Ebbtide Wish On A Rainbeau "Beau"

JJ's handsome big brother, Beau, is the current star!

He and owner/trainer/handler Cathy Baird hit the San Mateo KC Cluster for two days on Dec. 30 & 31, 2010 and competed in AKC Rally for the first time. As a first time dog show handler, Cathy made a common error and entered Beau in Rally Novice B (for experienced handlers), instead of Rally Novice A (first time competitors). Nonetheless, Beau and Cathy turned in 2 respectable performances which qualified for their first two legs for their title AND earned them a THIRD PLACE IN RALLY NOVICE B, with a score of 94!

I love Cathy's comment to me after her first day in Novice B: "With my score today, I would've been in First Place in Novice A." ouch. Live and learn, you know.

In the conformation ring, I manages to show Beau to 2nd place in Open Blue on Thursday before I headed home. Cathy showed Beau herself on Friday and won FIRST PLACE AND RESERVE WINNERS DOG! Who needs me?!?!!

Owner/trainer/handler Cathy Baird and Beau and their haul from the 2 days at San Mateo in December.

Beau, just 10 days short of his 3rd birthday

BIG congratulations to Cathy and Beau! We are proud of another great member of the WISH litter (BIS CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish HOF x CH Ebbtide Fern)!

More dog shots...less flowers? And a rant...

I never heard from Ryan Scherrer (age 10?) and his photos from Sacramento KC. Where HIS dog (ok - his mom's and mine ;-), Spencer, CH EBBTIDE FINE FELLOW CD won a nice Best of Breed . FYI - Ryan was sucked into the bowels of the devil: That's right - he was playing video games on his hand-held devil-toy.
In case you missed the memo: Personally, I hate video games. So, I give kids as much grief as possible when I see them playing them. Especially kids I like. Yes, it's true: You only hurt the ones you love.

Where was I?
Right. At the dog show in Sacramento - BELOW: Spencer with his Best of Breed ribbon (and me) (and Cathy's finger? Thumb?): That's him after winning, doing his sit up trick. This trick has back-fired on occasion. Mostly in obedience training. I think it's cute. But I think I've been instructed not to tell him to sit up anymore. I think. Oh well - I'm busted.

It's cute! JJ, Ebbtide Careful What You Wish, also won a first in Bred By Exhibitor (no photo - thank you, RYAN) and brother Beau, Ebbtide Wish Upon A Rainbeau, a 2nd in 12-18 months with Judi Scherrer handling:

Judi likes to watch the competition. Free tip of the day: Better to concentrate on your own dog.

These photos courtesy Team Ebbtide member Cathy Baird (Beau's owner).

She was NOT playing video games. Thank you, Cathy.

Looks like Spencer is hot, too!

We took a drive up to Cal Expo for Sacramento Kennel Club's show on Saturday. Judi & I took JJ (Ebbtide Careful What You Wish, age 14 mos) and Spencer (CH Ebbtide Fine Fellow CD), and we met Cathy with Beau (Ebbtide Wish On A Rainbeau) there. Judi's & Spencer's 2 kids, Rachel & Ryan, also tagged along. Ryan was supposed to take some photos for us to post on this blog. However, the hand-held video game proved waaayy more interesting than JJ winning the Bred By class or Spencer winning BEST OF BREED and showing in the Herding Group competition. Perhaps I'm wrong, and Ryan will send me a photo to include here...??

Judi showed Beau to a 2nd place, and I got to show Spencer this time ;-) We had a great time despite the warm building. JJ is blowing coat right now and looks a little....sparse. He'll take a break from shows, but will continue his obedience/rally/agility/herding endeavors.

Enjoy this past photo of CH Spencer CD:

NOT!! That's JJ (Ebbtide Careful What You Wish age 14 months)!

See Ryan: You shoulda took a picture...!

