ASCA Obedience Trial Champion Panda!

   I am giddy to hear that Nancy Pantusa, Dallas, TX, and "Panda" have earned their ASCA Obedience Trial Championship!  Officially, "Panda" is now ASCA CH OTCH Ebbtide Your Wish's My Command UD. I couldn't be happier for one of my favorite teams!  Adding more goodness to the Wish Litter by CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish x AKC/ASCA CH Ebbtide Fern. Thanks, Nancy!

ASCA CH OTCH Ebbtide Your Wish's My Command UD

Master Agility Champion Dash!

    Big congratulations go to Joy Mueller and "Dash" for earning the AKC Master Agility Champion title.  Dash is now officially  
MACH Ebbtide Express Wishes MX, MXJ, AF, CGC.  What a great achievement!  Dash is another talented member of the "Wish" Litter sired by CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish and out of our AKC/ASCA CH Ebbtide Fern.  Thanks for all your hard work, Joy. 

MACH Ebbtide Express Wishes and owner Joy Mueller

  

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)!

NEW ASCA CHAMPION! Miss Panda P.

HUGE congratulations to Nancy Pantusa, Dallas, Texas, and that adorable "Panda", EBBTIDE YOUR WISH'S MY COMMAND on completing Panda's ASCA CHAMPIONSHIP! This outstanding team won FOUR MAJORS (2 Five-Point majors and 2 Three-Point majors) to finish! (In dog show speak - that's "really good" ;-)


photo by 2MC Design

Nancy very capably owner/handled Panda all the way through, with the able assistance (?!) of BFF Cathy Franklin. Thanks, Cathy! And Cathy's husband Mark, who sometimes drove them around Texas. It's a big state, y'all.

Panda and Nancy will be back in the conformation ring to work on her AKC Championship in July. We're hoping there are more judges like Becci Maloney, pictured, who said "She never put a foot down wrong".

And did I mention Panda has been showing some nice herding talent - something brand new for Nancy to spend her money on. This little black tri girl has talent, no doubt about it.
Just like her brother, JJ ;-)

Happy 2nd Birthday WISH Litter!

They are officially Grown-Up Dogs now: JJ, Cali, Panda, Beau, Emmy, Capri, Dash, Dottie, Tim & Izzy! Please send some current photos to share here. This litter continues to impress me with their steady temperaments, desire to please, work ethic, athleticism and talent. Not to mention their good looks and soundness. There is no doubt his litter will put Fern in the ROMX records. Thanks to all the owners who are training and competing with their best friends. Age two brings another milestone: time to get those hips & elbows xrayed and submitted to OFA. About time for the yearly eye check, too. Send me all the results, please.

We wish one-half of the credit for this great litter was still here to enjoy: BIS CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish. "Biggie" passed away in December. I enjoyed every minute of his stay here back in December 2007 when I brought him here for the breeding. The whole family fell in love with his easy going, calm and gentle manner. A perfect doggie house guest.

Here's a photo of Biggie I took during that stay:

We'll miss you, Biggie.

I guess we should give thanks to the mom, too ;-)

CH. Ebbtide Fern

Here's some fun photos of the litter at 6 weeks of age, their first time out in the big dog yard:

Poor Dash (L) worried about silly grandma Maddie. Fern standing over Beau (on his back) and JJ. Somebody blue sneaking a snack under Fern.

A game of tug: Capri (L) perhaps Dottie behind her, then Beau, Fern and JJ.

Above: Capri and Dottie

Cali

Panda with a leaf, Beau

Fun At The Santa Rosa AKC Cluster Shows

Above: Judi and Beau in the Open Blue class on Friday

Five siblings from the "Wish" Litter (HOF CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish x Ch Ebbtide Fern) congregated at last weekend's 4 days of AKC shows in Santa Rosa. Since this is our local show (hosted by Mensona KC and Lake County KC), we HAD to attend. I knew 3 of the group had been seriously out of coat this summer, so I informed the owners it was their call on how many days to enter: But that we should at least go one or two days to get them back in the swing of things...do a little training, support our local show, have an excuse to bathe and groom our dogs, kill some time, eat cake, etc.
In other words: No big expectations to win much. And, our motto, as always: Have a good time!
So here's what happened: (hmm, short version or long version??) I showed all classes, except those listed otherwise. And, yes, I can still run today...sorta

THURSDAY: Judge Daniel Fleitas - with Ann handling both dogs:
EBBTIDE AS YOU WISH, "Cali" Bred By Exhibitor 2nd Place (out of 2)...we had some training to do...we did it AFTER I showed her...slow down!
EBBTIDE HANDFUL OF WISHES "Emmy" American Bred First Place.


