Ultrasounds

One of my vets has 2 nephews who are home schooled, and they are doing a project on how puppies develop, so Cookie who is due to have puppies at the end of June, is the subject of the project. Its involves Cookie being ultra sounded every week or so (according to my schedule)

When she was about 3 weeks in whelp we did the first Ultrasound - I have never had one done before, as I figure if I wait 9 weeks I will find out, if she is pregnant!. However Cookie is carrying her second litter, and I could already tell at 3 weeks, she was pregnant. Sure enough when doing the ultrasound we could see several tiny beating hearts - no attempt was made to count - but we saw at least 4.....

Two weeks later we went in and did a second ultrasound and this time we could count at least 7 fetuses - it will be interesting to see how many she actually has. On the second ultrasound it was possible to see a bit more of the skeletal development.

And here is what Cookie actually looks like

A busy few days

On Wednesday I drove about 2 hours north, to meet up with Janet who was giving me 2 of Abba's puppies, who were going to their new home.

Matilda

and
Surfer

Both have now adjusted and are happily ensconced in super home. Surfer has 2 young children to keep him busy and Matilda has a city setting to keep her busy. Janet had also collected Carrie and a VERY pregnant Velma

and also Ava (who was coming to visit us for a weekend assignation with Thomas!)
A c-section was planned for Velma on Thursday, and thankfully for all of us (my vet and us) we made it through the night and turned up at 10:30 for an ultrasound prior to the c-section. Why an ultrasound? Well it was determined that this would be an excellent example of what the puppies look like on Ultrasound, just before they are born, (for the previously mentioned home schooled children's project). And you could clearly see the spines, ribs, head and heart. NO attempt was made to count the number of puppies as Velma was HUGE.


You have to remember that Velma is just 13" and so a fairly small beagle - and this was a frozen semen breeding


Once we had ultra sounded her, the surgery was commenced and we had a team of helpers - fortunately I have the most wonderful vet - Mary Ann Haggerty of Alder Creek Veterinary Clinic in Battleground - and she allowed not only Carrie, Velma's owner, myself but both the home schooled children to observe the operation. Velma was justly huge - she had 8 puppies on board and all pulled through with flying colors. They did spend some time in the oxygen tank
Friday was a quiet day at home, looking after the new family. It was also HOT in Brush Prairie and of course that's the day the air-conditioning decided to malfunction! So I arranged for a repair person to come out on Saturday, to fix it.

Sunday we again headed back towards Seattle where we met up with our friend Janet again - who brought the puppies for us to look at, and we handed Carrie and her dogs over, for Janet to transport back home. And Velma was happy to have the family back at home.

Sunday evening, was "down time" for all of us!

In the mail

On my return home, I went through the mail, there was a picture of Thomas from the recent shows, when he became a champion - it turned out pretty well. Thomas also has a smile on his face because 2 girls have been to see him recently an puppies are expected in the future.

Tuesday's travels

On Monday evening, after 4 long but enjoyable days of judging I headed back towards Chicago. As it was the last day of a long weekend I did not head for the airport but stayed in suburban Chicago and drove to the airport this morning, avoiding all the traffic.
I had a restful night and a leisurely trip home. There is a planned layover in Denver where I have just pampered myself with a 30 minute massage - it's one of my favorite things to do at this airport!
Tomorrow is a busy day- collecting a couple of puppies and delivering them to new homes, collecting Carrie also who is coming to stay for a few days. Then Thursday David flies to Los Angeles for a couple of days.

Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo

On Thursday I left home at 8am to fly to Chicago, pick up a rental car and drive about 150 miles East to Kalamazoo, for a 4 show weekend, where I was judging. The flight was good and I arrived in Chicago at about 2:20 local time, the pick up of the rental car went smoothly and I got on the road. Plugged in the GPS and off I headed....Oops - the GPS (in its wisdom) decided the quickest route was right through downtown Chicago - now granted this is the SHORTEST route but definitely not the quickest. After 90 minutes I had gone 25 miles! So it was about 7:30pm when I arrived in Kalamazoo (as I lost another hour on the time zone change)
Got settled into the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed off to bed. The next day (Friday) judging started at 9 - very civilized. I had about 125 dogs to judge, outside in one of the most uneven rings I have been in for a long time - at the end of the day I felt handicapped and my poor exhibitors, really had a hard time of it, running around.
Saturday was predicted to be very warm and sunny and again I was outside all day (140 dogs to judge that day) let me tell you I was cooked, sun burnt and hot by the time I finished at 3pm - I had been looking at a vending booth longingly for the last hour or so of my assignment, as soon as I was finished judging I was over there and got a smoothie - Peach, Strawberry, Banana - and boy did that hit the spot - I then was able to stand in the sun a bit longer and do photos.
Sunday: Got up at 6:30 and looked out the window - WOW - it was really raining hard (and again I was outside judging 150 dogs) so out came the rain boots, the raincoat but also lightweight clothing as it was still predicted to be warm. Fortunately by the time I started judging, it had stopped raining, so just needed the rain boots for the first hour of so, on the wet grass. Never unpacked the raincoat. By 3pm, it was again pretty hot...
Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Washington Shows

