Back In The Saddle Again!

Helloooooo......we are baaaaaack!   So, the last time I blogged about our Bullies, Emmett was just eight months old and had just come back from San Jose, California where he had won the Best White Puppy in Sweepstakes.  It would be fair to say that the adrenaline rush from that trip and win has stayed with me for a very long time....well, now, it is coming up on Emmet's fourth birthday so I guess it has worn off a bit!

Did I say four years old?  Yup....I have been very remiss in keeping this up.  Emmett is a handsome young man now and we have added a Bully girl to our home as well.  You'll get an introduction a bit later.

The past three years and four months have been full of everything that life can throw at you.  There have been some very deep valleys that we have gone through.  This coming year, 2013 is going to be our best ever in both personal and business lives.  We can't wait for it to commence.

I will be posting photos of Emmett....our little Bully girl, Minnie and of course our very good looking Australian Shepherd, Fizzbo.  I'll work at being humorous with my prose and hopefully slightly entertaining to boot.

I'm glad to be back!












Author: MarkandLaura Anderson

Emmett - 8 Months Old!

We can  not believe that Emmett is already 8 months old.  He is growing like a weed - a very solid weed.  Below is a photo of him looking very grown up and very handsome in our opinion.

We love his squinty little varminty eyes (no we did not have him pointed into the sun).  His head is big and fat and boy when he hits you with it you know it.  We are always careful to know where our chins are in relation to the top of his muzzle when we are close.

EMMETT - BEST WHITE PUPPY IN SWEEPSTAKES!

Ok, so we are just a little proud of our boy - Action Right Up My Alley - Emmett.  On Thursday evening, October 15th Emmett was entered in the National Specialty Puppy Sweepstakes.  He was the youngest white puppy entered at just a few days shy of seven months old.  There were two pups in his class and under Franne's direction he won first place.  Before I forget, a huge thank you to Linda for once again working her magic and helping Emmett look like a star for his big debut.  I could never do it without her and she has been a doG send to me as he mentors me in the world of Bullies.

After his first place win we got to wait around for the best white puppy of all class.  While in the staging area a very tall man speaking spanish into a recording device was circling around us.  I was alarmed at first and then realized that he was taking notes about Emmett!  He turned out to be Arnoldo Salazar from Mexico.  He has Arnold's Bull Terrier kennel.  He apparently really liked Emmett.  My head was swimming by this time and it was almost time for Emmett to go back in the ring.  Here are video's of the Best White Puppy Class.  It should have been one video but I was so excited I stopped the camera accidently and then had to re-start it.  So, part one and part two......





Emmett won best white puppy and it was such a thrill.  It was hard to believe it was our pup in the ring.  Just goes to show that what they say is true.  A calm person on the end of the lead can work wonders - even with an inexperienced puppy.  He looked so good to me and looked like he had been doing it forever.  What I liked the most was seeing his tail wag and his ears up.  He was happy to be there and that is what matters most to me.

I need to run and do some actual work so will post more later about the trip!

SILVERWOOD AND THE BTCA NATIONAL SPECIALTY - SAN JOSE CALIFORNIA

Whew, what a whirlwind trip it was for Linda, Kathy, Emmett, Kissy and myself. We left Minnesota on Sunday October 11th for San Jose California. We were all excited to go and the dogs of course slept most of the way.

Little Mr. Emmett started out in the larger wire kennel with Kiss in the Vari-Kennel. It didn't take long for the pup to realize that there was a towel above his head separating the kennel from the suitcase resting on it. We soon heard ripping and tearing and looked back to see him pulling the towel through the bars and shredding it. Still not sure how much went down his gullet but were glad that he suffered no blockage. From that point on he was in the Vari-Kennel which of course was much more boring. He did know how to get our attention when needed. He would stand up and hit his water bucket from below sending water all over the inside of his crate. He would then bark like mad to let us know that it was time for a potty break. Linda was very good at growling at him and staring to get him to stop. He knew not to mess with her.  He also destroyed his kennel pad by tearing a huge hole in it and pulling out the stuffing.  That went into the trash and for a few days the fiber batting found it's way through his system and back out into the world.

The Prisoner

The first day found us in North Platte Nebraska which just two days earlier had had 18 inches of snow.  It was piled up everywhere.  I will mention here that each time I took my turn behind the wheel the weather would turn for the worse.  There were a few white knuckle moments as rain turned to sleet and ice built up on the mirrors.  Through it all, cars and semis would fly by at 75 or more miles per hour.  It was craziness and when the going go rough, the wheel was turned over to Linda.  It was her van and if anything was going to happen in bad weather I did not want to be driving!

Our motel stays were an adventure to say the least.  We stayed in a Motel 6 the first evening and it wasn't horrible.  Night two found us in Salt Lake City where the splurge was on two rooms.  One for Linda & Kissy and one for Kathy, Emmett and I.  I forgot to mention that the first night was sleepless for me.  Emmett would not settle down.  We left the kennels in the car as they were really packed in there so I put a leash on him and wrestled with him the entire night.  We also went out a lot and walked through ankle deep snow in my Sponge Bob Square Pants pajama bottoms and flannel red top with puppies all over it.  Truly I was the epitome of fashion.  So, night two was a posh place and Emmett was still being naughty.  We all gathered in Linda's room for supper and Emmett started barking.  Within moments the phone was ringing with a complaint from the front desk.   We skulked off to our room and I decided to try and get some work done.  I set up my computer, tied Emmett's leash around my waist to keep him near and worked for a bit.  He of course laid down and fell asleep.  Night two was not much better but at least the room was beautiful and the weather was warmer - no snow - so my middle of the night potty stops with Emmett were a tad more enjoyable.  I think I also forgot to mention that Kissy was just coming out of season on this trip which made her very attractive to my young stud muffin.  She was having none of it and Emmett has the scars around his lips to prove it.

