What a great weekend at McLeans Island for Team Kitaco where our baby girls, Mary Kate and Ashley, made their show debut.
Four open shows this weekend, two hosted by Canterbury Kennel Association and two hosted by The Plains Kennel Association.
Our team consisted of Ava, Tinky, Ben and the babies Mary Kate and Ashley. We arrived at the grounds early on Saturday morning, a bit worried our babies might have to debut on frosty grass, but discovered the shows were to be held indoors. What a relief!
The first show was the CKA show 1. Ava, handled with great aplomb by 8-year-old Arvia Caldwell, took Best of Breed, Ben took Reserve of Breed and Best Dog, Tinky took Best Junior of Breed and Reserve Bitch while the twins were hilarious. Ashley has walking with a lead figured out (she's made the connection between that and lots of treats) while Mary-Kate, AKA "The Fluffer-Nutter" gave an impressive display of Bunny Gymnastics. had everyone in stitches and somehow still managed to get just as many treats as her much better behaved sister. Not surprisingly, Ashley took the Best Baby Puppy Bitch class. Mary-Kate apparently didn't give a hoot.
Results CKA Show 1
Best of Breed, Best Bitch & Best Intermediate of Breed: NZ Ch Kitaco Smashed Avacado
Reserve Best of Breed, Best Dog & Best Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Ben de la Creme
Reserve Bitch & Best Junior of Breed: Kitaco Mastermind
Best Baby Puppy (Bitch) of Breed: Kitaco Premium Blend
Show 2 for CKA saw Ben take the Reserve Best of Breed again, and this time Ashley took Best Baby Puppy of Breed. Ava and Tinky took Best Bitch and Reserve Best Bitch, respectively. The Fluffer-Nutter lived up to her nickname and had us wondering if there is such a thing as Chihuahua ADHD, LOL.
Results CKA Show 2
Reserve Best of Breed, Reserve Dog & Best Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Ben de la Creme
Best Bitch & Best Intermediate of Breed: NZ Ch Kitaco Smashed Avacado
Reserve Best Bitch & Best Junior (Bitch) of Breed: Kitaco Mastermind
Best Baby Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Premium Blend
Day 2 were The Plains shows, and brought with them a complication we'd been hoping to avoid. Tracey was the vet on-call for the clinic, so as a precaution, we took two cars out to McLeans Island in case she was called out. There was a good chance she might not be, TRACS is a small clinic so it's not unusual to go a whole day without an emergency - but not today. No sooner had we arrived, than the call came through that she was needed back at the clinic for what was likely to be a lengthy emergency surgery.
Fortunately, she had just enough time to show the Ben and babies in the first show, before she had to dash off, leaving Jenny, Deb and Arvia to soldier on without her. Ava then complicated the matter by winning Best Intermediate of Group, so we were there for the rest of the day without Tracey, like it or not.
The surprise Kitaco star in show 1, however, wasn't Ava's Best of Breed or Group win (she wins at Group level quite often) but the Fluffer-Nutter who slowed down a bit, walked several steps like a dog, rather than a spring-loaded cartoon character and beat out Ashley for the Best Baby Puppy of Breed!
Results
Intermediate in Group: NZ Ch Kitaco Smashed Avacado
Best of Breed, Best Bitch & Best Intermediate of Breed: NZ Ch Kitaco Smashed Avacado
Reserve Dog & Best Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Ben de la Creme
Reserve Bitch & Best Junior (Bitch) of Breed: Kitaco Mastermind
Best Baby Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Black Label
That just left the 2nd Plains show. Being one handler down, we scratched Ava (who still had to go in later for the Best Intermediate in Show lineup for Show 1) and handed Tinky over to Arvia.
Well, didn't that turn out to be a match made in heaven! Arvia was brilliant with Tinky and took Best of Breed with her! Even more astonishing, little Ashley, who was walking like a pro after 4 shows, took Reserve Best of Breed as well! What a day for the Kitaco girls!
4 hours after she'd left us for the emergency, life saved, Tracey raced back to the show, just in time for Show 1's Best in Show line-up.
Of course, after all that, the Reserve Best in Show was the same class as Ava, so she was knocked out. We could have gone home hours ago, LOL.
Results
Best of Breed, Best Bitch & Best Junior of Breed: Kitaco Mastermind
Reserve Best of Breed, Reserve Bitch & Best Baby Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Premium Blend
Reserve Dog & Best Puppy of Breed: Kitaco Ben de la Creme
So, all in all it was a pretty good weekend for Team Kitaco. 4 Shows resulting in a Best Intermediate of Group, 3 Best of Breeds, 3 Reserve Best of Breeds, 4 Best Bitches, 4 Reserve Best Bitches, I Best Dog, 3 Reserve Best Dogs, 3 Best Intermediate of Breeds, 2 Best Junior of Breeds, 4 Best Puppy of Breeds and 3 Best Baby Puppy of Breeds,
Thanks to both committees for 2 well run shows and all the judges and stewards. Also to the catering crew who do a mighty fine ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwich!
And if you're wondering about the dog who required the emergency surgery that Tracey was called away for? The owner rang this morning to say she was doing just fine!