On Friday we left to drive North, up towards the Canadian border, to the small town of Lynden for shows. We were actually staying in Bellingham, about 10 miles from the showsite. As the traffic in the Seattle area can be heavy we left about 9am in the morning and arrived in Bellingham at about 3:30pm. Its freeway driving all the way – we had views of

Mt St Helen's (above)

Mt Rainier (as we travelled through Seattle)

and finally Mt Baker (above) – close to our destination.

On Friday we met up with some Canadian friends and had dinner in the charming Fairhaven Historical district, located just south of downtown Bellingham,

We had an early start on Saturday. The show was held at a very nice fairgrounds, with lots of walking areas for the dogs and the weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold (mid 70’s) and dry. We did pretty well at the show. We took 3 dogs – Herbie, Thomas and Zoey – all were winners, with Herbie winning the group.

Saturday evening we went down Chuckanut Drive which is a scenic (this means curvy!!) road that runs from Fairhaven in the north to the Skagit Valley farmlands in the south. The narrow road winds along the western side of the Chuckanut and Blanchard Mountains and provides many sweeping views of the San Juan Islands and Samish Bay. We chose to have dinner with friends here at the Oyster Bar, which was about 13 miles south of Fairhaven. It specializes in seafood…and we had memorable meals – I had crab cakes and David had Halibut – no complaints from either of us.

Sunday morning we showed at 10:30, so had a more leisurely start to the day. Another good day – Thomas won his final points – to become an American champion and Zoey picked up another single point – not many girls entered – and Herbie won a Group 3.
Sunday night we headed back to Carries, where we were staying the night. We had a wonderful evening relaxing in her garden. Monday morning Janet brought over the 9 puppies and we had fun evaluating the litter, before heading for home in the afternoon.

Judging Experiences

During a recent get-together with some judges, we were telling tales about various sorts of accommodation we had stayed in. I had to relate my “worst” experience, and thought there would be others reading the blog who would enjoy this reminiscence.
This takes place back in the early 80’s in Australia and so I have blurred the name of the hotel in the picture above, to protect the innocent….because I am positive there would have been a change of management and things would have improved by now!
The story starts with 4 lady judges driving together, to a show some 8 hours away from home. The show was an Agricultural & Horticultural show, popular in Australia at that time, in every small town around Australia. The show had competitions for all sorts of livestock – sheep, cows, horses, as well as dogs plus floral art, baking competitions and fruit preserving. We arrived in the small town at about 6pm on the Friday and we had been told we were staying at the local hotel – pictured above – this was a classic Australian country “pub”. This was at a time when ladies were not allowed in the bar (strictly men only) – ladies could only go into or drink in the “Ladies Lounge” so we sort of sent one person into the BAR to find out how we found our rooms for the night. We were told that we were all sharing one room, with 4 single beds. That was OK, as we all knew each other well. What was more interesting was the bathroom.. There were only 2 bathrooms for all the rooms, so we had to share and there were probably 10-12 rooms, with multiple people in each room. The other rooms were mostly occupied by the horse and other livestock judges (all men) A preliminary reconnaissance on Friday night ascertained that it was going to require teams of 2 to use each bathroom, in the morning – why? The bathrooms were extremely large (at least 10 foot long) and there were no locks on the doors – the reason for this was that the fire escape exit was through the bathroom and thus it was against the law to lock the door to the bathroom. So one person was going to have to stand guard, to prevent the male horse judges sharing the bathroom, whilst the other person had a shower. Whilst this was going to make the stay interesting, the best was yet to come.
After a basic meal at the local restaurant, which I remember nothing about, it was off to bed. Now I have to tell you that this show was in February, which in the Southern Hemisphere is high summer and the temperatures were predicted to be hot (+100° F) all weekend. Anyway we all went to get into bed – and it was obvious that the sheets were “pre-loved” and had been used by other guests before us – but there was no other option in town as everything was all booked out because of the show – so we all got into bed and turned out the lights and tried to go to sleep (the bar was immediately beneath and things were still “rocking”. After we had all been lying in the beds for about ½ hour it was apparent we were not the only things in each bed – we were sharing the beds with something biting us – bedbugs! Fortunately one person had some sunscreen protection with them, which also had some insect repellent in it – so we all covered ourselves in the product and headed back to bed and attempted to get some sleep.
We all awoke early next morning – to beat the other people into the bathroom (and the 2 toilets – shared) we accomplished that and were more than ready to judge by 9am – get us out of this hotel!
The show site was just a part of a fairgrounds, with lots of dry grass and an umbrella for shade in each ring. And it was HOT – so hot in fact that I remember at lunchtime I went for a swim, instead of eating lunch – there was a pool on the grounds and I ha a swimsuit – but I had no towel, so I went back to judging in the afternoon, quite wet – but cool!
Saturday night and Sunday were just a repeat of the first day.
Whilst at the time I did not particularly enjoy the assignment, it has left me with many tales to tell and unforgettable memories. I do remember that when I told another judge I was invited to judge this show, their only comment was “its such a pretty location” and it was……..

