Cassie, BPIS BIS A/C CH Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, has had a great couple of weekends this September since emerging back on the scene after her summer off. At the Sudbury Shows she won two Group 1sts, under judges Mike Jackman and Anna Hewson, a Group 2nd under judge Fred Gordon and a Group 3rd under judge Richard Lake. The nest weekend out we were at the Burlington Kennel Club shows and she won a Group 2nd under Donna Conod, a Group 1st under Cheryl Myers-Egerton and another Group 1st under Jacqueline Rusby. She then went on to win....BEST IN SHOW...September 25, 2011...under judge Cheryl Myers-Egerton. We cannot express how thrilled we are that this singleton puppy has blossomed into everything a breeder could dream of. She is certainly following in her father's footsteps (the multi BIS BISS A/C GCH Spiritrun Marlaynes Tobe Tyler). GIRL POWER!!!! (photos to come)

We had a successful weekend in Hamilton with everyone on our string doing something! Thai, the golden, finished his Canadian Championship and picked up 2 BOB's; Bailey, the malamute, finished hers by winning a BOB; Marky Mark, the malamute, picked up points towards his by winning 2 BOB's, but it was Jazz, the golden, who had the banner weekend winning 3 BOB's and a Sporting Group 3rd. Way to go Jazzy!

The Spiritrun gang had a great weekend in Corunna, MI. On Friday at the back-to-back GLAMC (Great Lakes Alaskan Malamute Club) Specialties, 'Elliott' won RWD in the first show and then won WD, BOW in the second show (both 5-point majors) to finish his American Championship from the Bred-by class. Later that day he earned his CGC, with no preparation. His 'stay' was weak, but his recall was the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life. I might have to get a video of him doing his recall, Elliott-style, one of these days. 'Elliott' is now American/Canadian Champion Spiritrun's Grandstand Man, CGC.    The next day 'Deuce' and 'Lucan' placed first and second respectively in the Open dog class, both owner-handled, and 'Deuce' went on to win the 4-point major going WD/BOW with Colleen Ann Belanger handling. 'Lucan' earned various placements in Open class all weekend with Annika Card piloting him. 'Elliott', in his debut as a special, made the cut in breed, both times out and showed very well.

A huge THANK-YOU to Janette Slusher and the Great Lakes Alaskan Malamute Club for their wonderful weekend and hospitality. We loved the venue and the prizes were amazing. Spiritrun votes for this venue for future GLAMC Specialties!

We also would like to extend a 'Bon Voyage' to Darren, Annika and Lucan as they embark on their year-long journey to New Zealand! Have a great time, guys, and post a lot of updates and photos on Fb!

Man oh man, have I slacked in the blog update department lately. I feel like I am pretty scattered and juggling a few to many balls. I have been traveling to shows with Cassie, Elliott, Beatrice and occasionally even Crystal, quite a bit this spring. In fact, you won't find me at home on weekends and I am very blessed to have my very own Edmund to keep it all running smoothly in my absence. Here are some highlights of our recent shows:

Purina National - Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, Cassie, wins Best of Breed all three days over a very competitive entry and goes on to win a Working Group 2 on Saturday night at the Purina National under judge A. Zee and a Working Group 1st on Sunday under judge C. Myers-Egerton. This is a very prestigious show in Canada with an international panel and large, competitive entry, so suffice it to say, it was a thrilling weekend! And miss Beatrice made her show debut at this big overwhelming show and managed to attain her first points. Yay Bea!

American Shows - Ch Spiritrun's Grandstand Man, Elliott, and Cassie have been in the US regularly, too as Elliott is working on completing his AKC Championship. He picked up points in December in Cleveland, a reserve to a major in Connecticut River and then collected both of his majors at Syracuse, leaving him with now only one point needed to complete, we think :-/ Crystal, at 12.5 years old, came with us to Connecticut River Working Dog to compete in Veteran's Sweeps. She came 2nd in her class on the first day and won her class the next. She had a ball!

Just this past weekend we ventured through Algonquin Park to find ourselves in Petawawa for the Champlain shows. Cassie earned a Working Group 4th under judge D. Windsor and Bea worked on her ring skills. We were the only mal entry. Six month old Golden retriever, Thai, was handled by me and won the Puppy Sporting Group on Friday in show #2 and his first points by going WD/BOW/BP on Saturday. Yay Thai!

Sipping my coffee now before bathing the crew for our annual trek to Harrisburg, PA for the Specialties there. Crystal, Elliott, Cassie and Bea are all entered. All I know is I need a bigger van...

We had a great time at the Cleveland Cluster this past weekend. I showed Elliott, Can CH Spiritrun's Grandstand Man to two BOW wins and two RWD wins, and a BBBE in Breed win. He showed wonderfully.

Uncle Deuce, in his nakedness, managed some conformation placements but the BIG DEAL for his was earning his first AKC CD leg with a high score of 180! So awesome for Deuce and owner-handler Colleen!!!

Our travel buddy Laura Heft earned a BOS and a couple of Select Bitch awards on her beautiful girl, Tassi, too!

Here are some video clips from YouTube. Visit our YouTube site for more!

We had a great time as we do when everyone on our "team" comes home successful! Lucan, Spiritrun's Hunt for Lucanus, was BOB Friday and Saturday for another 3 points and Gambit's daughter Sunii, Howlingpines Has Come to Shine, was BOB on Sunday for another 2 points.
Mr Magoo, Pam Meyer's SWD Dachshund whom I had the pleasure to handle for the first time, experienced his first show weekend at 8 months of age, and it was a busy one. In addition to the all-breed regular classes each day, he had a specialty each day, capping it off with the DCC National Specialty and sweeps on Sunday. We had tough competition! The #1 SWD was up from the US to work on his Canadian Championship. He took all the dog points Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the points we available again and Magoo just had to get past his very nice brother in his class. He did, when it counted and he earned his first point at the regular show on Sunday morning. That afternoon, our friend and "team-mate" Jenn Oliver, took the dog points with my first SWD love, Victor, who went WD at the National to finish. Nice!!! Mr Magoo, went RWD which wraps up an awesome weekend and a wonderful start to his show career! It is fun to learn another breed!!!

The Spiritrun gang has just returned from another successful weekend at the Palisades and Ramapo shows in August, NJ. The AMCA NY/NJ Area members hosted a Regional Specialty on Saturday and our new "special" Cassie, Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Singular Sensation, went Best of Opposite Sex under breeder-judge Illona Chu. Our 12+ veteran bitch, Crystal, Am/Can Ch Spiritrun's Arctic Crystal, ROM CAM, showed very well in the BOB line-up with Regina Caldwell handling her for me.
On Sunday, at the supported entry, Elliot showed very well and won Best of Winners. Thanks again to Regina for helping me handle multiple dogs and showing Elliott in the BOB ring for me as I has handling the rip-snorter, Cassie who earned a Champion Select award that day.
News from Colleen and Deuce from the weekend: "He did it....his first leg towards his Canadian CD and a prize for high scoring spitz dog! He got a new stuffed pheasant and his prize was dog cookies and malamute cards and a flat fox!"
That is an awesome load of loot for Loose deuce and I know he is happy about that! Especially the Flat Fox!