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.

The GiveAway!

So, as I mentioned, I am going to do a little giveaway....One of the leashes I received as a qualifying prize in Rally and also, the training bag/garden bag. They are pictured in my last post. The leash has a little label by the handle loop that says CWCCA 2012 with a paw print on either end, so it makes a good souvenir of the show. The training bag is more generic, but is still really cool.

Now, to add a bit of interest and trivia to the game, I am going to do it this way........

We arrived in Huron on Saturday. Since we weren't doing herding, we had a free day to fill. It was very cold and windy, so after walking the boys around the large hotel grounds, we settled them in the room and headed off to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland. It was only about an hour east of Huron and made a good cold day adventure.

Here's the building, situated right on the shores of Lake Erie.....

If you are wondering why they picked Cleveland for the location of such a museum, here's the history....

Click to enlarge

It was an interesting place, sort of like the mother of all Hard Rock Cafes but without the alcohol. The displays change periodically as new items are lent to the museum. There was tons of great memorabilia, but alas, you were not allowed to photograph any of it, except for a few items in the ticket lobby. I found a couple worthy of photos and I am going to use those for my giveaway contest.

So, for the LEASH giveaway.....tell me the Rock and Roll significance of this next picture.....

For the TRAINING BAG giveaway, a bit more difficult puzzle, tell me whose car this is and for the tricky part, how it relates to one of my dogs....

So there you have it....Leave your answers in the comments...and I will still use a random number to choose the winner, but you need to at least take a stab at answering the trivia to win......I'll post the winners next weekend so that everyone has a chance to read the post and play.

Thanks for playing!

The Loot!

Click to enlarge...For the full effect!

Look at all the goodies! And this isn't even everything! The Rally folks were super-generous with the prizes they gave out. The little training bag with the red handle (upper left)  is one of two I got. They also gave me the two throwing toys, 4 leashes, another of those big green toys like those in the blue bag, and for Wilson's 1st place, that huge red dragon toy. It is so cute (with 16 squeakies inside!) I am not going to let the boys ruin it, at least not for a while! The blue duffle and the two green stuffed toys are from the agility folks. The bag has a really cute logo of a Cardi jumping through a tire. And in the lower right corner, the two frames are my prizes from the photo contest. All in all, quite the haul, wouldn't you say?!

And of course, despite all of these lovely prizes, I had to do a bit of retail therapy to soothe my agility disappointment (of course, had I done well in agility, I still would have bought it as a reward!)....The woman who does the amazing silver Cardigan jewelry (Barbara Braumuller Gurwell of Brigwyn Jewelry) was there and I couldn't pass up this adorable little pendant.....

She really captured the Cardi "frog" or "flying squirrel" pose, don't you think?

I also went a bit nutty buying things at the Performance dinner silent auction (I blame it on way a bit too much wine!), but didn't take any pictures of my over-indulgence....

I plan on giving away the training bag (it could double as a garden bag, too) and one of the leashes so stay tuned.......

The CWCCA National Specialty

I am back from Ohio, caught up around the house, and ready to report on my experiences at the 2012 Cardigan Welsh Corgi Club of America's National Specialty. This will probably be a long (and maybe boring) post so I'll give you an overview first. The boys and I had a lot of success.....just not in agility. Out of the 5 runs I signed up for, I qualified in the one that mattered least to me, Time To Beat (T2B). Thank goodness I took everyone's encouragement and signed up for Rally! Both boys qualified, both days! And finally, two of the photographs I entered made the cut and earned placements. I won a third place in the Action category and a second place in the General category! Woohoo!

Now for all the details....If you skip this, just be sure to read the last line of the post......

