[ SHOWGSD-L ] Back From Concord...
- From: "RivendellP" <rivendellp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Showgsd-l" <showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 10:50:47 -0800
Wowzers...what a week. Make that a wonderful week. It took me a day to begin
recovery but I'm feeling much better now.
The Concord site is a "great one". We saw it 1st on Monday while they were
laying the sod. While it would be great to have 4 sides to double...we would
lose that wonderful white wall that will showcase our dogs in the videos. 3 was
juz fine.
I noticed a new air of relaxation at this National. People at every level were
courteous and therefore little or no contention was evident. Even tho it was
difficult to water the so-so sod...we still were able to familiarize the dogs
with the rings after the show. People said please and thank you. The days flew
by and I loved every moment. The hotels were fabulous and our Hampton (exit 60)
"Thanked us for our Biz". The folks who stayed there were as good as anyone
could hope for and the day we left the hotel employees waved a cheery goodbye.
The PClub and local clubs are also to be commended for their assistance with
scoopers and supplies.
I think 4 days are doable for conformation but what about the other events?
Herding should be done on a weekend in order to draw other breeds to the trial.
We also have Agility, Rally, the Temperament Test, and the WDA competition. Our
National has grown in the number of events and we need to see how we can
efficiently put them together. Yes...I've had better dinners but I've also had
worse. We need to decide if you want the Pomp & Circumstance or a more relaxed
after show dinner like a BBQ...voice your opinion.
None of our dogs got sick. Not one! I took special note that the Judges asked
for the bite to be shown rather than put their hands in each dogs mouth. With
all of the worry about dog flu...that was a good thing and I offer a big "Thank
You".
As to the Judges folks...we elected them. It's no time to 2nd guess or
complain. All 3 were professional and gave us "their opinion". What more could
you ask. We didn't show a dog but I thought Barbara did a fine job. Debbie I
will get to in a minute...but Thanks to Ken Downing for a thorough and knowing
look at Ms. Magnolia and Ms. Honey. Both of whom made all of us very proud.
If someone had told me a week before our 2 14 month old Brando X Sachet
daughters would take back to back classes at this National...well I don't know
what I would have done but they did just that. Our BOF Rivendell's Sunny Side
Up (Sunny) won the 12-18 bitch class followed by Rivendell's Start The
Commotion (Molly) won Novice. What an honor and we can't thank Debbi Hokkanen
enough. It was our best National ever and that says a lot after Maggie going
Select last year under Joan.
Of course none of this could have been done without teamwork. Sunny's co-owners
Ann Smith and Hallie & Seth McMullen are Aces. Seth also did a great job as a
"Weird Stranger" in training and sung the anthems on Thursday. We did almost 70
dogs on Tuesday. The same is true with Molly's co-owners Jan and Dave Coleman.
Their efforts made much of this possible. Add to those great people...handlers
extraordinaire Jerry Guzman and Art Sinclair respectfully...and those class
wins took us well up into the ionosphere. Special thanks to Jack Kilgour and JR
Alcantara for their able hands in previous shows and support on the day.
Teamwork works...I'm here to testify to that.
Specials was quite a day as we had 2 bitches that were only 5 numbers apart. A
good split kept them in separate groups. They both made us so proud. Art
Sinclair had Maggie and Nancy Godek had Honey. Maggie got real fritzy with all
of the stacking and Art switched to bait stacking her. We went through a bag of
liver in her time in the ring. Thank God Art speaks Maggie fluently. I can't
wait for the video to see them moving on a loose lead down that white wall. I
thought she was breath taking. I overheard someone say they thought Maggie is
too small. How could a 23" bitch be too small? Honey is 23 1/2" and a repeat of
Maggie. She and Nancy just floated around the ring. Nancy had put a major on
Honey under Helen Gleason in 2004 so they had already established a bond.
Somehow we were able to devote the right amount of doubling time to each and
didn't screw em up. We are so proud of both girls...no...all of our girls.
OK...OK...I'll get down offa da soap box but it was a great National. No
again...the BEST. I can't describe how wonderful Jenn and I felt Thursday at
the meeting picking up the 2 ROM buttons and Saturday night at the dinner when
co-owner Ben Bigornia and Jenn and I picked up Maggie's AOE. Our breeding
program is paying dividends and we are so pleased. Thanks to all who clapped
like crazy when we went to the podium.
The final bit of good news is that due to Gary Szymczak's (spelled from memory
this time) election to VP...I will assume his remaining year on "Da Board".
Thanks to all who voted for me...I will do my very best for you.
On to 2006...
Paul
Visit Rivendell on 'da web' at www.rivendellgsd.com
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