This was a very exciting weekend — in more ways than just “fun.” Our whole roadtrip weekend was filled with constant changes that forced us to be super flexible. Luckily, we tend to take those things in stride…nothing like an adventure 🙂
Sarah showed up on Thursday morning with Cowboy (a Stoli son!) the 11 month old Weimaraner making the trip with us this weekend. She also had William (Sarah’s boy,) who we had originally planned to take with us. However, the crate we had for the Weim took up any extra space, and William was so excited to see Marc, we opted to let him stay and hang with Indy, Karma, and Schmav this weekend.
After loading up, we headed out towards Missouri. Jenny had an account call to make in Burlington, so it worked out perfectly to stop in on our way out of Colorado. About 4 hours into our trip (Colby, KS), a lovely little tire warning light came on. Of course, the 4th tire we checked had a PSI of 20 instead of 35. Happy to have caught the leak before a full-on flat, we shot up the street to TO Haas tire shop, and the nice guys in there fixed our flat for no charge!! With the fix-a-flat delay, stops at off-leash dog parks, and quick coffee and meal runs, we rolled into Wildwood, MO at about 11:30 on Thursday night.
Luckily our start time was 11:00 on Friday, so we were able to sleep in 🙂 Around 10 we grabbed Starbucks and headed over to the dog show mecca — Purina Farms! This place is AMAZING. When Jenny was at the VCA Board meeting last July, our friend Christina was seriously talking it up. In fact, that was one of the major reasons Jenny wanted to come to this show — to see if Purina Farms lived up to the hype. And it TOTALLY did. It’s simply awesome.
After snagging some crate space next to our friends Deb & Melissa (thanks for letting us squeeze in!) we checked in and cheered on our friends in their sweeps and regular classes. Judging today was Pat Laurans who gave Halo a breed win in New Mexico last November! We hoped she would find our girl again, but this was a much larger entry of specials, and Halo is still such a baby. As they entered the ring, Jenny heard Judge Laurans call out, “Ring Steward, Number 36; what’s the date of birth?” Not sure whether to take it as a good sign or not, Jenny was thrilled when Sarah and Halo were pointed at for “my first of award of merit!” That’s right, Baby Halo at 18 months earned her first specialty nod!! Pretty exciting as that was on the goal list for this year 🙂 Speaking with Pat afterwards, she said she could tell Halo was young right away, but that she was a lovely bitch, and moved beautifully. Big smile. Can’t wait to see how Halo matures…not that we are trying to rush her first heat cycle 😉
Following the Vizsla specialty was the Weimy specialty and wouldn’t you know it…Cowboy went Reserve to the 4 point major!! Sarah was having a great day for sure. After Weims, there was a second Vizsla specialty, but this judge didn’t even give Halo a look. The good news is that Halo got even more practice being in a huge entry and having to be patient in the ring. We might just have her ready for the Nationals ring by April!
Saturday morning, we were greeted by almost everyone with, “Good morning, are you staying for tomorrow?” Huh? Apparently, we were the last ones to know (see what happens when you don’t watch TV?) that a huge winter storm was headed in. Most everyone that came lived in Minnesota, so they all needed to leave to beat the weather. However, since we were headed West, it looked like we would be ok. Vizslas showed at 8 and then Weims weren’t until 2, so we had some time to figure it out. Halo showed great again today, but the judge didn’t make a cut in girls — just kept her two winners. But, again, she looked great and we couldn’t be happier with how she is showing.
After V’s, we gave hugs and said goodbyes to Jill, Vickie, Deb, and Melissa, and wished them safe travels as they headed out. Jenny and Sarah were busy checking out all the vendor booths when there was an announcement that the kennel club had decided to cancel the show tomorrow. There goes that idea! A quick trip back to the hotel to pack up and check out — and very thankful that hotels.com refunded our stay! Then we grabbed lunch and headed back to show Cowboy. Nothing today, but he showed well and had fun…that’s what counts, right?
As soon as Cowboy was done, we beat feet and headed West. We decided to see how far we could go before conditions started getting bad, as we were headed into the storm. That answer was Topeka. We found a dog friendly hotel, picked up some take out, and snuggled in with the pups and a pinot noir. Pretty successful detour.
This morning we headed out at 10, which was perfect. The roads were plowed and clear and we didn’t hit any patches of ice. While it stunk to lose a day of showing, it was actually pretty nice to roll in to Denver at 5:30 🙂
Big thanks to the Gateway Vizsla Club for the hospitality, great ribbon, and for taking on the task of organizing two specialties! We will definitely be back 🙂
Here is our updated goal list:
Agility Goals:
-Gunner’s AX title
-Gunner’s MX & MXJ titles
-Gunner & Karma’s OF titles
-Gunner’s T2B title
-Karma’s MACH
-Get Karma qualified for AKC Agility Nationals
-Get Karma ranked in the Top 20 (agility)
Conformation Goals:
-Grand Championship on Indy — DONE!
-Specialty Award on Halo (BISS, BOSS, SBS, JAM) — DONE!
-Group Placement on Halo
-Get Halo ranked in the Top 20 (show)
Obedience/Rally Goals:
-Rally Excellent on Karma — DONE!
-Rally Advanced Excellent on Gunner
-Rally Novice on Halo
-Canine Good Citizens on Gunner & Halo
-Companion Dog on Gunner
-Companion Dog Excellent on Indy
Field Goals: (some may be 2 year goals)
-Junior Hunter on Halo
-Senior Hunter on Gunner & Karma
-Tracking Dog on Indy, Karma, and Halo
-Coursing Ability on Halo
**Need an explanation on titles? Check out our “Games” tab for write-ups on most of these events**