Cow Palace : You Gotta Have Your People

Since the yahoos - - - I mean the enthusiastic Ebbtide dog owners excluding Ann - - (referred hereafter as My People) -- were so adamant on participating at the 2009 Cow Palace show, they were summoned by the Queen -- I mean Ann -- to attend to Her Highness and the 5 Ebbtide dogs that were entered for the weekend. To keep Her People happy, Ann had specially designed grooming smocks for everyone to wear - thanks to our friends at Gaitway, Bonnie & Mo! With the snappy EBBTIDE emblazoned on the chest and individual names for the experienced grooming staff (keep working, Cathy B!), they were a picture of The Strong, The Proud, The Competent, The ....what the...?

Yeah, well, I was just hoping...Instead, left to right: Susan looking a little stressed; Trish, hmm - just there; Judi, wildly excited; and CathyB, who it looks like forgot her narcolepsy meds. PEOPLE! Can we just smile nicely for the camera??!!

Just like the dogs, it took my appearance to get things in order:

There. Maybe CathyB was too tired from all that ironing the day before? But...I'd say overall we look quite professional, don't you? Yeah, go ahead and hold that thought. Because this is the Real Team Ebbtide:

PEOPLE! Show some respect...(glad CathyB's meds kicked in)...I have to admit: I promised My People we would "go and have fun" at the Cow Palace. They like fun, My People. So do I. After almost 39 years showing dogs, I have to have fun when I go to shows...why go if you can't have fun??!! It certainly helped pass the time on the bench from 10 am to 5:30 pm on Saturday...especially since the colorful ribbons we won did not include those all important colors of blue or purple or purple/gold. But we happily applaud our more successful Aussie friends in their endeavors that day. We met lots of new people, including this young girl, who could easily qualify for membership on the Ebbtide team (see photo above for reference).

But look how nicely behaved those 4 eleven month old puppies are?!?! Good dogs. And of course, Mr. Spencer being an impeccable role model.

Interestingly, this weekend My People were heard grumbling that I "spoil Mr. Perfect JJ". Apparently, even though I am constantly picking up the pieces of Dog Owners With Good Intentions But Shoddy Disciplining Skills (ahem), I am not allowed even a little slack with JJ...here is incriminating evidence of #1 Assistant Judi caught in the act of taking JJ's toy away from him...

You are so busted, #1.

Later, My People were delirious with joy that JJ could show like the trooper I knew he was and come home with WINNERS DOG and that crazy 4-point major (read: Big Deal). Not to be outdone, CH Spencer CD, was then handed over to his owner, Mean Judi (above), to show in the Best of Breed class. With my impeccable instructions ("Just don't screw him up, Judi"), I sent them into the Best of Breed ring:

Judi: See how the person in front of you is SHOWING NECK??!!

I then continued to show JJ in Best of Breed. Things got a little blurry here...but check it out:

I'm thinking here "Wow - she's nice! How are we gonna beat HER??" (We didn't ;-) Congrats to Melissa and her Puppy Group 1 win, too! Yowza!

To our delight, Spencer & Judi were awarded the coveted purple & gold ribbon for BEST OF BREED ! Wow! My People were over the top!

Thanks to My People's great grooming skills, the balance of our dogs won :

Cali (Ebbtide As You Wish) was 2nd place both days;

Emmy (Ebbtide Handful of Wishes) was 3rd and 4th;

Beau (Ebbtide Wish On A Rainbeau) was 4th on Saturday

Way to go, puppies!!

Since Spencer was the Best of Breed winner, he advanced to the HERDING GROUP (with Ann handling) and showed beautifully to a 4th PLACE in the HERDING GROUP!! Thanks, GGKC, for the classy AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD sign in the group! Here's a fuzzy pic of Spencer & I out in the Group ring, free stacking to the judge, who is off to the left:

That nice silver bowl on the table? Not ours. It was won by the Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Which reminds me of a funny moment: Susan and I listening to a well dressed, elegant woman tell us a story about a "Gorki". I was very good and didn't laugh - mostly because I thought it sounded like a great breed of Russian dogs. After the second time she said it, I had to say "Corgi - I think you mean Corgi". I couldn't let her sound silly all day...

Anyway, I'm seriously considering retiring from dog shows this week: Sunday's wins are going to be a hard act to follow...!

