Cleveland Weekend

Hi everyone! This is Calvin. Mom says I get to tell you about our 3-day weekend in Cleveland. On Friday, mom took Sefina up to the IX Center to play AKC Rally. Mom was hoping she would get her Advanced title but Sefina says the place was real big and there was so much going on that she didn’t feel like playing. She was too busy checking everything out so Mom called it quits at the 5th station. But Sefina wanted a souvenir so while mom was getting her leash from the ring steward, she went back and grabbed the stuffed monkey out of one of the bowls in the offset figure 8. She went strutting out of the ring looking really proud and everyone laughed but the ring steward took the toy away from her. So then Mom & Sefina went to stake out a spot in the grooming area for me on Saturday & Sunday. Then they went shopping. Sefina got a little stressed out by all the commotion so she was feeling down by the time they left but as they were walking out, who did they run into? Sefina’s favorite Boxer Izzy! Oh boy, did she get excited. Sefina loves to get tackled and drooled on by Iz. None of us can quite figure out why but Sefina says that was the highlight of her day.

Saturday was the Keeshond Specialty. Mom took me up early since another Kees person, Ann, offered to help groom me. She didn’t find her until almost ring time for the Sweepstakes so mom did the best she could which is too much in my book. But then Ann saw me and insisted on fixing my feet so they fussed even more. Then I went up against 3 other males in the 12-18 month age group and ended up last but mom says we got $2 for that. Then Ann fussed with my feet even more. Then I went back in the ring and since I was the only 12-18 month Open dog I got 1st place and a Xmas mug and socks for mom. I thought it should have been Xmas cookies or bones for me since I had to do all the work. I got the short of that deal. Then I went up for Winners dog and didn’t make it. Boy did that judge check us out though. We had to go around the ring 4 or 5 times. I was getting pretty bored by the end. Then mom & I watched the rest of the Keesies. There sure were a lot of us. And the judge made everyone go around and around. It took a long time. After that was over, Ann fussed over my feet even more. I wasn’t happy about that but worked it for lots of treats.

Sunday was quite the experience. You see, instead of getting a motel, mom drove between Pittsburgh & Cleveland each day since she couldn’t take all five of us into the IX center. Friday & Saturday were sunny, dry days but Sunday morning it started to rain right before we left and turned into ice when it hit the cold ground. Mom saw that there were lots of accidents on the news and they were closing roads so she rushed me out the door as quick as she could. We barely made it out of the driveway – it’s really steep but we got out and mom drove real slow. But then she went around a curve by our favorite ice cream place and we went flying! Mom was real worried that we were going to hit a car that was pulled over but we missed that. But then we headed into some posts sticking out of the ground and a telephone pole. Mom thought for sure we were going to hit but managed to escape damage by inches on the driver’s side and inches from the telephone pole in front thanks to some shrubs. Mom was so relieved! So then she backed out and pulled over into another driveway (after taking another slide) and got out to make sure there was no damage. Then she got back in to get ready to pull out and here comes a car from the opposite direction in a slide heading right towards us! He managed to stop a couple feet before hitting us. Whew! So then we got back on the road. You see, mom used to live in Alaska so she isn’t daunted by the weather around here, but she does have a healthy respect for icy roads. We went real slow and got on the freeway and then we got stuck behind cars going really, really slow and blocking both lanes so it took a long time to get to the turnpike. But we finally made it and mom was careful. She says by the time we got past New Castle, the roads were OK so we were able to make ring time – barely. She fussed over me real quick for about 15 minutes and then we went in. It was a repeat of Saturday, 4th in Sweepstakes and I didn’t make the cut for Winners dog. But she says it was a good experience. She learned more about grooming me (I could have done without that) and she was happy with our performance in the ring both days. When we got home, mom found out that we left just in time because they closed all the highways soon after we left.

So that’s officially the end of our 2009 conformation/rally/agility trial season. We sure did a lot this year. Kiwi earned 9 agility titles and her TDI this year! Little miss over-achiever. But Sefina who idolizes her wasn’t far behind with 8 titles, including her CGC, TDI, Rally Novice, and 5 agility titles. Then there’s my crazy under-achieving brother Robin. He managed to get 2 agility titles this year, but that’s still really good since he only joined the family in March. And me, I earned 4 points towards my AKC Champion title. It probably would have been more if I didn’t have to sit out for 3 months recovering from a leg injury and also if I had a better handler (sorry, mom). Voodoo didn’t earn any titles since he doesn’t like to compete but he still has a noteworthy accomplishment to report. He is no longer afraid of sneezes! At least not of mom’s sneezes. The verdict is still out on other peoples’ sneezes. But after 3 and ½ years, that is a huge step for Voodoo!