After all of our best efforts to get Axel down to Louisville, someone else broke the major for dogs. I hope karma doesn’t take too long to come around on this one. We are all very proud of Axel, though. He reportedly looked good today, and we have hopes that he might get something done this weekend, even though he wasn’t really supposed to have a chance, or even be there. In a strange coincidence, Axel’s substitute handler is also Freya’s “grandma” – she bred and owned Freya’s sire. Cross your fingers for Axel’s team! There are three more days and three more possibilities to win!
I got a nice surprise today: Axel actually has 6 points, not 5. We miscalculated the points for the Belle-City show on February 28. We originally thought he got 1 point as Winners Dog and Best of Winners. Dogs were 1 point that day, but bitches were 2 points. I think that both Julia and I were reading the wrong point schedule. As Best of Winners, he crossed over to get the same number of points as the Winners Bitch – 2 points instead of 1 that day. So we’re just a tiny bit closer than I thought yesterday!
Axel's points so far
Oh, and here is Axel’s new minivan:
Axel's minivan
Axel's minivan
Well. My minivan, or more correctly, my company’s minivan. This 2009 Dodge Grand Caravan replaces the 1998 Dodge Caravan that was a great vehicle for us (meaning me, my company, and the past and present vom Viersen Rottweilers) for so long. Only dog people or parents could get excited about a new minivan, and you know which one I am.
I usually try to gas up at a station near Freya’s obedience class, because gas is so much cheaper outside of the city of Chicago and Cook County. When I’m not able to time my fill-up properly, I go to the Mobil station between home and the expressway. This sign’s huge and blatant misspelling has been bugging me for about two years now:
I dropped Axel off this morning for what I hope is his last road trip for a while. He is traveling with his “grandma” Denise and at the show will be in the care of his handler Julia. He is in the best of hands. I heard from Denise earlier this evening, and all is well.
It has been so quiet here, though! Freya has been moping around, looking for her little brother. She gets so annoyed with him when he is here, but she hates it when he is gone. I guess that’s a pretty typical sibling relationship.
I really have nothing else of interest to report, at least nothing that I will be able to stay awake long enough to write about. Not that the topics are boring enough to put me… or you… to sleep. I’m just that tired. See you tomorrow!
Not me, just Axel. And really, he will be home after the weekend. Really!
Huh? You thought he was home for a while after last weekend, and so did I. Imagine my surprise to see a judging program and entry confirmation for the Kentuckiana shows coming up this weekend. Axel wasn’t supposed to be entered, but he was. Honest mistake, no problem.
Oh, wait. After looking at the entry counts… big problem. There are enough male Rottweilers entered each day to make these shows 3-point majors. On three of the four days of the cluster, there are exactly enough male Rottweilers for the 3-point major. If even one dog is absent, the major breaks.
If you are not a psycho dog person, this probably means nothing to you. The short version is that for a dog to earn an AKC championship, he or she must earn points from at least two shows that are major points (3, 4 or 5 points) among the 15 total points required. Especially in this troubled economy, finding a show with enough dogs entered for major points is tough enough. It is a disappointment to go to a show and find that dogs are absent and the points are less than expected. It is even worse to find that a show that was supposed to be a major isn’t, because dogs are absent.
After a lot of phone calls between me, handler, breeder, and assorted friends and colleagues, things are all set for Axel to go on this road trip. He may not win anything (although he might, stranger things have happened) but at least our team won’t be responsible for breaking the major.
After all this, it’s possible that someone else may break the major. That’s ok. Well, no, not really. I’ll want to hurt the one who breaks it after we went through all this ermmm… fun… today to make things happen for us. But it is ok that it won’t have been us that broke it.
Axel and I are both home now. I didn’t get to witness a big win for him at today’s show, but it was very exciting for me anyway to be able to watch him strutting his stuff in the AKC ring. He has very good ring presence and Julia has really helped him to realize his potential. He really seems to enjoy showing, and that makes me happy.
I wish I had pictures or video to show you, but I don’t. In order to make sure I wasn’t a distraction, I was hidden behind a post slightly away from the ring. I could see fine, but there was no way to take photos or videos from that distance.
As I mentioned in a previous post, he needs a few months to grow up and out, so he is back home for a while to do just that. The plan for now is for him to possibly go back out in September or October, and possibly enter an occasional show between now and then.
Right now, we’re both tired from a long day so it’s time to get some rest!
I’m taking full advantage of the free high-speed wireless internet at the motel here in Columbia, MO to bring you yet another NaBloPoMo post (and keep March NaBloPoMo alive and well for me).
