A dream come true.

Just got home from the Fiesta Cluster in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Before I left for Arizona, I joked about sweeping the show with the three littermates that were in attendance. "Wouldn't it be nice if Kona won breed, Trixie won winner's bitch and Kenji won best of winners?" But to do that at a major show with some hefty competition, the stars would really have to align.

They did.

On Saturday, during the Arizona Shiba Inu Association's (ASIA) sponsored event, that is exactly what took place. (And we all have beautifully engraved plates to prove it! Thank you ASIA) It was a major in the girls to boot, and Kenji, by taking Best of Winner's also won a major that day.

We almost did it again on Sunday, Trixie won WB, Kenji took BW, both receiving 3 point majors and finishing Kenji's championship. An exhibitor called for the wicket in the Best of Breed class, so all the champions competing for Best of Breed and the WB and BW were measured to make sure they were within the height range. It took a really long time to wicket the 8 dogs in the ring - all while standing in the rain. Kona was pulled out against one other male dog for consideration but the win ended up going to the other, also well-deserving, special.

We were keeping our finger's crossed for more points for Trixie on Monday. She currently has 11 points with both majors. But the stars unaligned, the clouds rolled in, it rained, it poured and the show grounds flooded. The show on Monday was canceled.

Here is a photo of the show grounds on Monday morning when we went to collect all of our belongings from our little set up.



Never the less, Lennie/Tama puppies kicked some butt this weekend... Kenji finished his championship, Trixie is almost there, and Kona racked up his 6th Best of Breed Win.

Thank you John for his showing expertise, and to both John and Carol for everything you did! Thank you Valerie for letting Trixie and I invade your house for the week. I already miss you, Jeff, Kona and Pet-Kai. Hugs to all my Arizona friends. I can't begin to tell you how much I miss all of you already! You make dog shows loads of fun. Can't wait until Nationals to see all of you again.

Kona


Trixie


Kenji


And when the dogs weren't showing, they got to enjoy time out at the pool.