So little time to blog . . .
I had to work 10 days straight as penance for going on vacation. But they were not unproductive days.
On Thursday not only did I have to watch on Facebook as the Pilot x Ell puppies were being born, but Missy brought Huxley’s daughter Minnie to the office.
Minnie got to meet Texas Bud Lite Sissy for the first time. Texas Bud needs some exercise, having grown into a somewhat Hefty Hamster of late.
Minnie found that dads are good for cuddling. And make good pillows.
Hux says that having kids at the office really tires one out.
Beautiful spring weather is appearing early in the Rogue Valley. Tom and I took lunch-time walks in Touvelle Park along the river. Then yesterday Molly and Huxley and I went to SOKC handling practice in Central Point.
Molly still needs work in standing still.
Huxley is trained but will need some brushing up and conditioning if he decides to try for the new AKC Grand Champion title. Wally should try for it, too. I don’t even question whether Pilot should compete.
Yesterday and this morning I did some updates to sokc.org and finished setting up a Facebook page for the club. And this morning I helped Chase add a journal page to his website.
Monday evening we had an SOKC meeting. My friends made be very happy and a little embarrassed when they bestowed an annual club award on me.
On the back “Outstanding Sportsmanship”. Thank you all so much. There were others who deserved it at least as much as I.
I do consider sportsmanship one of the most important attributes an exhibitor should strive for. Helping the club, maintaining a positive attitude, and teaching those new to the sport are crucial goals.
I didn’t get to watch Westminster this year, as we were on vacation and the motels had really bad/unwatchable feeds. I learned that one of our club members had taken the breed with her Boston. Congratulations, Bev. But here’s the tragic part. One of our former members was watching Bev’s dogs while she was in New York. Nobody had heard from Janis in several days. Her daughter went to check on her, and found that she had unexpectedly passed away.
This is not the first time that something like this has happened. I remember a few years ago in Portland that a judge didn’t show up for his assignment. Club members went knocking on his door when he didn’t answer the phone. It gets one to thinking: of course it’s horrible for the humans involved but think also of what could happen with the dogs. What if dogs were left in crates alone for four days without food or water?
Most of us don’t live alone, or if we do we have jobs to report to and people would notice if we didn’t show up. But after retirement, it would be easier to be missed.
It could be beneficial to set up some kind of call-list, especially for those who don’t keep in touch with other regularly. There could be a network which would also have instructions on the care of animals in the event of the owner’s death. Maybe a nominal fee to pay for the service. I’m just kicking around ideas here, what to you guys think?