I am thrilled to report that our Borzoi boy Solo has added another title to his repertoire. He is now an AKC GRAND CHAMPION!
He is also the FIRST AKC Dual Champion Borzoi to achieve the Grand title.
The past couple show weekends have been good to us. At the Fort Bend Shows in mid-January J/T was Winners Dog both days (with a Best of Winners on Sunday) and Solo was BOB both days. The joy was dampened a bit by the overworked Astro van's fuel pump dying about a mile from the show site on Sunday. Since my would-be rescuer (my dad) was with me...I was feeling pretty darned stuck! Thanks to a fellow Borzoi-fancier, Krista Hunt, we got back to Dad's house after the van was picked up by AAA. Krista was so kind (thank you thank you THANK YOU!) to drive us across town to northwest Houston from Richmond (south west of Houston).
This past weekend Jill went to Mexico for her son Phillip's christening. David wasn't headed to the Houston shows either and we had 2 Borzoi breed judges - a rare occurrence! Even rarer - there was also a third on the panel who had not originally been assigned to judge Borzoi, but was when Saturday's judge couldn't make it.
I went ahead and entered Solo and showed him myself. Well....on Saturday we won Best of Breed (the judge was Ron Spritzer who had bred Borzoi years ago. I opted to take a picture so that I had actual photographic proof that I could get my own special out of the breed.
So I was REALLY a wreck when it came to showing in the Group. At least I had the same judge, who had said I had done a fine job of handling when we were taking that picture and I had joked about my abilities (or the lack of them). The group was packed with some heavy-hitter handlers too - so I wasn't feeling overly optimistic about my chances at ALL! At least I was standing next to a friend with her Irish Wolfhound who had originally not wanted to bother with the groups - hers had been the only entry there. I had told her...if I can show mine, you can show yours!
OMG - Solo got a Group 2!! Can't wait for the picture of that one - I did it all by myself
Nox was reserve both days, defeating older bitches too. She was a bit fazed by the first day's "enthusiastic" exam and backed off a bit on Sunday, but settled in once Sunday's judge saw she was a bit apprehensive and went over her very gently and slowly, saving checking her mouth for last.
To top it off, Victor took what we thought were completely hopeless boys to the lure coursing that weekend...and came back with 3 newly minted Junior Coursers. There's hope!! They had such short attention spans in various practice sessions previously - he said they all did nicely! J/T, Buster and Wulfie are now AKC JCs. J/T also ran in the trial on Sunday and did well, although he's still trying to figure out where all his legs are.
All in all, quite a nice weekend!
Ten years ago tomorrow, the organizational meeting of the Lone Star Borzoi Club took place. The past ten years has seen LOTS of hard work, including fun matches, A-matches (for licensing requirements), a handling seminar, ASFA lure trials, the hosting of several BCOA trophy supported entries, an auction to raise funds for a rescue or 22 Borzoi near Houston, TX, and assisting in the hosting of the 2005 BCOA National Specialty Show (in Mesquite). In February of this year, LSBC received licensed status from AKC and this past Saturday was the club's first Specialty Show. It was held in conjunction with the all-breed cluster hosted by the Travis County Kennel Club.
Our dogs managed to earn us some nice bling - trophies created by Redbird Adams, Royale Russian Hounds, including original artworks. Royal Russian is part of the foundation behind our friend Sara's Chataqua kennels, which is part of the foundation behind Gryffyn's Aeyrie. Here's a brief rundown of how our guys did...
Sassi - Best of Opposite Sex
Solo - Award of Merit
J/T - Best Bred-by Exhibitor
Burni - Best Veteran in Sweepstakes
J/T - Best of Opposite Sex in Puppy Sweepstakes
Nox won her 12-18 month class; Faina was 3rd in a large Bred-by Class and won her Sweeps class; Burni made the cut in Best of Breed, then became invisible, but showed fabulously for an approaching 8-year old. For the life of me I cannot remember how Nox and Pumpkin did in their Sweepstakes classes! We were so busy juggling dogs and trying to keep up!
Can't wait for the pictures!
I managed to survive "Hell Week"! Hoorah! And all the work resulted in some nice wins in both Silken Windhounds and Borzoi - so much the better!
