Brat Prince Birthday

Lestat is 4 today, *Happy Birthday my darling* I can't quite believe I have had him in my life for so long, it seems like only yesterday I was bringing this sweet, fat little Lab puppy home for my birthday (a lovely gift given to my by me LOL)
He was hilarious, every time my boyfriend would have one of his sneezing fits, Lestat would bolt around the apartment like a mad thing, barking his head off and spinning.
He has grown out of that now (much to my dissapointment) but still goes a little silly every now and then and I see that little pup in him again.
It has been something of a trial with Lestat, he suffers from terrible hip dysplasia (my fault for not buying from a reg breeder, live and learn!) and for awhile we where very worried about him. But I named him well, Lestat is tough and still going strong. With any luck i will have many more wonderful years with him.

And now for some pics, sadly no puppy ones as I didn't have a camera at the time.

Henty Show

Well to be honnest it was a disaster from the very begining!
We got lost on the five hour drive it took to get there, finding out later that there was a faster way to go but google maps decided to give us the run around and take us the long way round......sigh....the tempreture soared as we went down, it was horrible!
Its a nice early twenties here at home right now but at Henty it was coming in at around thirty something and it felt so much worse and the dust! Oh it was everywhere.
Mistral was clean when he stepped out of the car but it only took five minuets standing around for him to be filthy again! It just went everywhere, we where all filthy at the end of the day.

So I was in pain from the tattoo I had done the other day and wasn't able to run around the ring with Mist, another disaster as the only other person there to handle him was my OH and he had never shown a dog before (except when he was about 5 with his mothers Newf) so had no idea what to do, he was getting stressed and annoyed, Mistral was nervous as my OH never handles him and the poor baby had no idea what was going on and I was frustrated at not being able to move as freely as I would have liked and just done it myself.
Not exactly what I would call a relaxing situation.

But we muddled threw with some help from some lovely Sibe exihibitors we know and eventually took home Puppy Class, Dog Challenge and Best of Breed.

So the day wasn't a total loss but I can tell you that the few weeks without shows will be very welcome, its too hot right now, Mistral is badly out of coat and we are all exhausted with the amount of running around we are currently doing.
Here's hoping that when we got back in March things will be cooler and looking better.
S.

We Got A Group Win!

As the title would suggest today was the first time Mistral got a group win!
Best Puppy of Group!
I could not have been more proud of him.

I had been worried as once again he made a joke of everything in the sweeps, I am begining to think Mistral is just not a morning person, and found a new love in a sweet little British Bulldog, not exactly what I would have thought was his taste, but each to their own I guess.
So after this performance I was sure we would bomb in class as once again his lovely sister was there and she was directly against him, honnestly I was sure she was going to get it!
Not only that but his Grandchampion grandmother was there as well as his stunning father Storm, who is still one of, in my opinion, the most beautiful dogs (he took out Best of Breed) so we had some really big shoes to fill!
(Below his beautiful father Storm)

But it would seem that fate smiled on us today.
He managed to get threw puppy class really well, finally understanding that wiggling and kissing the judge was not the way to get browni points and moved like a dream!

When it came time for group we all filed in.
Even when showing the Newf i had never won group so when I judge came up to me I almost died! I could control my shock and utter joy that we had managed to get group. I think the judge was happy about how thrilled i was, she was smiling almost as much as myself, hell I'm still grinning like an idiot and its been hours since we got home.

He didn't do so well in Best Pup in Show, he was tired and very hot and eventually it went to a lovely little Japanese Spitz. I was just happy to get a chance there.
We are really hoping that this will only be the first of many good wins for my darling boy who seems to be getting better each time.

S.

Bungendore Show

Mistral did well at the Bungendore show today. After making an absolute mockery of the 6 to 12 sweeps by barking his head off almost the entire time and wiggling, trying to kiss the judge and then deciding that standing around was really boring and he would rather leave the ring, and we where standing around awhile as there where 17 other dogs (it ended up going to a stunning like blue roan cocker spaniel), he picked up really well in his class by taking puppy dog and then dog challenge. So yay, more points!

I am really hoping that his awful behaviour first thing this morning is only due to the fact that it has been awhile since he was in the ring and at his age had simply forgotten what he should have been doing. Lord knows he sometimes has the attention span of a moth. Sometimes its hard to believe that he has gotten first place in obediance!

