2009 is coming…

Guess it’s time to make a little review on the downs and ups of 2008...
And to wish that 2009 will be a better year...
In 2008 I didn’t won the Euro Millions... But I got to know the Chinese Crested Dog! :-))
Kayak wasn’t shown much, but still he stroked his stuff in the show ring!
Indy finished his Portuguese Champion title in a very limited show career, and was the sire of a wonderful litter of 10 in Sweden!
Doorn (Julio’s GSD) made the BH in Portugal and the IPO I in Belgium, and is now getting prepared, as well as his mom, to go to the Portuguese Tracking Cup in January. One of his sisters will also compete, so it will be a very interesting trial to watch... I’ll keep my fingers crossed for Perle of course.... ;-)
What I wish for 2009...
Health of course... Sounds like and old wish but we all need health to keep up living... ;-)
The Euro Millions...
A nice part time job... (This can be disposable if I get to win the Euro Millions)....
That Kalyan develops well, and that I’m able to keep up with his coat...
That Kayak can sire a litter too....
That Indy’s kids can give their new owners many joys!
And the rest it’s a secret.... You didn’t expect me to tell everything here right??!!! :-))

HAVE A WONDERFUL 2009!!!!

It's Christmas time....

So it’s Christmas Eve!
Yesterday I had to go to the supermarket and my gosh don’t think I ever saw so many people there!
It’s crises time but somehow people manage to always buy some presents to their love ones and family.
That’s the Christmas spirit! To give something... To share... To be in family!
Merry Christmas to you all!!!!

Ana, Júlio, Perle, Indy, Kayak, Doorn, Bryan, Tango & Kalyan

Kalyan...

Think it’s funny the way things happen…
When I went looking for a small dog breed, I couldn’t help but to fall in love with the peculiar look of the Chinese Crested Dog!
They similarity to a small horse of course had a huge influence on my choice…
After looking at millions of websites and talking to world wide breeders, I decided to take my chance…
My first intuition was to get a Powder Puff, as I was more used to coat… And I almost did get one (and what a Powder Puff he would turn out to be) “Timegarden Paradise Punch” as I fell in love with him the first time I saw his pics! But Júlio didn’t let me have him… Luckily Mignon (Timegarden breeder) ended up by keeping him herself, and she couldn’t have made a better decision! Punch is having a fantastic show career!!!! He’s a drop dead gorgeous PP with a real proud show attitude!

Timegarden Paradise Punch

After this setback, I started to consider maybe getting a Hairless…. Almost no hair on body would mean almost no hair in the house… And maybe this could help me persuade Júlio to have a dog in the house…
The only option was to have a dog for a short time, and that would return to his owner after…
This is how I got Tango… ;-)
Tango is a wonderful dog, that even accomplished the miracle of convincing Júlio to let him be in the house (for small periods, of course)! He even sleeps next to him, when we are watching TV!
Tango’s breeder Marika (Kennel Zorrazo) was expecting some very interesting breedings for this year, and one of those breeding immediately caught my attention….
She was breeding Zorrazo Chardonay “Jive” (a beautiful PP bitch, litter sister to my favorite CC HL Zorrazo Chin Chin) to Legends Top Gun “Maverick” (a beautiful HL black and white male from a kennel I always loved the dogs)…
Could this be fate??

Legends Top Gun (photo Jenny Eriksson)

Zorrazo Chardonnay (photo Niko Karhu)

After talking to Marika we agreed that if a nice PP male would come out from this breeding I could keep him, as Tango was about to return.
When Jive finally delivered her pups October 2nd, a beautiful black and white PP male was among them… ;-)
And he had the color and markings I always wanted to have in a PWD (Portuguese Water Dog)! Could that be fate again??...
Well, Zorrazo Night and Day arrived the 15th December 2008! And what a sweet boy he is!!! He loves to run and go to distribute kisses to everyone! What a charm! :-)
Let’s see what the future reserves to us and if there was indeed some fate involved….
Here some pics of this little prince:

2 weeks old (photo Niko Karhu)

3 weeks old (photo Niko Karhu)

3 weeks old (photo Nelli Karhu)

4 weeks old (photo Niko Karhu)

5 weeks old (photo Soile Perhovaara)

8 weeks old (photo Kata Kahri)

First pics in Portugal:

Indy's kids 5 weeks old...

