The Countdown Starts

I love having things to look forward to and at this time of year, that means the National Specialty!

YIPPEE!

The Planning Booklet is out —click HERE.

I just registered.

Let’s talk grooming.

I reserved one grooming space. I will use it on Wednesday (Versatility Showcase), Friday (Brood Bitch), and Saturday (Best of Breed). I am happy to share! Contact me so we can coordinate to make sure we do not wind up with more stuff than we need.

If you plan to get your own spot, you can put Kaibab in the Group Name to be close. It is fun to have a grooming group :)

SO EXCITED.

Nope.

Sparkle is not pregnant. It is hard to say that knowing it will be disappointing news.

An empathic heart can be a liability as I carry my own sorrow for the news and cringe internally imagining how it will “land” on others.

At age 6.5+ years and with three “misses” Sparkle is officially done. She is an incredible dog — I so wanted a second litter from her.

Dogs are free to remove themselves from the attention of children — or anyone, for that matter. Sparkle enjoys the kids and their interactions are ALWAYS supervised to ensure the kids learn how to treat animals. Berkeley is enjoying my traveling pillow and her warm friend.

Resilience appears to be one of my Super Powers — and so yes, I am disappointed and sad but I am also okay. After all, I still have my amazing dog — and she is all that and more.

And so we close that chapter and open some new ones, rearranging plans for 2020 to accommodate for those new chapters.

We are planning to breed two Sparkle daughters in 2020: Jordan in April/May and Claire in June/July.

I am still pondering what to do about Daisy. I want a puppy from both Jordan and Claire, and so adding Daisy could be complicated. I do not breed my dogs to sell puppies — I breed them so that I can keep a carefully and thoughtfully bred puppy — and three young puppies, if all went according to plan, would not be fair to any of them.

On the other hand, when do things go exactly according to plan?!

Hmmmm…

And so there you go — more real Life with Dogs. Not all ribbons and awards and fun. But that is the nature of Life in General, right?

And it means that something amazing is up ahead because Life is like that — downs and ups. We ride the downs so we can have those exhilarating UPS — and they always come.

Monday Round-Up

I hardly know where to start!!

Let’s go in age order — so Tristan (iPup) first.

This a double BAR photo — a Big Ass Ribbon (BAR) and a commemorative jump BAR to celebrate that Tristan finished his Preferred Agility Championship (PACH) yesterday.

There are so many reasons this is a Big Giant Deal.

First, a PACH is tough to earn, as it should be since it is a championship award.

Second, Tristan is Alison’s first real foray into agility — from Novice to PACH is amazing.

Third, Tristan is a typey Grand Champion MALE Berner.

Fourth and related, very few Berners (VERY FEW) finish both conformation and performance championships — Tristan has done it! He is the second Kaibab Dog to be a Dual Champion (Asia was a Tracking Champion in addition to her GCH) but Tristan is the first Kaibab dog to get an agility championship.

I am so proud of Team Tristan and inspired by Alison’s willingness to take on — and master — a whole new dog sport. SO COOL.

BIG ASS CONGRATULATIONS TO TEAM TRISTAN. You can watch their final Double Q runs HERE.

The Sparklers also had a wonderful weekend, although their Uncle Tristan definitely got the best ribbon.

Alison and Kiri finished Kiri’s AXP!

Last weekend Kiri picked up five more points towards her Bronze Grand Championship — she is almost there. Definitely not just a pretty face. Congratulations to Team Kiri on a successful and fun January.

Jordan, Kiri’s sister, has been vacationing in Arizona where she added yet another qualifying draft run or two (hard to keep up with Team Jordan!) and edged closer to her AKC championship — she now needs just three single points to be finished. CONGRATULATIONS Team Jordan!

Ruthie, also a Sparkler, went off to the Big City to participate in a Meet the Breed event.

Lori shares, “…she was an absolute rock star at the event today. We were originally scheduled to be there only in the AM but they didn't have enough dogs for the afternoon so we stayed.

Ruthie did tricks, gave hugs, kissed kids and approached wheelchairs to put her head in laps. I was so proud of her…”

SO wonderful to hear how well Ruthie handled New York City but the best part? Here is the story Lori posted on Facebook:

“This adorable young couple appeared at the BMD booth very early, before the crowds, and approached Ruthie, who was up on a grooming table. He (I never found out their names) told me how much he loved Berners and we chatted for a few minutes. He then asked me if I would take a picture of the two of them with Ruthie, using his phone. After snapping two pics I was about to hand him his phone when he proceeded to get down on one knee and take out a ring box. He asked his girlfriend "will you get a dog with me?" and extended a beautiful diamond engagement ring. Thank goodness my brain got over the shock of him kneeling and I started snapping photos of the whole thing with his phone. It was the sweetest thing. She said yes! They came back later to thank Ruthie for being part of their engagement and I was able to get this photo of the three of them.”

ACK!!!!! Ruthie is now a Wedding Planner! GREAT JOB, Team Ruthie!

Meanwhile in Montana, Sparkler Claire needed a rest from just hearing about her family’s amazing weekend…

Have a productive and wonderful week!