Luckily for me, Rally Novice A was set up as the first class of the day, beginning at 9 am. Agility wasn't set to go until 10:30 so no conflicts! That was a load off my mind. The course held none of the moves I was worried about, and things went well. I had a hard time getting Jimmy's nose up off the carpet so I lost a bunch of points on a tight leash and I messed up the spiral around the cones and needed a do-over. But, even so, I qualified in the 80's somewhere. Wilson did a better job (as I expected, he's very pleased to be working again!), but still somewhere in the 80's. Our end result was Wilson took 2nd place and Jimmy took 4th. Yea! I must confess here that there were only 4 dogs in Rally Novice A, and we all qualified! On Tuesday, again there were none of the moves that worried me (meaning ones where Jimmy starts to protest loudly). Wilson was really up for it, his heeling was great, and we cruised through. Jimmy still preferred to sniff the carpet, but we did just fine. The judge on Tuesday was much more generous and everyone had scores in the 90's. Wilson took first place with a 98! Jimmy came away with a 3rd. Needless to say I am so glad I signed up for Rally! I have even signed up for another rally trial in May, so I can hopefully get each boy their 3rd legs/titles.

Now for the report on agility.....Sigh.....such bitter disappointment.....
First, let me mention the weather.....a HUGE cold front had come roaring through...It was cloudy, unseasonably cold even for northern Ohio on Lake Erie, and freaking WINDY. We had steady 20 to 30 mile per hour winds both days, with gusts going even higher. The jumps had to be staked down and still blew over.  Same for the Chute....Even the Teeter was flopping around! It truly was miserable and exhausting being outside in those conditions. It was hard to get my usual trial routine going......Since other folks had plenty of success, my failures can't be blamed entirely on the weather, but it sure didn't help! Monday, in Standard, Jimmy did his usual Table BS  and after dancing around it a few times, I grabbed him and carried him off the field. The walk of shame for both of us. In Jumpers, it was a bit of a tricky course, and Jimmy got a refusal when he lost momentum going toward one of the jumps. The judge was a strict guy, and was giving no breaks. Tuesday, in Standard, it was dogwalk to the table, and Jimmy blew his contact on the dogwalk....so of course he did the table for me!  I praised and praised him while he stayed for the count...and as we moved on to the next jump, the double, he took a bar. But who cares, as we were already NQ'ed.... I was glad about the table, and took that as our victory for the run. In the JWW run, Jimmy was an innocent victim. I got lost, something I haven't done in a very long time, and went off-course. I wanted to cry. Literally. So our only redeeming run was the Time to Beat run....There is only one placement ribbon given in this game, to the fastest dog. We were not that team. But Jimmy did give me a speedy run and we earned another 8 points toward our title requirements and leg #4 out of 15 legs we need. So, we did get one nice green qualifying agility ribbon.

And back to happier news....here are my two pictures that made it to the winner's wall....

Second Place General.....

And Third Place Action........

I still have a lot more I want to talk about, but I'll save it for another post or two......and just to keep you coming back....There will be GIVE AWAYS coming up, so stay tuned!

Wilson Was Away on Wordless Wednesday!

Wilson with Wild Wisteria on Wordless Wednesday

From My Office Window This Morning!

The Space Shuttle Discovery flew from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida into the Washington, DC area this morning on it's final flight, piggy-backed on a 747 jet. This picture is the view we had from our office high-rise windows! It will land at Dulles Airport shortly where it will take up residence at the Udvar-Hazy Center(Air and Space Museum). Pretty darn cool!

 

Here's another shot (I didn't get to see it this close though) from a fellow employee at a more western office....

Needless to say, productivity took a dip today..........

Tales from the Weekend.............

There's a reason why the expression dumb bunny came to be. It's TRUE! Bunnies must be one of the most dimwitted of critters out there! I noticed Jimmy and Wilson were very interested in a spot in one of the beds in my backyard. Both boys had their noses buried to their eyes in mulch and juniper. Lots of snuffling going on, tails held high, excited......I go over and check it out. It's a perfectly excavated hole, lined with pines needles that had to be carried across my yard to get them there, and lining that, gobs of dog hair! It was a wonderful, cozy cave with just one thing missing.....babies. Now building your nest in the middle of a yard that you are routinely chased out of just doesn't make much sense! To discourage any further nesting behavior, I scooped up all of the bunny's hard work, filled the hole back in, and walked to the fence to toss away the wad. Unfortunately, along the way, I encountered tufts of bunny fur strewn about the yard. Either the momma lost some of her tail in a speedy effort to leave the yard, or a certain Cardigan or two had a tasty little lunch of baby Rabbit Fricasse. Hopefully the momma learned her lesson about raising her young in the midst of wanna-be wolves!

