National photos

These photos were taken from John Phillips flickr website. I do not own these but will maybe be buying some from him! He took photos of every dog entered and even when they made the cuts!

So please enjoy a few of the photos of my dogs that he took.

I'll fill you in on the rest of the big news tomorrow! :)

Ballantyne in the black bitches in the Megan

 Ava in blue Merle bitches in the Megan.

 Ava again

 Ava being pulled the first time in Best of Breed, champion titled bitches

 Ballantyne in the Megan

 Cass man in sweeps.

 Campbell in sweeps

Above is Kim Keifer and I waiting for our sweeps class. Below, Ava being awarded runner up blue merle bitch

 Ballantyne in breed.

 Ballantyne

 Campbell moving in sweeps.

 Ava

 Cass man moving in sweeps

 Ava again in the Megan.

 Campbell in bred by bitch

 Ava in Best of breed.

 Campbell in sweeps

 Campbell again

 Campbell on the table in bred by

 Ballantyne in Best of Breed.

Houston

Happy Trails to all of you who are at, or will be at Houston this week for the National. I haven't missed a National since I started going so I'm sad to not see all of my friends! We don't ever have enough times during the course of a year to get together so me missing one of the more important ones makes me very sad.

That being said I am working for my sister still and its a busy week for taxes.....

I am gearing up for spring yard clean ups now that our snow has finally melted.....

I am still lambing, and we have two calves on the ground too.....

Daisy is really getting large! In the last few days she has really gotten huge and I am feeding her four times a day as she just doesn't seem to have enough room to eat. Now I wonder how she will make it the next few weeks....she honestly seemed to have um....blossomed over night.

Safe travels everyone and I hope to get lots of texts with updates!!

Where have I been?

Working.

Its a good thing.

Snow Removal, farm chores, and now working for my sisters Accounting company. She keeps getting busier and busier which is good.

I also had a couple of friends move in for a short term stay. And their two cats. So the dogs are downstairs and the cats are upstairs. Needless to say the door at the bottom of the stairway has come in handy, but is a new favorite hang out spot for both species. One to bark at the door, the other to put their paws under the door to entice the dogs. No longer a dull moment.

I have another house party this weekend and I'm doing 'fancy' appetizers (i can't spell the french word) and the dogs are all blowing coat even though its -27 degrees today without windchill when i let them out. This weekend its supposed to be almost 40 above, so will bathe and blow out all the dogs. Fun times I tell ya.

I'm still not sure I can swing the National. I had every intention of going but just don't think I can afford to be gone that long again, or afford the hotel and gas to get there! I also don't know who I would take to show. Hopefully Ava will be back in coat, but do I bring Ell to show in the Megan? Brood bitch? She and Pilot both took awhile to mature, so their pups won't be 'ready' for the national I don't think either this year.

I want to go to Texas. i haven't been since 1993 when our marching band won the National VFW parade. It was kind of a big deal. But I was 13 and don't remember much. :) ah to be young again!

Newest Hopefuls

Well after much discussion and soul searching these are the two kids who are staying here with me. Third time is the charm for a tan pointed male right?? :)

This is Brewer

Bolin

I had several people at the National try to steal, beg, borrow or plead with me that they must have that red girl! While I'm tickled that they liked her so well, I think she'll be staying here :)

I was really pleased by the comments of the dozen or so folks who went over the puppies with me. I really appreciate all of your comments, both positive and negative, and with such a great group of pups, made the decisions even that much harder.

I'll write more about the National and pups later, but wanted to let you all know what was going on with the puppies :0

Sadie's big week

The above photo is from day 1!

I was going to post this while at the National, but I didn't get to a computer for 12 days (a new record I know!) and then this all happened with Oliver.

I'll be writing about my week at the nationals, but wanted to share the good news!

