Yasashiikuma

Yesterday was just “one of THOSE days” – beginning to end.

I woke up at 4 a.m. feeling like I was drowning…a major rattle in my lungs, a sore throat and an achy ear. At least its just the ear and throat that are sore…so its not Swine Flu. Cursing people who come into the office when they are sick just to spread germs, off I went to the office (somehow that twisted logic made sense at the time).

By mid-morning I sounded like a bellows, couldn’t concentrate, so off to the doctor, and once again I have a case of bronchitis. Hopefully, caught early enough that it won’t sideline me for too long. It’s been two years since the last bout, so I thought I was doing pretty good!

Came home to hack and cough and hopefully prevent the spread of this too far, investing in hand sanitizer to try and protect Tim, and making a vat of chicken soup to try and boil this out of me.

I basically spent the day hacking and coughing till about 9 p.m. at which point I decided to bring in the dogs. Off leash. Big mistake.

The first four came in with a minimum of fuss. Dolly, Hunter, Dragoon and Jaime. Good kids!

On the road there were a few cars just past my fenceline on the side of the road. It was misty and their voices were carrying – it sounded like someone had a breakdown. I let Chip and Libby out of the kennel…and they ran to the fence barking. I assumed it was at the voices – since it isn’t a usual occurence to hear people on our road.

It wasn’t what they were barking at. Next thing I know they are frantic and barking and jumping back and forth. I bang on the side of the woodshed to get their attention and they come running up to the house. But what was that shadow I saw run in front of the barn….and worse WHAT’S THAT SMELL?!?!?!? (Score: Skunk 2, Dogs 0)

Lessons learned in dealing with skunks.

Lesson #1 – Confine the dogs somewhere out of doors. Do not put them in the garage!! The garage is now going to take a week of airing out to get rid of the smell. (Skunk 3, Dogs 0)

Lesson #2 – know where your supplies are. I will now invest in an industrial sized bottle of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda to have on hand. I have never had a skunk issue before in the 8 years I’ve lived here. I remember Chris buying a bottle of skunk shampoo, “just in case”, and since just in case hasn’t happened, I have no idea where it is. I knew of the peroxide/baking soda/dish soap mixture for deskunking – finding the peroxide was a challenge. It had migrated from where I usually kept it.

Lesson #3 – have the recipe handy.
For those who don’t have it (like I didn’t last night!!)

What you need

Hydrogen peroxide and baking soda, when combined, become a “chemical engine” for churning out oxygen. That’s why it has to be used immediately after mixing. The soap breaks up the oils in the skunk spray, allowing the other ingredients to do their work.

So I sponged this mixture all over the two of them – mostly their faces got hit. I guess with the two of them going at it from different angles it couldn’t just take aim at one which was a bit of a blessing.

So, here I was, hacking over the tub, trying to bathe the two brats, getting myself soaked in the process. When they were done the odor still lingered – on ME!! (Skunk 4, Dogs 0).

I got told that I stunk and sent to the shower Sweat suit was immediately subjected to washing, and will have a second washing this morning before I attempt to dry it and blow the smell further through the house.

So far the only lasting damage is to the garage and my ego. When I let out the dogs at 5 am they all went into a secure pen to do their business. No yard time until I make sure there isn’t a dead or injured skunk in there!

After all that I tried to sleep in the easy chair last night so I didn’t feel like I was drowning. I realized my house and dogs make a lot of noise throughout the night Puppies groan, the water softener recharges at 4 a.m…….. Sleep+easy chair are two phrases not to be used in the same sentence, at least as far as I am concerned. “Other people” seem to have no problems sleeping in it at all!

Here are the pictures of Chip and the girls to start:

And here is Hunter’s collection:

….dreams really do come true! Murphy has run out of steam, and Lady Luck has taken his place. Dolly (above) won the Open Bitch class this morning, and Winners Bitch this afternoon under Jonathon Kimes, the same judge who gave her father Best of Winners at the 1998 American Nationals.

