What a fun weekend! Our trip to Kansas went according to plan. We had a wonderful time, the dogs showed well, and we accomplished our goals for the weekend. The Specialty was such fun. Although the Saturday and Sunday shows were in a horse arena with packed dirt floor (fine for showing Dals), the Specialties were in a lovely bright, clean, modern building. Back to back Specialty shows, morning and afternoon, with reasonable judging, nice entries, lovely trophies, an excellent luncheon, and the weather was perfect! Friends from as far away as Texas and Canada made for a fun get-together, as many of us will not see one another until the spring specialties or the National in May.
Our motel was so nice. We've stayed there before and appreciated the large rooms, comfortable beds, lots of grass for walking and a wonderful breakfast bar. We were about 20 miles from Lawrence, but traffic was never a problem, and the $1.60 toll for driving an excellent stretch of freeway was OK. Jess and I even discovered an excellent and affordable Mexican Restaurant with very VERY good Margaritas - or rather Sally Forth, my trusty Garmin, found it. Off the beaten path too, so the football crowds were not a problem. We liked it so well we came back the next night with friends!
Letty had a great time as there were other Dal pups her age. She particularly enjoyed spending time in the large x-pen with her sister Weather and another Dal girl of about the same age. Letty was great in the motel room, never fussed in her crate, and learned to pee and poop immediately when taken out on lead - an important thing for future show dogs to learn! Some pups are not comfortable in elevators, but she never missed a step. The only thing she had a problem with were all the people in costume who were staying at our motel and performing at the Renaissance Festival nearby. She did have to stop and stare at some of the very strange looking people!
This was Eddy's first outing and he performed like a star. I made the decision to show him when I saw him a month ago, but Jess had never seen him before and I'm sure was wondering about my sanity when I decided we would pick up an untrained 11-month old puppy boy on the way to the show, and expect him to be a showdog. His owner lives in a small town with little access to training classes, but she has trained show dogs before, and while Eddie was staying in Canada last spring he got some good training. What a little star he was! He and Jess really clicked, Eddie caught on fast, tried very hard, and was such good little guy. He did far more than we had anticipated!
Argus started his obedience class last night. Stayed tuned!