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Well it was quite a project
getting out of town with preparations that started months in advance
and tons to do til the day we left from grooming to farming out dogs
for little vacations with Magna VIP's and VSP's and much, much more,
but we made it there and back to tell about it. Here are a few
thoughts...
A good breeder attends
nationals for a few very important reasons other than to exhibit and
proving the quality of their own dogs which include going to the
educational seminars as well as to see the other dogs. One thing I
realized this trip was the importance of viewing the Veterans class.
This tells us a few things... how our dogs are holding up as they age,
where we have been and how we are progressing forward. These things
are a great barometer for us and we need to pay more attention to it.
Too often we do not have the ability to see that we are making
mistakes until years have passed and many litters are already produced, and I found this
viewing helpful. Most of the veterans seemed in excellent health with
one exception that leaves a breeder breathless with fear giving us a
stark reminder of the awesome responsibility we have considering the
possible outcome of our choices. But... other than that I thought our
Veterans were beautiful! The entire specialty was made up of nice dogs but the quality overall was in bitches and the veteran bitches
were just superb. Similarly, the champion dogs were nice but the girls
to my eye far exceeded them in quality with few exceptions.
 Legend
won the Open Dogs class and was Reserve Winners Dog to a beautiful
two year old who went on to win Best In Specialty. No sour grapes
here... that was a beautiful win by a beautiful dog and well deserved.
Legend is still a bit young to compete with a dog so mature and
I am proud of our win and pleased with the judges choice. (I showed my
dogs the first day, Kevin Schrum showed Legend and Ginny Maese showed
Rudy the second day. Thanks to both of them for doing a really
beautiful job!) Little
Rudy was in what may have been the
best class of the entire specialty- Open Bitches was a WONDERFUL
class! I loved the winner and the judges reserve bitch so much on the
second day and was pleased to take a 4th and then a 3rd out of this
huge and beautiful class. Never have I been so at peace with not
"winning it all" as I was here. We got every ounce of what we deserved
and that is a good feeling. I agreed with many of the judges choices
and that too leaves one feeling that it was a fair competition and
that is not always the case.
 My
Baby Brutus was beautiful and
perfectly behaved but was just not competitive. He is in the 10 month
old stage of growth and had some "issues" in the process which is very
common. Kind'a like a kid with those funny looks when he is 10 years
old??? That is okay... next year they will see that he is likely the
best Magna dog yet.
I am so grateful that
traveling with 3 males and a bitch we were safe, and the dogs were
PERFECT! They were not a minutes trouble. I love my dogs and
appreciate their goodness. Speaking of good dogs, here is a cute
story... Somehow when I was showing Legend I lost contact with my lead
and we ran about half way around the ring with his lead dragging on
the ground while I pretended that I still had it in my hand. Most
observers saw that he was running loose but Legend just did his job
and never noticed. Good boy Ledgie!
Next years National will be in Carlisle, PA in
September. We hope to see you there!
Pictures from the
Specialty
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