Cashmere and Wenatchee

Mom and I packed up the four Tollers and headed east for the weekend! We went for the Wenatchee Kennel Club Dog Show, but I really went for the food, antiques, and spending time with our friends and dogs.

Our first meal in town: wood-fired pizza from McGlinn's Public House in Wenatchee. Mom and I were there two years ago with our friends John S. and Marie, and we missed them this time around. Thankfully we had John G. with us! From the top: Italian, BBQ Chicken, and Magherita (mine!). All so good! We also split the strawberry spinach salad. They serve their water with lemon and cucumber, which was so refreshing! Loved it!

Saturday started with breakfast at the 59er Diner (it was OK), followed by 40 minutes of wandering Apple Annie's Antiques (70,000 square feet of awesomeness), the dog show (Taylor got Winners Dog and Best of Winners for 1 point and Rina got Best of Opposite), and finally lunch at Country Boys Southern Style BBQ! SO GOOD. I had the pulled pork sandwich, cornbread, and some of mom's "ribbon fries" (chips).

It was crazy hot so after lunch we took a few of the pups to the river for a swim (the ones showing, Rina and Taylor, didn't get to swim). It was super pretty, too. I was a bit out of it (I really was not adapting well to the heat--I even had to give Taylor to Mom to show in Open at the show!) but enjoyed putting my feet in the water and watching the dogs frolic.

Sunday morning was a bit more leisurely since we didn't show until 2pm. We met John at the Anjou Bakery in Cashmere for some treats before heading to the show grounds. 

The bakery is right off of the freeway next to pear orchards. The interior is a little rustic, but in a clean and charming French cottage way. Super cute. 

The best part was, of course, the goodies. Mom and I split a pear pastry, which had a custard under the pear and super flakey delicious pastry, and an oarnge cranberry scone that wasn't too dry but just perfect and the right amount of sweetness (but we loved the pear pastry the most). Mom had a mocha that they made all pretty and I had some Steven Smith tea, which is one of my favorite tea makes so I was happy.

It was another hot day, but I was able to show Taylor in Open and Breed (no BOW or points, but Rina got BOS again) and we headed home! I was so relieved to see the clouds on our way home! And cool air!

Taylor was happy to get home, too.

I don't think we'll be doing that show again (just too hot!) but I'd definitely go back to Wenatchee and Cashmere... great antiques, lots of great food, and lots of fruit stands! We stopped at the Smallwood's Harvest stand/store/attraction outside of Peshastin on our way home and picked up some yummy fruit... and I took some photos. Couldn't resist! (That's the same place I took the photo of the apples in baskets that is now hanging in one of the Wenatchee Starbucks stores!)

they still got it

Some of the veteran (7+ years old) Tollers did a fun retrieve during the lunch hour of the working certificate testing on the Saturday of our trip to Calgary for the Toller Specialty.

The Specialty!

The main event of our trip to Calgary (via Chilliwack and the DeMille's Farm Market) was the Alberta Kennel Club (AKC) All-Breed Dog Show and the Canadian Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever National Specialty, which included conformation, obedience, and working certificate testing (in the field).

It was a long weekend.

dog show!

If you're going to be in Kitsap County this weekend you should come out to the Peninsula Dog Fanciers' Club's All Breed Dog Show and Obedience trials at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds!

nap buddies

You can have the duck but I get the Mexican blanket.

Enumclaw!

Last weekend we went to a dog show in Enumclaw...

Sunny got Best of Breed both days! Woohoo!

And Taylor got Winner's Dog and Best of Winner's on Sunday (nothing on Saturday) for at least two points! Woohoo! And the judge made a point of stopping me to tell me that he liked Taylor's expression and it's what they're looking for in Tollers--which completely made my weekend! Sweet.

It was a super long weekend since we stayed for groups both days... our ring time was at 900am and 930am, and groups didn't start until 330pm each day. Saturday the Sporting Group was second so it wasn't too bad, but Sunday it was 6th (out of seven groups) so it was a LOT of waiting.

The boys were great all weekend, although quite tired... and always cute. :)

Tay’s a Weiner!

I made it home Sunday night around 1030pm after a long week and a half-ish of wedding festivities, GIS workshops, and dog shows.

I was able to take a few photos of Jordan and Griffin's wedding shindigs... mostly of preparations and events leading up to the ceremony. I was a bit busy during the wedding (I was a bridesmaid!) and then spent the time afterward dancing, eating, and chatting with wonderful friends. Don't you worry now... once I've gone through the photos I'll be sure to share some with you here. :)

I also have some neat photos from my time in San Diego that you can look forward to... I was able to explore Balboa Park a bit before my flight (not nearly enough time for all that was there!) and took some photos of the gardens and wonderful architecture.

at what point...

At what point should I be concerned that I might be clinically insane?

Not literally... but by the time this summer is over I just might be. Or at least closer to it.

I knew that July was going to be crazy-busy but I guess I didn't realize just HOW busy I was going to be until I tried to figure out when I'd be able to go check out my friend's church.

The ONLY free Sunday I have in July isn't until the 25th... the LAST Sunday of the month.

And it's not just because I have a hair appointment or brunch in town--I'm either out of the county, out of the state, or out of the country... so going to church in Bremerton is far from being an option on the table.

I'm coming up on the "sprint" portion of the month... where I just need to buckle down, get through it all in one piece, and then hopefully not crash too badly at the finish line.

The "warm-up" was last weekend with a dog show.