Travels to the National

We started early on Wednesday morning on the flight to Dulles (upgraded to 1st class) so it was a comfortable flight and then a layover in Dulles for a couple of hours, hanging out at the Red Carpet Lounge. Whilst there Carrie called us to say her flight through Detroit was going to be delayed, due to weather. As we were driving her from airport to the hotel, we had to wait in Raleigh for her flight - just as well she did not have a dog with her. She arrived safely and we went to Olive Garden for a light meal (at 9pm) before heading to bed.
We were all up early the next morning, judging started at 8am. David and I were both busy doing ringside mentoring with fellow judges, who were getting ready to apply for Beagles. We spent the morning doing that and then watched the specials in the afternoon by ourselves. Our friend Oleg had a good day as his puppies were 1st and 2nd in the 6-9 puppy class. Overall I was disappointed in the quality this year, I did not think it was as strong as last year - I saw a lot of gay tails and bad front movement. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant that night with Carrie, Oleg and Alyce and there was lots of talking and catching up.
On Friday it was 13" judging, and with a smaller entry, there was time to talk to lots of friends from all around the country.

We were a successful bidder on one the baskets up to auction - we won the Brazilian Basket - it had lots of really interesting foods and other items in it. Pictured above is a hanging ornament that was included and below is some of the food

These are packed in cans and if you look closely you can see the damage that was done to the can on the left, when it was packed in our luggage, for the trip home. Believe me this must have taken some severe abuse and it was all pretty well padded. Fortunately everything made it home in one piece. I think the sweet potato paste is eaten with crackers - but not sure about the Doce De Leite - I guess I will have to Google this - or contact me if you have suggestions.


Above is some coffee (there were several more packets!), a beautiful soapstone bowl (one of 2, in the basket) some Guava paste (which I was told goes very well with Goats cheese and crackers) some dried bananas. It was a wonderful basket and thanks so much to Torquay Beagles of Brasil for bringing this to the National.
We flew home on Saturday, long day of travel, but easy - especially the part that included a 15 minute neck/shoulder massage in the Denver airport during our layover there!

National Specialty

The National starts on May 4th and runs until May 8th. Click on the link to see the judging schedule.
The other thing that I have been told, is that the videographer will be having a web cam operating during the events and I believe the link will be found here and if you want to order a DVD follow this link
We leave early in the morning fly to Dulles and then on to Raleigh, getting in at 7pm The weather is predicted to be hot and humid - as opposed to cool and rainy here at home. We are not taking any dogs, so will have lots of time to watch and observe and hopefully see some new (to us) beagle.

A very good weekend (except for the weather!)

As we had afternoon showtime on Saturday, we drove to Elma on Saturday morning - its about a 2 hour drive. The sun was shining as we left home...and was still sunny when we arrived at Elma. This is a tiny town about 20 miles SW of Olympia - it used to be a big logging area, hence this mural above, representing its historic past. The big event int town this weekend was the dog show - about 950 entries each day. We showed Herbie who won the breed and Thomas who took 2 points and then Herbie won a group 3. Zoey just walked around and saw the sights of the dogs show, in preparation for her debut the next day! Later in the afternoon the heavens opened and it POURED with rain, and was also quite windy. The rain continued all through the night. We had dinner with friends in a brew pub in Olympia, its always fun to get together with people you don't see every week.

Sunday dawned dry and sunny, and we showed at 9am. Thomas won 2 points again and Zoey had her debut and at 6 months and 2 days won 2 points. Herbie won the breed again and went on to win the Hound group. A great day for the team.

Zoey however was outdone by her sister, Sophia in the east, owned by Oleg - she showed Saturday and Sunday and won 2 points on Saturday and 3 on Sunday.

So we are home for 2 days then head of to Raleigh in North Carolina for the National Beagle Specialty. We are not taking any dogs, but just going to watch.

Another Dog Show this weekend

This weekend sees us travelling to Elma WA, which is not too far from home - about 2 hours away. We have a late ring time tomorrow - 1pm, so we will drive up in the morning. I have Herbie, Thomas and Zoey entered. Zoey is only entered on Sunday, as this will be her first show - and I wanted to give her Saturday to experience a dog show and all the sounds and smells.
No exciting pictures of Elma....