My trip “Up North”

On Wednesday I left quite early, to make the drive to Canada. I Took Thomas and Susan and met Carrie around Seattle to drop off my 4 ½ week old puppies, which she minded for me, while I was in Canada.
Hot weather had been predicted for while I was away, so I had purchased an air conditioner for the kennel, so that the dogs would not be too uncomfortable (they have heat in the winter) but although the kennel is well insulated I felt A/C was needed and the beagles gave a big cheer!
I arrived in Canada, without any problems and made my way to Jenn & Rob’s home – where I was treated like royalty, for the whole weekend.
The 4 shows had promised an interesting selection of judges, with 1 from each of the following countries – Canada, USA, India and Philippines – however the last 2 gentlemen were unable to obtain visa’s and were substituted with 2 more Canadians.
The first day Thomas won the dog points (1) and then Jenn’s young puppy won the breed & best puppy (3 points) - so everyone was happy. Although the weather had been predicted to be in the 90’s, it was actually overcast and quite chilly (and I was beginning to wonder if I had been stupid not to bring some long sleeved clothes) On Friday Thomas won the breed (3 points) and Susan (2 points) but none of us did anything in group. So it was back to Jenn’s where again she showed her hospitality skills and we enjoyed delicious Bar-B-Q and salads washed down, in my case with a NZ Sauvignon Blanc and Jenn had a Brahma beer.
Saturday was a repeat of Friday - Thomas won the breed (3 points) and Susan (2 points) and another great Bar-B-Q, this time Jan & Uli who live just up the road, came over and added to the great evening which was followed by a heavy rainstorm, complete with thunder and lightning.
It takes 10 points to be a Canadian champion and Thomas now had 7…… and Susan 4.
Sunday dawned hot and humid. We showed at 11 and it was Thomas’ day to win the breed, but we had one less dog and so he only got 2 points and Jenn’s puppy, again was the bitch winner for another 2 points. However Thomas went on to in the hound group which gave him 5 points and so he finished his Canadian Championship in style. To celebrate, we went off to the Olive Garden, so Jenn did not have to cook.
Today I drove home, collected my puppies, which had grown in my absence (I will do some pictures in the next couple of days) and got home to discover it was HOT (107°F degrees or 41.6° C) and so we all collapsed in the air-conditioning – happy to be home!
But it was a successful weekend and congratulations to Annette & Jesper on breeding a new Canadian Champion.