The first "leg" of the race includes festivities and preparations for Jordan and Griffin's wedding. I'll be going over to Bothell Thursday after work; Friday is a spa day (SO excited!), rehearsal, and rehearsal dinner; then Saturday is the wedding day, starting at 9am with hair appointments and then the wedding at 7pm.

The second "leg" is the ESRI Users' Conference. After sleeping for a few hours after the wedding, I'll leave Bothell for the airport on Sunday... then spend the week in San Diego going to workshops, paper presentations, and exploring the city as much as I can on foot... and fly back to Seattle on Friday.

Finally, the home stretch... I'll drive to my parents' after landing in Seattle on Friday, only to turn around and drive up to Canada with my mom for a dog show on Saturday and Sunday.

I just hope I'm not too beat for work that Monday.

(Anyone else ready for a nap after reading that through??)

Kitsap’s Friendly Dog Show

As many of you may know, I am a member of Peninsula Dog Fanciers' Club, Inc. PDFC is Kitsap County's local all-breed dog club. We put on a dog show every March and a Responsible Dog Ownership Day in September. Both events are a lot of work-- but they're a lot of fun, too, so well worth the effort.

I've been pretty busy getting ready for this year's show... and working on our new website/blog! I haven't done much with the "blog" portion yet but it's getting there. You should check it out. :) I'd love some feedback... what do you think, and if you're a dog-person, what topics would you like to see in the blog?

Check out the Events page for more info about our show and RDO Day. The show is coming up quickly-- March 27 and 28. Even if you're not interested in entering shows yourself it is a great place to "research" (or just admire!) dog breeds that you're interested in. There are also Obedience and Rally trials taking place, which are fun to watch, and vendors to browse.

Plus... I'll be there so you can come say hi! :) (I'll be working, not showing... and hopefully getting some good photos to add to the site!)

Tolerance

... or maybe "Toller-ance"?

Haha.

Too cheesy? Sorry.

But really... what other pup would be tolerant enough to put up with this:

Oh Sunny... you're such a good boy.

Dogs, Books and Beer

One of these days I really need to go to Portland just to go to Portland... not for a dog show.

Don't get me wrong, the show went well and was fun! Sunny got Winner's Dog and Best of Winners on Thursday for his first Major. Taylor got fourth in class both Saturday and Sunday (out of five dogs)... he wouldn't let the judge go over him on Saturday but he was much better on Sunday. We had a great time chatting with some of the Toller people, hanging out with the Dobie people, and chatting with spectators about different breeds.

It's just that Portland has so much more to offer that we don't have time {or energy} to take advantage of while we're there for a show.

We did get some time Saturday afternoon to visit Powell's City of Books in downtown Portland.

I've heard of Powell's for years from various friends... a 4-story bookstore that takes up an entire city block. It sounded too good to be true. My mom and our friend are also book lovers so it didn't take much to convince them that we needed to check it out.

Portland!

I'm in Portland, OR this weekend for a HUGE dog show.

Most shows Taylor has been entered in so far have had entries of less than 2000 dogs and only a handful of Tollers. Quite often Taylor and Sunny, my mom's pup, have been the only Tollers.

This weekend there are over 3000 entries and 17 Tollers. One of the days is filmed by Animal Planet. It's a big deal... and very nerve-wracking.

The show is actually 4 days but Taylor is only entered for Saturday and Sunday.

My mom took Sunny down Wednesday night to show him Thursday and Friday as well as Sat and Sun. He got Winner's Dog on Thursday for points but no Major. Then he got Best of Winner's and got a Major from the girls! Sunny needs one more Major to be a Champion. Very exciting.

I'm nervous for the show but also looking forward to it. We've met some very nice people at shows recently so I'm looking forward to chatting with them again.

I just hope I remember to go in the ring when I'm supposed to, don't trip/slip/fall, and that Taylor lets the Judge go over him... and that he's not a complete doof in the ring.

If nothing else... I get to have sushi and go to an awesome bookstore. So no matter what it is bound to be a great weekend. Oh, and it's another 3-day weekend for me! Yay!

My little BOB

Taylor was a bit exhausted after the shows last weekend. I turned around from the computer and found him like this:



He heard me sneak a picture and tried to open his eyes. It didn't work so well.



I should have lightly scolded him for being on the couch... but he was just too darn cute.

So I took more pictures instead.

Yay, Tay!

I'm a proud puppy momma.

This weekend my mom and I took our boys up to the Hurricane Kennel Club dog show in Sequim. There were four Tollers entered: our two boys in the 12-18 month dog puppy class, a girl in a class (don't remember which one), and a champion dog. The girl is two 3-point majors away from being a champion herself.

On Saturday my mom's Sunny took Winner's Dog (the best of the class dogs), Best of Winners (between him and the one class girl) and Best of Breed!

Then on Sunday, my Taylor took WD, BOW, and BOB for his first point!

first show

I've been involved with the Peninsula Dog Fanciers' Club for around 15 years, give or take, putting on the annual dog show in March and other events throughout the year. Last year we held a Responsible Dog Owner Day, and we'll be doing so again in September.

With as much experience I have with putting on a dog show and working in the ring as a Ring Steward, I've never actually shown a dog myself.

This weekend my mom and I are taking our Toller boys up to a show in Mt. Vernon... it will be my very first show as an exhibitor, and Taylor's first time in the ring, too. My mom is a seasoned pro at showing and she's had Sunny in the ring a few times already.

I'm kind of nervous, but we are the only two Tollers entered so at least we won't be compared to the professional handlers. I am looking at it as a learning experience for both Taylor and me... he's still young and has time to do well in the ring, and it's my first time trying to figure out how to make him stand still for a stranger to go over him!

It should be interesting.