A Pretty Amazing National

Meribel and her "loot".

Whew!  My head is still spinning and my feet aren't quite back on the ground yet.  All the preparation & planning certainly paid off!  My weekend will be spent playing catchup on laundry, housecleaning, dog walking, email, cleaning out the car, putting things away, dropping off Pauli, shipping Amery home, working in the yard, doing Mothers Day with my mom, and MAYBE catching up on sleep!

We've got a full house in Paisleyland, with Pauli & Amery with us temporarily, but fortunately the dogs all get along just fine.  Only glitch is that Amery & Meribel rode home from DCA together, and because Meribel came in season the first day of the trip, Argus is convinced that the interesting smell means that Amery is "the one".  Stupid boy.  He needs to run his legs off at the Dog Park this weekend!  All the dogs need out time after a week of traveling and motel rooms.

The week started off a bit slow in Sweeps and Futurity as Meribel was too excited to show perfectly, and Amery was so distracted by everything.  Wish they had gone to DCA with a bit more show ring experience, but they were brave and friendly (too friendly?), and Amery did manage to place in the super tough 9-12 month class.  Brother Ellsworth placed in Sweepstakes.

Argus had won the Stud Dog Class the previous three years, and this year's entry was large (12) and very competitive.  I did a lot of thinking about which two Argus kids to take in there with him, and finally decided that "Oliver" would look just right with Pauli & Argus.  Stud Dog Class entries consist of the dog and two of his best offspring, two that look similar to one another and to their sire.  There were quite a few Argus kids entered, but Oliver is a black spotted boy who looks the part.  Oliver is one of my very favorite Argus kids, an incredibly handsome boy who looks & acts so very much like his dad.  Oliver broke his leg as a puppy, but with a lot of time, money & rehab work, has come back beautifully and needs just a single point to finish his championship.  It paid off, as Argus won the class for the 4th consecutive year!  What a thrill!

Jess and Meribel had a serious "discussion" about her ring manners (way too silly) and really got it together before the regular class judging.  She won the 9-12 Class, defeating the gorgeous girl who had won both Sweeps and Futurity, and went on to Winners Bitch, showing perfectly.  Meribel and Jess looked sensational in the ring, with excellent stacks, wonderful free baiting, and lovely gaiting.  Meribel's 2nd 5-point Specialty major, and the National is SUCH a special win.

Pauli was bred 4 weeks before DCA, so we were not sure how well she would show.  Although she did not yet look pregnant, when I palpated her there was no doubt that she was pregnant.  Pauli had gone in Stud Dog with Argus, and perhaps that was the reason she was a little "flat" for the Top Twenty that evening.  She showed fine, but not with her usual enthusiasm.   A good night's rest made all the difference though, and she showed very well in Specials the next day. 

Jess showed Pauli in Specials, I showed Argus, and our friend Jen took Meribel back in to compete for Best Of Winners and did a fabulous job with her.  I had been hoping for a 4th Award of Merit for Argus (he was Best Of Breed at DCA several years ago, and Award of Merit the next 3 years, and he made it through the first two cuts, but not the final one.  He showed well enough to go all the way, but with 86 beautiful champion dogs to compete against, the odds are tough ones!  However, the final cut included Pauli, as well as her litter brother Krash.  Krash is owner-handled and is the first show dog for his owner Jordan.  When dust had finally settled, there was Krash as Best Of Breed, Pauli as Best Of Opposite Sex and Meribel as Best of Winners!  Wow!  Needless to say I was delighted to have Argie kids go BoB, BoS & and grandkid go BoW.    Cheeseburgers for all!  What a thrill!

All three dogs are livers, of course.  A good year for livers, just as it was the year Argus won the National, with the BoS & BoW also being liver.  Go Brownies!