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!

Final Thoughts on the Specialty

This was the 4th time I've gone to the CWCCA's National Specialty. While the convenience of the Gettysburg, Pa, location just couldn't be beat (barely an hour from my house!), this one, at the Sawmill Creek Resort was by far the nicest location yet! The place was huge! It had lovely grounds, a nice golf course, and it's own marina on Lake Erie. It even had a neat old barn/mill converted to shops if you wanted some non-dog retail therapy. The week before the Cardigans arrived, it was the Whippet specialty. They had set up these huge turn-out pens with snow-fencing for the dogs to run in. These were left up for us. It was wonderful having a place where all the Cardis could get out their yahoos off-leash. Also, with the large property of the resort, there was plenty of on-leash walking available, too. The indoor decor in the lounging areas was in a lodge theme. There were fireplaces everywhere, and with the nasty cold snap we had at the beginning of the week, they really upped the ambiance. The staff was extremely pleasant as well.

One of the things I really love about going to the Specialties is the chance to meet Cardi-folk I only know from online, or only see at the big shows. This time, it was great to meet Merinda , Penni , Susan , Heather , and  Carol . I am sure my middle-age brain is forgetting someone, so please don't be offended if I omitted any names! And it was great to see Janet , Laura , and Marla again! I regret not getting more time to visit with everyone! I so wanted to get a picture of Wilson with his brother Spencer, but the timing didn't work out. Also, Wilson's nearly 17 year old father was there, and I didn't get a chance to see him either. We checked out on Wednesday morning, and I ran around for awhile, looking for friends, saying goodbye, but just didn't catch up to everyone.

This was definitely my last National Specialty for a long time. 2013 is being held in Tuscon, AZ, so despite a lovely location, it's WAY too far away......Same for 2014 at Purina Farms in Missouri. That's about a 15 hour drive, not gonna happen......2015's location isn't selected yet, so that one's a maybe. Do you think I will have Jimmy's table issues fixed by then?

The really weird thing is I took almost no photographs at all. The cold, windy weather kept my camera indoors on the agility days (and my focus(or lack there of based on my dismal results) was elsewhere anyway), and despite the pretty location, I just wasn't snapping shots. It really was a lovely place for a specialty and I thank the organizers for a job very well done.

One other thought, completely unrelated to any of this dog show stuff.....Just a few miles down the road from Huron, is a town called Lorain, also on the lake. My father grew up there, and when I was a kid (yes, dinosaurs were still roaming the area!) , my dad would drive my sister and me out there every summer for a visit with his dad. My grandfather would always take us to Cedar Point amusement park. (I could see that park from the resort's lake front, albeit a tiny dot on the horizon.) My grandfather died sometime in the early 80's, my dad died in '94, so I never thought I'd come this close to those childhood memories again.

I'll leave you with one of the only pictures I took. This was on Wednesday as we were packed and ready to roll out. The weather was of course now gorgeous. This is down at the marina, the boys posing by Lake Erie.