Eukanuba News

I've told you about the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship dog show in the past. I LOVE it! The Orange County Convention Center in Orlando is taken over by dogs for a whole week. Forget Disneyworld, THIS is the happiest place on Earth for me. There are:

• conformation dog shows
• agility, obedience and rally trials
• dock diving contests
• grooming competitions
• seminars and demos
• lots of freebies
• AKC representatives
• dog show 101 tours
• meet-the-breed booths for every AKC recognized breed
• over 100 dog-centric vendors selling things you don't even know you want yet
• 5000+ gorgeous purebred dogs from around the world

I've been to the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship dog show twice and have already scheduled this year's vacation around it. It's one of the country's biggest dog shows (probably second only to the Westminster Kennel Club dog show) and it's only a three hour drive from my house. So why am I talking about the show three months in advance? Well, a couple of Eukanuba-related things have come up lately that I think are worth sharing.

First off, there's not going to be an AKC/Eukanuba National Championship dog show this year. Don't panic! (I did.) There's still going to be a week of dog shows in Orlando this December -- it's just that Eukanuba isn't hosting it any more. For the next 15 years the show is going to be sponsored by Royal Canin. (To be honest, my picky dogs won't eat either dog food brands, so I don't care who's doing it.) Royal Canin has promised that the show will be just as wonderful as ever. The most notable difference will be the décor. It will change from Eukanuba pink to Royal Canin's signature red and gold. For information about other changes and to see the line up of events, check out this article from the Canine Chronicle.

And the second bit of news is even more exciting. The German Shepherd Dog Club of North Florida -- my club! -- has been asked to host the German Shepherd Meet-the-Breed booth at the show. We feel honored. And excited. And overwhelmed. And a tiny bit terrified. (OK, maybe that's just me.) We're still in the early stages of this so I don't really have specifics. However, I will be at the AKC National Championship Dog Show Presented by Royal Canin (what a mouthful) in Orlando, Florida on December 17 and 18. If you are going to be there to, please stop by the GSD meet-the-breed booth and say "Hi." I may even have Jedi with me. (It's OK, I know you'd rather meet him.)

Exciting news, isn't it? I'll keep you up-to-date as things develop. And I'll try to remember to take lots of pictures in December. However, longtime readers now I suck at taking pictures. It might be best if you come to Orlando. You know you want to! See you at the show, -- K

Hermine Blows

Hermine not all that the news had hoped for predicted

It's wet and windy outside as Hurricane (now tropical storm) Hermine blows by. Thanks for all the well wishes from out-of-state friends. We're fine. Hubby and I are both off today. We're just going to chill at home with the dogs. I've got a roast in the crock pot and we plan on spending the day catching up on The Walking Dead on Netflix (we're still on season 4 -- I know!)

I'm disgusted by regular TV. The new anchors actually seem heartbroken that there wasn't more damage, no death or large scale destruction for them to report with twinkles in their eyes. They're making the most out of every flooded road and downed tree that they can. It's been a decade since we had a hurricane hit the area and I guess the lack of carnage is difficult for parasitic organizations that thrive on chaos. (WOW, Kelley's feeling a bit bitchy today!)

Anyway, I'll get back to blogging soon. Promise. Until then, here is Jedi braving the storm. The picture was taken this morning. See, even he's not that impressed by the storm. Later, -- K

Jedi says he's not impressed with the weather forecast -- now please throw the ball

Do We Nose Enough?

An interior search

I spent most of the morning reading UKC and NACSW regulations, combing through training club webpages and filling out entry forms. October is full of nosework tests and trials -- and it's just around the corner. Eeeek.

