Monday, 10 June 2013
Yukon Kennel Club shows in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories
Met my friend, Janine, at the Vancouver Airport for the flight up to Whitehorse for the Yukon Kennel Club shows. We had two dogs with us - Jesse, the Giant Schnauzer and Bolli, our PBGV. This was my first trip up to Canada's Most Northern Dog Show and to the Yukon so I was very excited and grateful that Janine invited us along. The Yukon shows have been on my personal bucket list for many, many years. Once in Whitehorse we stayed at the rustic and quaint Mountain Ridge Motel and RV Park. This motel has the most stunning view out of our windows that overlooks a deep valley filled with scrub forest, surrounded by breathtaking, snow capped glacial mountains. A warm breeze from up the valley floor kept most of the mosquitoes at bay..thank heavens for that! Our weather for the most part was warm and sunny...some overcast...and today a big thunderstorm over on the mountain ridge. The only rain we had occurred while we were occupied indoors.
The Yukon Kennel Club members and exhibitors were very welcoming. You couldn't ask for a better team to share our wins with. I've met so many new people that, sadly, I wasn't able to remember all their names but they are all in my memories about this great show! Janine and I had such a great time in the show ring too! Bolli outdid himself, showed spectacularly for Janine, and won his Canadian Championship!! There is little PBGV competition on the west coast so we had to do it the hard way...defeating PBGV Specials and taking the rest of the points in the Hound Groups. Bolli's tally for the weekend - Best in All-breed Puppy Sweepstakes, 6 Best Puppy in the Hound Group, 2 Best Puppy in Shows, and 6 Hound Group 2nd place rosettes. Not at all bad for a pup who just turned 8 months of age!
Janine had to leave a day early so I will be taking the dogs back to Vancouver. Good thing they get along so well. After I sign off here I will be heading out country and/or into town to play tourist. Both dogs are sleeping on the kitchen floor so I am going to wait until they rise before I go out. They tuckered themselves out with a full bore, no holds barred, playing session...giving me some time to pack up, clean up, and catch up on the news at home.
The Yukon Kennel Club members and exhibitors were very welcoming. You couldn't ask for a better team to share our wins with. I've met so many new people that, sadly, I wasn't able to remember all their names but they are all in my memories about this great show! Janine and I had such a great time in the show ring too! Bolli outdid himself, showed spectacularly for Janine, and won his Canadian Championship!! There is little PBGV competition on the west coast so we had to do it the hard way...defeating PBGV Specials and taking the rest of the points in the Hound Groups. Bolli's tally for the weekend - Best in All-breed Puppy Sweepstakes, 6 Best Puppy in the Hound Group, 2 Best Puppy in Shows, and 6 Hound Group 2nd place rosettes. Not at all bad for a pup who just turned 8 months of age!
Janine had to leave a day early so I will be taking the dogs back to Vancouver. Good thing they get along so well. After I sign off here I will be heading out country and/or into town to play tourist. Both dogs are sleeping on the kitchen floor so I am going to wait until they rise before I go out. They tuckered themselves out with a full bore, no holds barred, playing session...giving me some time to pack up, clean up, and catch up on the news at home.
Tuesday, 16 April 2013
The National & Regional Specialties in Houston, TX PART 3
Monday, 15 April 2013
18 days
Sunday, 7 April 2013
The National & Regional Specialties in Houston, TX PART 2
Forgive me if I am jumping ahead...I will post when I get back to Canada about Bolli's great first show weekend in Abbotsford. Will have a couple of days when I finally don't have any place to be!
Thursday - We have armband #5....that is, we are the FIRST dog in the ring for all of the shows, an 8 am. judging time! After arriving late the night before after a longgg trip I had been looking at getting some rest to be refreshed in the morning. Didn't sleep at all....TV and snoring of my roommate (sorry J.) plus the very HOT room and no fresh air did not help whatsoever. Up every hour or so and when I finally did get some sleep it was J. that woke me...."It's 7:15!" Neither one of our alarms had gone off. We both scrambled to get dressed, look presentable, rushed the dogs downstairs to do their business, a quick trip into the grooming area with little time to spare until Bolli and I were in the ring.
There were 3 in his Regional Specialty Junior Puppy sweepstakes class. Bolli showed as well as he could under the circumstances but placed a disappointing 2nd. He won a beautiful limited edition print and an armadillo stuffed toy which he loves! Unable to compete for Best in Sweepstakes sadly. What made the whole thing worse...after the fact it was discovered that the puppy who beat him was NOT eligible to compete in sweeps. Too late to do anything about it...Bolli had missed his chance to go up against the rest for the Best win. I still don't know how it is going to pan out...will we get the sweeps prize money that we should have gotten for what would have been a class win? or the 1st prize rosette? No one has told us. After our nightmare dealings with United this was only more frustration on our plate. Hopefully the entire show wasn't going to continue to be like this.
