Happy Birthday,Mackie

Mackie turned 14 on the 18th of Dec. She is doing well considering her age.  Still very active and still wants to boss the rest of our crew--however-we don't let that happen. Sadie doesn't think Mackie  should be in charge.  The boys don't mind.   She loves all her food dispensing toys.  She wanted yet another black Kong for her gift--getting the peanut butter or cheese out of it keeps her happy.  She has destroyed several of these during her 14 years. We think she is still beautiful at 14.

Attacking her new Kong

Carrying the Kong to her bed.

Mackie's loves feeding herself with the pin ball-type toy.  She really knocks it around and is rewarded with tiny bits of kibble.

Joie-BOB photo

I only had one BOB photo taken of Joie at the Southern Colorado KC shows.  Probably should have also done one the second day--but just didn't get to it.  Wish I would have since Marie Zimmerman was the person showing her.  Would have been nice to have Marie in the photo.  Anyway-this is the photo from that weekend.  Nexty time Angie will remind me to hold Joie's tail.

Southern Colorado KC shows

Had some fun at the SCKC shows this past weekend.  Joie, Brady and Sadie all attended.  Sadie was in obedience for her first time ever--she earned 2 CD legs and 3rd places both times in strong classes.  Her scores weren't as good as she could have worked, but they were good enough.  I'm sure I lost her a couple points here and there.  However-she had a great time and that is what's important.  Brady and Joie were entered in conformation.  They were the only specials.  There were class dogs and a class bitch.  Joie went BOB both days.  Brady was BOS.  Both earned GCH points. Joie had a great time in the Group ring.  (Auntie Angie was so proud of her 'Sissy'.)  The judge the first day liked Joie's head better than Brady's--much to my surprise.  Second day, Brady thought the judge wanted to party with him.  He is such a boy.  At any rate, we all had a great time.  Friends showed Joie for us--people she hadn't seen for some time.  That didn't bother her one bit.  She showed them what to do in the ring.  However-with showing in both conformation and obedience, I had no time to shop!

Nathan's TD-Not Dal related

Ran my friend, Angie's, Elkhound yesterday in a Tracking Dog test.  We drew the first track which proved to be a good one for him.  Nathan passed with flying colors.  This test was held at Chatfield State Park.   This is the 3rd title I've put on this dog: CH and RN came before.  Nathan also has the new AKC Therapy Dog Title.  He and Angie do many visits.

A nice start

We had a long second leg--he motored right along.

On the way to the glove!!

The official photo with the TL and Judges.

CH Hestsko's American Patriot RN TD THD

"Nathan"

Sadie's VST pass

On Sunday, Oct. 16, Sadie was in her first Variable Surface Tracker test.  It was held by the Corgi Club at Denver West Office Park.  This is a great area for VST work and tests.  Lots of parking lots, tall buildings, ponds, waterfalls, bridges, passages between buildings, statues, etc. Beautiful landscaping.  Sadie drew the 3rd track.  The temps were cool.  The article at her start was a 3X5 piece of a leather glove.  Now this dog LOVES leather gloves as you can see in the photos below:

                                     Sadie finds her start article, and proceeds to pick it up.

                                                           The fun is just beginning!

                          Rolling with the start article in her mouth.  What a way to get the scent

                                                             We're ready to take off.

                                                 She's got the scent and is motoring along.

Off the grass to track on the sidewalk.

                                                                     Moving right along.

                                                        Taking the moment of truth turn.

     Working on the last part of her track.

Still working.

Sadie had downed on the spot where the article had been.  Someone had picked up the little, plastic blue toy that the TL had left.  Sadie clearly indicated where it had been by pawing the ground, nosing it, then downing on it.  Pictured from L to R: TL Milan Hess, Tana, Judges Jean Hilbig and Kathy Marshburn.  And Sadie is still sniffing the spot!

   At the awards ceremony: TL Milan Hess, Tana, Sadie, Judges Jean Hilbig & Kathy Marshburn

One other pass that day was by a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Flicka, and her owner/handler, Lynn Kaemmerer.  They ran their track beautifully.  Her TL was Franna Pitt from WA pictured in the middle.

Sadie is now:

URO2 AKC/UKC CH MONUMENTAL RAVENWD SMART CHOICE RE VST

First Snow of 2011

Mackie--at almost 14 years of age--having a great run in the snow.

The others had fun as well.  But, to watch her running and having such a great time was the most fun for me.

