Newfoundland National Specialty

Kerri and I spent the whole of last week at the 2008 Newfoundland Club of America National Specialty in Warwick, RI. I have to say we had a FANTASTIC week -- new friends were made, old friendships renewed... Too much beer, WAY too much laughter... It was a lot like Camp. LOL

A National Specialty is an All-Newfoundland Dog Show held each year by the NCA and a local club which was our club this year. The Specialty won't be back to New England until 2016. There were about 700 Newfs in attendance. It was really nice to be with a bunch of dog people who are already Newf savvy.

Eli's first Rally entry was bright and early Tuesday... OUTSIDE in the POURING rain.... on GREEN freshly mown grass...

The poor boy didn't have a chance.

He ambled into the ring like a pro... Setup nicely... The judge (Tippy Chase) asked if Kerri and Eli were ready... Kerri replied "Ready!"... They took three steps in perfect heel.... I thought they had it.... Eli then turned his attention to the grass and it was over.... It was raining so hard that they had a rain delay shortly after Kerri ran.

At this point I made the considered decision to pull him from Obedience... If he couldn't hold it together in Rally, Novice wasn't going to be a positive experience for either of us.

Wednesday dawned sunny, but WINDY and COLD... Once again the Novice A Rally class was bright and slightly less early. Second verse, same as the first -- 'otta be better but gonna be worse... Imagine Tuesday except the judge was Pat Scully and at the first sign he turns to lean head first into the wind, puffs his chest out and inhales so deeply I thought he'd turn himself inside out... and then starts snuffling the grass.

I know it sounds like a dismal failure, but there were some positives... even completely distracted he did SOME decent work... He was up and happy and full of spirit... this is progress... He just didn't have any focus -- the whole world was full of VERY LOUD GRASS... and GIRLS... unspayed GIRLS... %sigh%

He really didn't have a chance.

But it was fun.

Thursday was conformation. Eli was entered in the Novice class (dogs without any championship points) and luckily it was the best weather of the week. I was a wee bit nervous and just because Eli wanted to see how much stress I could take; he had liquid diarrhea 10 minutes before we were to go into the ring. Let's just say you'd be amazed what Wet Ones can do for a dog's coat when you are desperate.

While he didn't make the cut, the judge (Mrs. Edeltraud Laurin) certainly wanted him to... She came back to us 3 times to look at him, but unfortunately he chose that point to get the wiggles. ACK! Overall, he looked beautiful (Cathy, Eli's breeder, mercifully trimmed him for me) and moved extremely well. I even got some really nice stacks -- even when I hand stacked him.

It was a good experience for both of us and we felt pretty well prepared even if we were up against big name handlers. We have a few things that really need some work... the free stack at the end of his down&back comes to mind... LOL At least he didn't leap into the air when we got back to the judge or try and kiss her... both of which he often does in handling class. Most importantly, I didn't puke on the dog or judge!

There was NO expectation that he would do anything in the ring, this was about experience and being able to say we were on the big stage... I honestly couldn't have asked for things to go any better -- this was a huge win for us.... Someday we will be ready but not yet... What was really driven home for me is how juvenile Eli still is. To us, he seems all grown up physically (certainly not mentally), but after watching BOB yesterday, it is very clear that he still has a long way to go in filling out. Some things can't be rushed. LOL

Here is a picture of Sandy, Onyx, Me and Eli... Onyx & Eli are littermates, if you can't tell. We were fresh out of the breed ring... For the record, I stole the pic from Claire.

Finishing Frenzy... Not....

I try to be a good knitter... I want to get some of the WIPs off the needles... I do. Really... I don't need to be racked with guilt over every new project I want to start.

I even have a genuine FO... Nothing special just a pair of toe-up socks using my favorite "plain" socks pattern.

Pattern: Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula by Amy Swenson

Yarn: Knitterly Things Vesper Sock Yarn in Sherbert
Needles: KnitPicks Circulars - size 2

Unfortunately, I also have a new WIP to show you...


It is the Wavy scarf from Knitty.... This is a great pattern; I will certainly make a few of these. But I will slip the first stitch of each row to clean up the edges as they are a bit messy. Easy and fast to knit as long as you commit to knitting one full repeat at a time. It is VERY easy to get lost if you put it down for a while. For the record, that's Eli in the background. I wish I could tell you what the yarn is but it is just 5 balls of wool/silk heavy worsted weight cabled yarn I frogged from a project approx 100 years ago. I do remember I got it out of the clearance bin at Fabric Place in Woburn, MA -- not that it helps me remember what the yarn is.... lol

So the short of it is that my WIP list remains exactly the same length -- but at least it hasn't gotten any longer....