A bit of time to rest up and finish the finer points of grooming then pass Bolli on to Chris Hajek..a wonderful handler..who would take Bolli in for the regular classes. He showed beautifully for her and won his class easily. Didn't place for Winners or Reserve...he looked very immature against the seasoned PBGVs. Had to wait until the end for the Best Puppy in Show competition....and Bolli WON! What a thrill that was after all the chaos of the past 24 hours! His litter mate "Bubbles" won her Sweeps class but only placed 2nd in the Regular classes. What a spitfire she is...didn't like Bolli getting too close to her...a character but very, very sweet. She will be a contender when she matures so watch for Mirepoix's Pierre-Jouet in the show ring in Minnesota!
Saturday - The National Specialty has arrived! Another early morning start...this time without missing our wake up calls. By now the issue of the ineligible dog has been resolved (except for how we are going to be compensated for the mix up) and the dog is present with the right handler on the end of the lead. The judge dumped both Bolli and his sister...could almost see that coming. No comment. Entered the regular classes to a judge who delighted the crowd by giving all his instructions in French. We didn't fare as well as day 1, winning only a 2nd in our Junior Puppy class but "Bubbles" not only won her class but went WINNERS BITCH and BEST PUPPY at the Specialty! Wow!! Talk about keeping it in the family *smile*.....to be continued in PART 3
Thursday - We have armband #5....that is, we are the FIRST dog in the ring for all of the shows, an 8 am. judging time! After arriving late the night before after a longgg trip I had been looking at getting some rest to be refreshed in the morning. Didn't sleep at all....TV and snoring of my roommate (sorry J.) plus the very HOT room and no fresh air did not help whatsoever. Up every hour or so and when I finally did get some sleep it was J. that woke me...."It's 7:15!" Neither one of our alarms had gone off. We both scrambled to get dressed, look presentable, rushed the dogs downstairs to do their business, a quick trip into the grooming area with little time to spare until Bolli and I were in the ring.
There were 3 in his Regional Specialty Junior Puppy sweepstakes class. Bolli showed as well as he could under the circumstances but placed a disappointing 2nd. He won a beautiful limited edition print and an armadillo stuffed toy which he loves! Unable to compete for Best in Sweepstakes sadly. What made the whole thing worse...after the fact it was discovered that the puppy who beat him was NOT eligible to compete in sweeps. Too late to do anything about it...Bolli had missed his chance to go up against the rest for the Best win. I still don't know how it is going to pan out...will we get the sweeps prize money that we should have gotten for what would have been a class win? or the 1st prize rosette? No one has told us. After our nightmare dealings with United this was only more frustration on our plate. Hopefully the entire show wasn't going to continue to be like this.
A bit of time to rest up and finish the finer points of grooming then pass Bolli on to Chris Hajek..a wonderful handler..who would take Bolli in for the regular classes. He showed beautifully for her and won his class easily. Didn't place for Winners or Reserve...he looked very immature against the seasoned PBGVs. Had to wait until the end for the Best Puppy in Show competition....and Bolli WON! What a thrill that was after all the chaos of the past 24 hours! His litter mate "Bubbles" won her Sweeps class but only placed 2nd in the Regular classes. What a spitfire she is...didn't like Bolli getting too close to her...a character but very, very sweet. She will be a contender when she matures so watch for Mirepoix's Pierre-Jouet in the show ring in Minnesota!