Above: Lesson # 1: Beau sees his mom taking his picture. Mom learns to leave the immediate area. He manages to get back on track and wins 2nd (out of 4) in Bred By Exhibitor (BBX) on Saturday. Yay!
And there is a reason I cropped my head off this pic.


Above: JJ is a good boy in BBX on Friday! And wins First Place !

FRIDAY: Conformation: Judge Connie Redhead
EBBTIDE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH "JJ"
Bred By Exhibitor First Place, Reserve Winners Dog
EBBTIDE WISH ON A RAINBEAU "Beau"
Open Blue Merle 2nd Place Judi Scherrer handling

Above: Judi and Beau trotting quite nicely

EBBTIDE HANDFUL OF WISHES "Emmy"
American Bred First Place, Reserve Winners Bitch Judi Scherrer handling
EBBTIDE AS YOU WISH "Cali"
Bred By Exhibitor First Place, Winners Bitch 2 points !!

Above: Cali, far right, in the Best of Breed class on Friday. Watching Ann ;-) Good girl, Cali. Thinking she will stay at my side as we trot this time.

EBBTIDE GOOGLE'S GAMBOL CD "Zayvee"
Novice A Obedience First Place

Saturday: Judge Edeltraud Laurin
EBBTIDE WISH ON A RAINBEAU "Beau"
Bred By Exhibibtor 2nd Place
EBBTIDE EXPRESS WISHES "Dash"
Open Blue Merle 2nd Place Suzanne Deghi handling
EBBTIDE AS YOU WISH "Cali"
Bred By Exhibitor First Place, Reserve Winners Bitch
** BEST OF BREED Bred By Exhibitor **
****HERDING GROUP Bred By Exhibitor FIRST PLACE ! ****

Above: Cali and Ann doing their thing in BBX on Friday: First Place

Sunday: Judge Patricia Gellerman
EBBTIDE EXPRESS WISHES "Dash"
Open Blue Merle First Place, Reserve Winner Dog

Our photographer liked this photo! Hmmm, a Reserve ribbon...

Photo credits: All by Cathy Baird, Beau's owner. Thanks, Cathy!

Above: Judi just wrote and said I was to add this photo - Me and Cali with our Best of Breed Bred By Exhibitor ribbon, just as we came out of the ring. Cathy loves to take her version of win photos as we leave the ring. Thank goodness we have an Official Ebbtide Photographer ;-))

It's A Bird. It's A Plane. No. It's DASH!

I received this photo recently and would like to publicly thank "Dash", Ebbtide Express Wishes, for saving the inhabitants of Sonoma County ( and ALL the world!) from a small, but quite possibly, deadly, UFO.

Oh...

Wait...

Is that a frisbee?

Way up there? Whooshee Mama! That's Big Air!

And apparently his landing was fine. But I wouldn't be doing my job as An Ethical Breeder without saying: Kids, don't try this at home. Or perhaps my disclaimer is more appropriate: "Frisbee catching has inherent risks you should discuss with your veterinarian."

Har har. His owner IS a veterinarian. She says she saving up for the surgeon specialist fees...

(Those ears are only up because he was in flight)

Dash is from the celebrated WISH Litter (BIS CH. Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish x CH Ebbtide Fern). He is competing in agility (no surprise) and has been seen occasionally in conformation. I expect some nice things from this dog and owner Joy Mueller.

Panda Does A Michael Phelps: Swims Great AND WINS BIG

That little black bundle of energy, cuteness and correctness, "Panda" (Ebbtide Your Wish Is My Command) wowed them in College Station, Texas today! Team Ebbtide -Texas Coordinator, Cathy Franklin, called ASAP after the Winners Bitch class at the New Hope ASCA show : Ms. Panda did, indeed, win First Place in a stellar 12-18 Months class, and then waltzed out of Winners Bitch with either a 4 or 5 point Major! The Coordinator wasn't sure of the exact number of points -she has now been schooled on such important matters. Incredibly talented owner/trainer/Senior Handler Nancy Pantusa showed those Junior Handlers how it's done and trotted Miss P again to a BEST OF WINNERS award in the Best of Breed class. Yee haw! Panda is a member of the WISH Litter, by CH Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish and out of CH. Ebbtide Fern. Again, we weren't sure how many points Panda earned today, but they assure me it was 4 or 5 points. I'm still waiting for the exact number, Cathy & Nancy... and the Win Photo!

Update: Nancy says it was a 5 Point Major !!!!

In lieu of that, I offer the most recent photos of Panda and her Team, that I have:

In this photo, above, left to right: Trish, Panda, Cathy, Flirt. Not sure what they did with Nancy - oh, I remember: Nancy and I were off on a plant hunt at this incredible nursery http://www.wildseedfarms.com/ on our first leg of the Awesome Texas Vacation. Trish, Cathy & Susan (the photographer) were a bit bored and took photos while the gardeners in the group ooohed and ahhhed at plants. Back to Panda: Isn't she just beautiful? And her BFF, Flirt, who is also an Honorary Ebbtide dog. We love you, Flirty.