Arapahoe KC shows

Showed Brady this past weekend at the Arapahoe Kennel Club shows.  Finally-there were some other Dals entered, so by taking Best of Breed each day, Brady started his quest for the AKC Grand Champion title.  I'm so pleased with the way this young boy is showing and looking.  He loves showing.  He is the easiest dog to show.  He goes in, stacks himself, and invites the judge to come give him some attention.  His tail never stops wagging-even when the judge is going over his rear-and his ears are always up.  He has great stamina--is as good at the end of the day as he is in the morning.  Don't have any more shows coming up for a while. Darn.
His new best friend is a male Newfoundland owned by a friend of mine.  This Newf weighs in excess of 150 lbs.  He and Brady make quite the pair.  (Brady weighs 55.) Draven, the Newf, tried to make himself smaller so as to be on Brady's level.  The are a riot to watch.

Jordi's Target photo

Last July, Jordi and I went to a photo shoot for Target stores.  One of the photos is now in the stores in the jewelry department.  The crew wanted him pulling the model--not an easy task for a dog that is very good at heads-up heeling.  To make him pull her, I got about 20 feet in front of them and called him.  The model hung on for dear life--but she continued to smile.  It was really quite comical.  Jordi had a great time at the shoot and made Dal lovers out of the crew.  They thought he was great.   Jordi will celebrate his 9th birthday this coming Tues.  It doesn't seem possible that my 'little' brown boy will be 9.

Weekend in Cheyenne, WY

Took Brady to Cheyenne for shows this past weekend.  He was BOB both days.  The best part of the trip was seeing Jasper and the Zimmermans.  Jasper looks great and he is sooooooooooo sweet.  Just love that boy.  He is very handsome--even if I do say so myself.  He and Brady do look like littermates although Jasper is a bit larger and has a few more spots.  Jasper also reminds me a great deal of Great Granny Mackie--he has her beautiful dark eyes.  It was great to be able to spend time with him.  The Zimmermans also came to the show on Sat. to watch Brady--thanks!  I'll be posting pics of Jasper soon.  He is in a great home.  He also has a 'brother'--a Pudelpointer.  I got some great pics of Moose, too.  He and Jasper are so good together.
Brady had a great time in the group ring and really showed well.  He is really getting the idea of playing with the 'big boys.'  He loves showing and I love showing him.  Have to download pics of him and will get a couple up soon. 
Another highlight was taking a friends 10-month old Newf boy in for BOW.  He not only went BOW but also went BOB over her special.  That was very exciting and lots of fun for both of us.  I've been taking him in for BOW for the last few shows.   I've been telling my friend that he and I would beat her special one dayl.  She was delighted that we did.  He looked great for his first time in group.

Joie's CH official

The AKC website now has Joie listed as a champion.  Should get the certificate in the mail before too long.  I received photos in the mail today of both Joie and Brady from the Saturday Buckhorn Valley KC shows.  Joie was BOB (her 3rd major) and Brady was BOS (his 5th major--kept him in the classes to hold the major even though he had already finished). 

Joie going BOW/BOB under Judge John Madieros.

Brady going WD and BOS to Joie.

Tomorrow they get to go tracking--VST--with friends.  Hopefully it won't be too hot.

Joie's CH photo

Just got Joie's finishing photo in the mail today.  She finished with 3 majors--the 3rd one took her to 16 points and her Championship.  The judge in the photo is Kent Delaney.   I had never shown in conformation to this judge, but have shown to him in obedience which is always great fun.  I really like how Joie is maturing.  I think she has a lovely outline, and beautiful dark, liver spotting.  She is very smart, and extremely sweet.  Joie came to CO with 2 points.  Her first show here was June 3rd.  She finished on July 3rd.  Her Auntie Angie thinks her 'Sissy' is quite perfect. The photo below shows  Joie going BOB which she did both days her last weekend of showing.

CH* MONUMENTAL HIGHLY RESEMBLES A ROCKSTAR

"JOIE"

*pending AKC

It's Official

Brady's AKC Championship certificate arrived in the mail today.  So he's now officially UKC RBIS AKC/UKC CH Monumental Taking the High Road.  Next he needs to look forward to getting some titles on the other end of his name.  He has been working on obedience exercises as well as tracking.  He was doing very nice field tracking work before the warm weather brought out the snakes.  Since then, I've been working him on VST and he loves it.  Does really nice turns on pavement.  He's wearing his Great Granny Mackie's harness, so he needs to follow in her pawsteps.  He loves obedience work, too, and is such fun to train.