There are two weekends of UKC Nosework trials. The good news is that the two clubs hosting the trials have coordinated on what they're doing. If we do well we can walk away with some titles. The bad news is that the UKC is a lackadaisical when it comes to sharing information and procedures. This is not comforting to those of us who prefer structure and itineraries. Anyway, here's what I've got:

Nosework & Rally Club of North Florida

• Ocala, October 15-16
• All Pre-trial scents available for testing. Jedi only has first two (birch and anise). I'd like to pick up the other three while I can.
• Saturday there are vehicles searches, both AM & PM
• Sunday there are exterior searches, both AM & PM
• Prices are higher by $5 a trial. All in all, I'm looking at $110 for the weekend, and that's with the pre-entry prices



Those damn boxes (a pre-trial test)

• And we're going to need a hotel for the weekend

Dog Training Club of St. Petersburg

• St. Petersburg, October 22-23
• No Pre-trial scents available
• Saturday there's a containers in the AM and an interior PM
• Sunday there's a containers in the AM and an interior PM
• We're looking at another $60 for this weekend, again with the cheaper, pre-entry prices
• And we're going to need a hotel for the weekend

The odor is in the folder on the table

I’ve never gotten a premium from the St. Pete club, though I’ve requested one three times. I made up an entry form from the one the Ocala club had. I got all the information from the UKC site. (Horray for Wite-Out and a printer/copier!) I guess the guys at St. Pete will figure it out if they want to cash my check. I hope back-to-back weekends aren't too much for Jedi. I'm sure Work won't be thrilled.

AND if that's not complicated enough, on October 2nd we have the opportunity to retake the NACSW ORT that we bombed last January. This is the first ORT I've seen offered in Florida or Georgia since our attempt in West Palm nine months ago.

• The good news: the test is in Gainesville, an hour and a half away. No hotel stay required!
• The bad news: it's on a Sunday, my regular work day and I'm already asking for two Sundays off in October. Also, it's another $35 and I 'll have to renew my NACSW membership (another $20).

I'm still debating this one. A friend is going with two of her dogs. She says there's room in her van for me and Jedi so we could share travel expenses. Truth is, I'll probably go. I'm just trying to be responsible after all the money and personal leave I spent on last month's vacation. Sometimes I overthink things. (OK, most times. No, always. I always overthink things. There, I said it.)

The odor is on the wall behind the blue banner

Anyway, I need to cut this short. I've got some thinking to do and some checks to write. Dog sports aren't cheap. You know, life would be a whole easier if I were independently wealthy. This working full time thing really gets in the way of my dogs. And it doesn't seem to fund as much as I'd like either. I saw a meme that said:

I need to win the lottery so I can be a stay-at-home dog mom. Is that too much to ask?

I'll keep you posted on our journey -- with pictures, of course. Meanwhile, please think happy thoughts for me and Jedi. Lord knows we can use them! Later, -- K

P.S. If you happen to be in Gainesville, Ocala or St. Petersburg and want to me up, let me know. We'd love to meet online friends IRL (that's "In Real Life" -- according to my kids.) 

Just Wondering . . .

Hermione riding shot gun

Every now and then something happens that makes me think that perhaps my sense of humor is a bit . . . off. I'll be laughing myself silly on to see people staring at me like I have two heads. (Which, ironically, makes it even funnier.) For example I find the following quite amusing:

Hermione had a grooming appointment at the vet last week. On the way back I realized I was hungry and drove through Burger King. Was it wrong that I ordered a chicken sandwich with Hermione sitting in the front seat? Do you think she realized I was eating her distant cousin?

On a similar note, Mr. Frodo is my cockatiel and he loves Zaxby's commercials. (Zaxby's is a chicken chain here in the south.) He'll dance back and forth while singing at the top of his lungs. Is it wrong to find this amusing? Or is it worse that I'll dive for the remote and try to mute the TV before he realizes it's on because I don't want to hear him whistle for the next 20 minutes? (BTW, his favorite thing to sing is "Here kitty, kitty, kitty" over and over and over.)

Finally, how about this meme? Is this funny? (For the record this is not my picture. However, Jedi and I have had similar conversations.)

Whether you think I'm super silly or slightly twisted, I'm sharing this post on the Silly Sunday blog hop. Click around below and see what others are sharing today. Maybe you'll get a case of the giggles. And if you have something silly of your own, link up! A big thanks Sandee at Comedy Plus for hosting this each week. -- K

Travels With Casey

Confession time: I have really hard time passing up a dog-themed book on the sale table. Seriously, if said book came with a glass of wine and a brownie it would be completely irresistible. So when I saw a hardback copy of Travels with Casey for less than 5 bucks at Books-a-Million you know I bought it! In all fairness, I had just spent that much on a caramel macchiato at the in-store coffee shop. (Froofy coffee, another one of my vices. Yep, I've got issues . . .)