I was worried about what his coat would do though, after all the hair loss he is looking much less Samoyed and more short coated dog with massive tail but thankfully I was able to get him looking somewhat normal again and it payed off aparently!

Well thats it for now, another show next weekend and with any luck this time he will be far more focused in the ring.

I Can Feel A Breeze

The fabled coat blow of the Samoyed has begun and my house is looking like a winter wonderland, if only it where as cool!
I am begining to wonder if maybe buying a better vaccum would be the way to go seeing as though my old one just isn't doing the job anymore.

Poor Mist is feeling somewhat sorry for himself however.
He is itchy from losing the hair and has to have warm baths more often then he would like and the constant grooming is starting to tell on us both!
But I guess this is what I must put up with when I own this breed, believe me is is a small price to pay for such an amusing companion.

With all the hair loss Mist actually looks like he has become much, much smaller!
I always knew there was a dog under all that hair!

Another Show

Another show come and gone and wow I am exhausted!
Two day shows are all good and well but by the end of the second day everyone is dead tired.
Lestat came along too, he loves his shows and has been dubbed camp white fluff's offical cheerleader.
He did a good job as usual.
I was amazed at how tired Mist was, he even refussed to play with his new tug toy, a very strange occurance for him as he is toy obsessed!

We didn't do nearly as well at this show, in fact the first day we utterly bombed! It was disheatening after such a wonderful first show, but Mist was an angel, doing everything I asked of him and the only complaint I had was him wriggling again for the judge, she wasn't too happy about that at all.
The second day was better, Mist took puppy in class so no points but another shiny blue ribbon. I know the points are the part we should be working for but I am new to this and like getting my ribbons, Mists breeder seems to find it amusing but i guess when you have been at it for so long things and you get so many ribbons you begin to get sick of it. We did get to see Mistrals lovely Uncle Neo, a very hansom boy, along with his grandmother, a charming bitch named Mishka (she is the one pictured on the left) and Mistral couldn't get enough of her. She is such a lovely dog, so sweet and cuddly, a really lovely example of the breed, its nice to know Mist has such lovely dogs in his breeding.

His brother and sister where there again as well. Mist and Star just had to be together again and it would seem that they don't like being seperated. At one stage I was all the way on the other side of the show ground and we could hear Star barking (for those who have never herd a Samoyed bark its definatly very easy to hear) and Mist barked one and she was quiet. It was really very strange. Barney is a much quieter dog, he definatly dosn't male as much noise as the other two but is definatly just as sweet. Here he is pictured giving my OH a nice big Samoyed kiss.
The number of Samoyeds entered was pretty amazing. They are not an overly common breed in this country, I believe many are turned off by the coat and the belief that they can't handle the heat which couldn't be further from the truth and I it was really nice to see so many of them out and showing off the breed, daunting for a newbi like myself but nice. But with all the fun I think Mist had the best time at the end of the weekend when we where packing the car to go home. It was hot and like most arctic breeds Mist likes to dig himself a little hollow when it it hot to keep himself cool. He found a wonderful place under the car and settled in the red dirt, making sure to roll around and get nice and filthy. thankfully this was at the end of the weekend and he didn't have to stay spotless after that, but how could I have stopped him when he was having such a good time!


With any luck the next show will be better and we can continue our quest for 100 points!
S.

First Place

Like we didn't have enough to do this weekend Mistral had his obediance trail on too.
I was worried that the show would proove too much for him and he wouldn't be able to perform to his usual high standard.

I was pleasently surprised.
He wasn't the most focused he has ever been but we came away with first place and another blue ribbon to put on his ribbon wall.

Not bad for a little dog who treats everything as a chance to play and every time we see another dog he loses what is left of his mind.

I will admit I was stunned, I was sure I had herd it wrong when they called out our names. His breeder will be very impressed as he is very interesed in his dogs not only being physically beautiful but prooving that they are not just pretty faces, as the samoyed is a working breed and its surprising how many people seem to think them very difficult to train.

But we are now of school holidays, no more obediance again until Feb, thankfully, I will admit I really need a break!
Mist will miss playing with his friends but I am sure he will get over it when he finds something better to do, like picking on Lestat.

S.