This has been an absolutely amzaing show, for me despite Murphy’s attempts to throw me off track.

After our late start on Sunday and torrential rains on Monday, and realizing I had not brought ANY clothes to show in (my garment bag was left hanging on the closet door), Murphy seems to have used up most of his bag of tricks.

A trip to Goodwill and Sears netted me 6 show outfits for about $150 including a ruffled “tuxedo” type shirt formal enough for the Megan.

Tuesday in the Megan, Dolly made the preliminary cut in the brindle bitches, under judges Peter Clifton and Mandy Bossi.

Wednesday was Puppy and Veteran Sweepstakes. The only placements in Puppy Sweepstakes that were important to us, were the 2nd and 3rd places earned by Hunter’s sons Chase and Pilot in the 12-18 month old male class. Then Hunter won the 11 years and over Male Veterans class, and Carolyn’s girl Alice won the 7 to 9 year Veteran female class, but neither of them won Best in Veteran Sweeps.

Thursday morning was the boys – and Pilot won a 4th in Bred-by-Exhibitor Dog. Chip won a 3rd place in the Open Dog class. Then Hunter and Alice once again won their respective Veterans classes AND Stud Dog and Brood Bitch class.

Today has been a phenomenal day. Libby went 2nd in her 12-18 month old class with Carolyn handling her.

Then Dolly was in the Open Bitch class which to my utter shock and surprise she won!

By this time I was totally flabbergasted, I didn’t expect that at all.

The show then broke for lunch while the Parade of Titleholders went on. The entire crowd had very wet eyes, as Don Glenn carried Maggie (Am/Cdn Ch. Kingsbury’s Carbon Copy) around the ring – 17 years old, and the top winning Cardigan ever in the breed. She seemed to be able to hear all of the thundering applause and Don put her down to walk a few steps and “bait” for the crowd. It was like her old glory days came back to her when she realized all of the attention was about her

During the lunch break I asked Carolyn what we could do to make Dolly’s bib look a little less like an unmade bed. Next thing I knew Carolyn had her outside in the bathtub, and washed all of the accumulated stuff out of her coat. She then managed to fluff her out and make her gorgeous just using a blow dryer. She looked fantastic. Dolly says, “Thanks Auntie Carolyn for the blow job!”

We went back in for Winners Bitch after lunch. I was very nervous – this was a really tough class, and the goal of 20 years involvement in Cardigans – to go Winners with a dog I bred at the National.

Jon made our dream come true – Dolly went Winners Bitch, not only taking a 5 point major herself, but we also think she completed her fathers Register of Merit qualifications with this win.

The only negative was, Chris should have been here. His photo has been on Chip’s crate all week. I hope he’s gotten to see how well his kids have done for him.

I also have to thank Carolyn and Penni for all that they contributed to making this win possible. They have helped walking dogs, grooming dogs, watering dogs and kept my head on straight during every meltdown this week.

Chip – if anyone saw him before Chris died you would have seen this – used to “talk”. He and Chris would hold entire conversations – and some of the noises he made came out like actual words. If Chris asked him “What do you want?” he would sometimes made a noise that sounded like “I don’t know”. Since Chris died, Chip has not talked….until Tuesday. Out of the blue, Chip has begun talking again. Maybe he feels happy being back in the show ring, maybe he was also just mourning his Daddy. But when he started, I started crying…..it was a momentous moment, one of the first of the many I’ve had this week.

Our “Rainbow Canopy” is now sporting a rainbow of ribbons. Myself, I’m particulary proud of that honking huge purple one!

Here are the final results for the top 10 Cardigan Corgis in Canada as posted on www.bestdogincanada.com. The “Rank” refers to their placement in the entire Herding Group.

Since Chip was so far ahead I decided that Dolly would go out the last weekend of the year as a special with Colin – and she got a group 4th with enough points to put her in 5th as well as cuts in the group the other 2 days. Libby got her one group placement from the classes this summer. Not a bad year dog-show wise.