Time Off?

(March 2008) I’ve been waiting for a whole month and nobody has complained yet, so I guess it’s true — February 2008 was the first month since I’ve been keeping track (January 2002) that no group placements were awarded to Skyes.   Check it out at the Group Placements page.

Thank you Sir!

(December 2007) Following October’s Skye National Specialty at the Montgomery County Kennel Club all-Terrier show, Judge Ken McDermott wrote a Judge's Critique for the Bulletin of the Skye Terrier Club of America.   In it he had this to say about our Nick:

In the end, it was another grand elderly gentleman who held my eye as he had each time that I looked back at him.   Best of Breed went to nine-and-a-half-year old CH. SEAMIST JOYFUL NOISE, a dark gray-black fellow with an excellent head, beautiful planes, proper ear size, placement and carriage — and he was long, low, level AND lank!   His coat is dead straight and of good texture, and he drives straight off and returns true every time.   This is the type, size and balance that has always been perfect for me.   If I could have had a wish it would be that I was thirty years younger and that I had a Skye just like this to show!

Report from Montgomery 2007

(October 2007) Ah, Montgomery.  That most wonderful time of year for terrier people.  The Most Important Dog Show in the World, for Terrier People.  The changing leaves, the crisp autumn air, intent and intense people dressed in their woolens and tweeds, breath steaming in the morning chill as they walk their dogs or stand in line for catalogs.

Too bad we didn’t get that this year.  This was the year of Hotgomery, with temperatures in the mid-to-upper 80’s (F) all weekend.  On the macadam parking lot at Montgomery County Community College, the thermometer we hung on an ex-pen registered 94 degrees (F) when we returned from breed judging.  Usually the RV people put their dogs out in their ex-pens and leave them there throughout most of the day and evening.  The dogs like the fresh air and the chance to see people and other dogs being walked.  This year most people seemed to put their dogs out just long enough to do some business, then whisk them back into the air conditioning inside.  Fans and generators were in great demand for those who couldn’t avoid leaving their dogs outside.

I talked to several people who had flown in for the weekend, apparently disbelieving the weather forecasts, bringing only heavy fall clothing.   They spent their free time (who has free time Montgomery weekend?) shopping for warm weather clothing.   The Sunday morning catalog line was full of people in short sleeves and sandals.  By the way, catalogs have gone up to US$15.  If you have exact change you can buy them while you’re waiting in line, as MCKC worker bees (frequently disguised as AKC officials) take boxes of catalogs up and down the line to take the pressure off the sale table.

This year was also the continuation of Vetgomery, at least where Skyes are concerned.  For the third year in a row, a veteran won the (US) Skye National Specialty at MCKC.  The winner this year (our Nick, for the second time!) was nine and a quarter years old, almost nine and a half, and was entered in the regular Best of Breed class instead of the veterans class.  I’ve checked most of the other Terrier breeds and so far haven’t found any other breed at Montgomery to match this record.  Skyes have staying power, you know, and we shouldn’t squander it by thinking that the dog is done at five and simply letting them get fat and fall apart.

This was also the Year of The Yell

This was also the year of The Yell.  If you were there you know what I mean.  When Judge Ken McDermott pointed at Nick and said "Best of Breed," the owner ringside let out a long and loud "YES!".  It was such a cry of joy, triumph and relief that those in front of her jumped out of the way, people at other rings turned to see what happened, and even Mr. McDermott looked briefly in that direction.  I swear I saw a momentary grin on his face.

(update)   Looking back at the records I see that Nick's father Spencer, CH. Silverspun Morning Sun, won from the Veteran's class back in 2001.   That makes four out of the last seven years for a veteran.

Baby Girl Gets a New Hamster

(September 2007) This is a true story.   It was sent to me by one of the participants, and with their permission and minor formatting is repeated here just as it came to me.   As you read it, keep in mind that Sissy, Avon, and AJ are people, and Baby Girl and Sweet Pea are adult Skye Terriers...

When Sissy went off to school she had a hamster named “Purtle.”   Well after a while her roommates & her had a falling out & they forced her to bring Purtle home & she gave her to Baby Girl to take care of.   Baby Girl loved Purtle & took excellent care of her (although I do think she did bathe her a little too much ha ha).  Anyway Baby Girl & Purtle had a wonderful relationship until this past winter when Purtle passed away.   Baby Girl was devastated!   So we packed Purtle’s cage away & things got better.