At the inaugural Southern Silken Specialties in Georgia, Gabe was Reserve Winners Dog and Best Bred-By Exhibitor on Saturday and his uncle Tyler was Best Opposite Sex. Luna was Reserve Winners Bitch. At the Saturday specialty (the ISWS qualifier), Gabe was Winners Dog and then went on to win Best in Specialty Show!! He was also once again Best Bred-By. Luna was again Reserve Winners Bitch. For his trouble, Gabe got a lovely biothane sighthound collar - even more exciting, it looks like the collar's designer/creator will be getting one of our puppies!
This past weekend was the Lone Star Classic series of dog shows in Dallas, Texas - and it was also Shugah and Nox's ring debuts. On Friday, we ended up with the entire bitch entry (of 3) as the other one entered was absent - so we were at least guaranteed a point on one of our girls! Shugah came away as Winners Bitch for her first point at her first show! Nox took Reserve over half-sis Faina. Deckard was Reserve Winners Dog in a major entry.
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
--Roger Caras.
I received a great gift yesterday at the shows. Frank Young (Royal Sooner Borzoi) handed me a large photo and asked if the dog in it was mine - it certainly was! A friend of his is an amateur photographer and snapped a ringside photo of ubergoober Solo going nose-to-nose with a TV cameraman. It's just the cutest photo and really shows what a ham that boy can be. Thanks again to Frank and his friend (whose name I don't have with me since the card is in Victor's wallet)!
We had a super nice surprise at the shows this past weekend! Not only did Solo take the breed win both days, he received a Group One!! Jill thought it would count for over 100 ranking-points. I guess we'll see! The judge was Jerry Watson, who happened to award Solo's finishing win at the Cen-Tex KC shows a couple years ago. Solo will leave with Jill for the OKC shows in a few days. I hear they've got some nice prizes available, so hope the UberGoober brings back a little bling
This link was posted on a chat list I belong to - and for grins and giggles I did the little survey for Solo.
http://www.dogster.com/quizzes/celebrity_dog_quiz/
OMG - they NAILED it! Solo is the canine equivalent of Johnny Knoxville (one of the stars of an occasional guilty pleasure for me, MTV's Jackass - I know, I know....I just can't help myself sometimes).
Here's the description:
"Johnny Knoxville
Up for Anything
The kind of pet that can leap tall fences in a single bound (or not, but give it a shot anyhow), Solo is the original Jackass, Johnny Knoxville!
Going through the pain so you don't have to, Solo knows that he trots a fine line between funny and stupid, but he doesn't care—he's laughing about it all the way to the pet store. His over-the-top antics make you grimace with fear and you often find it hard to believe that he actually enjoys playing the class clown. But Solo laps it up and continues to defy the odds, despite your warnings and concerns. Other males in the pack tend to be a little jealous of Solo, but the females find him simply dreamy. A die-hard good ol' boy, Solo is more of a General Lee type than a Knight Rider, but give him enough time to think things through and he's sure to find a way to wreck both vehicles at the same time. "
That's the UberGoober to a "T"!
Victor hauled some dogs over to Cleburne for a local Ridgeback club's AKC lure trials while I made my way over to Stephenville for a LSBC meeting at the shows. Just *love* 8 am ringtimes (NOT) - and then to find out that it was just myself and one other member due to some emergencies by other expected folks. Sara and I made the best of it and added to our respective to-do lists, and then I drove to Cleburne to finish out the day.
I missed the Prelim run of Solo-Jane-Magik. I was walking out to the field for Doodle and Sassi's dissappointing performance. Doodle started out well made a turn and a half - and then you could almost see the lightbulb over her head - SNACKS!! She was insistent that the cattle that had been on the field had left her some tasty delicacies for her dining pleasure. Sassi managed a turn or so more - but then declined to participate further without her partner - so stood and watched Doodle snack away, occasionally looking off at the lure and trying to decide if it was worth the effort to play. Doodle at least went over to "kill" the lure at the end after it passed by her again - as if that would prevent me from noticing her al fresco dining experience [sigh]. They both received NQ scores. 
It didn't start off that great - next time I make entries for one of the puppies, I will bring them in for the next 2 weeks after making entry! Apparently Pumpkin got to play the part of "bunny" in a rousing game of chase and bruised her left shoulder. She was just off enough that I opted not to show her. A shame since she was doing really well on learning the finer points of being a show prospect. She did accompany us to the show (in Wichita Falls, TX) and I brought her in before and after showing so she could take in the atmosphere. She did very well and met some new friends!