The book sat on my to-be-read pile for a few months before I got to it. The basic premise of the book is:

Neurotic New Yorker rents an RV and travels the country with his dog. He visits various dog-centric people and places along the way.

For the most part I liked the book. I've always thought it would be exciting to rent an RV and travel the country. It's fun to read about somebody who actually did. Other interesting things about the book that appeal to me are:

• Apparently this author knows Josh Dean who wrote the book Show Dog that I reviewed back in March. It sounds like they were writing their books at the same time.
• Benoit and Casey came to Jacksonville. In fact, they were doing doga on the beach. I wonder if I saw him? Wouldn't that have been freaky?
• During his travels he met Amy Burkett from Go Pet Friendly -- one of my absolute favorite blogs!

And there were a couple things I didn't like about the book:

• The story tends to meander. That's not bad, but it's not my style. I prefer more of a in-your-face John Grisham kind of story to a we'll-get-there-when-we-get-there Alexander McCall Smith kind of story. 
• I couldn't care less about the author's love life. I'm NOT a romance reader by any means. I want to read about dogs, dragons and dead people, period.
• I really wish there had been more pictures.

All in all, it was entertaining and definitely worth the $5. Now if only I could talk Hubby into selling everything and buying an RV. I tried really hard when Leah and the pups from Let's Go Dog stopped by here on their perimeter tour of the U.S. last year. Hubby said no. Unless I can either win the lottery or write a million dollar novel, we have to continue working to pay the bills. Dammit. But I'll keep trying! Until then . . . -- K

Back Seat Shepherds

One of the things I don't like about the Jedi Mobile is that the second row seats are bucket seats, not a bench seat. Normally I keep the third row seats folded, reserving the back area for transporting dogs and groceries. Since the middle row are bucket seats, there's only room for two people to sit. Even worse, they do a horrible job keeping the dogs in the very back. Roxy and Jedi will creep up when I'm not looking. Next thing I know, there's dog breath on the back of my neck. I also don't like that the center column between the seats is slanted and made of a slick plastic. The dogs don't get good traction when standing on it and are constantly sliding. I'm afraid one of them is going to get hurt during a sudden stop or sharp turn. Plus, I really don't like dog breath in the back of my neck. What's a girl to do?

I've been looking for a removable barrier. I have a metal one that we've used in the Expedition for long trips. It works. It's sturdy and does a great job keeping the dogs in the very back. But it's also heavy and awkward to put in. It's designed for SUVs so I don't know if it'll even fit in my car.

Mama says "Get Back!"

I saw a heavy duty mesh barrier at the pet store. It went all the way across both back seats. I thought it would be great because Jedi would still be able to see me. However, I wasn't fond of the $60 price tag so that product stayed on the store shelf. Apparently the price turned off a lot of people. There was a heavy layer of dust on the box and the cashier couldn't remember ever selling one

Then I saw the Outward Hound Front Seat Safety Barrier. For $9 it was worth trying. I've had it in for two months now. The dogs have climbed over a several times but a stern "Get back!" has done the trick. Even better, the barrier is a definite indication of where "back" is. I had to remove it to use the back seats for people last week. gasp! The barrier was easy to take down and put back up. However, I'm not as meticulous as Hubby, so now the barrier is askew. (I'll have him fix it later.)

My opinion: The Outward Hound Front Seat Safety Barrier isn't exactly what I was looking for, but for the price I paid it's an OK substitute. However, I'm still looking for something better. Any ideas from you guys? -- K

Beachy Boy

It's Wordless Wednesday, So I'm going to say this with as few words as possible:

I LOVE THIS DOG!

Nailed it! (I always say too much and Hubby makes fun of me.) Like I said, It's Wordless Wednesday. Click around below and see what others are sharing today! -- K