Dog Show: Cheyenne Kennel Club, 2017

This was our first time entering the Cheyenne Kennel Club Show.

Cheyenne is a short drive from our home and the Dog Show was held on the famed Cheyenne Frontier Days grounds.

I entered Nobu.

She is sensitive to loud noises and was nervous at her last show.  So I wanted to practice with her at a smaller show.  Cheyenne was the perfect choice.

We spent a lot of time relaxing in the grooming area, relaxing near the rings, and talking to anyone who was willing to spent time with her.  She made a lot of progress.

Most people we talked to had not seen a Tibetan Mastiff in person.  It was a great opportunity to talk about the overdone "Chinese Mastiffs" versus Tibetan Mastiffs who are working Livestock Guardians, as well as the difference in appearance between males and females.  Much like the African Lion and Lioness, male TMs tend to be larger with more rough around the neck, which we also call a mane and adds to the lion-look most people comment about.

Nobu was the only Tibetan Mastiff entered, which means she was able to have Group experience both days.  The size of the Working Group and my choosing to enter the ring toward the end allowed her time to get comfortable with being in the ring and the audience clapping... no matter how much one practices, there is no real substitute for the show environment and this was invaluable.

I realized on the last day that her concern with being in the ring is associated with the duct tape used to hold the mats down.  I'm not entirely sure why... there are mats with duct tape at our conformation class.  My guess is that the show-site-duct-tape was new and shiny.... so shiny duct tape is on my to-acquire list for practicing at home.

This show was incredibly clean and well organized.  I'm looking forward to next year!

Alpacamundo Monday: Fresh Hay

Fresh, Second-Cutting Hay was delivered (and stacked) on Saturday.

It was cold and misty.

The alpacas are ready for winter.  I greatly appreciate my Hay Grower.

Dog Show: Greeley Kennel Club, 2017

For this year's Greeley Show we decided to bring Gunnar and Ramen.

Ramen needed one point to finish his Championship and Gunnar is slowly working on his Grand Championship.

One of our friends helped with the handling.  She is the first person to handle Gunnar in the ring that was not me.  Gunnar adores her, so I figured he'd be willing.  Which he was... to a point.  :-)

Ramen won Best of Breed both days, over his father.  This gave him the one point he needed to complete his AKC Championship and 1 point + 1 defeat toward his Grand Championship.

The Greeley Kennel Club Show was our first and remains one of my favorites.  It's a large show, extremely well run and supported.

The Greeley Kennel Club Show was in mid-August, so since I've taken so long to write about it, I can share that Ramen is now officially recognized by the AKC as a Champion.  We have received his certificate and official photo.... I keep reading the part that says he was bred by me and Hubba.  :-)

Introducing CH Colorado's Big Bowl o' Ramen!  Our second Champion and first Bred-by Champion.

One Month?

So it's been a month since I've posted anything.

I've been busy.

Super busy at the Day Job, which is great!

Super busy with Dog Shows.... I have three to post about and another coming up next weekend.

Not too busy with fiber-ing.  Haven't had much energy for fiber between everything else that's been going on.

One thing I have decided is to not continue with the link-up for Fiber Arts Friday.  I love Fiber Arts Friday, but I haven't spent the time promoting it.  So I will continue with my own Fiber Arts Friday posts, as I have things worth writing about.

I hope you've been well.

Fiber Arts Friday: Results

I finished my shawl on Monday.  Dropped it off at the fair on Tuesday.  Judging was Wednesday.  The fair opened on Friday evening.  We went on Saturday evening.  :-)

There are two options for entering knitted items in our county fair.... Spinning and Weaving and Needlework.  I opted for Spinning and Weaving for two reasons:

1. I wasn't certain how big my finished shawl would be at the time of entry, so I wasn't sure which class to enter.
2. I was using hand-spun yarn.

The competition in the Spinning and Weaving department was exceptional and I am humbled to have been awarded Reserve in the Non-Woven class.

Now to prepare this piece for it's ultimate destination, The Rocky Mountain Raptor Program, and to start thinking about next year's entries.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Submitted

I spent most of last weekend finishing my project.

It was close.  But one good thing about summer is that blocking only took a few hours.  :-)

I'm always amazed by how nice things look after blocking.

I dropped it off at the fair on Tuesday.  I find the results out tomorrow.  Fingers Crossed for good comments.  :-)

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Fiber Arts Friday: Making Lace

With only a few rows to go, my lace panel is looking good.

I'm not claiming victory yet though.... I have a lot of YOs to get past and time is getting short... I need to be blocking by Monday if I'm going to make my submission.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!