Bugg was in fine form, albeit sullen at being asked to work. She humored me through the class, winning Open Bitch. She did show well and even did a nice stack at the end of her down-and-back and kept it up, coming away not only with Winners Bitch, but taking Best Opposite over 4 bitch specials for a 5-point major under breeder/judge Jan Leikam (Adrienne Borzoi)! This was her second 5-pointer, so we are quite pleased, needless to say! This puts her at 12 points and both majors - I will be entering her in the Fort Worth shows tomorrow, I guess.
As to who she took Best Opp to - Solo! So a very VERY nice outing for us - even though the group judge had failed to find him the day before in breed competition. There was a reason I hadn't entered class dogs the day before!
Finally got a chance plug in the FlipVideo cam I got for the Westminster trip and fiddled around with some of the vids and easily made a mash-up of Solo's showing at Westminster. This has been such a super-cool gadget - glad I found it! No need to read a manual and deal with complicated editing programs and it produces a decent video, especially for the web!
It seems that no sooner than I get back from NYC, than I leave for Denver! Poor Solo had even less turnaround time - as he and Victor arrived home Wednesday night, and we left Thursday night. Aren't hobbies supposed to be a method of relaxation?? With me and Solo was Burni, Bugg and Lars.
I was still pretty whupped from the NYC trip, and was only able to make it to the rest stop outside Quanah about 4 hours away from home. Of course, I didn't have the Zoibus, so finding a spot to curl up in the Astro-van was an interesting enterprise, to say the least. I ended up squashing myself between the crates and the side door and pulling a couple fleece blankets over myself (in addition to wearing my jacket) in order to keep warm. I managed to - although it wasn't what I would call either restful or comfortable. It wasn't warm either - it was 30 degrees outside and the wind chill was in the teens, not to mention the van being rocked back and forth all night. I managed 4 and a half hours of fitful napping before hitting the road again at 4:30 am.
I had told Jill that I didn't think I needed to be there in time to show on Friday, as I didn't think the judge would care for Solo. I did get there on time - and she didn't care for him
It was great to see folks at ringside on Saturday for the specialty! I love coming up to visit here and see everyone and their dogs. Had some interesting experiences in Sweeps and muddled on through the regular classes with Lars and Burni. I didn't get to show Bugg in Open Bitch as she had managed to lacerate her side and it looked uglier (and bigger) once I got to Colorado. Solo showed well and was very happy and animated (almost too much so) even after a travel-heavy week. He made the cut and went on to win an Award of Merit at the Specialty.
The drive home seemed to take forever. I ended up stopping in Memphis, TX and this time actually got a hotel room as my back had been cussing me since Thursday evening's slumber in the van. Although the hard bed in the Travelodge did not do much to make my back feel better! At least it was warm!
Boy - did morning come early! Solo went downstairs to take care of his morning business in the potty set-up in the Penn's basement ballroom and then up into the tub for some scrubbing. His toe pad that had been lacerated the weekend before didn't seem to be bothering him, although my hair and nails had not yet recovering from the pulling an chewing endured that previous week. After being dried through we returned to the room after picking up some breakfast in the coffeeshop downstairs and began readying ourselves.
The walk across the street to Madison Square Garden was downright bone-chilling. Brrrrrrr. In the teens with a cutting wind to boot. We got the the exhibitors' entrance ramp, showed our paperwork and made our way through the bowels of the Garden to our benching assignment. What a madhouse! For someone who regularly attended rock concerts in her earlier years, I was a bit overwhelmed by the crowds. Stifling for me, Solo really sucked it up since he enjoys meeting anyone and everyone. He's also better at mornings than I am - there wasn't enough caffeine in the world to make me feel more conscious. Thankfully we found several familiar folk to chat with to help pass the time.
David's charge, Lashes (Chinese Shar Pei), was in the ring at 11 so we went down to watch that and experience the floor. The floor was actually more congested than I was (still battling "the crud" on this trip) and we staked out a good spot at ringside where I could take some pictures. Lashes showed wonderfully (as usual) and we hooted and hollered for her during her turn around the ring and when she made the cut. Her tail a-waggin' - always a happy girl. She came away the breed winner and we hoped for some of that mojo for our boy. 
