ATB: Lazy, Hazy, Crazy, Days of Summer

Pippin & Chevy's "Magnificent Obsession" Litter - 7 weeks old
(Don't forget to turn the playlist volume down to the right!)

Well, I don't know about lazy days of summer but surely I can relate to hazy and crazy days! Actually, when I came up with the title for this blog (the first one in over a week) my thoughts immediately flashed back to when I was a child and that song came out.  Very popular through the summer of 1963, my dad and I use to sing it together.  I use to giggle about the lyrics in some of the verses thinking that I was really saying something 'naughty'.  Believe it or not, John and I still have the original 45 record itself with the yellow and orange Capital Records label.  When we were babysitting a couple of months ago at our other house the grandkids thought it was cool when 'grampa' took out an old fashioned record player and went through our collection of vinyl!  Okay - so now that I've totally dated myself...

Update on Pippin & Chevy Pups - Availability
WOW.  Can you really even believe that tomorrow is the last day of June 2011?  As John says, we are heading back in the other direction now as daylight hours begin to shorten.  Even so, I sure can't say I don't know where the time has gone because I know exactly where it's gone in this situation.  The day that I prophesied about 6 months ago has arrived as I head down our walkway and stop long enough to enjoy the Sweet Williams, Peonies, and other perennials.  I distinctly remember visualizing 'this' day as I carefully made my way across the slippery, snow covered driveway leading to the warmth and comfort of what was first known as Treasure's house.  It's been a very busy, happy, and joyful place for over 6 months where friends and family have come and gone, visiting with puppies that soon were to begin the first day of the rest of their lives.  This special corner of the ATB world holds many wonderful memories for a lot of us.  It was where some who read this blog first saw what was to become their brand new Brittany puppy.  It's a place that has seen tears and heard laughter.  And soon, very soon the beautiful puppies of Pippin and Chevy, the "Magnificent Obsession" litter will also leave and begin the first day of the rest of their lives.

We have met with several soon to be new puppy owners and enjoyed getting to know folks who have been waiting with us through several litters of pups over the past year or so.  I am always certain of the level of interest someone demonstrates by the number of times they come to visit, how long they remain on our waiting list, and sometimes - how far they are willing to travel to come and meet us.  Time and time again John reminds me that he thinks I sometimes make it very difficult for someone to add one of our Brittany pups to their family. Well, I don't do that intentionally but I figure that just as surely as someone is hopefully doing their homework about us - that it's even more important for us to do ours in regards to those who are seriously interested in one of our Brittanys.  I have really done things very differently this time with Pippin and Chevy's pups in announcing availability, puppy reservations, and breeder's choice selections. I shared with those on our waiting list that we would wait until pups were 7 weeks old to make decisions and this is what we've done.  I do believe that Mopar and Tank will be available but we have not met with anyone in regards to these two particular pups although there are several very interested parties. It is extremely important that these two boys will be with families who enjoy bird hunting and if possible, I would prefer them to remain in New England, preferably Maine or New Hampshire. We do not have any further plans for our 2011 breeding program and we have a waiting list for next year. 

Central Maine Brittany Club Dog Show
Last weekend CMBC's annual dog show was held in Cumberland Maine. We had 36 Brittany entries on Saturday and 27 on Sunday.  John and I headed to the grounds Friday evening where, in the rain, we set up the clubs big tent and our own smaller tent in preparation for a grooming/hospitality area for Brittany exhibitors.  It was adjacent to the ring so it was conveinent - too bad the weather didn't cooperate!  I took a lot of pictures which are uploaded onto ATB's Facebook page.  Overall it was a really great weekend and certainly there was enough food to last the entire 2 days.  Entries were from many places including Colorado, New Jersey, New York and of course New England.  I showed Treasure in Bred By Exhibitor classes on Sunday. She looked beautiful and I feel I handled her well. I will say I did not care for the judge one iota. She did not give anyone time to set their dog up when entering the ring - she just looked at the dog and then waved you on to gait, then a quick down and back. Standing ringside it was easy to see she was too busy to even follow the gait of a dog around the entire ring.  This wasn't about Treasure not winning - it was about a judge who is rude to all those in the ring. Not only was she 10 minutes late (we were first on after a one hour break for all judges to take lunch) but she judged all 27 Brittanys within 30 minutes.  Just think about those figures.  I figure people who pay the entry fees, then the expense of traveling and lodging etc. are most certainly worth the time and attention of the judge!  I know I'll never enter under her again, and there are others who felt the same.  Unless you can walk into a ring and your dog sets itself up within a fraction of a second - forget about it! Okay... done venting.  The specialty was great - loved the judges for both sweeps and regular classes.  I'm working on the finishing touches for the official show report for the American Brittany Club. An added highlight for me was seeing Moxie and her young owner/handler there. She's not old enough to show yet but is attending handling classes taught by Penny (who handles Moxie's big brother True!). Moxie is coming into her own very nicely.

We've enjoyed the grandkids more this month than we have in quite awhile.  Their visits have been more frequent and in fact our oldest grandson had a sleepover here the other night. He woke up the next morning all ready to go fishing with grampa!  All 7 of them have interacted with the pups and I think that's so important.

As I watch the digital clock on the bottom of the monitor I see it is 11:59 P.M.  Yikes! There's a lot more to share but tomorrow is a busy day with vet checks for Pippin's babies and getting ready for the holiday weekend. Speaking of which - be sensitive to the needs of your dog(s) if there are fireworks nearby.  Regardless of the age and if the dog is trained to the gun - fireworks exploding have the potential to frighten any dog. 

Falling asleep...Take care and God bless - John, Ann and ATB