Saturday - The National Specialty has arrived! Another early morning start...this time without missing our wake up calls. By now the issue of the ineligible dog has been resolved (except for how we are going to be compensated for the mix up) and the dog is present with the right handler on the end of the lead. The judge dumped both Bolli and his sister...could almost see that coming. No comment. Entered the regular classes to a judge who delighted the crowd by giving all his instructions in French. We didn't fare as well as day 1, winning only a 2nd in our Junior Puppy class but "Bubbles" not only won her class but went WINNERS BITCH and BEST PUPPY at the Specialty! Wow!! Talk about keeping it in the family *smile*.....to be continued in PART 3
The Regional & National Specialties in Houston, TX PART 1
Getting there: I will NEVER fly United Airlines again with a dog. Arrived in Seattle at the Park & Jet to leave my van there for the week I was away. The shuttle was very obliging to take the crate and my luggage to the airport but not having a dolly with me to move the crate I needed to locate one to get my gear to the counter. $5.00 it cost me to use one from the self serve (only 25 cents back when you return it)...at Houston it is $4.00 BTW. Loaded up and headed to the counter to check in and low and behold they no longer accept dogs at the airport!! In order to have Bolli with me as "excess baggage" I had to take him to the cargo facility to "PetSafe" (what a ripoff that is). Now I had no transport and my time was getting closer and closer to boarding. I checked my bags, loaded Bolli back onto the dolly and headed outside to hail a taxi to get me to cargo. A reluctant taxi driver who had no idea where we were going except that it was "over there" somewhere. Top it off the address that PetSafe gave me by phone at the ticket counter was an old one....they had moved last year! We got to where we thought we were supposed to be but there were signs on the door saying they had moved but no address to go to. Luckily the business next to them had moved also and did have an address. The taxi drove me to it but it was not PetSafe. The workers there did know where it was so we back tracked to get to United Cargo. Paid the driver and dragged the crate to the counter. Took at least a half hour to check him in and say goodbye. Outside the building taxi after taxi passed by but would not pick me up. Started walking towards the terminal still hoping to get a ride, past a hotel and there happened to be several people standing outside the lobby entrance. "Are you waiting for the shuttle to the airport?" "Yes we are."...so I stood with them and hitched the ride. Back at the airport and the long security lines, over to the Starbucks to pick up something to eat and drink on the plane, then to the farthest end of the airport to my gate. Just in time as they were already loading!! The whole process took the full 2 1/2 hours I had allotted to be checked through.
The flight was disappointing...don't get much for your dollar anymore. Did I mention that Bolli's cargo fee was well over $200 plus the unexpected taxi fee of $20! Alaska Airlines flew a friend's dog in from the same airport for HALF that cost AND they were able to check the dog in with their luggage at the ticket counter. Hello ALASKA, good riddance UNITED. Encountered some turbulence on the way. Only got drinks (small glass, less than a half a can of pop) and no snacks (peanuts or cookies). Cheap. Arrived at Houston and saw Bolli be offloaded the plane. Picked up my luggage from the carousel and headed to special services to get Bolli. Guess what...you knew this was coming...he's not there. "Sorry, ma'm (hate that term) you have to pick him up at cargo." What the hell!! Fortunately I had a very understanding hotel shuttle driver who obliged and found the cargo terminal, waited for us, and go us to the hotel. Thanks Sheraton!
Now, tomorrow, I have to repeat this mess all over again.. Believe me I have notified both United and PetSafe of my anger and disappointment with their service. If they had even transported the dog to the terminal (a drive of about a block) instead of the cargo (at least a mile away) I would have been much happier....but not that much. It ruined a great start to my vacation....
The flight was disappointing...don't get much for your dollar anymore. Did I mention that Bolli's cargo fee was well over $200 plus the unexpected taxi fee of $20! Alaska Airlines flew a friend's dog in from the same airport for HALF that cost AND they were able to check the dog in with their luggage at the ticket counter. Hello ALASKA, good riddance UNITED. Encountered some turbulence on the way. Only got drinks (small glass, less than a half a can of pop) and no snacks (peanuts or cookies). Cheap. Arrived at Houston and saw Bolli be offloaded the plane. Picked up my luggage from the carousel and headed to special services to get Bolli. Guess what...you knew this was coming...he's not there. "Sorry, ma'm (hate that term) you have to pick him up at cargo." What the hell!! Fortunately I had a very understanding hotel shuttle driver who obliged and found the cargo terminal, waited for us, and go us to the hotel. Thanks Sheraton!
Now, tomorrow, I have to repeat this mess all over again.. Believe me I have notified both United and PetSafe of my anger and disappointment with their service. If they had even transported the dog to the terminal (a drive of about a block) instead of the cargo (at least a mile away) I would have been much happier....but not that much. It ruined a great start to my vacation....
Friday, 22 March 2013
It's almost SHOW time!
By this time next week Bolli would have made his debut in the show ring...hopefully with fantastic results and a few rosettes to show for it. It's been having quite the challenge getting him ready on my own..not easy trying to pluck and trim with a swirming puppy licking your face at every opportunity or giving playful nips on any piece of exposed flesh he can find. Thankfully, teething is almost over and those new teeth aren't razor sharp. As luck would have it we will be one of the first dogs in the ring Friday morning. Still debating whether I should drive all the way out there the night before (after work in the rush hour) to set up, before driving double the distance back home to bathe Bolli, get him brushed dry, and hit the sack for a very early alarm. It won't be any better for the BIG show in Houston...ring time there is 8am! We fly in the night before....not much time to acclimatize to the new surroundings and the time difference. This will be a real test for this young puppy....AND me!
Before I sign off....a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to "Jilly" who won Best in Show at the prestigious CRUFTS dog show in England!! And yes, she is a PBGV!!
Before I sign off....a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to "Jilly" who won Best in Show at the prestigious CRUFTS dog show in England!! And yes, she is a PBGV!!
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