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The Gruesome Twosome's National Specialty

4K views 22 replies 5 participants last post by  ShamaMama 
#1 ·
We are currently on our way from a busy national specialty, and since I'm not driving, I figured I could give an update.

The week started disastrously on Monday, with me leaving my wallet in the car left behind. After jumping through some hoops to get checked in, we were able to settle in and prepare for the next day. My travel buddy told me she always had the best trials and shows when she had something bad happen on the way there...she was not far off ;)

Monday started with a Q in Time 2 Beat. Not a pretty run, it only earned us 2 points towards our title out of a possible 10, but it was a Q. Standard was probably our nicest run of the day, but a lapse in attention from me sent Nino into an off course tunnel and NQed us. Jumpers had a few close calls, but ended up being enough for a Q, first place Havanese, first place overall, and excellent High In Trial (something we have now earned 2 years in a row). We also had the 2nd fastest Havanese T2B, which doesn't usually have placements, but we still got a ribbon out of that. The massive ribbon you will see in the photos below is our High in Trial ribbon.

The next day was our first forray into the world of a much more subdued and polite sport - rally obedience. Despite the fact that Nino was much less excited and focused than he was during practice, he qualified in 2nd place with a 94/100 (70 and up is a Q) for his first of 3 rally novice legs. It's definitely not our game though...may just be a time filler at future national specialties. RN, here we come...in a few years!

Thursday was a day of rest and watching beautiful doggies, and on Friday it was Brisket's turn! I was very nervous for his turn in the 4-6 ring as he has been having some fear issues the past few weeks, but he absolutely owned it. A bit of a little you-know-what, but he was happy and confident and that's all I wanted. Had a lot of people asking to see him after to meet him/go over him even though he didn't win a thing. Not bad!

We were done for the week, but it was very nice to see my good friend/travel buddy's mom go Reserve Winners Dog with her bred by and other friend Jennifer win Winners Bitch and Best Bred By at the national.

I'll post some photos and videos from our adventures :)
 
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#3 ·
Just beautiful! Congratulations to all three of you. Ricky and I have been out of competition for almost two years for various reasons (entirely me) but we practice obedience twice a day, everyday, and Ricky is still as sharp as a tack and I'm back, leaner and meaner!

Your videos have inspired me to get back into the game this next January at the big Palm Springs show. Ricky says, "Game On!" He also wants to know if Nino and Brisket wanna play "chase me" and "dog tag"!

Ricky's Popi
 
#9 ·
Woo hoo! Love encouraging others to get back on the horse (or even on it for the first time)! These dogs are such fiends for any kind of performance...love to hear you are keeping up with training, but it's even better to hear Ricky gets to enjoy the spotlight of a show again soon. That's where our Neezers belong, right? ;)

Brisket is always down for a game of "chase me". Nino has recently learned that being a big brother/puppy sitter can be tiresome, so you have to catch him before Brisket has had a chance to wear him out :grin2:
 
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#10 ·
Thanks, Karen! Bummed we missed each other again this year. Next year is not looking likely for us, given the dates and location...2020? Or maybe we will make another trip east before then. Hope Australia treated (or is treating) you well!
 
#6 ·
Alrighty! We've got photos!

1 - Havanese handlers at the agility trial
2 - The Minnesota contingent (L to R: Annie with Shama, Nino's breeder with her 4 gals, Nino's littermate with his owner, and me with the boys)
3 - Our "win photo" with the judge
4 - Nino with his pal Gimme the Pomeranian. The trial was open to all toy breeds, and Gimme's mom has been an online friend of mine for awhile now, so I encouraged her to come.
 

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#7 ·
1 - Nino trying to wear his XL ribbon...he needed to be set up on a table so it could fall properly :laugh:
2 - Post-rally awards with our friends Diane and Rocco. Rocco beat us to earn his RN title! Good boy!
3 - Brisket groomed and ready for his debut!
4 - Brisket and I doing a good job convincing spectators we know what we are doing...I had someone come up to me to ask if I was a professional. While flattered, I couldn't help but giggle. Grainy photo because my phone doesn't like to zoom ;)
 

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#8 ·
And finally, the last 3 photos. Nino and Brisket enjoying their new Le Purple Puppy bed on the last day of the specialty. We look forward to supporting Havanese breeder Julie Vogel and her wonderful mother each year by purchasing their wonderful beds, and holy cow are they made with Havanese in mind! Nino hasn't left it...we may be ordering a few more if he proves to be unwilling to share :laugh:

Brisket may look very innocent and angelic, but the moment he was let off leash upon arriving back at my travel buddy's house, he had an episode of runlikehell that took him around the entire house a few times. Crazy little hellion. Poor Nino is exhausted by him.
 

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#18 ·
Nice job, Sophie, Nino, and Brisket! My favorite part of Nino's rally performance was his hairstyle! If you all want to see a Novice A dog compared to Nino in Time To Beat, where all classes of dogs run the same course, here's Shama:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DSHZvHmOuofDSt7Ebwfi3r5DCwZnMDRe/view?usp=sharing

I was happy because I was just using that run as a warm-up to the space. She managed seven obstacles, including A-frame and teeter before petering out at the tunnel.

It was really fun going to Nationals (although we were only at agility, not the rest). I highly recommend it to you all, in any area - conformation, obedience, rally, agility, trick . . .

Yes, I take a lot of pictures! Below are pictures of some beautiful dogs, including forum friends Sophie, Nino, Brisket, Carolina, and Paco, as well as a Chinese Crested who was among the toy dogs participating in the HCA agility trial.

I'll write about Shama's National debut in a separate thread.
 

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