New Puppy

Well, my sister and her son have gotten a new puppy. A wee pug named Gizmo. He's very cute but makes some funny noises. We've always been a big dog household but Jo and Alex live in an apartment along with their GSP Roxy (Josh x Wicca). Roxy is older and fairly quiet as shorthairs go so she manages the apartment well but a GSP puppy wouldn't be a good choice for an apartment. So here`s a few pics of Gizmo and Roxy:






Saw the surgeon and things are progressing well with the leg. With a little luck and some hard work I should be home within a week or so. I can`t wait.

Quiet Sunday

Mom & Dad came to visit today and brought Dublin along. It was so nice to see him. I can't believe how much I miss the dogs. It's been years since I've been away from them for this long. My sister lives in an apartment so having the dogs stay here with me isn't possible. Time to start working on handling stairs so I can go home and see them.

Today is for some pictures of Bedago (Kenny x Jeannie):

Westminster Photos of Rory

I may have to persuade Karen to try to send whiskey despite the laws. Nothing like a good whiskey to cure what ails you. (My parents used it on teething baby gums with phenomenal success as you can guess.) For now, I guess I'll live without.

I'm most sorry that I won't be up to joining friends in Paris for the World Show. It's on my list of shows I would really love to attend at some point and what better combination than a trip to Paris. Sadly, that's just too soon.

I have received confirmation that I'm fully licensed now to judge half of group three, including my beloved Siberian Huskies. I'm on permit (similar to an American provisional) now for the balance of group three. I should be back on my feet towards the end of April and will be celebrating by judging in Montreal at the end of May. I`m looking forward to it. My sister, her son and the Music Man will be coming along for fun.

I got some pics today of Rory and Iris in the ring at Westminster:

Long Overdue

It's been a long few months full of physical and mental challenges. I finally had the first surgery on my knee just over a week ago. It's a new year and hopefully a new beginning so let's give this another go.

I'm staying at my sister's for a few weeks as it is an apartment that is all on one level which is much appreciated when you can't put weight on one leg and get around in a combination of wheelchair and walker. They`ve been great and I spend lots of time with their girl Roxy (Nuthatch`s The Natural - out of Josh x Wicca). As I only have my laptop with me, I don`t have access to a lot of pictures but I`ll update you with lots of pics when I get home.

Roxy is wonderful, but I really really miss the dogs. Over the last few months, Dublin has been my constant companion and I`m missing him terribly. I`m not used to sleeping without dogs either (I don`t know what to do with all this leg space!?). It's important that my leg not get bumped around. It's in a brace but any touch or knocking of it is very very painful. A Delceg hug would probably kill me at this point. That doesn't mean I wouldn't like one anyway. No ever said I was sane lol

There has been some great wins to report as well. The most notable being that:

- Buffy finished her American championship - becoming Am Can Ch Nuthatch's Unforgettable (Kenny x Jeannie).

- Lucy also finished her American championship with multiple best of breeds over specials and three majors. She is now Am Can Ch Nuthatch's Awakenings (Delceg x Kaylee). Lucy didn't stop there but has been continuing to amaze. In her first two weekends as a special, she won the Breed and then made the cut in the group over top winning specials. Then last weekend there was the Sleep Hollow Specialty - one of the biggest specialties, it's held along with two other specialties the weekend before Westminster. She ended up going Best of Opposite Sex in Specialty to one of the top GSPs in the country. All of this is very impressive but it becomes even more special when you realize that Lucy is a solid liver German Shorthair. Although the breed standard recognizes it as being as acceptable as the more traditional spotted/ticked, many judges are hesitant to put it up as they don't see it as often and are less familiar with it.

- Rory (Am Ch Nuthatch Edenstar Aurora - owned by Dr Iris Goliger & Rachel Glenn, out of Jammer & Bug) went to Westminster and had a fabulous time! Owner handled, Rory and Iris made the cut at the premiere show in North America. It doesn't get better than that!

All in all the dogs and their owners, regardless of what they've been up to have continued to make us very proud. I'll try to find some pics to update with, in the meantime, we have:

Chesna (out of Charlie & Chanel)