On the Monday of the National, we were entered in Novice Preferred Jumpers With Weaves and also Novice Preferred Standard. Sadie made a clean run with 100 points (out of 100) and earned a 1st place ribbon and her first Q (Qualifiying leg) for her NJP title. Her 1st place was later lost due to a recalculation. she ended up getting 2nd place by a mere .06 of a second! D'oh! The second day she Q'ed again with another 100 points (perfect score) and this time earned her 1st place with many more entries in the same division! She made me so proud! She now has two legs for her NJP in two tries!

Unfortunately she didn't Q either day in the Novice Preferred Standard. She decided on day one that the table was a 'command free zone' and refused to SIT on the table for me! The rest of the run was beautiful and the judge even commented on it later how great my handling skills were and she agreed that Sadie KNEW what to do, she just knew she could get away with it. What a stinker.

day 2 she leaped off the teeter to the side and then ran to the table for a 'down' . She basically stuck her tongue out and had the command free zone mentality again. *sigh*. I guess we know what to work on for the next trial!

The biggest news was that Sadie, the Princess, earned her THIRD qualifying leg for her Rally Novice title! Last year we entered her in Rally Novice B and she Q'ed both days with no formal training (ever) and never having been in the ring for Rally. We didn't practice all year again (my fault) and we then went in and got our third leg on our third try! The sits were NOT pretty as she likes to heel perpendicular to my body, but we did pass with an 87 (out of 100). She didn't go on Tuesday as I wanted to concentrate on her agility.

Plus I wanted the huge CWCCA New Title rosette and that is why I waited so long to get that title :)

So Sadie, pending AKC, now has her NAJ, CGC and her RN titles! I can't wait to see what's next for the Princess!

Three Trails Supported Entry

The day following the National was the Three Trails Supported Entry and I had Justice, Zoe and Ell all entered. Unfortunately for a still growing on the smaller side female, Ell had to go in the "Open" class with bitches that were 10+ pounds bigger than her. She couldn't go in bred-by as I didn't breed her, and she can't go in American-bred as she was born in Canada...see the dilemma? The judge prefers larger girls regardless of the movement and structure so she was shown the gate in her class.

Justice was 3rd of 3. Justice was in the 6-9 puppy class and he is JUST over 6 months old, while the other two dogs in there were almost 9 months old and again 10+ pounds heavier than he. The important thing was he was having a fun time in the ring and that is what is important with a new puppy. I've seen people drag their puppies around the ring, be overly firm with them on the table or while stacking on the ground......things that puppies remember and things I would never do. Why wreck a dog and have them hate showing?

Zoe was in American bred and was 2 of 3. Zoe was given some compliments at the show and that was nice, especially since she has filled out since last year when we last showed her.

After some sad goodbyes and a quick lunch at Chipolte I was headed home, loaded to the gills! Ten hours later the dogs were happily running around our house and glad to be home. I was too :)

National Recap Day 7

Saturday was Best of Breed competition. Since I didn't have any dogs in the the specials classes Shelley asked me if I would show Hunter for her. Sure!

I was able to show Hunter in Best of Veterans for Shelley. I have a hunter daughter now named Daisy so it was fun to see him in person and in the ring with me :) Hunter's daughter Dolly was WB and was being shown by Shelley. Emily got some neat photos of Dolly and Hunter before we went into the ring.

Below are several photos of the final cut where the Awards of Merit, Best of Winners and Best of Breed/Best In Show where decided.



This photo below show the Best Veteran/Best of Breed on the left...named Faith Hill. Best of Winners was Dolly and Best of Opposite was Paula O'Donnell's red boy Mick. First AOM went to Alice and then Dickens. I was told later the call name of the blue bitch in the photo was Halo.
The full results are HERE

The annual banquet was at 7pm but prior to that there was wine tasting which was a hoot as there was a load of cheese and meat to munch on and it was my first opportunity to try a few of the 'red' wines. I was also able to talk to the judge, Mr Jonathan Jeffrey Kimes about his judging, both during the wine tasting and after the banquet.

There was then the 'meeting of the minds' after that and there was a lot of great questions asked by us 'newer' people and answered by great experienced breeders. Amazing time!!

National Recap Day 4 and 5 and 6

Days 4, 5 and 6 (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) were a blur!