Indy's kids with 5 weeks old.... :-))
Aren't they gorgeous??!!!!! :-))))

BOYS:

Ammiellas Mohican Indian Boy

Ammiellas Navajo Indian Boy

Ammiellas Pamliko Indian Boy

Ammiellas Tutelo Indian Boy

GIRLS:

Ammielllas Allikilik Indian Girl

Ammielllas Anadarko Indian Girl

Ammielllas Maya Indian Girl

Ammielllas Ozette Indian Girl

Ammielllas Pawnee Indian Girl

Ammielllas Wichita Indian Girl

Belgium 2008…

The 20th November we went to Belgium for our annual trip there!
The weather was nice over here, and during the trip we only caught some rain in France.
The trip had 3 purposes... For Eross to make the SchH 3, Perle the Sph (SpeurHonden) and Doorn the GHP I....
We arrived safe and sound, and so did the dogs!
The weather in Belgium was quite bad... As far I remember since we go there in this time of the year, this was the time we caught worse weather... Rain, cold and lots of snow!!!!
Trainings were hard... Eross wasn’t much into tracking (his biggest issue) and making the 6 shelters, and Doorn of a sudden was a lot different.... He had trouble in laying down in the “Voraus” and in the last days of training stopped doing “aus”... :-((
Perle was the only one doing what she was supposed too... ;-)
So, with all this setbacks the trial day arrived.... The day before the trial we had nice weather, but for the trial day it was suppose to rain and eventually to snow....
Early in the morning there we were... It was freezing cold and rain.... I couldn’t feel my hands, and feet...
Doorn was the first to track... He did pretty well, having only a small confirmation in the second angle. He got 98 points (Best Tracking of the Trial)!!!
Then it was time for Eross... He started well until the first object... Then he simply started to invent, and unfortunately was eliminated.... :-((
Then it was time for Perle... Sph is a special Tracking Regulation that consists in a track with about 1 km length, 7 objects, 7 angles (2 of them closed up to 30 degrees), 3 hours of antiquity and a false track laid by another person....
She started perfect... But she had troubles in the first angle and lay down, marking a false object... The rest of the track was almost perfect, with Perle having only some very small confirmations in 2 angles, and she didn’t mark 2 objects (one of them was the last)...
As amazing as it seems the Judge disqualifies her giving her a total of 65 points!!! :-((
He stated that she had to be disqualified because she marked a false object and Júlio gave her the command “search”.... Nobody really got this... Júlio didn’t know if she did found an object or not, so he had to go and see, and since he found nothing he needed to give her a command to continue tracking, exactly the way he would do if she did found an object....
Well... Nothing we could do about it... But we were real happy with Perle’s work in such a hard track in such hard conditions!!!! You RULL Perle!!! ;-))
After a break to launch, the Obedince started... Doorn first.
Dogs seem to never stop surprising us... Doorn did extremely well, and made all the exercises! He even laid down in the “Voraus” at the second command! He finished with a total of 91 points!
Then Eross... He started well, but when Marco called him from the “stand” position, the dog that was laying down run in his direction and attacked Eross..... :-((
It was a stressful moment for all watching and of course, especially for Marco and Eross... Luckily he wasn’t harmed and was able to continue his trial. He did amazingly well in the apport exercises and “Voraus” considering what just happened to him! Way to go Eross!!!
He ended up his Obedience trial with a total of 93 points (Best Obedience of the Trial). The other dog was of course disqualified...
Defense work... Doorn did very well and always made the “out” perfect! So we were all very pleased! He finished with 93 points (Best Defense of the Trial).
Eross only made 2 shelters (guess he was in a hurry to find the Helper ;-)), and an amazing jump in the helpers escape! This dog sure is special! He had some minor problems in the control and his owner kind of forgot the sequence of what he had to do... ;-)) But he did well and ended with a total of 81 points.
So, in the end, only Doorn accomplished our expectations for this trial... Means we need to train more...
Doorn was also the Groeninghe Waregem Jeugdkampioen 2008 and Trial Winner. Think you can imagine how Júlio was happy with this... ;-))
We have of course to send a big THANK YOU to all the persons that support and help us during our staying in Belgium: Ira & Eugéne for the hospitality and support; to Caroline & Jan for all the help and to Bassy for all the attention and care! YOU’RE ALL THE BEST!!!
See you next year Belgium!!!!

A few pics...