Well when Sissy was home visiting for Avon’s B-day she took the cage back to NH with her because she has her own apartment & she was offered a sugar glider.   She never got the sugar glider & 3 weeks ago when AJ was over in Vermont visiting his girl & helping get ready to go back to Maine he stopped in to see Sissy (because she had baked a pie for Avon).   And the 2 of them NOT thinking sent the hamster cage home with AJ.   Well AJ when unloading his car brought the cage in the house & did he put it in the garage or basement?   No!   He plopped it right down in the middle of the living room floor!   And guess what happened?   You got it.   Baby Girl thought Purtle was back!   And she wrapped herself around the cage & basically said this is mine & NO ONE touches!  

Well for the last 3 weeks Baby Girl has been attached to that cage & sulking.   So I have been searching all over Saratoga county for a hamster for Baby Girl with no luck.   So I finally told my 2 wonderful bright children that they caused the problem & they were going to solve it & that when AJ goes to Maine at the end of the month he can stop in NH & he & his sister can buy a new hamster for Baby Girl.  

Well I guess the local pet shop finally got hamsters in because AJ came home yesterday with a little blonde hamster with black ears.   After going threw many names Baby Girl cued on the name “Shortcake” so now Baby Girl has a hamster named Shortcake.   When I went to work last night Baby Girl was sound asleep with her head resting on the hamster cage.   And where is she right now sitting here with her nose stuck up against the cage watching Shortcake run on her wheel.   Baby Girl is very happy!

And don’t worry Sweet Pea has put claim to my lion-headed bunny named “Oreo” she belongs to him now.  So now they both have their own pets.

The Other Side of the Gate

(Dec 2006) People who know me know that I’d do just about anything to be at a dog show, even work, and a few weeks ago that’s just what I did, volunteering to be a ring steward at the shows put on by the Souhegan Kennel Club (we’re members).  If you’re not familiar with dog shows, the steward is the judge’s assistant in the ring, handing out numbered armbands to exhibitors, calling the dogs into the ring in the right order, keeping a copy of the results, and generally keeping the usual dog show chaos in check so that the judge can concentrate on judging. 

It was very different, being in the ring without a dog.  Since I wasn’t showing a dog I thought there would be no pressure, but when thirty people descend on you demanding their armbands, and the judge is waiting for you to call in the next class, and you still haven’t marked the steward’s book with the results from the last class, then believe me, there’s pressure.

You get a whole new outlook on exhibitors, too.  One gentleman asked politely for his dog’s armband, and when I asked for the number, he said, and I’m not making this up, “I don’t remember exactly, but I think it’s the same number he had yesterday.”   Sigh.

I hereby resolve to try to pick up my armband when the steward is obviously not busy.

I hereby resolve to tell the steward what breed and class my dog is entered in, so they can find the number easily in the steward’s book.

I hereby resolve to pay attention to what class is in the ring so that I’ll be ready to go in when it’s my time.

During a break one of the judges had some unflattering things to say about the general lack of preparation evident in some of the exhibits and exhibitors.  “Why do people bring dirty, ungroomed dogs to be judged? Are they really that clueless? It wouldn’t kill some of them to take a few lessons and learn how to show their dog, either.”  

Maybe he was just having a rough day.  Maybe not.  Either way, it made me realize how much of an advantage over the other competitors you can get from a little preparation.  Prepare your dog.  Prepare yourself.  You don’t have to be a professional to win;  just be competant.

By the way, the judge who made the comment also gave Best of Breed to quite a few amateurs over professionals that day.  Competant, well-prepared amateurs.

Aw, Shucks Department

(Sept 2006) It’s always nice to be appreciated, and the good folks at Dogluvers.com have unexpectedly bestowed upon yours truly their "Dogluvers 2006 Best Websites Award."   We get this sort of email from time to time; normally we delete it without reading but this time our curiosity got the better of us so we checked it out.  They have links to sites for most AKC breeds (even non-terriers!), with multiple categories for each breed.  As much as we would have liked, no, we didn’t win best Skye Terrier site. 

X Marks the Spot, er, Skye

(May 2006) There aren’t very many of us out here.   Skye folk, that is.   There are a couple of mailing lists on Yahoo where we sometimes communicate, and the Yahoo group site lets us post pictures and so forth, but we don’t really know where we are situated around the world.   Let’s fix that, shall we?   Google has kindly provided frappr to let us declare our location without giving away too much personal information.   If you have Skyes, or are just wildly interested, please go add yourself and let us all see how we’re distributed.   Thank you.

Pups!

