Good Bloggie!

The BIG dog show for the Central Texas area is this week: The River City Cluster of Dog Shows. Five straight days of dog shows, and this year, even more fun for the spectators. Check out the schedule of events, guests, and the link to the official site below. And look for the link to a $2 off admission coupon at the bottom of the page.

Official site link: River City Cluster of Dog Shows

Want to know when your favorite breed will be showing? (humm, could it be FRENCHIES??!) Click here to download a PDF schedule of ring times.

Schedule of Events for 2008 River City Cluster of Dog Shows

June 16 - July 7 Pet and Owner Look Alike Contest

The River City Cluster of Dog Shows is hosting a Pet and Owner Look Alike Contest in conjunction with MySA.com. Contest Rules and Prizes are described online by clicking on “SAPaws.com” (on MySA.com’s home page).

Wednesday - Sunday, July 9 to 13 River City Cluster of Dog Shows
The San Antonio Convention Center will host Five Days of All-Breed Conformation Shows and Four Days of Agility Trials.
• AKC Conformation Judging and Vendor Areas - Doors open daily at 8:00 AM,
• Agility Trials are from 1 to 5 PM on July 10th and from 8 AM to 5 PM on July 11-13th.

Wednesday and Thursday, July 9 & 10 Half Off Price of Admission Day
A very special promotion !! – “Bring a can of Pedigree Dog Food and Get HALF Off the Price of Admission”. All dog food collected will be donated to the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS) who will give a can of dog food with each of their canine adoptions.

Wednesday, July 9 Jesse James Leija
• as the guest celebrity will present the donated cans of Pedigree Dog Food to City of San Antonio Animal Care Services (ACS)
AND
• On behalf of the Comal County Kennel Club he will present a 37” Color TV to the Best In Show Winner.

Wednesday & Thursday, July 9 & 10 Senior Citizen Days
The River City Cluster of Dog Shows will be sponsoring Senior Day. Several San Antonio Senior Living Communities have been invited to attend the events.

Thursday, July 10 Heloise
• will be the guest celebrity
AND
• On behalf of Austin Kennel Club she will present a planter to the Best In Show Winner.

Friday, July 11 Eva’s Heroes
The River City Cluster of Dog Shows has invited Eva’s Heroes to attend the shows. Eva’s Heroes is a charity sponsored by Eva Longoria for developmentally disabled kids and young adults. They will tour Agility, Conformation, Dog Grooming, and Vendor areas.

Friday, July 11 Bexar County District Attorney Susan Reed
• will be the guest celebrity
AND
• On behalf of Bexar County Kennel Club will present a Fitz & Floyd Salad Bowl and Cruet Set to the Best In Show Winner.

Saturday, July 12 PIX Event — FREE Photos
MySA.com will host a PIX event at the dog show and take FREE photos of the contestants and visitors to post online for them to retrieve the next business day. Visitors will have the option of downloading, emailing, or saving their photos from the PIX retrieval page for FREE.

Click on link below for a downloadable $2 off admission coupon.

2008-rccds-coupon-on-word

…we have the newly minted champion: CH Ebullient! Vivacious D’McKee

That’s right! This weekend Vivian gaited out of the show ring with that much sought after final point and Best of Opposite Sex ribbon. It all happened Sunday at the Texarkana Shows on the Arkansas side of town. Our many, many thanks to judge Mrs. Paula Hartinger for bestowing this win to our girl.

On top of that, Vivian won all her points to her championship from the Bred-By class. This means we’ll get a Bred-By Exhibitor Medallion from the AKC, and she’ll be eligible to compete at the Eukanuba Nationals at Long Beach, CA in December 2008. Not sure we’ll be able to get her out there, but it’s a great honor, all the same.
Eligible BBE dogs for 2008 Eukanuba Nationals

Now Vivian (and her owners) will enjoy seeing that coveted CH in front of her name for the rest of her life. Though Vivian seems to be finding much more enjoyment in the new toy she got as her prize from us: a Buzzy Bee.

An interesting postcard was in the Denton show catalog. It’s advertising a Summer Day Camp for kids and their dogs. What a great idea.

Sniffcerely stated by Millie, the child and dog will experience “A week full of FUN!!” as top professionals coach them how to do things such as: basic obedience (assuming for the dog!), agility, Canine Freestyle, and even preparing to compete in events.

If you live in the Denton/Dallas/Forth Worth area, this would be worth looking into. Or perhaps there is a facility in your home town offering similar Day Camps?

The number to sign up is (940) 765-8980 and here’s the link to the place offering the Day Camp:
Bed Biscuit and Beyond

And found this link offering more info about the Day Camp and what to expect:
Bark Here!

If you’d rather attend a one-day event, the AKC offers one-day Education Matches, which are organized through local clubs and are for for adults and kids.

Check here to see if one is scheduled near you. Or contact your local kennel club and see if they have one cooking or express your interest in attending one.
AKC Education Matches

The overhead fans were circulating warm, humid air and the ring was filled with panting and wilting Frenchies on Saturday, May 10th. Vivian managed to hang in there long enough to gait her way around the ring to the Winner’s purple ribbon adding 2 more points to her tally! She’s now down to that last, oh so crucial (and being told hard-to-get) point needed for her AKC championship title. Our thanks to Judge Gary L. Doerge for picking our girl out of the panting lineup for for this ribbon.

And just to prove the adage “If you don’t like the weather in Texas, wait five minutes,” Saturday evening a cold front came through and Sunday was a cool, breezy day. Much kinder to all the dogs, owners, and handlers at the show.

That’s what happened this weekend. Vivian made the local news when we attended a dog show in Beaumont, Texas. Below is the link. There will be a short commercial first before the clip starts. Then look for Vivian in the middle, right after the barking Chihuahua.

Channel 6, Beaumont, Texas: Dogs at Ford Park

One of Vivian’s favorite things is to be held, on her back with her head upside-down. And that’s exactly what she was doing when the news crew came through looking for interesting footage. A really cool thing was the teaser line for the 6 ‘o clock news. It went something like this: “stay tuned for dogs upside-down and jumping up and down.” Instantly knew who had inspired THAT line!

Oh yeah. Guess we should mention that on Friday she won:
• 1st in Bred-by
• Winners (Added another point to her tally)
• Best of Winners
• Best of Breed, Bred-by Exhibitor

Then went on to compete and win a Group 2 placement in Non-Sporting Group, Bred-by Exhibitor. Was a very full and long day for both of us. Our thanks to the judges, Mrs. Paula Hartinger for her Breed wins, and judge Dr. Donald A. Gill for her Group win.

Photos below. This time we made sure we didn’t miss out getting those!