Later in the day......the boys are in the backyard with us. We need to walk over to a neighbor's house to discuss the evening's dinner plans as there is a birthday to celebrate. We exit through one of the gates, leaving the boys behind. They can't see where we went due to the angle of the house, gate, etc. We are visiting with our friends for a bit, getting the plans made. The next thing we know, Jimmy is at their front door, barking his head off to be let in! The gate must not have latched properly and the breeze opened it. Jimmy then had to cross two cement driveways to sniff out where we went! (No worries, he crossed no roads, just yards and driveways...) That dog really needs to take a Tracking class! Wilson, on the other hand, hadn't budged, despite the open gate. He was happily hanging out in his own yard in the manner of Ferdinand the Bull .

And since what is a blog post without pictures.....(have no fear, no dead bunny shots!......)

From our morning walk.....

I guess the guys were in need of some extra roughage in their diets as they spent a lot of time chowing down on sticks.

I don't know what to say about this one, but I thought it was funny....

The obligatory "shake" shots! It looks like they kept at least one eye out for trouble....

Not his most flattering angle!

And....saving my favorite for last.........

Surveying his domain........

Answering the Age-Old Question......

If a Tree Falls in the Forest.........?

Will a Cardi Climb on It?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wilson's Watcher on Wordless Wednesday

I Couldn't Resist.....

....I had to go back to "Bluebell Woods", this time with my long lens. The season for these flowers is brief, so I just couldn't pass up taking some more photos. Plus, walking in the woods is just so good for my soul. I hope you enjoy these....

The Weekend Report - Scenic Route to our MACH

No double-Q this weekend. We are taking the long, scenic route to our MACH for sure.  I am officially my own very worst enemy! I have such a fear of failure at the table now that it is pretty much predestined! I can't control my movements and get all wonky (technical agility term!) as I head for the table! We had an easy course from one of my favorite judges. Getting to the table was easy, but as you will see by the  video, I really lose it on approach. Jimmy didn't know what to do, so he did what he always does, which is not get on the table . A talented agility friend watched and gave me her honest opinion and it is very definitely me screwing this up! Sigh! The rest of the run was very nice!



And of course, Jumpers was clean and lovely. We were 8th.




I know I am not the only agility competitor facing issues, but I can't help being disappointed in myself. Jimmy is a great little agility dog, and he deserves more success. I'll stop whining now!

In other news......

Happy Easter!

Look at It Now!

If you remember this post, or maybe this one , you might recognize where we were today. But we've gone from the camouflaged woods of Bev Doolittle and a winter frosted landscape, all the way to the Emerald Isle!

The woods by the stream was just a sea of Bluebells!

My Cardiganshire Cows munching in the early morning light.

Jimmy is never one to look at the camera, but is handsome none the less.

Wilson just gets the whole posing thing. What a good boy!

The light was a bit too bright but I like how he stands out.

And even more Bluebells! It was gorgeous!

Ahhhh.....Spring!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Jimmy Says...

Anything Wilson can do, I can do better!

When we stumbled upon this huge backhoe bucket on our walk, I didn't even have to ask Wilson to get in and pose. He went in on his own, just out of curiosity I guess. I snapped a few shots and was ready to move on. Jimmy had other ideas and shoved Wilson aside in his quest to see what was so great about the bucket. He was not to be denied his moment in the sun!

Wilson's in What? on Wordless Wednesday

Is That a Necktie Jimmy's Wearing?