News 2008!

 

12.31.08

Thank you to all of our friends who sent us Chrismas cards this year!
To see them click HERE

 

12.20.08

 

 

Isis & Meile in Gettysburg

 

 

 

9.15.08

Isis went WB & BOW for a 3 point Major, under Judge Charles E Trotter, earning her

NEW AKC CHAMPIONSHIP!

Congratulations Isis!

 

8.30.08

Meile attend her second show weekend at a UKC event.  She was chosen as
Best In Show Puppy
in show one!  It was her last chance to practice before the Nationals!

8.24.08

Isis showed in Elgin Kennel Club shows this weekend. That was her last ring practice before the Nationals. She came home with a Reserve Winners Bitch ribbon on Sunday.  See the show photos here!

8.16.08

Meile had her show debut over the weekend at a series of IABCA shows.  She did very well, getting the highest rating and some nice comments from all four judges.   She has earned her National IABCA Puppy Championship and her International IABCA Puppy Championship.   She also received 2 Group Ones!  Congratulations Meile!  See show photos here.

7.26.08

Ridgeback Rodeo!

Well well well, so I finally get to sit down at the computer and tell you that we made it back sound and safe What a weekend it was!!!! A full day would probably not be enough to tell everything about the event, but all in all this was the most amazing RR event I've ever participated! We attended Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I stayed till the last minute, LOL! I just did not want to leave! I got home at 2am and couldn't even make myself crash, because I wanted to see all the photos I took!

There was so much to do that we literally could not try out everything - agility field left untouched, even if it was very tempting and looked amazing! What we did was much more that I initially thought we would - somehow on the paper it didn't seem like we could ever run out of time! In reality, my pups were overwhelmed and overloaded each day - I could see how they were giving their all and tapping into some stored energy reserves.

We left home at around 1am Friday morning, and arrived at the rodeo at around 10am. As soon as we hopped out of the car they were calling us to do our herding. My two, seeing so much open space and so many ridgebacks, were going crazy with excitement! Adrenalin pumping, we signed up for herding. Isis was to go first. As we were standing by the ring, both Isis and Gabby were staring at the sheep all interested and unsure at the same time - it was the first time they saw sheep I was so certain that Isis would be clueless in the ring.

Au contraire, Isis was all game!!! It seemed like she knew what to do from the get go! It was me, who was unsure about it all - some facial expressions on the photos are too funny, LOL! So, all proud and happy with my little girl, with a HIC certificate in the hand, I went to get Dodo. Well, here goes a different story.

Oh, Dodo did not care for the sheep. He looked at them and thought, and thought, and thought, not really sure what to do... If I herded them, he did, too, if I let him go and herd, he'd stop and look at me to make the first move. We left the ring, when the largest sheep began eyeballing Dodo and thinking of going after him, LOL!!! Everyone laughed that Dodo should make a great obedience dog. So we went and tested for CGC, and he passed with no training! Good boy!!! No more sheep for him

The herding instructor offered to bring Isis back for advanced training the next day, so I did. And she loved it! Just like Nitro, she showed a very strong herding instinct, managed to stay completely focused on the job, and not show prey instinct (which was one of the more prominent issues with some of RRs, and which is pretty normal for our breed, as the instructor said).

All in all, herding was an amazing opportunity to see one's dogs react to a totally different environment and triggers! I was astonished that one of my dogs possessed so much drive for sheep - who could have thought.

 

After the herding, we settled for lunch. The sun was blazing and the heat was pretty intense, so the hounds snoozed, and we hid in the shade. Many dogs, who have qualified for bird hunting on Thursday, were out in the field working all through Friday. This was the most time-consuming and most involved testing of them all in my opinion. There were many people involved in preparation and execution, and they worked SO HARD to accommodate the dogs tested and to provide owners with information about what it is all about. After lunch - lure coursing!!! Then - an awesome dinner, a hayride, a bonfire, and many many new faces to meet!!!

 

 

 

 

Next was the hunting qualifier.  Isis went psychotic, when I took her to the field and she flushed her first bird - she was trembling from excitement, and she took off through the fields at a speed that I haven't seen even in lure coursing field!!! Her tongue was touching the ground, and she kept stopping to scent. Her eyes were wide, she looked totally wired, and you could see her whole body pulsating! I do not remember how many birds she flushed at the qualifier, but it was quite a few, and I was sooooo excited, but I have never seen Isis happier than she was in the field! Well, technically she was too happy for the hunt and they would hope for her to concentrate more the next time. She was all puppy in the field - happy as can be and lucky to have full freedom. The scent excited her above and beyond - after the qualifiers she was scenting all the people's hands trying to find who's got the birds, and she flushed the birds in the fields when I'd take her out for a walk. There were some birds wandering around the camp, so I had to watch the lead and hope to not get a dislocated shoulder, LOL!!! I KNOW she dreamt of quail that night

Here's my favorite photo of Isis flushing one of her first quails - that's the one me and Gayle agreed to be the money shot

 

You can see all of the pictures from the Rodeo here.

In case you haven't noticed, our Kennel name has changed, it is no longer Ugninis Feniksas, we are now and forever to be known as "Dykumos Deives".

 

Meile will be attending her first show on August 16th!  We wish her luck and are so excited to see how she reacts to the new environment!

 

Isis was recently featured in an ad in the Ridgeback Register!  See the ad below: