Kiwi, Robin, and I played AKC agility. I got sick so I didn’t feel like playing. But Robin got his first Open Jumpers Q! Kiwi Q’d in standard but did not get the Jumpers Q that she needs for her Master Jumpers title. The next day, Sefina and Robin played Rally Obedience. Sefina was still traumatized from the stairwell incident so didn’t even get past the 2nd station. It was Robin’s first Rally trial. Mom hadn’t worked with him much. She mainly wanted him to learn to be quiet in the ring so that he could play conformation like me someday. So mom trained him and wore him out in the parking lot while they were waiting for their turn. Well, Robin went in and did the course really fast and got 2nd place with a score of 98! And he was QUIET. Not a peep!
At the end of the month I played conformation again at a show that Mom thought I would do really well at but it was my worst show weekend ever - 4th place on Saturday and 3rd on Sunday.
Then in October, Mom decided it was time to take me to some different shows, shows that we had to drive to and stay the night at a hotel. I like hotels. My favorite part is unmaking the beds as soon as we get into the room. We went to the Finger Lakes in New York, the first weekend in October. It was really cold but pretty with the leaves changing colors. The New York people were very friendly and we had a really good time. On Saturday, I got Winners Reserve. Then we walked around a lot and mom got my fancy show lead fixed and an artist photographed me a lot. She says that I am going to be her new Keeshond model. Then mom went wine tasting. I thought that was pretty boring but I was tired so didn’t mind staying in the car and sleep. On Sunday I got Winners dog and got my last single point! So now I just need a 3-point major to finish my champion title.The next weekend we went on the road again and we took Robin with us this time. We went to a Keeshond Specialty in Warrenville, outside of Chicago. I got to see Charlie again – I was sooo happy. I really like Charlie because he carries liver in his pocket! But he was handling dogs at another show so I didn’t get to scam on much liver. Mom played rally with Robin and he got 1st place with a score of 96! The judge said really nice things about him and his daddy’s mom was there and could tell that Robin had to be his son. Then I played conformation with mom on both Saturday and Sunday. I was the only Open dog and I didn’t get Winners dog like mom hoped. My sister Mia, who got her champion title a long time ago (cause she gets to play with Charlie and gets liver!) got best of opposite sex both days and my half brother Radar, beat me on Sunday and got Winners Reserve.
Mom said she was tired of driving for a while but she did take me, Robin, and Kiwi to Medina to play a day of CPE. I only got 1 Q but Kiwi got 3 and Robin got 2. Then the Friday before Halloween, mom took Robin to Youngstown to play Rally again. There was a woman there that knows what Robin is like in the agility ring and asked mom if he was going to bark and go crazy. Mom laughed and said that he is quiet when he plays rally. After they did the course, the woman said ‘That’s not the dog I judge in agility’. Mom laughed. Robin got a score of 95 and earned his Rally Novice title.
The first weekend of November we got to go back to our favorite place in Washingtonville to play CPE agility. All 5 of us got to play, even Voodoo who ran really fast and Q’d in level 1 Colors and Wildcard, which earned him his 2nd agility title (CL1-H). He even got 1st place out of 4 dogs in Wildcard. Sefina ran really well in Colors and Q’d on Saturday so mom thought that she as finally over the stairwell trauma but she went back to needing a ton of encouragement to get over jumps on Sunday so not quite. Mom has been taking Sefina to Splash ‘n Dash when she teaches on Monday nights and she is improving and even started doing the teeter again. Kiwi had on off weekend and only got 5 out of 8 Q’s but she is suffering from really bad allergies. Robin also got 5 Q’s. I got 7 out of 8 Q’s and would have had my 1st perfect weekend but mom got too far ahead of me before I got all the way up on the dog walk and I thought that maybe I wasn’t supposed to be doing it so I jumped off. Mom apologized. She’s still kicking herself. I told her it was OK. That I don’t need those big fancy ribbons like Kiwi has. Besides, I have a gi-normous diamond:)We played AKC agility in Morgantown the weekend before Thanksgiving. Mom took us 2 days in a row which we don’t normally do for AKC trials but she said that Kiwi runs really fast there and she was hoping she’d finish her MXJ and AXF titles. But she didn’t. She only Q’d in standard on Sunday. Kiwi still has bad skin allergies but I think she was being stubborn. Robin was really crazy. I mean really, really, really crazy. On Saturday, he ran around like a maniac in jumpers and blew contacts in standard. He did finally Q in novice FAST. I Q’d in novice FAST, too. Robin got 3rd place and I got 4th. I was bouncing around a lot in jumpers and didn’t want to do the teeter in standard so I didn’t Q in those that weekend. On Sunday, Robin ran much better in jumpers but still didn’t Q. But he finally hit all of his contacts in standard! Mom was trilled and thought he was finally going to get his first standard Q but he was so riled up that weekend that he literally barked himself out of the weave poles 3 TIMES!!! And he only had to complete 6! I told you he was really, really, really crazy. Then we played FAST and the distance challenge had an A-frame. Well, you know Robin leaped off of that since mom couldn’t be next to him but I did it right and got another FAST Q and 1st place!
On Thanksgiving, mom cooked us a big turkey. But she said we had to share it because she invited Imogene over. Imogene is Morgan and Maisie’s mom, our sheltie pals. She brought us treats and fed us from the dinner table so we didn’t mind sharing our turkey with her. We’re still eating the leftovers. Then that weekend I played conformation in Tallmadge, OH. Mom says it was just for fun since there were not enough dogs entered for a major. But on Saturday our friend Meredith came with us to show her Pharaoh Hound puppy, Gilda. Everyone gushes over Gilda because she is so beautiful, but I don’t care for her much. She is SUCH a PUPPY! I’m too mature for those kinds of antics now. Mom says I’m putting on airs because she thinks I’m still pretty silly but I think she doesn’t want to admit I’m all grown up. Anyway, Gilda was the only Pharaoh Hound so she took Best of Breed. Then mom decided to let Meredith show me, thinking that I would act happier about it. Well, I was. I really like Meredith and could not take my eyes off of her. She also had the liver treats mom baked for me so I was keeping a really close eye on those. I got Winners Reserve which was still pretty good since there were 5 of us entered. The next day, Meredith had to show much earlier than us so we went by ourselves. Mom showed me and I got Winners Reserve again.
So that finally catches us up on all of our adventures. I told you we were really busy. We have the next couple of weeks off. Mom is taking Robin to a special class on Saturday but otherwise we have to supervise mom and make sure she does all of her homework. She always waits until the last minute.
