Feels Like Fall!

The cool weather is only temporary, but sure feels good! Only 54 degrees this morning and the dogs are full of energy - they've all become puppies again. Ron & I got a lot of yard work done on Sunday too, because of the weather. Not sure how people who live in perpetually warm & humid climates every get anything accomplished.

Things are starting to fall into place for our trip to Colorado. Ginger has a conflict so won't be meeting us there, but Laurie should be arriving about dinnertime tonight. Then we need to get over and pick up the van we are renting. Sure hope they come through with the size we requested as three women, three dogs and all our equipment will NOT fit into my poor little Voyageur. I'll pick up Charlie tomorrow, and after Jess works half a day she and Penny will join us for a planned early afternoon departure. Most of my packing is done, and I am busily checking things off on my To Do List. Entry for the Colorado shows is a good one with nice big majors in both sexes. Hopefully Penny and Charlie each win one or more of them. Argus could really use a Best of Breed or two as the entries are so small at regular shows, and the judging panels for fall look really unappealing.

Entry for the Twin Cities Specialty is very small. Was anticipating that as two of the people who normally support our entry have conflicts this year and there just are not enough Dals in Minnesota and Iowa to make up for it. We need new exhibitors and some new show potential pups in the area. The Midwest used to have lots of show folks, but everyone is aging out or moving away. Showing and raising pups properly are expensive and a lot of work, and we need new young ambitious people in the breed, especially in this area. The Davenport Dal Club died off, and the Chicago and Kansas clubs are way down in active members. We have lots of members - they just don't breed or show anymore! It will be interesting to see if the club survives.

Sometimes I am embarrassed to be a Dal owner, generally when I see spooky or aggressive dogs in the ring. Good Dals have wonderful personalities, but there are a few that don't and they should NEVER be shown. What are people thinking??? This past weekend a Dal girl was disqualified for trying to bite the judge - that means she can never be shown again. The sad thing is that she had just had a couple of nice wins - which amazes me. I have watched her on two different show weekends and heard about her antics on a couple of others, and figured it was only a matter of time. Although she was very well trained, anyone who could read a dog's body language should have been able to tell this one had problems. A dog's eyes, ears, and posture tell you a lot, and this one was easy to read. Why do people show dogs like this? What do they expect to accomplish? Why will handlers SHOW dogs like this? Is the $$$ so important that you will put judges at risk? How embarrassing for all of us.