Studying the latest trends

Last month, I gave my wife a set of lovely books about the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by Barbara Garnet-Wilson and Roy A. Wilson. I highly recommend these wonderful books. Mary started with In Fact and Fancy, while I took A Tribute in Art. I cannot speak to the first book, but Mary has been enthralled. I had such an amazing time viewing the history of the breed through artistic works dating from the early 1300s.

My absolute favorite image in the book is A King Charles Spaniel by Philip Reinagle (1749-1833). This curly little blenheim has me all gooey inside. And if you are unimpressed by the image on the right, I would like to point out that the difference between it and the high quality reproduction between these pages is astonishing.  I am now extremely curious to know what the original painting is actually like. In the book you can see how the artist has lovingly crafted each hair of the dog with his brush.

The stories and history contained in these pages make it a must read for any cavalier owner. It’s thrilling to find such a complete collection of cavalier art.

Now I have to wait for Mary to finish so we can switch.

Done yet?

We tried out a new conformation handling class tonight at Praiseworthy Pups in Keller. This brand new facility is just a short 3 mile drive from our house. Our instructor was a junior handler herself and has a lot of great advice to offer the kids as well as myself as a novice. We weren’t going to be able to make the drive to Garland after starting school back up next week, so it is especially timely that this new class started up close to home. We have high hopes for this to work out well for us!

Kaitlyn, Carter, Nathan and I went to handling class tonight along with Chloe, Knightley and Valentine while Joel took the little kids to meet Uncle Bill and cousins for a late dinner in Garland. It was great. Valentine is walking in the ring much better now. We love class, and we are learning so much. I don’t know what we are going to do when school starts back up, though. We’re getting home close to midnight every Monday. The class is 75 minutes away and costs us about $75 each week (with toll fees and gas for the big van factored in along with class fees).

After Kaitlyn and Carter’s great success and fun at the show in Longview, Nathan decided to join us at handling class tonight. He’d like to give junior showmanship a try. We’re excited to have him on the team. It means we have to start taking the big gas-guzzler van to class in order to fit 4 people and 3-4 dogs.

We brought Chloe with us tonight for the first time. Our good friend, Janet Villasenor, has allowed me to co-own Chloe so that Kaitlyn can show her in Juniors for a while. Chloe is a gorgeous girl, and we are so excited to work with her. She isn’t sure who we are yet, but I’m sure we’ll get her settled in with us soon. She was very happy in class tonight but not nearly as hyper as Knightley. Valentine planted her little self on the floor and refused to walk. I think she’s had enough after her exhausting weekend.

Kaitlyn achieved her third Novice win today in Juniors! This moves her up to the open intermediate class. I took this blurry photo from a distance, but the real one is coming in the mail. Carter also had a great day. He took second again and did so well with the other competition in the ring. He and Valentine show together like they’ve been doing it forever, but this was the first real show for both of them!

Knightley took first in his class again today.

And Valentine took Reserve Winners again!!! What an exciting weekend! After Cavaliers finished showing, we had to rush back to the hotel room to help pack up and check out just in time for late checkout. Then we made the long trip back to Fort Worth. It was a fun trip.

Oh, we are so very excited. After first winning her 6-9 month puppy b class, Valentine took Reserve Winners today! We didn’t get an official photo with the judge, but a friend ringside took one with a better camera, and I hope to post that soon. We had more great results today…

Knightley also won his class (12-18 months puppy dog) today with style.

Kaitlyn and Carter did so great in Junior Showmanship. They were both entered in the “Novice Intermediate” class. Kaitlyn took her second novice win today! Carter took second place.

The kids had a very nice “old school” judge today, Thomas Gomez. What a learning experience! When the winners went back in for Best Junior, he had them all do a “T”. All the juniors were unprepared. Kaitlyn had never practiced this maneuver before, but she had read about it in George Alston’s book. She stumbled a bit on the corners, but Kaitlyn was the only junior who properly switched lead hands, always keeping the dog between herself and the judge. I am so incredibly proud of this smart girl who thinks so quickly on her feet! Unfortunately, we didn’t get a win photo with this judge either, because he had to go judge group.

What a long day at the show after showing 2 dogs and 2 juniors in 3 classes, going back in for winners 3 times! The puppies and kids were so exhausted that we decided to skip the B-match in the evening, and the whole family instead went out to a great dinner in Longview at Butcher Shop Steakhouse. We should sleep really well tonight, then we have another big day at the show tomorrow and a long drive home.

We’re off to Longview, TX for the shows this weekend. The whole family is coming along! Joel plans to take the kids to the balloon festival while Kaitlyn, Carter and I show Knightley and Valentine in the shows on Saturday and Sunday. Wish us luck!!!

Kaitlyn, Carter, Valentine and I went to the grooming seminar hosted by the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club of North Texas. Thanks to Lorie Koch for this beautiful photo of Kaitlyn with CH Pinecrest Freeze Frame (the dam of CH Pinecrest Orchard Hill Rock the Boat). It was a wonderful seminar! We learned so very much. I took notes, but I still don’t know if I’ll remember it all. After the grooming seminar, the club had a meeting at which Kaitlyn, Carter and I were voted in as new members.