Day 4 was Sweepstakes for puppy and veteran. I was NOT showing my puppy in the ring as in St Paul Ferris decided she would take him in for me. The judge for whatever reason has decided to NOT like me since the last time I saw her back in September. Not sure why, but life does go on. We agreed it would be unfair for Justice to be shown by me if I was on the upper end of the lead. I was really proud of the way Ferris showed him for his very first time in the ring. He didn't get anything but he was sure happy out there wagging his tail and laying down for Ferris to rub his belly :)

I had nothing else to do that day so spent most of my time with my mentors JoAnne Beashau and Barb Hoffman. I didn't like where the table was set up as no one could really see the fronts from that angle, so we sat on the diagonal and tried to figure out who we best liked and see how far off we were from the judges.

Day 5 were the regular classes for dogs. I showed Justice myself to Barb Hoffman's co breeder/kennel partner. He had never seen this litter so I was curious to see what he thought of him and his littermate Riley, who Ferris was showing that day in the same class. I haven't even asked Jon what he thought of him yet, but he didn't make any cuts either that day. His brother did I think. This night was also the CERF clinic and I had Zoe, Sadie and Ell's eyes CERF'ed. All were NORMAL! :)

The Annual Meeting was this night and I believe we had the raffle that night as well? I wanted this print but didn't get it. Polly got it. I guess someone who herds deserves it as much as I do..who owns the breed they had depicted ? :)


Day 6 was the regular classes for bitches. I had nothing to show so it was a day to relax and kick back. I decided to not show Zoe or Ell......mostly because Jon had seen Ell before and didn't want him to have to judge her and I didn't show Zoe as I knew Jon doesn't like her :) He's told me so :)

this day was the day Justice was able to play in the xpen with Darby and Carly. You can find photso of this outting on Sarah's blog and Laura's blog on my links.

I also forgot to mention that most every night there was rum and/or wine drinking involved with my mentors. Usually pouring over old USA handbooks, UK Champion books, the judging from the day or previous days or years. Lots of great information was shared to me and I just wish I could voice record everything so I could take notes later.

Day 6 was also the night of the DM seminar. After being more informed on the subject I'm truly glad my three intact animals are DM carriers and not affected or 'at risk'. I do however want to test Sadie and Oliver just to see if they will indeed be 'at risk' for it when they get older. Watchign the video of the dogs who had DM was just sickening. Its a painless disease in the dogs but they are unable to move or walk and loose muscle condition and evenutally are unable to swallow or breathe. Not a way I would want to go...slowly.....ick.

Breeders/Judges Education was also this night. What a great opportunity it was to have the specifics of the standard spoken again (this time by Cindy Bossi, who did a great job!) with reference to photos and then eventually to real dogs (the winners of the megan and WD and WB were all there so we could watch them move and feel them on the table). Going to the National should be about learning and relearning. Evaluating yourself, your own dogs and learning how to make them better. Why go to a National if you don't go to these priceless seminars to learn more? I saw many long time breeders in attendance so it isn't just for the 'newbies' but great for refreshing what you think you may or may not know. Unfortunately there was probably only 30 or 40 people there.....which was only a fraction of the people who I thought should be there or hoped would be there. Its hard to learn something when you think you already know it all! I was glad I was in attendance and even happier to be sitting next to my mentors :)

A national should be all about the breed and trying to learn more, evaluate more, meet more dogs, go over more dogs and learn learn learn! If not here, then where will you? I've had pigeons for 16 years and am still learning from them. I would think that with dogs it would be the same?

National Recap Day 2 and Day 3

Day 2 and 3 (monday and tuesday) were "performance" days. Agility, Rally and Obedience were held during these days and I was a busy guy! I had entered Sadie in Novice Standard, Open Jumpers and Rally Novice. Oliver was also in Rally Advanced.

As you know from our other blog post on the ramsayfarms.blogspot.com blog Sadie did not Qualify in Novice Standard or Open Jumpers on monday, but she did get her first Rally Novice leg her first day out with no training! She earned a 95 point out of 100 and a 2nd place ribbon!

