Silky Stuff

Well, everyone pulled together for a very successful Silky National Specialty at the Fraser Valley dog show on Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful to see so many Silkies in one place. Abby and Zack may not be champions in the show ring, but they did just fine in the "Fun" classes. The Silkies in the "real" part of the Specialty show were just gorgeous. Really great representatives of the breed. Abby and Zack are more like the 'country cousins' of these much more refined looking, petite and (dare I say) silky canines. They're just much too active for me to keep their coats in the show quality and length that these dogs could boast.

In the Fun classes, Zack won "Most Alert" (why am I not surprised by that???). I thought that that was probably his best bet among the classes we entered, so I was very happy to be leaving the ring with that ribbon in hand. Next up was the "Best Topline". There were 6 dogs entered in this one. I was mighty suprised when she pulled Zack as best Topline amongst the group. I'm sure my jaw dropped. I barely had time to get him back to their crate when they called for the "Best Movement" class. The only other dog in that class was a no-show, so Zack took that first place ribbon by default. Got Zack back to their crate, and was just starting to get Abby ready for the "Best Head, Female" class when they called for the class—so she went in looking a tad on the messy side. I just didn't get time to comb out her face. She looked rather like Phyllis Diller on a bad-hair day, but I tried my best to smooth her down while we were waiting our turn on the table. There were some beautiful dogs in this line-up, all flawlessly groomed—except Abby. You can therefore imagine the stunned look on my face when the judge pointed to Abby as the winner. I guess it was all in the proportions, not the grooming, in this class.

Dave was taking pictures throughout the afternoon, so I'm hoping that he'll send along some of those that he took of Abby and Zack. If/when he does, I'll post a few here on the blog.

Meanwhile, back home, Sami spent the day with Martha and Joe, and getting to know their dog, Kennedy, and their cat, Clio. Everyone survived in one piece. In fact Kennedy is quite fascinated by the new arrival.

Today was spent on errands in the morning and puttering around in the afternoon. I was just getting set to spend some quality time on the computer when the power went out—with my dinner half-cooked in the oven. Oh well. Cold cuts on a croissant for me instead! Tomorrow should feature better fare, with Thanksgiving dinner with Mom, Martha, Joe and Joe's mom out at Mom's seniors' residence. No fuss, no muss, no bother. Tuesday is Mom's 90th birthday. Both Martha and I are stumped on what to get her. Maybe a shopping spree at Tabi??? — if we can get her to go over to Hillside shopping centre. At minimum, I'll be slaving over a hot fudge pot tomorrow, cooking her up her favourite maple fudge.

Earlier this afternoon, I was out playing with the dogs and got some fun footage of Sami and the frisbee. Go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUK3O1l8C9Y