Trip to Tacoma, Washington ~ August 2004

I would like to begin this page by thanking Becky & Ivan Giddings and all of their puppy owners for surprising me with a plane ticket to Washington for the ARC Region 1 Specialty and their puppy get-together.  Our visit was fast paced and fun filled.  Thank you to Becky & Ivan for opening their home to 10 people and 11 Rottweilers, to Hedy & Jim for catering to our every need, & to everyone else for the giggles.  I do think that we need to meet somewhere every year and am extending this as an open invitation for it to be in Bobcaygeon, Ontario, somewhere between June 28th - July 12th of 2005.

A Play by Play of our week...
Wednesday

The first order of business when everyone arrived was to do the puppies' hip prelims.  We are pleased to announce that all five (Breve, Bradaigh, Blitz, Moxee & Jazz) looked fabulous!  Moxee also had her elbows prelim'd and those also looked wonderful. Thank you to each of their owners for thier willingness to do these for us and to Dr. Deb for working it out so that we could afford to have them all done. As you can imagine, we're beyond thrilled with the results!  That done, it was time to have some fun!!!

Pups and owners went herding and Jazz, Moxee and Blitz all earned their HIC titles. Ann arrived later that evening, and despite the lost luggage, we all had a great time.  And the food...WOW!  Jim sure started the week off right by feeding us well.  Pups got along famously and it was so nice to see them all together in one place.  Jazz of course was "the man", surrounded by his four sisters.  They played and played and we talked and talked.  Below are photos of all five of the pups.

Jazz ~ The Gentleman

Bradaigh ~ The Pretty One Breve ~ The Naughty One

Moxee ~ The Smart One Blitz ~ The Cuddly One

Jazz & his girlfriend, Bradaigh, playing lovingly ;-)

Thursday at the Lake...

From left to right... Ceilidh, Alan, Ellen, Bradaigh, Elsa, Becky, Breve, Hedy, Jazz, Jim, Blitz, Beth, Moxee & Jen

Thursday we arrived at the lake.  I think that people were a bit surprised to see so many
Rottweilers come walking up, and on our way to "our" part of the lake, the pups decided to jump right
in and go visit with some children.  The kids were thrilled.  Not sure about their parents though.

Some more candids from the lake...

Blitz didn't swim as much as the others, but she sure enjoyed the trip!

The old gals enjoyed the lake as well...

Elsa ~ The start of it all

Ceilidh ~ Ready for more

Ceilidh & Alan relax

Seems we even have video from the lake!  Click Here to View.

After the lake, pups arrived home to "Ellen's Beauty Parlor" where they were bathed,
massaged, blow dried and primped in preparation for Friday's show....

Friday & the 2004 ARC Region 1 Specialty...

The big day had finally arrived!  Up and at 'em early and to the show site by 7am for 8:00 sweepstakes judging by breeder judge Liz Wertz to be followed by regular class judging by John Connolly.  This was the first show for not only the puppies, but for Hedy and Jennifer as well!  I couldn't get over how well composed these ladies were their first time in the ring.  Both did really well and the pups seemed happy and worry free.  Pictures are Jenn & Moxee (top left), Ann & Breve (bottom left) and Hedy & Jazz (below).

All four pups made a good showing, with Bradaigh (aka "The Pretty One"...above) winning her large sweepstakes class and Breve taking second.  Bradaigh was then 2nd in the regular classes, with Breve in 3rd there.  Jazz was 3rd in each of his classes as well.  Moxee did not place, but all of us felt that she could have on any given day.  She showed quite nicely.

The big news of the day was in obedience, with Alley finishing her CDX title for owner Tony Kim (left) and also going High in Trial!

Becky and Roca (above) also earned a CD leg with a very nice performance and 2nd place in the Novice B class!

A very happy Tony & Alley

 
Congratulations also to Perri Yinger and her boy Ted
on winning their first major at the Specialty!!!!

 

The show being over, we all returned home to the most amazing dinner (thanks again Jim!)...Tenderloin, three different types of Salmon & the greatest potatos!  We ate and drank and became very merry.

Saturday at the dog show and at herding...

Of course, it should be no surprise that "The Pretty One" won her class again on Saturday (Sunday too actually).  She was the only one of the pups shown these days, and made us all proud.  We spent the better part of Saturday afternoon shopping and buying more toys for the puppies to destroy.

With us exhausted, but the pups fresh and excited, we headed out to Ewetopia for more herding.  A special thanks to Joe and Linda for giving us so much time.  I was thrilled to see the promise that these young pups have (I'll give full credit for that to Roca & Elsa!) and had a very nice time talking with Joe and Linda.  Bradaigh & Ceilidh also earned their HIC titles on Saturday.  We have so many herding pictures that I can't add them all, but below are some of of my favorites...

Arnie showing them how it's done
(The pups didn't get to "play" with the ducks for reasons that should be obvious ;-).

Ewetopia also has a large field in which everyone can play!

Arnie shows the puppies how to FLY!

Eventually,  the pups were exhausted and so were we.

Our last night together proved to be an exciting one.  We eventually all said our goodbye's and do have high hopes for getting together again next year.

We also decided that "What happens in Tacoma stays in Tacoma",
including the many hightlights such as...

The Plot to Take out the Pretty One
"A Lot of People Train in Klingon"
The Manatees Next Door
"Lost Ferret"
Jazz & the Herding Stick
"Somebody Get a Grape!"
Ann & Janet's Uncanny Resemblance
"Jim's on Fire!" (thankfully, he's okay)
Vroom Vroom goes the Tonka Truck

Sunday...Photo Day!

Since we had some free time on Sunday, we were able to do a photo shoot
with both Ellen & Bradaigh and Becky & Ivan's dogs...

Bradaigh...

Mommy Roca, Uncle Arnie & Grandma Elsa...

Roca

Arnie

Three generations...Elsa on bench, Roca & Breve sitting, Arnie down.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Grandpa Cody on Sunday!
Thank you to Beverly Theissen for allowing us to visit.

 

As you can probably tell, I had a great time.  What a thrill it was to see these pups together and to meet each of their wonderful owners.  I believe that I can honestly say that every one of these puppies is in the perfect home.  Thank you to Jim & Hedy, Alan & Ellen, Beth, and Jen for giving these pups the lives that we dreamed of for them.  Your future successes will be a tribute to Becky and the decisions that she's made as a breeder.  We couldn't be more proud!

To see more of the Yngo/Roca pups, please click on their names below:

Lakina's Bend it Like Beckham HT, RN
 Lakina's Better Be Ready! HIC
Lakina's Black Pearl Jazz HT, HIC, CGN
Lakina's Bodacious Moxee HIC
Lakina's Bohemian Rhapsody HIC, CGN
Lakina's Brace Yourself HIC
Lakina's Brewed Awakening HIC
  Lakina's Bringin' Down D'Haus

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