Christmas Cheer

Such a nice Christmas... As is our tradition, Christmas Day is a pajama day. No one gets dressed; we open presents, eat a decadent breakfast (Creamed eggs), watch a movie or two... nibble all day while we play with our gifts, and then have a simple, easy and sinful dinner. This year it was roast leg-o-lamb, brussells sprouts, and twice baked potatos... Later on we had chocolate chip cake for dessert. We also finally got around to a MARVELOUS bordeaux I was gifted last Christmas...


Believe it or not, I didn't get a single fiber related gift. I am on something of a self-imposed fiber/fiber tools restriction. I have enough stash to keep me happy for a while. My only desire is a drum carder, but that is something I am going to have to find for myself as I want a used one rather than new. I am also hoping to work out a way to finish a some WIP inventory. I would really like the Bee Fields shawl and the Tangled Yoke Cardigans off my plate. My point is I requested that I not get anything for Christmas that would encourage me to start a new project.

I gave very few handknits for Christmas this year. As I have been swamped with commissions, all I gave were a couple Live Dangerously; Don't Swatch hats and a single pair of Fetching fingerless mitts. But I did make a few ornaments this year. I am hoping to make a total of six of these by New Years...

Six-Pointed Star

Pattern: Six Pointed Star Christmas Ornament by Barbara Breiter
Yarn: Jawoll Sock Yarn #163 Red
Needles: KnitPicks Options size 2
Changes: The 1/2 inch shell button was an afterthought that dresses them up a bit.

Eli hopes that Santa brought everyone their hearts desire
and wishes one and all a happy and healthy new year!

Sad News

One of my Camp Friends, Trisha lost her amazing black lab Seamus this week. It was unexpected and heartbreaking. He was our favorite Calamity Dog. Seamus had a long and happy life, even thru his battle with Addisons disease his tail wagged almost every minute. I don't have words to express how much this big guy will be missed.

Seamus
1995 - 2007

During Camp this year we figured out that almost all of the dogs who came to camp that first year or so have already gone over the rainbow bridge... Dragon, Elly, Sepp, Lucy, Pongo, and now Seamus. We have also lost dear Legend this year tho he wasn't part of the original crew. Part of living with dogs is knowing you will lose them one day. It is all part of the package. Knowing that doesn't make the loss any easier.

Home

I'm back. Actually, I have been back for almost a week but have been able to procrastinate writing a blog entry since then. Dog Camp is difficult to explain to non-Dog People. My definition of Dog People (capital D, capital P) is that group of individuals whose dogs are at or near the center of their lives. They generally make up the core of those participating in any of the dog sports (conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, herding, carting, hunting...) but competing with your dog does not necessarily make you a Dog Person. You can have a dog without being a Dog Person. Who else would be willing to devote a full week of vacation to spending time with their dogs?

Kerri always says that you go to Camp the first time because is sounds like a good time for you and your dog. You go back the second year because you couldn't possibly do all the things you wanted to that first year. After that you go back year after year because of the friends you have made and the comfort of being surrounded by a group of folks who "get it" -- who understand the relationship you have with your dogs. At Camp even the folks you don't like understand the obsession.

My Camp friendships have evolved into some of the closest I have. They are the folks I can call on day or night. We rejoice in each others triumphs and cry over each others losses be they they dog-related or not. Spending a whole week together every year without the distraction of the "real world" is a gift. We get to have a few beers and more than a few laughs with our dogs in tow. Who could ask for more from a vacation??

This was our 8th Camp and it was one of the most relaxing ever. Our most exciting happening was that Eli managed to pass his CGC/TDI test so with the pending completion of some paperwork is a certified therapy dog. I am so proud of him. Kerri was his handler for the test and did an outstanding job. I watched nervously from a pine grove on the top of the hill so Eli wouldn't see/hear me. Eli even started in "teacup" agility. He is still too young for any real jumping so the equipment in the small dog agility class is set low enough that even if he were to jump off the equipment he wouldn't inadvertently hurt himself. Learning the equipment was something of a challenge for him as his chest is wider than the teeter or the dog walk. A certain puppy will need to figure out where his back feet are if he is to continue.

