FW: Charm and Riva's Excellent Adventure

[Bernadette DePiero]

 

---

Date: Tue, 7 Sep 2010 17:47:52 -0700
Subject: Charm and Riva's Excellent Adventure
From: can...@shaw.ca
To: a...@downriver.org; ka...@telus.net; mar...@highspeedplus.com; julie...@shaw.ca; bneh...@shaw.ca; kathy.c...@telus.net; monique...@shaw.ca; zif...@shaw.ca; beab...@shaw.ca; jog...@shaw.ca; saucya...@hotmail.com; it...@shaw.ca; petl...@telus.net; footf...@shaw.ca; janetb...@shaw.ca; roberta...@shaw.ca; traini...@shaw.ca; Nancy....@ufv.ca; AQU...@msn.com; Herdinga...@yahoogroups.com; pjs...@shaw.ca

We are finally home after a most beautiful trip along the Yellowhead Highway as far as Dog Tale Ranch in Saskatchewan and then back closer to town to Ebon Stables and finally to the Kinsmen Soccer Centre for Obedience and Conformation. ...And yes... Riva ‘ Aquaroo Summer Sangria’ won the 2010 Most Versatile Australian Shepherd Award.  She really did it! Wow!

A million thank yous to all of you who made this dream of mine become a reality.

At Dog Tale the sheep were right off the range ... Huge rambouillet, border cheviots and clun forest. We trialled in a 400 x 200 arena with 4 strong draws and most everyone struggled.  Those of us that made it through without timing out were heroes!  Riva worked very quietly and thoughtfully her first run and we came through with a HIT and a score of 92.   Our second run we timed out!  It was great to see some of the best working dogs out there and a great thrill that Irene Manley and  young Quinn got High Overall ... Thank you so much Lynn, Kristen, Martha and Julie for all the help you give me.

Ebon Stables and Agility ... Dave Langen was our judge ... What a nice guy except for calling a missed contact for Riva on Trial one so pressure was on for a Clean run on Trial two!  Whew .. She had a beautiful run and came in second! Thank you to my wonderful agility friends who keep their eyes on me and keep me working ever harder!

Saturday .. The two Obedience trials.  Since I felt I knew so little I wasn’t really stressed as I stepped into our first ever CKC trial but Riva did so well and we came out with 190 in our first trial and a 192 in the second. Thank you so much Liz, Kathy and Monique for the hours you spent showing me what to do with my feet, my shoulders, my head and my dog who never stops trying for me!

They were planning to do Conformation evaluation on Sunday but moved it to Saturday evening after the futurity judging so I tried to make my self and Riva look presentable (though by this time we were both needing matchsticks to keep eyes open) and the judge gave Riva an awesome score and commented that she was a lovely little bitch in beautiful shape with great angulation.  Only fault was she was a little narrow throughout but balanced.  Thank you so much to my ‘show girls ‘for telling me what to wear and how to trim feet and ears.
Since my show girls all have beautiful aussies of their own I want to thank them for their support. Thank you Janet, Mary Lou, Jo and Carly ... You rock!!

I have the biggest ribbons ever seen and some wonderful prizes.  Will try and twist someones arm to come and take some pics to share with you all..... I believe Cathy Bishop got some nice herding ones.

It truly was an excellent adventure.  I met some wonderful aussie people in all the venues and driving that long road east I was reminded of what a truly beautiful country we live in.  There is nothing quite like a prairie sky and the countryside around Saskatoon is so lovely.

I am so incredibly proud of my little dog Riva.  She worked her heart out for me and just kept doing whatever I asked of her with her usual joyful spirit.

Tomorrow will be a day for a long walk round Matheson Lake where she can swim to her hearts content and just race around and be a dog!

Thank you again for all your support.  How lucky I am to know so many awesome dog people!

Charm and Riva