Once we arrived at The Ranch (look for a future blog about this), Panda, Nancy and I strolled down to Ebbtide Creek:

Nancy snapping off the leash at the creek. FYI: It was soda in the cup.

First Panda got her feet wet...

Then, below, she's doing the famous Fern-Bubble-Blowing-In-Water Trick (I didn't know that was an inherited trait):

Then she just went for a swim. Nancy says this was the first time she'd ever been in water:


Below: Panda NOT drowning (relax, Nancy):

Then she went back up to the creekbed where she decided to submerge her head:

THEN she decided to submerge her entire BODY! That black spot in the water, lower right, just above the rock wall, is Panda:

Turns out, she was rolling under water, in algae. Nice, Panda.

When she came up, she looked like this:

Here's hoping Nancy and Cathy send today's win photo soon, so we can see a pretty Panda!

A HUGE congrats to Nancy, Panda and many thanks to Cathy, Team Ebbtide Assistant #5 !

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.

Happy First Birthday, WISH Litter!

OR : Curse You, Snapfish!! If you don't know Snapfish, they store your photos and make prints. That's good when your computer crashes, and you haven't put the photos on a CD (not sure why I don't do that...).

Anyway: Today's blog was going to have incredibly cute puppy photos of the WISH Litter (CH. Tri-Ivory Make A Big Wish x CH Ebbtide Fern), who were born one year ago.

So, here are the teeny tiny photos I'm able to "share" from Snapfish:

ok. I'm feeling really, really small here...

Well, live and learn: Who out there can help me with storing digital photos then using them on my blog? And it has to be simple. Really simple. Remember, I can't even do that Facebook thing well......(oh shut up.)

But, enough about me: The pups have all grown into lovely teenage Aussies with various skills, personalities, quirks and idiosyncrasies:

JJ (the best one ;-) thinks blowing air is weird, but is now over that, thanks to Ann's highly technical de-sensitivity training program (read: she gently blew on his head alot and praised him alot). But don't go blowing in his face every time you see him or I will smack you. Really. He can also leap small buildings in a single bound..must get a photo of that on the blog soon. But for now, enjoy this amazing display of JJ practicing for his Tracking Degree and an impressive recall. (You might want to turn down your volume.)

Yeah...amazing...I'm pretty blown away by all that, too....

Tim apparently (I haven't seen this) can catch a frisbee with one already in his mouth and have two, then, in his mouth at once. Wow. Karen: We definitely need video of THAT!

Dottie knows how to finish to heel position. nice. Thanks for that, #2 - Trish, her Guardian Angel and Trainer. Hmm. MY dogs never call me that...

Dottie (left) enjoying a kiss from Aunt Gotcha --- what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.

Emmy looks very cute riding in "her" blue (yes. as in merle) mustang. Actually, she looks pretty cute doing just about anything. Nothing wrong with looking cute - it earns high marks here ;-)

Cali - well, she's another one of those over-achievers that #1 has trained to do all kinds of things already: in fact, I was told she'd be in an obedience match this Sunday (ooohhhh). And yes, I WILL stand there and watch. With my camera. Time we train these dogs to work with me around. Are you listening, Spencer???

Beau remains one of the sweetest, calmest and kindest male dogs I've had the pleasure of producing - he reminds me of some of my old beloved stud dogs : Remy, Ebenezer and Blarney rolled into one. And he has, it appears, lived up to his puppy name of Andre the Giant.

Izzy has proved that his rapid assessments and natural doggy intelligence is quite useful in training certain beloved, unsuspecting people. A quick intro to the slip collar has made some nice changes there. A chain slip collar can be your new best friend, too ;-).

Capri (in snowy Wisconsin) is smokin' the agility class there as well as earning high, high cute marks in her outings to shows and training classes. Thanks to Ariela's brilliant training, many good things due from this one. And did I mention she's been herding sheep in her spare time? (ooohhh #1 has some serious competition, I'd say).

Panda and Nancy (Texas) made an impressive showing at Nationals and Panda keeps Nancy hopping, for sure. Nancy says Panda will be at the 2009 ASCA Nationals back in Greeley, CO in October. Roadtrip!!!!

Dash is Dr. Dash during the day at his owner's veterinary hospital in Santa Rosa and is also showing great promise on the agility course. He beat Mr JJ at the SVASC Specialty in Dixon last October. But we won't hold that against him ;-) JJ says "Bring it on" (You ARE an idiot sometimes, JJ ...)

So much for the Big Brag section I had planned for this post... N0 - we have real reports. Stay tuned. Send me your personal reports and I'll include update this post with them. And send big photos while you're at it...

Happy Birthday!