Borzoi were scheduled to show at 2 pm. We wandered around a bit then came back to the benches and chatted it up with folks. Our friend Laurie Courtney, another Texan, was there with her girl Molly, and we did some catching up. We took Solo over to the ex-pens to see if he had anything to declare and then brought back over to an empty spot on the benches to brush him out and put a little extra foo-foo on him.
After his tidy-up it was back to the mania on the floor. I was banished from ringside as Jill wanted Solo to be on his best behavior and she hadn't really realized just *how* attached he was until witnessing his mooning behavior in the hotel room. A definite momma's boy. I headed up to the 2nd level seats, taking the camera and leaving Victor with the Flip Video to attempt some ringside action. Hopefully soon I can work on retrieving the various clips on it - it seemed idiot-proof, it's just a matter of getting the time to do it! 
We got back to the bench and packed up as the line had dispersed and we could make good our escape back to the Penn. We made arrangements to have the van brought up at 7 am the next morning so Victor could head out of the city. Time flew and next thing I knew I was hobbling downstairs with Solo so we could get everything loaded and get Victor on his way. Folks on the street were stopping to admire and pet Solo and chat with us as we loaded up. Finally we got him inside and he settled down quickly on his pillow and they drove off into the morning traffic. It was somewhat anti-climactic. I killed time with a book and breakfast and then checked out to head to the airport and finish out my wait in the terminal. Uno was all over the news that morning and they were speculating on his BIS win before the other groups' dogs had even shown in their breed classes. I need that dog's publicist
The last week and a half has been so INSANE! Traveling here, there and seemingly everywhere. Flew into NYC on the 10th with Jill, Victor having left the previous Friday afternoon with Solo happily atop the big 4X4 floor pillow in the back of the Astro. Jill and I arrived at the Pennsylvania and was immediately hit with the visual chaos of its lobby as a multitude of folks were standing in line awaiting check-in, most with dogs in tow. Not a fan of crowds, my first thought was "I hate it already"!
Victor called to let us know he had pulled up in front of the Penn just as we were next in line to check in. How's that for timing?! Jill went to snag Solo so the van could be unloaded and I checked us into the hotel. We took everything up to our microscopic-sized room (although the closet was large enough to hold Solo's crate for when we were absent from the room) and then worked on the rest of the evening's schedule.
First up was a walk (make that...trek) to Times Square to the M&Ms store. My lord - what a confectionary overload! Every imaginable item with the M&M's logo or characters on it! And there was the "wall o' candy" that practically gave me a sugar high (or diabetes) just looking at it. All the colors of the rainbow and more of candy-coated choco-mania.
We managed not to freeze to death on the walk back to the hotel. Along the way I took a few pictures of the theaters signs for plays that I would have loved to have seen while there - Spam-A-Lot and Young Frankenstein (who'd a thunk it). The Young Frankenstein facade included a wonderful dancing monster next to the sign. I will be uploading more pictures into the online photo albums sometime soon. After a bit of rest back at the room while Jill helped ready an Aussie for the next day's showing, we met David down in the lobby and hailed a cab to Lips for a "drag dining" experience! I had heard about the drag show and restaurant from previous tales of Westminster trips, so had wanted to experience it for myself. OMG - did I ever have fun! The food was fabulous and our waitress was the best - Frankie Cocktail, whose drink concoction was absolutely yummy (included Southern Comfort, Peach Schnapps, Vodka, and other stuff I cannot remember, considering I had 5 of them - whoops!). I brought along the camera and the new little Flip Video gadget I got before the trip, and really broke them in! 
To top it off - either Jill or David told them that it was Victor's birthday (actually a week before) so he got pulled up out of his chair for a little fun later in the show. Needless to say - I have a picture 
We managed to get back to the hotel before midnight and drop into bed. We had a 6:30 am appointment to bathe Solo to prep for the big show and then haul our happy selves over to the Garden.
The last two weekends have provided us with more excitement. Solo won Best of Breed two of the three days at the Dallas cluster, got pulled in the group on Friday and then received a Group 3 on Saturday. Oddly enough, the judge who had pulled him in the group opted to ignore him in the breed on Sunday. Heard it happened in a LOT of breeds too and one person mentioned to me that he was in a "giant killing" mood. Although Solo is faaaaaaaaaar from being a giant (although I will admit he's a bit too tall for me
This past weekend the shows were in Rosenberg, just southwest of Houston. Solo won Best of Breed both days and won the Hound Group on Saturday! He was also pulled in the group on Sunday - just about giving me heart palpitations! Bugg won Reserve Winners Bitch both days, and Wulf....well, Wulf was a naughty child. But he's still beautiful!