I opted not to visit Axel tonight, even though I do so want to see him, to give him a better chance of doing well tomorrow. There’s a possibility he will be less than attentive to his “career” if he knows I’m around. It is actually not uncommon for a dog to show poorly when his or her owner or other loved one is nearby, because that person is a major distraction for the dog. If he knows I’m here, he might be looking for me instead of concentrating on being his handsomest self.
Plus, I need all the sleep I can get tonight. Not only it is daylight saving time “spring forward” weekend, I have apparently turned into a major driving wuss because the 6-hour drive really sucked the life out of me. It would have been far worse if I did not have a brand-new vehicle for the trip. My old minivan might not have even completed the trip, and if it had, the brief but torrential rainstorms along the way would have surely leaked into the damaged passenger-side sliding door.
The ride from Chicago to Columbia does not have the most exciting scenery in the country either. There was a lot of this:
and some of this:
and even more similar to the first photo.
Going to watch the news and then get some sleep. Wish us luck tomorrow: Axel for the show and me for the loonnnng drive home!
Axel now has 5 points towards his AKC championship, and will hopefully pick up a few more this coming weekend in Columbia, MO. After he’s done showing on Sunday, he’ll be heading home with me for a few months.
We’re not giving up on him! Although he didn’t do much at the Deep South shows, he still came back to win points at some smaller shows back here in the Midwest. His breeder, handler and family are all in agreement that he could use a few months to grow up and out, and then go back out again and hopefully capture his needed majors with ease.
I am so looking forward to seeing him! It will be quite a long drive (about 6.5 hours each way) so I’m very glad to have the new minivan for a more comfortable ride and no worries about mechanical breakdowns in the middle of the vast midwestern wasteland.
I don’t believe I’ve shared the photo from his very first point, so here it is:
Precious Gems Axel vom Viersen getting his first point from judge Mrs. Marcia C. Feld, handled by Julia Foster
Clicking the photo will take you to all of the full-sized photos from his first successful show weekend. Stay tuned! Axel’s show career will continue in the fall, after he’s enjoyed spring and summer fun with family and friends, including an ATTS Temperament Test along with Freya in May.
I think I’ve been doing more taking than giving for the last few days, and it will continue for at least another day.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided to redeem points from the various credit card company rewards programs that I participate in. You never know when they might arbitrarily end the programs, or almost as bad, discontinue the good rewards. Instead of being in a gift-y mood and passing out several Amazon gift certificates, I gave only one Amazon certificate to my husband, and spent all other available points on a Flip Mino mini digital camcorder for myself. Mine, all mine.
I would normally choose an expensive, whiz-bang “real” camcorder. But there is something to be said for something small, fun and simple that fits in a pocket and will definitely get used, even if only for dog and cat movies. Oh, and that didn’t cost any “real” dollars. It arrived just in time for my upcoming road trip, in which I finally get to see my Axel in the show ring. I just hope I can find a spot where I can film him without him spotting me and ruining what I am told is some great ring presence in my absence.
Also, my wonderful husband bought me a new laptop to replace the almost-six-year-old one I sort of complained about back in January. It is a pretty dark red Sony VAIO VGN-CS290JER. To make it even better to my shallow self, it not only color matches to my digital camera, BlackBerry case, and Bluetooth headset (and probably other electronic stuff I am forgetting), it came with a color matched wireless mouse. Life is good. Mostly good, anyway. I’d forgotten what a task it can be to get a new computer set up just perfect. It’s going pretty well so far as this computer wasn’t loaded with as much junk and trial software as the last two that came my way.
And tomorrow I pick up the much-needed replacement to my 11-year-old minivan. Because I had a pretty small budget and apparently not much imagination, it’s another Dodge Caravan. Grand Caravan this time, as they no longer make the short wheelbase Caravan, and blue, because when you buy out of dealer stock on the second-to-last day of the special offers period, there is no chance of getting a dark red anything. At least that has been my experience.
So if giving to myself counts, I’ve got our March NaBloPoMo theme well covered. Stay tuned for some less self-indulgent posts as the month goes on, I hope.
Oh! Can’t sign off without an Axel update. There wasn’t much Axel love at the Deep South shows, although he did bring back a few reserves and placements. He got back in the groove this weekend though with two more wins and two more points. Total points now: 5 of 15, no majors yet. He is basically 1/3 of the way there! I hope I am making the right decision to give him a break after next weekend. More about that during the week to come.
