Sunday, September 29, 2013

Blazie at the IABCA Fort Worth Show!

This September the IABCA held their first show in Fort Worth, Texas! We were very excited to finally have a show that we could attend held "in our back yard" so to speak. :) Zak and I went together and we took Blazie. Though Zak did not bring his camera, the professional photographer at the show got some nice shots of our girl.

Above, the best stacked photo we got of Blazie! Below, Blazie struts her stuff in the show ring. The show was in a large arena that often hosts horse events. Though the floor was dirt, it was well-packed and gave excellent traction for achieving a nice flying trot!

Blazie completed her National and International Adult Championships with IABCA at this show. She also got a point toward her adult Championship by earning herself a first place in Herding Group under judge Mike Loller! The show photographer had a very nice set-up so we had Blazie pose for some photos. She didn't really want to stretch out standing up on that silly podium, though!

All told from this show Blazie earned:

4 Best of Breed

1 Herding Group first place (earning her another point toward her official ISSR Shiloh Championship)

1 Herding Group second place

3 Herding Group third places

AND she won the Rare Breed Adult Reserve Best in Show!!

We hope you will join us in congratulating Blazie and that you've enjoyed the update. :) Thanks for reading!

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Blazie's a Puppy Champion!!

This is very belated but I am very happy to announce that Blazie is a Puppy Champion! We went to Colorado to the IABCA show up in Loveland at the beginning of May, and she won Bred-by-Exhibitor Best in Show and her final point toward her title! Above you can see her posing with her ribbon and the judges who thought she was a beautiful girl with a lot of potential (well...once she grows into those legs!).

Blaze has had the summer off, but we will be attending the IABCA show in Fort Worth in September. Stay tuned!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Blazie at the CSSC Specialty Show!

Our local chapter of the Shiloh Shepherd Dog Club of America had a Specialty (Shiloh Shepherds only) show this past weekend and Blazie went to strut her stuff in the ring! She got herself a couple of very pretty ribbons but sadly lost to the plush puppy for Best In Show.

Blaze needs ONE more point for her Puppy Championship so it looks like she's got more showing in her future...we are looking at heading up to a show in Colorado next month! Wish her luck!!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Blazie At Six Months!

We just put up an update over at Blazie's litter blog (kyriepistonlitter.blogspot.com) but we had a lot more photos so I thought I would put them up over here. :) Welcome to Blazie at six months old!!

Blazie loves fall and usually has a leaf in her mouth...and the cooler weather is great to run around in!

It's tough to tell how a pup will turn out at eight weeks, but lately we are very happy with Blazie's movement, especially her reach! She has an easy, floating gait that we are hoping will mean she will do well in the show ring. :) She's not moving much faster than a walk in these shots so you can imagine how well she can extend when she's really in motion!

Lately Blaze is in that awkward stage where she is all legs and ears! In fact her ears are so tall right now that we have taken to calling her "Bunny". She mostly ignores us and would like to inform her fans that she is sure that she will grow into her ears eventually!

We hope you've enjoyed these pictures of our not-so-little girl (she is 25" and 60 pounds at just under six months!). Thanks for reading, everyone!!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Blazie in Santa Fe!

Earlier this month Zak and I took off for a vacation to see our friends in Santa Fe--and we brought Blazie along with us!

We stayed in a very nice hotel. Santa Fe is a very dog-friendly city, and Blazie charmed everyone she met--guests and employees both! She did fantastic in the hotel room. The Hotel Santa Fe will even get one of the employees to dog-sit for you if you ask!

Blaze had all sorts of new experiences exploring the city with us. :) All the mountain and desert smalls were new to her, and the hotel was the busiest we have stayed at! She saw a train for the first time (very loud!), sat with us at a restaurant, and stayed with friends who were strangers to her while Zak and I socialized and went out to dinner. Once, as we were walking to the 2nd Street Brewery for lunch, a little boy (maybe all of four years old) we met on the street walked up to Blaze, opened her mouth and looked inside! Plainly that kid is going to grow up to be a lion tamer! Blazie stood for it, though she sure did look surprised!

The only complaint our girl had: This city needs more grass! It was very odd doing "business" on gravel! ;)

Above, Blazie and Zak posing at the Santa Fe Railyard! This area is surrounded by galleries and restaurants. Trains run right through the square! Below you can see the tracks, with the mountains in the distance. While we were eating a train started up and passed by us only about a hundred feet away! Blazie was startled at first but calmed down quickly once the very loud monster didn't make a move toward us. :)

While Zak and I were out to dinner Blazie stayed with our friend Raya at her house. Below is the view from her back deck. Blaze had a better view of the mountains than we did at the restaurant!

All in all Blazie did wonderful on her first vacation with us. She is such an easy dog, and a joy to travel with. Our friends fell in love with her! We think that Santa Fe probably hasn't seen the last of Blazie!

Thanks for reading, everyone!!

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Blazie's First Show!!

Blazie had her first show this weekend! We are attending the Glen Rose, TX IABCA show, and as you can see above, Blazie has some news! Read on to find out what that giant ribbon is for... ;)

First off, Blazie decided upon arrival in the arena that my chair was obviously meant to be hers. She climbed right into it and got so comfortable there that I just nabbed another chair for me and let her have it! We didn't even get her crate out of the car. She was so happy there that she even fell asleep!

Blazie: "Mom, this is MY chair! You get another one!"

Blazie: "Soooo comfy...it's hard work being an award-winning show puppy!"

Blazie's brother Aslan (formerly Brownie) came also, and we finally got some new photos of him!

A quick standing shot--hard to get! Aslan is always on the move!

A nice outdoors shot. Yes, his fur is really reddish! I think he got his grandpa Warba's coloring. :)

In the ring for Herding Group...yes, Blazie is ashamed to say that in Show 2 she was beaten by a BOY! Yuck! ;)

Both pups came away with many admirers (and a few more people who have decided that the ISSR Shiloh Shepherd is the dog for them!). And with cuteness like this, could you blame them?!

So on to results. :) In Show One, under Judge Juliann Bitter, Blazie was the only Shiloh, so she went Best of Breed, plus Best of Breed Bred-by-Exhibitor. However, she went on to take TWO GROUP FIRSTS--both in regular and in Bred-by-Exhibitor Herding Groups! She beat enough dogs in both Herding groups to get a total of four points toward her puppy Championship, including a three-point major!

And when the dust settled at the end of the day, husband and wife Judges Pat and Nelson Huber decided that Blazie deserved further recognition--and she came away with a large purple Reserve Best In Show rosette!!

Blazie being examined...

The lineup for Best In Show! Note that the German short-haired pointer in front of Blazie is a few days short of a year old...and Blaze is almost as big!

Got that ribbon!!

Dog shows are hard work, and there's a lot going on, especially for 15-week-old pups! Both of them completely crashed when we got back to "camp" and we took them back to the hotel soon after. Tomorrow we have two more shows...we'll hope to score a couple more photos and maybe another ribbon! Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Friday, September 7, 2012

Blazie at Twelve Weeks!

We're a little late with this update so I'll skip the chat and jump right in with the photos! ;) I have taken a lot of pictures over the last couple weeks...AND I just got a new camera so you can look forward to even more!

First off, you've probably noted that Blazer is just full of personality. Here are some of her favorite expressions!

Serious Blazie:

Silly Blazie:

Perplexed Blazie:

The stand:

The auto-stack!

What's in the grass??

Blazie and Leo:

Blazie and Momma Kyrie. Wait up, Momma!

I love you, mom...

Blazie brings her bone!

Blazie taking a rest...

And Blazie just being her super-cute self!

Thanks for reading, everyone!!