zoom! Zoom! on it. That one would really be better for Jimmy but I got it because we always drive to the shows in my Mazda and that's their moto. There's one that has the red circle with the slash through that says Agility Gremlins. It commemorates the time Wilson gave me the prettiest, fastest Excellent B Standard run, and as we were in the homestretch, I  bumped the jump stanchion as I ran past and the bar fell. I ruined his beautiful run and it took a very long time indeed to get that Q back.

Click to enlarge

Now at the Gettysburg CWC National Specialty in 2010, Jimmy just could not pull off a single Q. Wilson saved the day by giving me his very first (and only since he is retired) Double-Q toward his PAX/PACH title. Not only did I get a beautiful  Double-Q ribbon from the National Club, but I added this adorable brindle Cardi pin to my collection. Seeing it reminds me how hard Wilson tries to please, and what a good boy he really is.

So, of course, I needed something to celebrate Jimmy's recent first Double-Q on the road to his MACH. For the longest time, I have had my eye on this pendant but then Kathy put up a very pretty Cardigan specific piece on her Etsy site, and I was torn between the two. After a bit of back and forth discussion, Kathy combined the two ideas and here is the result:

Kathy's website:  http://pangaeapugs.com/

I love it! I also love the message because it is so easy to lose sight of why you are doing this, and get overly focused on the end result. This little pendant not only celebrates Jimmy's accomplishment but helps to remind me that this is all about having fun, playing with my dog, and not a high-speed race to a big title.

Of course, between the training fees, seminar fees, agility trial fees, and all this memorabilia (aka The Bling!), I'd probably be years closer to my retirement savings goal! But, it's all about the journey! My dogs and this game called agility are a big part of that ride. I want to remember every precious moment!

Have a great weekend, everyone!