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Team Kitaco does it again in Dunedin


This weekend we were back in the South at the Waikouaiti Kennel Association shows at Forrester Park. Our team comprised, Ben (NZ CH Kitaco Ben de la Crème), Alice (Kitaco Jappy Jalapeño) and Tara (NZ CH Kitaco's Divine Miss T At Eldivino.)


Ava is coming of her last season and we have learned to our peril what a stoopid-head Ben is when he thinks there's a pretty lady around who might appreciate his attention, so she stayed at home. We took Alice instead.


Alice is a gorgeous girl and living in her pet home now with Casey and Alex, but although she is every bit as good as Ava, and was almost a champion, she'd never quite got there. Now she has had her two litters and is finished with babies. she was booked in to be spayed this week, but if we spayed her, then she'd never get those last few points to make champion. So we talked to Casey and Alex and decided, why not give her a last hurrah, and see if she can make it? Her spay was already booked so this was our last chance for her to get the last three CC's she needed to make Champion.


The last member of our team was Tara, who is spayed and in retirement in her pet home with Jen and Geoff, several other Chihuahuas and a whole lot of Main Coon cats (that Tara adores). She is such a stunning dog, though, and showed so beautifully at the last specialty show, we decided she deserved a shot in the Neuter Class, not just Nikita.


It was with high hopes. Debra and Jenny (and a rather nice bottle of reisling) headed to Dunedin. Tracey had the weekend shift at Shirley Vets, so she sent her deputies off to take care of business.


The trip down was great (Deb's 80-something mother makes delicious sandwiches for the trip and cuts them into fingers, LOL). When they got to the accommodation, however, there was a miss-communitcation between the booking agent and the landlord of the adorable little cottage rented for the weekend, which meant they couldn't get into the house. So it was off to the show grounds to snag a primo gazebo spot while it all got sorted out. Thankfully, by the time they were set up, the problem was solved so it was back to the house and dinner and a very nice bottle of Geisen's Blush Reisling which was supposed to last all weekend and didn't even make it to the end of dinner time.


Despite consuming the entire weekend's wine supply, Jen and Deb were up again at the crack of dawn, ready to head off to the show, only to discover Alice (who has an amazing coat) had sat in a soft squishy poop (or all of them - there was a LOT of poop!) and it was all over her and mashed into her tail and pants. Emergency butt-bath ensued, which is when they also discovered that this darling cottage, which was equipped with every mod con you could imagine (60" TV, induction stove, air-fryer, pressure cooker, rice cooker, etc) didn't come with a hair-dryer. Oh dear.


Lots of towels and talcum powder later, Alice's butt was finally clean and dry and it was off to the show.


In Show 1, under Australian International All-Breed judge, Silvana Tassan, Ben took Best of Breed, Alice (who behaved just like a real show dog) took Reserve Best of Breed, as well as the Best Bitch CC. Tara then stepped up and not only took Best Neuter of Breed but went on to take the Best Neuter in Group!

We were so lucky to win the Best of Breed in this show because a special prize for the long coats had been donated by Jorja Dixon and Carrie Tolley. It was such a delight to accept the special prize which was truly lovely.


Show 2 went even better. Under Australian International All-Breed judge, Sharyn Phillips, Ben was on fire and took Best of Breed again and then thrilled us all by taking Best Junior of Group!


Alice - still showing like she was Ava - took the Reserve Best of Breed for the second time, as well as another Best Bitch CC. Tara did a repeat of the morning and took Best Neuter of Breed and another Best Neuter in Group.

Day two and after packing up and saying goodby to the cute little cottage that came with everything but a hair dryer, Jenny and Deb headed back to Forrester Park, fingers crossed that Alice would keep up the good work and not roll on her back on the judging table for a belly rub from the judge or sit in the line-up with her "Puss-in-Boots" ears-back-wide-eyed-you-know-you're-going-to-give-me-that-bit-of-chicken look for which she is so rightly famous.


It also has to be noted that Debra, who only got into dog showing last year with Tinky (who was also at home in season) has been an absolute rock star. We've loved having her as part of Team Kitaco and the fact that she left Tinky at home with her mum so she could go down to Dunedin to help Jenny when we realised Tracey was working that weekend, just shows you what a great team player she is. Her charms have not been missed by others, either, it seems. While waiting to go in for the Chihuahuas, Deb was co-opted by one of the Cav people to walk a dog in the Cav line-up. You know you're getting it right when people who don't even know your name, ask you to walk a dog out for them. We are so proud of our novice handler and love having her on trips away (which is not in any way related to the fact that she travels with her own coffee machine and serves up barista-quality lattes for breakfast. Really, Not at all)


So once Debra had finished with the Cavs, it was back to the Chihuahuas. We thought Ben and Tara had already outdone themselves with 3 group wins between them. All we really wanted was for Alice to grab that last CC before it was forever out of her reach.


Whelp... she did it. Under Australian International All-Breed judge, Serge Tassan, she took Reserve of Breed and the Best Bitch CC and at 3 years and 7 months (Dog NZ approval pending) our beauriful little Alice shall henceforth be known as NZ CH Kitaco Jappy Jalapeño!



But the fun wasn't over yet. Ben took Best of Breed again (he is so much more focussed when he's not in lurve) and then went on to take his second Best Junior of Group for the weekend!


Not to be outdone, Tara picked up her 3rd Best Neuter of Breed and Best Neuter of Group, too!


So, what a weekend! Team Kitaco picked up all 9 CC's on offer, 3 Best Neuter in Groups and 2 of the 3 Best Junior in Group awards as well!


Great shows, great atmosphere and congrats to the committee. The chicken burgers were excellent. The weather was great (if a bit windy). The prizes were fabulous... really, the only thing that could have made the weekend better was a hair dryer.

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