When Jennifer asked Lorie Barns to take Hank and Ivy and "finish" them (AKA get their championship titles), none of us had ever dreamed we would be competing in a national championship dog show. Yet here we are, sitting 10 feet away from the ring, full press passes and being entertained by the sponsor, Eukanuba.
While traveling from our hotel to a cocktail party held at the Hyatt (which is next to Long Beach Arena), Jen commented, "I never in my life expected this..."
So what is "this" you ask? Nothing less than full press access to the entire Eukanuba National Championship as well as the Eukanuba World Challenge, an event where over 50 nations top dogs compete for a world championship title.
So how did we get here? That my friends is a long story, and I will do my best to condense yet still bring forth the breadth of the enormity of what is occurring.
Those of you who know Jen and myself know that Jennifer lost her mother to complications from small cell lung cancer about a year and a half ago. Her mother - Mildred Corner - was a breeder of Championship Rough and Smooth Coat Collies, and at the time of her passing had whelped her first litter of puppies from her own breeding stock. When Mildred passed, Jennifer became the owner of these dogs, and the responsibility of who to keep and who to sell off as pets rested on her shoulders. Luckily, she did get some guidance from her mother before the end came, and chose to keep both a male and female smooth - both of them Blue Merles. Ivy's official AKC name became "5 C's Precious Memories", and Hank's official name became "5 C's Dreams Come True."
Long time friend of Mildred - Lorie Barnes - was asked if she would be willing to "finish" Hank and Ivy. "Finishing" means to show them at various specialty and all breed shows and acquire the necessary points and victories to be considered "Champions". In the case of Hank, he championed by June of this year. And yet while all of this was going on, Hank was acquiring something called "Grand Champion" points - points given by winning a "Best Of Variety", "Best In Show", or at the judges discretion. Hank acquired enough Grand Champion points by September to qualify for the Eukanuba National Championship, and at the end of the qualification period, became 17th in the nation.
Jen received Hank's invitation in the mail, and immediately we began to figure out how we could possibly get Hank to this show. It would be the ultimate way to remember Mildred and all that she had done for her dogs. So with the help of some generous sponsors, Jen and Lorie accepted the invitation.
All of this alone can only be described as amazing, astonishing, a true miracle and a wondrous tribute to Mildred. But then Jennifer - while blogging about Hank's success and our intention to attend the Eukanuba National Championship - received a message through her blog from a representative of Eukanuba in Cincinnati (Eukanuba is a brand owned by Proctor and Gamble, located in Mason, Ohio). She saw Jen's mention of Hank's success and our intention to attend Eukanuba, and asked if Jen would like to also blog about the event while she was here.
Well, this has turned out to be an outstanding opportunity for both of us. Not only did we have dinner Friday night with representatives of Eukanuba and other 2 other bloggers, but we were given press passes to the two day event, attendance of a round table discussion with representatives from the Eukanuba World Challenge (the true "Olympics" of the dog world), then a sit down with a high level AKC representative who will also be a commentator on the national broadcast (to be shown on ABC in late January). Then we were given a behind the scenes tour of the arena where the show is to be televised. We were able to walk the floor where the dogs will be judged, were given inside information on some of the special things to be done during the shows (few of which I can mention here, but soon), and then we were shown our seats. Not just any seats, but a small stage to the right of the arena with a perfect view of the ring.
Jen and I cannot believe our good fortune, but we have not lost sight of the reason we are here. Sunday morning at 8:30 AM, Hank shows in his Class - he is one of 10 smooth Collies competing in this show. Over the year, Hank has beaten all of them at one come or another, and based on the fact that many Blue Merles are being picked as best of variety, we think he has a good chance of moving on to the group show in the main ring.
What a wonderful experience for us. Please say a prayer that Hank does well. :)
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