Rainy days

Rainy days are no fun.  For dogs or humans.

 Normally I get rainy day raw leg bones and that occupies them for the entire day.  Problem, is that it has been raining since Friday.  Luckily we had a break yesterday and were able to go run and play.  But today, Monday, and Halloween no less, finds us back in the house lookingout at the rain.

No fun, indeed.

Winding Down

To everything, there is an end.  End of the line.  End of your rope.  End of a season.

Our end is coming.

Our dog show season is coming to an end.  It actually started at the end of September.  It will officially end when Bindi leaves the ring At the Eukanuba World Dog Show in December.

Of course we will still enter a dog show here and there.  But no more "specialing."  No more traveling out of state for a dog show.    We plan to show Finn next year here and there and to only judges we feel like showing to.  No pressure for anything.  Just having fun.

I would suspect that after the first of the year, this blog will take a turn and become a puppy blog.  Yes.  Bindi will be bred next year to Asa.  A new era will begin next fall when those puppies begin to hit the show ring.

And who knows.  Maybe we will start this madness all over again.

Stay tuned.

The Boy becomes a champ

The day that I thought was never going to come, finally arrived on May 1, 2011. Finally. FINALLY, after 2.5 years, Finn became an AKC champion. The improbable happened.

There was a time that we seriously thought about putting him up and not continuing his journey, but then he won his first major and all bets were off. He got 4 more points and put him one major away. Could it really happen?

We missed a win in Brooksville when he kept his head down - judge even told us so. And then we missed major wins in Lakeland on 2 days. He did not even win his class.

We kept on biking him, tho. Making sure he kept fit.

And I targeted Dr. Robert Smith as a judge that would potentially like my boy and I prayed for majors in Vero Beach. Almost did not enter him, but thank GOD I did.

Majors both days.

Now was our time.

We even drove down on Friday night so that his stress level was lowered.

On Saturday, April 30th, Finn won Open Dogs, but not Winner's Dogs. Disappointment can not even describe what I thought was going to slip from our grasp.

On Sunday, my boy was ready to go. I had to stand in the distance as I was holding on to Bindi, but I got to see him strut his stuff. Open Dog winner.

Could it be? I think I sent telepathic waves to Judge Smith, willing him to give my boy his last major.

AND HE DID.

To hear the crowd cheer - for MY dog - was what made me cry - more so than the actual win. All of my friends and people that mattered were there to see him win.

My boy was an AKC Champion

Ch. Kengali's Leap of Faith, SC.

I know he has his detractors, but he is not the first dog that took this long to finish nor will he be the last one. Perseverance prevailed and the relief, the pride, all of the emotions I feel can not even be described.

The day I never thought would come, finally arrived. And what a day it was.

Pound Cake

Since being unemployed - or should I say home employed - I have been able to explore some of my other passions, like baking and cooking. Prior to unemployment, the job usually sapped all of my motivation and by the end of the day, could barely force myself to make a meal.

Not so anymore.

Today, I cracked open my James McNair's Cakes book and decided to give it a go on the Pound cake. The recipe did not look that hard at all. And best of all, I had all of the ingredients on hand.

What can I say about a batter that I would have loved to have eaten the entire bowl of? Such simplicity. If you have the book, the recipe is on page 23. I actually substituted 1/4 cup of the sugar with 1/4 of Splenda. Trust me, you could not tell in the batter. I am anxiously waiting for this delight to come out of the oven.

I wonder if I will be able to wait for it to cool.

Ho Hummmm

And it's been more time since my last post. Honestly. You would think I was busy or something.

Bindi went to Westminster and acted all of the happy girl she was. Maybe she was playing off of Matt's nervousness... but don't tell him he was nervous. Anyhow, we enjoyed the city and had a wonderful time. I had never been there so it was exciting for me to take in all the sights along the way up there and once we were there. Would definitely do things differently next time.

Bindi is also a Grand Champion now. And she has started to lure course. We have also begun the process of looking for a stud dog. Now that she is in her second heat, we can pretty much calculate that next February or March we will breed her.

Job... well. I need to get one that will supplement what I am doing here at home with TIPS. Not much more, just a little. It's been tight. But let me tell you - the lack of stress in my life makes taking a pay cut all worth it. I can not imagine ever going back to work in a law office. Sad, really. I had a great career and then I come down here and the worst attorney I ever worked for took all my passion for the field away. And I mean worse in that he was not a good practicing attorney. A Paralegal is only as good as the attorney allows him/her to be. Sigh. Oh well.

And that's all I have for now.

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

More news.

Started the 2011 show season off with a Best of Breed win for Bindi. Too bad the picture I just got in the mail is terrible and will never see the light of day. Sigh. Will have to work on pictures for the next ad.

In 3 weeks we will make our journey north to New York City. Bindi is headed to Westminster. I have never been to the Big Apple so I am hoping we are going to be able to do some sight seeing. We will arrive in the city on Sunday, take the dogs out an about - weather permitting - and hopefully get so see some of the more iconic landmarks in the city. We may also get to look around on Tuesday before heading to the Best in Show.

I can't wait to meet people and see the dogs. So much excitement surrounds this show.

Been a Long time

It has been quite some time since my last post. I will admit to being lazy. Sigh,

Since that time, we have had many things happen. Here are the highlights

1. Bindi has become an AKC champion

2. Finn earned his first 3 point major

3. Bindi has earned 2 of her 3 majors for her GRCH title.

4. The business has taken off even more - which is a good and bad thing since all the guys are working waaaay too much

5. Bindi got in to Westminster and we are headed to New York in February.

6. We had a Merry Chrstmas

7. And a Happy New Year.

I promise to post more in 2011.