Jordi at the Denver Firefighters Museum

Yesterday Jordi and I traveled to downtown Denver to the Denver Firefighters Museum.  We spent the afternoon at their Kids' Camp.  What fun.  Jordi is great with kids and loved his time with them.  We did some bite prevention work, grooming, and obedience work.  The kids were very good with Jordi.  He thought it was just great when I had 2 kids at a time using the ZoomGroom and another brush on him.  Each child also had to have his/her picture taken with Jordi. Jordi was in a down stay for this activity.  He was sooooo patient.  His tail never stopped wagging--at least until he got back into his crate in the van when the afternoon was over.  He was asleep before we got back to I-25.  We did this camp last year for the first time. It was nice to be invited back.  This museum always has lots of visitors, so we did more work with kids and adults before leaving.
Photos below show Jordi with a few of the kids who were attending the camp:

MT Photos

Photos from the shows in Billings, MT (Yellowstone Valley KC) in June:

Brady going WD/BOW under Judge David Kirkland for his 3rd major.

New Champion Brady--he was WD/BOW for his 4th major under Judge Larry Sinclair.  Brady finished with 18 points.  He is now UKC RBIS AKC/UKC CH Monumental Taking The High Road.

Joie going WB/BOS under Judge Larry Sinclair for her 1st major (4 points).

Joie going WB/BOS under Judge Darryl Vice for 2 more points.  There wasn't a major on this day.  Joie was at 13 points with these wins.  We came home to  CO and showed again at the Buckhorn Valley KC shows where she was WB/BOW/BOB each day for 2 more majors to finish!  She finished her championship with 3 majors and 16 points.  She is  now CH Monumental Highly Resembles A Rockstar.  When she came back to CO she had 2  points.  Her first shows here were June 3rd.  She finished on July 3rd.  The time was right and there was no stopping this pup.

Brady finished on his 10 month birthday; Joie finished at 10 months 11 days.

Buckhorn Valley KC shows

What a weekend we had:  Joie is now CH* Monumental Highly Resembles A Rockstar after going WB/BOW/BOB both days to earn 2 more majors to finish the title. (*pending AKC) She showed well and had a great time.  She was Best Bred By today and ended the day by getting a Bred By Group 2.  Her Auntie Angie, who calls her Sissy, is so proud of her.  Can't wait for pictures to arrive from this last month of shows.  Hope we got some good ones.

Grace in Oklahoma

Got very exciting news from Candy Powell today.  Grace, Monumental High On Grace, earned her first major today in Oklahoma City.  She has 11 points toward her AKC Championship.  Good girl, Grace!

Flatirons KC photos

Here is the photo of Joie going WB/BOS  under Judge Richard Beauchamp at the Flatirons KC.   She is 9 months in this photo.  It was our first show together.  We did just fine as she was WB/BOS both days--the 2nd day she went over a special for BOS.

 

This is Brady going BOB under Judge Beauchamp.  He said he really liked Brady, but he loved Joie.

I really had fun with the pups at these shows.  They both love showing which makes it very easy for me.

Montana Shows

Just got back from taking Brady and Joie to shows in Billings, MT.  Had a great 3 days:  Brady was WD/BOW the first 2 days to finish his AKC championship (He was shown for only 3 1/2 months -5 weekends of shows- and finished with 4 majors.).  Fun part was--it was the pups' 10 month birthday.  Joie also earned a major on that same day, so we celebrated with style.  Joie earned another 2 points the 3rd day.  She now has 9 points with 1 major.  These pups are both fun to show and they love the atmosphere.  The best part of being in shows, other than the treats they get, are all the people they get to 'play' with. 
We also were visiting my mother who still lives in Billings.  The pups did a bit of a therapy visit at the retirement center where my mother lives.  The people there loved them.   My mother also went to the show with us on Thurs.  She is a true dog-lover, so really enjoyed herself there.
On Friday, we took a drive to the top of Beartooth Highway.  The views were, to say the least, gorgeous.  On parts of the drive up the switchbacks we couldn't see the 8 foot poles as they were still buried under snow.  The wind was really whipping on the Continental Divide. 

Snowbanks along the Beartooth Highway

A view from the 'Top of the World' as it is called

Joie happily greeting a resident at Aspen View Retirement Center.  Her tail never stopped wagging.

Brady greeting a friend of my mother's.  My mother is sitting in the middle.

Joie with Jeanine, one of my mother's friends.