And for the record: We DID have fun. And not just because we won - maybe later I'll write about all that.

Or not...But just so you know: (1) You Gotta Have Your People and (2) You Gotta Have Fun.

Extreme Makeover - The Dog Show Episode

Imagine, if you will, a dog show person who is slightly addicted to HGTV. You know: Home and Garden TV channel? Although the lack of Garden is a crime and fodder for a future post.....but I digress...HGTV is home to endless home design, remodel, makeover and decorating shows. So it's not hard to imagine just what one slightly addicted frustrated home decorator dog show/gardener person might do in the slow gardening days of winter....

Here is the BEFORE shot of where we will display our dogs for the weekend of the Golden Gate Kennel Club (affectionately known as "The Cow Palace Show"):


What?!!?! Dark, dull AND dreary, you say??? hohohohoho - do not fear - Dog Show Bench Decorator is here!

All it takes is a little imagination and effort.

And a well-worn "Cow Palace" file, with detailed dimensions, calculations and secret website addresses. And about $400 (if my husband is reading this - $100). At least 5 shopping trips. At home. At least 1 more while I'm in San Francisco. Perhaps a shipment of fabric from Montana. Or two. And can you Rush that order? Frequent email exchanges between the Ebbtide Design Team. And design meetings. A sewing day . Photo shoots. Arriving one, maybe two days before the show starts. Did I say $400??? snort. Omigod. This woman is possessed.


Yes. Yes. Maybe I am...

And did I mention the generous folks of Golden Gate Kennel Club have now made the Bench Decorations a (shriek) Competition. One Hundred Dollars awarded to BEST DECORATED BENCH IN SHOW!!!!! ok - so maybe you're noticing the irony here, too...

Be that as it may, I have A Plan. And I will not be stopped. Even when Head Seamstress and Fabric Design Consultant Pam Michalek is sidelined due to a family emergency. nononono..... I will not be stopped. Even when #1 Assistant, Judi Scherrer, bails out of decorating day, citing some crazy-talk-thing : job-winery-website-deadline-its-our-paycheck-blahblahblah (sheesh - She needs to get her priorities straight!). I will not be deterred from creating the Benching Of My Dreams.

My Theme, you ask? Ah, thank you: Vintage Cowgirl. That's right CowGIRL. That's an important detail. But, wait, there's more. Old West Vintage Cowgirl. And it has to be comfy. "Comfy Old West Vintage Cowgirl"... yeah...yeah....

I arrive late Thursday with RV and a few materials (harhar). Slight glitch: where the bleep is my iron? ok - maybe we should just keep that our little secret.....but, to the rescue: Cathy Baird, owner of Ebbtide Wish On A Rainbeau "Beau" (and "Teka"). Armed with a cute dog, an iron, a bag of various cutting devices and her good humor, Cathy (hopefully not to her dismay) volunteers to "help" me on Friday set up the bench. And so we begin:


Cathy's skills at ironing press-on seam tape reach amazing heights. Ann performs magic with twine - yes, twine! Judi The Responsible Adult (zzzzzz) designs legendary posters. Even when the Evil Vendor tries to Thwart Our Plan by running over our ironing board, we persevere: We. Will. Not. Be. Stopped. We will give the Cow Palace the Mother Of All Dog Show Benches.

Yes we can.




A table for a photo album perhaps?


Just add 5 perfectly Western dogs to complete the room, err, I mean bench:


Left to right above: JJ, Emmy, Cali, Spencer and Beau.
Divine. Simply Divine.
Here's a closeup (below) of one of the Vintage Cowgirl Pillows. Oh yeah - and isn't that Emmy cute, too?


Big Beau gets the Big Pillow:


And this, faithful reader, is the last vignette of the Bench Of My Dreams, come true:

Cali, Emmy and JJ (age 11 months) are the perfect accessory to the Comfy Old West Vintage Cowgirl Bench.


Results? Results of the dog SHOW?? That's a whole 'nuther story.....stay tuned...





With apologies to Candace Olson, Karen McAloon and Barack Obama.