I also got to have a nice visit with my father and we went to dinner with a group that he belongs to called Lifeline, which is for widows and widowers. It was nice to see that he has a wonderful support group to fall back on and they keep busy with various social activities. After such a long day, having got up at 3:30 that morning to drive down, the warm company and excellent food (sirloin and lobster...yum) were a great cap to an exciting day.
Well, we've started out the New Year with a bit of a bang at the Nolan River Kennel Club shows in Glen Rose, TX! Not only is there conformation shows both days, but lure coursing as well - which made for interesting scheduling efforts and running back and forth. Ick - it also made for *VERY* early ringtimes - not fabulous for someone who is definitely NOT a "morning glory". We also debuted the two "Boogie Boys", Wulf (Gryffyn's Aeyrie Rock Me Amadeus) and Buster (Gryffyn's Aeyrie Bust a Move), from Monkee's May litter sired by Solo. They were originally to debut at the November TSE event in Houston but managed to bang and bruise themselves up beforehand - so evaded that working weekend. They weren't so thrilled about seeing flat-faced breeds like Pugs and French Bulldogs - and REALLY gave the eyeballs at Bulldogs, but they made it through without too much of a scene. On Saturday, Buster decided he had a time limit for trotting his fancy self around the ring and proceeded to throw on the brakes (brat) and Wulf decided that his good behavior on stacking at home, would remain at home and managed to crouch and post and alter his standing outline in a myriad of ways. On Sunday the boys were markedly improved - although they still weren't thrilled with Bulldogs. Victor showed Buster and I showed Wulf - and they both trotted around the ring reasonably well, and I couldn't believe I was stacking the same pup I had attempted to the day before. Wulf even defeated an older male in the Bred-By class (we dared not enter them where they would be in the ring together - can you say CHAOS?).
Solo did well in conformation, winning Best of Breed both days in an entry sporting the most specials we have seen in a while (5d/3b entered). Points in both sexes qualified for majors too. Then comes that running back and forth part...We showed in conformation, then out to the field for some "hurry up and wait"(HU&W) - run in prelims - HU&W - drive back to the building to show in Groups - back to the field and run Finals.
Sunday brought more excitement, with Solo taking 4th in the Group - after Jill thought that maybe I should just stay out on the field with him, not expecting the judge to use him
Magik, on the other hand, finished her AKC Field Championship from the Veterans Stake. She had been searching for that last major for a seeming eternity - becoming more and more coursewise (and frustrating). We realized we had our own major of veterans and opted to bring some of them. Sassi had shown a bit of discharge, so her and Magik's father, Arthur, came along to the field. He put in a nice run for an old man approaching 10 years of age - can't wait to get the pictures. Magik was being obviously deferential to him though, plus he came off the course holding up his left foot, having hit a bad spot (the field is notoriously lousy for coursing due to its size and obstacles, like bleachers). Monkee was her usual creative self, and Doodle opted for about half a course before, well....doodling on the field. Flareon - obviously unhappy with being pried off the couch, turned in her two runs and was ready for getting back to help hold down the sofa. So Magik is now formally known as DC Chataqua Gryffyn La Magie Continue, MC JOR GRC FCh.
Victor went down to Richmond (TX) for the AHCGH AKC trials this past weekend. Boudie had come back for a running season visit a couple weekends ago and apparently was rarin' to go - his return to the field heralded by winning a 5-point major towards his LCX title at Saturday's trial. Victor said he was in fine form and some fabulous pictures taken by Dan Gauss showing his elasticity. He is an amazingly flexible dog. Unfortunately he introduced his foot to a cluster of stickers during prelims on Sunday which affected his run tremendously - and although he turned in a nice Finals run, it just wasn't going to be enough. Solo more than made up for it by turning in two lovely runs and coming away with his first coursing major! Victor forfeited BOB with next weekend's AKC trial in mind - although it could get a bit nutty attempting to juggle showing Solo and running him on the same day. I guess we can only wait and see what the day brings us!
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