(March 2006) Although I’ve been travelling so much that I thought it would never happen, of course it was bound to happen sooner or later: I’ve finally gotten pictures of Fran’s pups on the site. 

The new AKC Registration Statistics are out again.  Miniature Schnauzers (yes, they are terriers!) made the top ten in 2005.  Skye Terriers are up; that’s good. The problem is that too many of the very small number of Skyes came from a puppy mill in Missouri.  That’s not so good.

Oldies But Goodies

(Summer 2005) Interesting Summer Department:  Three veteran Skyes garnered group placements this July.  If you’re not a show person, veteran in dogs usually means that the dog is at least 7 years old.  In many breeds, seven-year olds are long forgotten in the show ring.  Not Skyes. 

October Update: A nine-year-old won this year’s Skye Terrier Club of America National Specialty show at Montgomery, and another veteran Skye went BIS (Best in Show) at an all-breed show.   Told you.

Spring At Last

From the unexpected pleasure department: Have you spotted the picture of the Irish Terrier at Home Depot?  For the record, I don’t work there, and I don’t own stock.

Finally the snow is melting away, and we’re changing over from a bunch of wet dogs coming in to a bunch of muddy dogs coming in.  I know which I prefer.

Just a few minutes ago we thought we heard some car doors slam.  All the ears — the four-legged ones, anyway — went up, followed by a mad dash to the fireplace, where everyone tried to dig their way in through the glass doors.  Funny place to put a car, we thought, so I grabbed a flashlight and went out front.  Sitting on the peak of the roof was a slightly-peeved looking raccoon, apparently frustrated by the anti-raccoon grill on top of the chimney.

The World Outside

Not about the T-TRIBE, but here it is anyway: Is it just me, or does everybody find the new AKC Registration Statistics page more than a little tough to work with?  It’s bad enough that the columns are (left to right) rank in 2002, rank in 2003, rank in 2004, number registered in 2002, number registered in 2003, and (finally!) number registered in 2004, but they’ve got the thing sorted on the rank in 2003 column. 

Think it can’t be as bad as it sounds?  Go have a look, and try to pick out 2004’s bottom twenty breeds, in order.  Even more fun -- find 100 through 120.  If we’re all lucky they’ll have it fixed by the time you get there.

UPDATE AKC now have the stats sorted according to the 2004 numbers. Thank goodness.

Road Trip

(January 2005) New Year’s Eve: drive four hundred miles, then sleep in a truck stop.  Did I mention bringing two dogs?   Get up and drive another hundred, then pick up three dogs and their human and their travelling gear.  Oh yeah -- gouge their neighbor’s yard trying to back the motor home up the steep, narrow driveway.  Drive another six hundred miles, then find a dirt driveway and wobble a third of a mile past palm trees and spanish moss to park on dormant fire ant nests in a pasture.  Pick up another dog.  Did I mention that three of the six (you are keeping count, right?) don’t get along? 

Walk all the dogs, have lunch and leave, wobbling back down the dirt driveway, scraping past palms and spanish moss. Drive six hundred miles back.  Give the steep narrow driveway one last try, and miraculously make it without removing too much of the neighbor’s yard this time.  Also miraculously don’t get stuck when I run off the narrow drive onto rain-softened yard.  Return four of the dogs and their human and their gear. 

Drive a hundred miles, pull in to truck stop to walk/feed/water the remaining dogs (and myself).  Discover that one of the remaining dogs should have gotten off about a hundred miles ago.  After several phone calls, drive back the hundred miles, do not even try to make it up the driveway in the dark, and swap dogs in the pouring rain.  Return to the truck stop for some serious sleep.  Finally, drive the four-hundred some miles home.

the Elwood P. Dowd Effect

If anyone at work saw me the last few days, I hope they thought I was practicing for a production of Harvey.  Walking down the hall, I could swear that Bailey was beside me, brushing against me, then running ahead to spin around and yodel at me.  I’d hold doors open so she could bolt through and swing wide around corners so she could stay alongside.  More than once I slipped up and spoke out loud to her.

I’m sure this will pass, but I see no reason to hurry.

21 December

(December 2004) Tonight our beautiful Bailey lost her long-running battle with mast cell tumors.  Over the past few years she had numerous operations to remove small subcutaneous tumors and had always bounced back, but at last the disease had taken hold inside and spread.

Bailey was everything an Irish Terrier should be: brave, loyal, swift, intelligent.  She yodelled when excited, and greeted every morning with raucous enthusiasm.

The hole in the household, and in our hearts, seems too big to bear.