Dog Swappings & Puppy Plans

No rest for the wicked.  I'd love to have slept in this AM, but too much to get done.  Puppy Eddie came down from Canada with the Pellas yesterday, and today I am taking him to meet up with his forever family.  Lisen & Jerry kept Eddie for me for awhile, and Lisen fell in love with him.  Because Eddie was bred by Sue, Ginger, Paula, & Kim, lived with Lisen, then with the Pella family (4 kids), and now going back to Lisen, his registered name is Paisley Red Coach It Takes A Village.  He is the happiest, most secure & well adjusted puppy I have ever met.  Am very pleased with the way he looks & a show career is anticipated.

Lucy will go home with the Pellas when they head back to Canada on Sunday.  She'll spend the summer with them, do some Canadian shows with Junior Handler Grace, and come back for our fall shows and the final 4 points towards her American championship.  Lucy was such a hit at DCA, and Jess had a wonderful time showing her.  Eddie "filled in" for Lucy while she was with us.

After I pass Eddie on to Lisen, I'll continue south and meet up with Rosie & Reebok.  Reebok finally came in season and is coming home with me to be bred to Argus.  Reebok has had an amazing career, winning the DCA Futurity in 2009 & DCA WB in 2010.  Argus is a past DCA Best Of Breed winner, has 3 DCA Awards Of Merit, and sired of last years Best In Futurity (Penny).  He has also won the Stud Dog Class at DCA for the past 3 years.  Hopefully this litter will live up to its potential!

Still having computer issues and unable to upload pictures to my blog.  I think the poor thing is bogged down with the thousands of pictures on its hard drive.  HOPE that's it, as I purchased an external hard drive and will move many of the pictures over.  If that doesn't help, I'll be forced to take it in and have the Geek Squad take a look.  Fortunately I have the Netbook to use while the big guy is gone.  This computer is 4 years old and has given me good service but I hope to get a few more years out of it!

Back To Reality

Most disappointing that my computer has issues this morning and I am not able to upload any pictures to go with this posting.  So many nice pictures to share - eventually!

Did we have fun?  You bet!  Was it a successful trip?  Absolutely!  Am I glad to be home?  So very glad.  Will I enjoy going into work this morning?  Not so much . . .

What a terrific time we had.  Weather was less than perfect and it rained much of the time, but at least it was a WARM rain.  And it was spring in Kentucky.  Green grass (very long because it was too wet to mow), flowering trees, and shirt sleeve temperatures.  To save money we stayed at the Super 8 which was right across the parking lot from the Drawbridge Inn which was the official headquarters.  An easy walk, though I admit we drove a few times when it was raining hard.  Our roommate Laurie (Penny's co-owner/breeder) flew in from Virginia and arrived shortly after we did, and flew out Wednesday evening, so we had a dog walker for each dog, which helped a great deal, especially when walking dogs in the rain.

Not enough time or room to do more than a brief rundown of the week this morning, but we left on Friday, arrived in the Cincinnati area about noon on Saturday, and because it was too early to check into our motel (and because both Jess and I are fish addicts in addition to being dog addicts) we paid a visit to the Newport Aquarium.  All I can say is WOW.  Wish I had had a whole day to spend there.  Just amazing.  Saturday evening was the Welcome Party which was very well attended and it was such fun catching up with friends we see so rarely.

Sunday was the Futurity, but because we had no youngsters to show we did the DCA Health Clinic.  Laurie and I spent the day working there, while Jess ran our dogs through the tests.  Lucy got her eyes CERFed and had her cardiac & thyroid tests done.  Penny had the cardiac & thyroid tests, and Argus just did the cardiac test as he was up to date on his other testing.  Jess said the dogs were all perfect for their testing, and the biggest problem she ran into was their determination to kiss the Techs, Vets, and dog holders.

Monday was Sweepstakes judging as well as the bitch classes.  No pups for Sweeps, but Lucy showed wonderfully well and walked off with the Open Black Class.  We have some wonderful pictures of this lovely girl winning her class - hope I can get them posted tomorrow.

Not enough time here to do each day, but the days were filled with judging, second guessing, and chatting with friends at ringside.  This year we did not eat out, but instead went down to the bar/dining room at the Drawbridge Inn and met up with friends for drinks & dinner and (MUCH) laughter and fun.  The nights were far too short, but it was oh so worth it.

To be continued. . .