Below are videos of sadie and i attempting to do the agility. She just did NOT want to teeter and I look a fool :) You'd think with three years of training we'd be better...... LAST night we did three jumpers courses under time and with clean runs at practice..where was my video camera THEN!




And then came time for the jumpers.....she did wonderfully up until a certain jump where she came around and back over the jump the wrong way. that's "OFF COURSE" and is a NQ (non qualifying) score. Bummer. Watch below:




After agility I had to quickly potty dogs and prepare Oliver for Rally Advanced. I didn't ever think we'd Qualify, but wanted him to come with and have something to do with his Dad. I thought perhaps it would be fun bonding times between us. WRONG!!! We got into the ring and he took off sniffing and wagging that tail and happily running off course, around me and then he'd be like "oh crap! Heel! Right!" and then i could see his nose get the better of him and away he went again. We suffered through it on Monday and of course got an NQ.

Sadie did get her first RN leg and I was very happy about that

Tuesday morning JoAnne did NOT see me run my Novice Standard and therefore did not video tape it. She was too busy looking for a stir stick for her coffee. Priorities. We got a 2nd place finish with a score of 95 out of 100 for Sadie's second NA leg. I was very happy she did the teeter that time! She went off course again on Jumpers was basically giving me the middle finger when I tried to front cross her and she totally ignored me and ran BEHIND me and over the wrong jump. We suffered from there as I was so mad and frustrated with her and she knew it. Weaves were terrible...after just having done them in Novice standard beautifully. UGH.

Oliver again went to Rally Advance after JoAnne forbid me to scratch him and after he refused to down or sit I asked the judge if I could just be excused. He agreed and I think too quickly :) LOL

Sadie went in and I was ready for the judge to be awed by her expertise (I"m kidding) and she qualified again...no placing but a green ribbon is a green ribbon! And a big one at that! :)


Tuesday evening was the Competition of Champion only dogs and bitches, called the Megan. There are three judges and the classes are dividied into 4 color classes and then split by sex, for a total of 8 classes (red/sable, blue, brindle, black in both dog and bitch classes). We had three judges from three different continents and it was apparent by their choices in dogs :) the eventual winner was Lisa Phillips with her brindle bitch! Congrats again Lisa!

I did have a few blurry photos of the Megan competition but there are better ones out there on other people's blogs (aka Emily) :)

Two very long, very fun, event packed days!!

The National Recap, Day 1 Sunday April 12th.

Let's see.....finally taking the time to blog about the national..and only about a week late! :)

I left a week ago saturday and loaded up my 5 cardigans and all of their stuff. I just happened to be so lucky to fit my suitcase in amongst their belongings ;)

I ended up driving all the way to Kansas City, MO where I stayed with friends and spent the night out on the town! An early morning came fast and I met up with JoAnne and Ferris Beashau and we headed to Topeka, KS to where our National was. I found Hal Poe ( a super nice guy who along with his wife got Justice's mother now in their home in Lafayette, LA) and he showed me where he taped off some grooming area. JoAnne, Ferris and I unloaded our stuff and set up camp.
Like the flag? Nikki Otto who is a friend from Fargo, ND that has Zoe's Auntie gave me that flag as a gift. She got it off of Ebay.

My grooming set up. Note the black bitch in the lower left is Not my girl, but is JoAnne's girl Roshambo. They just like to use my crates ;)

As a landscaper I was amazing they had Tulips already! We dont' get ours' up until usually Memorial Day!
Our host hotel. I didn't get a shot of the fountain on my camera so will have to glean it from facebook and add it here later :)

Finally unpacked at the hotel....and the brindle babies seem quite pleased with themselves
Zoe has found the 'easy' chair and is taking in all her surroundings (and royal subjects)

Justice is investigating the yummy grease smells coming from the roof top next to our window

Zoe is helping JoAnne and Ferris on their bed. You both can shoot me later ;)
Justice needed a bath so I gave him one I believe on Sunday night. Mr. Handsome :)