 

Kissy trying to get her point across

We stopped along the way to take a look at the Bonneville Salt Flats.  What an odd thing to see.  Looks like a lake that is iced over.  Here are a few photos of that too....

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The weather was beautiful!

From Salt Lake City Utah we continued on to Reno Nevada.  I took the wheel for awhile and as became the joke, the weather turned.  It started to rain and soon I could see that there was slush and ice on the road.  This didn't make sense because the outside temperature gauge on the van said it was 50 degrees.  So, the debate began as I felt the van slip and cars and trucks whizzed by.  I was not comfortable going on so we stopped at the worst rest stop ever.....a line of pit toilets that smelled like nothing I've ever smelled before.  Linda took over and we got in to Reno after dark while the rain kept coming down.

Rain and sleet and me hanging on tight.

This stop was also a Motel 6 and was at this point in the trip the worst yet.  It was small and smelled of sewer back up and the fan didn't work.  We ordered a pizza that was not so great and turned in knowing that in the morning we were a short 245 miles from our destination.  Over 2100 miles in 3 1/2 days!

That morning I took Emmett for a stroll around the motel.  I felt bad at how much the dogs were cooped up during the drive so wanted to get a few of his ya ya's out before the trek to San Jose.  As we turned a corner we came upon a young trucker and his unleashed, no collar pit bull mix.  We startled each other and the dogs immediately went in to a stare down.  Emmett's hackles went up and the Pit took a step forward.  I calmly told the young man to please grab his dog and grab him now.  He had to wrangle him by his back legs to pull him away from us, all the while uttering apologies.  I turned on a dime and walked away, heart pounding.  I told him to leash his dog.

By the time we found San Jose the rain was coming down so fast and hard that we had to get off the 6 lane expressway just to gather our thoughts.  We hit up a Safeway food store to replenish our water supply...Linda loves D'sani and the dogs were given bottled water also during the trip.  We didn't want any upset stomachs because of strange water.  Once the rain moved on the weather was beautiful.  We couldn't believe that it was 81 degrees.  I walked around for four days with my face pointing to the sun, soaking up as much of it as possible and replenishing my vitamin D stores.

The DoubleTree hotel was wonderful.  After two nights of substandard accommodations we  felt like we walked in to the Taj Mahal.  Our room was large and comfortable and on the first floor which made unloading the van a breeze.  We shared our room with two other women and one more dog making the total five humans and three canines.  Amazingly it went very well.  None of us were high maintenance and we enjoyed each other's company.

Time to post this and then find a few more photos to add.

YES WE KNOW THE WAY TO SAN JOSE.....

....Well, I'm not sure who will be looking at this besides myself, Linda and maybe Carolyn but yes, we are on our way to San Jose and this year's Silverwood/Bull Terrier National Specialty shows!

It will be a long road trip for Linda,Kathy, me, Emmett and Kissy but we are looking forward to the adventure. I will try to keep up with the blog while away and add photos from our many stops as we stretch our legs...all 14 of them!

Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we make our way across this vast expanse.

See you soon!

More at the Canfield Shows

I'm pretty bad when it comes to updating this blog. Here are a few more from the Canfield Ohio shows. These photos were taken by Agnes from Bigshot Bull Terriers in Holland. Enjoy!


He was soooo tired at the end of four days.



Right and left shots - Not bad for only four months old.


Front on shot of Emmett - Franne really had him looking good.


Emmett being held by Agnes - She really loved him.

Canfield Ohio - Dog Show

I still need to add in all the photos from Camp Edelwin as there are so many good ones to post. Emmett had so much fun while visiting his new girl friends, Dora, Alex and Kissy.

On July 30th we packed up the Rabbit and with Emmett in tow we headed to Canfield Ohio for a huge outdoor dogshow at the fairgrounds. It was a long drive but we did it in one day...13 hours of driving...ugh...

At the show we finally met Franne Berez who picked Emmett from a litter of seven puppies for us. We also met Jerry and Gina D. who own Emmett's momma and kept one of his sisters, Braxton. It was so much fun to meet all of the people that we only knew via email and phone calls for all these months. We even added another state to our travels as Jerry and Gina graciously invited us to their home for a little R & R on the deck. We enjoyed great food, great company and watching the pups chase around in the yard. What a beautiful state Pennsylvania is. Thanks Jerry and Gina for the wonderful hospitality!

We saw so many Bull Terriers at this show it was amazing. I believe there were roughly 80 or so dogs to view. The entire show boasted about 3000 dogs, some breeds I'd never seen before which was lots of fun. We hope we can go back and get Emmett in the ring next time.

Franne showed Emmett off to lots of people and they all said what we already knew. He is wonderful! On Sunday before we left Franne showed him to Alison Ibbittson from Baker Street Bull Terriers.
She and her husband Scott own Emmett's grandfather, Ch. Gwynsel It's Not Unusual ROM. Emmett's father is Ch. Apprentice Man In Action. He is a beautiful brindle and white boy that drew me to the Action Bull Terrier website. Below are photos of the boys side by side. Not sure how old Iolo and Manny are in the photos but Emmett is just four months.




Alison loved Emmett and said that his type was "right up her alley". The minute she uttered those words we knew we had found Emmett's registered AKC name. So, on Tuesday when we returned to work I did the online registration and received his certificate in the mail on Saturday. Emmett is now officially registered as:

Action Right Up My Alley

Thank you Alison!

Time to fly for now....will get on the stick and get the camp photos as well as a few more dogshow photos posted soon!