Unpacking National Memories

As we unpack my suitcases from the 2006 Siberian Husky Club of America National Specialty, I find that some of the items have memories associated with them.

The red Siberian Husky bag - a much contested item at the Rescue booth raffle, I spent much of my discretionary $$ at the booth buying tickets to stuff the cup for this bag and scare off other interested parties. Well, I didn't scare them off, but the last batch of tickets I bought, that Gerry wasn't going to let me have in case she'd feel some guilt if I didn't win the bag, were lucky! That bag is sitting happily on my dresser now.

Half-eaten bully sticks - in an effort to assuage my guilt at having to crate the dogs in the hotel room so long, I was constantly stuffing bully sticks in their crates. (If you don't really know what a bully stick is, don't worry, you probably don't want to know.) When I cleaned out the crates for the trip home, I found that both Satinka and Hummee had a supply of half-eaten bully sticks tucked away in the backs of their crates.

Everyone needs a new grooming bag, right? I won a new one in the aforementioned Rescue raffle. No, I didn't need a new one and, had I been thinking, I'd have saved it to donate to another raffle...but it's packed and in the van ready for its first outing this weekend.

Black velvet bag containing gold Siberian Husky head silhouette earrings - Satinka wanted me to have these on Sunday when she won Reserve Winners Bitch. I swear, that's what she told me :-) Wonder what she would have wanted me to have if she'd won Winners Bitch? It boggles the mind to consider.

That's the first suitcase down. I can't wait to unpack the memories in the second one, but that'll have to wait until next week. Tonight we're off to Dixon, CA for another shot at a major for Tinks (ok, and Katie and Hummee).

See ya!

Where did it go???

Wow, I can't believe we're back already. Hummee and Tinks had big plans to take over the computer and share the whole trip with you, but they must have been tired.

Satinka was tired because on Sunday she won Reserve Winners Bitch (that's like Runner Up to Miss America for you non-dog show people). While we could have been happier, we were thrilled with the win.

Hummee was tired because he had to spend so much time laying around, sleeping. The weather was COLD and it rained off an on. Sunday morning we woke up to mixed rain and snow for our drive back to the airport.

All in all, it was a great week, we met some new friends, connected with some old friends, saw some great (and not-so-great) dogs and had a good time.

We're off to see the wizard....

Oh, wait, that was LAST year's National Specialty...in Topeka, Kansas. This year we (Satinka, the Diva, Hummee, the Doofus or Dummee if you're in a rhyming type mood and their erstwhile handler and provider of yummy treats...aka Momma) are headed to Rockford, Illinois for the Siberian Husky Club of America national specialty (think all Siberians, all the time). As an added bonus, the Siberian Husky Club of Greater Chicago is having their annual specialty the Saturday and Sunday before the SHCA specialty begins.

Your intrepid travelers will begin their journey on Friday, October 13th (could we be any less happy to read the date?) from Los Angeles International airport and fly out to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Avoiding the bustle of Chicago's O'Hare, MKE is about the same distance from Rockford and the ticket was cheap. Did you know on Midwest Airlines the dogs accumulate frequent flyer benefits? How cool is that?

Tinks and Hummee have insisted that I bring the laptop so that they can keep you up to date with the happenings in Rockford. So, check in from time to time next week and see how much fun we're having. Did I mention there are SNOW FLURRIES in the forecast? Let me tell you that 1/3 of the traveling team isn't nearly as excited as the other 2/3ds of the team.

Our schedule looks something like this:

Friday night: arrive very very late
Saturday: get up very, very early...show at the Chicago Specialty, Day 1, both Hummee & Tinks
Sunday: get up very, very early...show at the Chicago Specialty, Day 2, both Hummee & Tinks
Monday: sleep in and attend afternoon educational seminars
Tuesday: Hummee shows in 9-12 puppy dog sweepstakes, go visit a friend in the area
Wednesday: Hummee shows in American Bred dog class, order pizza and a movie and relax
Thursday: Satinka shows in Open bitch class
Friday: Hummee shows, with his sister, Roxie, and Dad, Cody, in the Stud Dog class
Saturday: Woohoo!!! No reason to be clean today (unless the amazing happens and Tinks or Hummee takes Winners...but let's be real) so we'll watch the Best of Breed judging (Hummee and I will be sitting ringside, cheering on Big Sister Roxie).
Sunday: get up very, very early and fly home.
Monday: back to work...what a vacation.

So, stay tuned and we'll try and share the fun with you...from the snow to the shortage of grooming space, from sharing a room with two friends and four other dogs, with a mix of puppies, in-season girls and intact boys...it'll be a week we won't forget *unless, of course, we find the bar first*

More Purple and Gold!!!

And, no I'm not talking about the colors flying when the University of Washington Huskies beat the UCLA Bruins....that was just bonus purple & gold.

Sunday, at the Burbank Kennel Club, Satinka was Winners Bitch, both days, Best of Opposite on Saturday and on Sunday...her first Best of Breed! I was a little surprised (ok, a LOT surprised) and thrilled to receive that award for Tinks. Not so thrilled to stay for groups with rain showers off an on but we stayed and showed (and didn't do anything in group).

So, all three of my current show dogs are pointed...Hummee has 2 points (and 1 BOB), Katie has 2 points (and 2 BOBs) and Tinks has 8 points and now her first BOB!

To make the weekend more exciting, when I called Tink's breeder to let her know how Tinks did, I found out that Cha'tima, Satinka's dam finished her championship this weekend; her sister, Abey, was WB the other two days of the 4 day show and her 1/2 brother, Frosty, was WD. What a great weekend for Apache Run Siberians...and Kaos!

Not to be left out, Hummee won RWD on Sunday...he's got some maturing to do, but he'll get there .

Blaze spent an uneventful weekend at home with Daddy and the other dogs....no new cute puppy stories for now.

This weekend is our last big California show before the National Specialty in Rockford, Illinois. I'm excited to go. I don't know that Tinks and Hummee share my excitement...or much care :-) I'm not sure where September went...