Jasper had a crappy week in agility. All he wanted to do is sniff the field. It was like he had never seen grass before. I have to admit that he did have a few really nice runs, but over all it was disappointing. The weather was awesome! We had one rainy morning and one really HOT day, but all manageable without changing the schedule.

I will post more about my demo and knitting/spinning progress later. I think this post is long enough... thank you very much.

Muddy Paws Whistling Dixie

I just realized that I forgot to tell you all about Miss Dixie. Dixie is also our resident counter surfer, intruder alert (be it boogieman or UPS driver), and cuddlebug. Senior girl now at the ripe old age of eight and a benevolent if heavy handed dictator.

It has been a hard year for her. Dix never really showed her age, but since Lucy (our first newf) died last Halloween, it seems her age has caught up with her. From the time Dixie came home with us at 16 weeks old, she and Lucy were inseparable -- for the next 7 years they weren't apart for more than 12 hours... EVER. It wasn't a plan, it was just always easier for the newfs to be together. She has bounced back for the most part. Dixie plays with the boys and gets into her share of trouble, but not with the same carefree attitude she used to have. She takes the world much more seriously now that she it our pack leader.

Happy Birthday Eli!

Yesterday was Eli's first birthday. We spent the day celebrating and making plaster paw prints. Eli gobbled up his first DQ softserve and doesn't understand why his birthday can't be everyday. Jasper and Dixie want to know when their birthdays are so they can have ice cream more often.

I promised I would tell the story behind Eli's name so here it is.... Ellen Toll Katz was one of my dearest friends and Newfie mentor. Last spring she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and she passed away from complications arising from surgery to remove it on the day before Eli's litter was born. We weren't looking for a puppy. We already had two newfs and Jasper. My life was complicated enough... thank you very much... But, Kerri and I had a running gag with Ellen that when the time came for us to get a newfie boy to show, we would have Ellen do all the work finding him, picking him out and would just tell us when to pick him up. As it would happen, Cathy Derench, Ellen's best friend and cohort in Newf Rescue, not to mention probably the breeder I respect most in this world, had a litter of 9 puppies (7 males, 2 females) due the day Ellen died and were born the day between her death and her funeral. Ellen's daughter, Tracy mentioned she thought we should have one of these puppies. Her mom would have wanted it that way. How could we resist using that logic.... As for the name.... obviously Eli loosely correlates to Ellen and his AKC registered name is MtnView's Life Goes On.

So this is a bittersweet milestone for me.

I know in my heart that Ellen sent Eli our way somehow knowing that he would be a comfort when we lost Lucy so suddenly. We were lucky that he came to us in time to learn some important lessons from Lucy before she died -- even now there are some quirky things he still does that he learned from her. Eli's arrival in here in Maine will always be tied to those losses, but that certainly doesn't diminish the joy he brings every day.

I know the other eight puppies in his litter are all wonderful, but I know for sure that we got the best one.

Happy Birthday my smart, handsome boy!

Thank you Ellen.

One Big Puppy

My next introduction is to the puppy... This is Eli; his AKC registered name is Mtnviews Life Goes On. There is a story in his name, but that's for another day. He is 10 months old, 130 lbs, and full of himself. He had his first big boy dog show this weekend. It sort of scares me when Newfoundland people look at him and tell me he is going to be a big boy. His father is 175lbs. But I don't think he's going to be that big. We shall see.



The best I can say about his entry into his show career is that no one got hurt. He moved very well, but he won't have any part of my moving his feet. We are going to have to teach him to free stack, but that will take some time.

As you might have guessed, I can't knit for a newfoundland so there isn't any knitting content today.

Introduction of the Canines...

As this blog is Knitting in the Dog Run... An introduction to the dogs is certainly in order. I am going to do this in a few installments; one for each of the three of them. First up is Jasper.... aka Weenie... as in teeny-weenie... He is a 17 lb dog living in a world of giants.



He is a 3 year old Corgi/Jack Russell cross that we adopted from a local rescue group. Jasper is our agility dog. He is smart and quick and unafraid of anything. He is also the only dog I can knit for. He now has a wardrobe of handspun wool sweaters. It is unfortunate that a skinny little dog has to endure Maine winters. This is Jasper in his Gap dancer sweater....



It made from some chocolate tunis fleece I bought to play with and some grey corriedale. Both were spun very early in my spinning and are a little lumpy in a two-ply light sport weight. The sweater is of my own design knit on size 4 circulars. See I actually managed to work in some spinning/knitting content.