Archive for category lizzie
Nationals Pictures
Kate was kind enough to sludge through the roughly, what, 1500 pictures taken during Nationals week and send me a lot of the ones I cared about. 
The lighting conditions weren’t great without a Very Nice Lens, but should still give you an idea!
Lizzie peeking at me around the grooming apron, getting poofed (as much as we, ahem, could) for the Megan.
Lizard on the table
Jennifer going over her and thinking to herself, "Wow, she looks better with hair."
Nash in Sweeps.
Yes, he's still a bit high in the butt.
Take a moment to pose during Brood Bitch
Our matching outfits. I swear when I asked Garrett to help I did NOT tell him he had to coordinate. 
Nationals report
Whew! Gettysburg is about a 10.5 – 11 hour drive from me, which is just on the outer edge of what it doable in one day. I was exhausted when I got home last night! Thankfully, when driving through Tennessee I was on the outer edge of the storm that went through and caused so much bad flooding in central and southern areas. I barely drove through any rain, thank goodness…my drive up on Monday was nearly all rain, so it was a relief not to have to drive through it again LOL.
I always love seeing so many people that I rarely get a chance to see! And some I’ve never met in person before. We started introducing each other by blog name , so it was very fun to put faces with names and dogs. Tuesday was the Megan…when I entered, I had been very excited to show in the Megan for the first time! But as I mentioned before I left, Lizzie started shedding hand over fist and sadly looked very raggedy by Tuesday evening. 
She didn’t make the cut. I’ve been trying to put weight on her too, ironically my “easy keeper” who has always been a touch fat has started leaning the other direction. We’re going to try a few different things and may have her checked out at the vet. So yes, for future reference, naked and skinny isn’t a good combo.
Wednesday it was the puppies’ turns in sweepstakes! I had Scout’s handler Cheryl Mika groom Nash up for me…it’s amazing what a difference that can make. I don’t think I’m a “bad” groomer but I’m not good at those last steps to make them look really polished. She did a wonderful job and, if I don’t say so myself, I think he looked great! He showed pretty well for me and I was thrilled when he was awarded 3rd in his large sweeps class. Junie went a bit later (different judge, also) and Kate and I decided that I would show her and see how she did with me in the ring. Well, she showed GREAT although she didn’t get a placement, but made the cut in her very large class. I think that Kate’s camera has some nice pictures of them in the ring that I’ll get posted once she sends to me.
Thursday was class dogs. I overslept and hence didn’t get Nash down to Cheryl in time, whoops! Thankfully, due to the work she put in on him the day before, he still looked pretty good so I just fluffed him and went. I showed him in the very large and competitive Bred-By class, he was pulled out for an extra down-and-back but didn’t get a placement. I had several very nice compliments on him though and was just proud to show him off as “mine”!
Friday was the class bitches. Kate and I went back and forth and finally decided that she would show Friday for Joanna, and I would show June (they were in the same class). Junie again showed pretty well for me, but it was Miss Friday who stole the show by getting 2nd in the class! It was a very large class, I know Joanna is thrilled. Later we had brood bitch and Garrett stepped in (color coordinated, even) to help us with Lizzie, June, and Nash. We swapped around handlers a bit to find who showed best with who, and it was fun but no ribbons. I personally think we should have gotten one as the most color-coordinated group in the ring.
I decided not to show Lizzie in Best of Breed because, as raggedy as she looked at the beginning of the week it only got worse and worse each day. Plus after a whole week of showing dogs, talking dogs, and missing my family, the idea of coming home a day early to relax sounded Pretty Darned Good. I watched some of the boys in BOB and then took off for the hellish drive home.
Which brings me to the last announcement:
Hmmmm...3 poop colored dogs...
That would be Miss Junie B, who has come to stay with me for a little while. Nash is BEYOND thrilled, and it has been one giant frap fest at my house all morning. I can’t know for sure whether she remembers this place or not, but she sure has moved in like she does, just happy as a clam. She’s been very sweet with Dave and the kids, properly submitted to Brady, and has generally just been bouncing all over the place. I corralled her long enough this morning to take these:
Little too stretched out, but not bad for first tries
Nice face, Junie.
Part of the reason she’s here is to go to “Grandma’s Fat Camp”…the simple fact is that she just has too many things she can get into at Kate’s house, like chicken feed, goose poop, etc etc. She’s very resourceful when it comes to food and will pretty much eat until stuffed…while she’s here it will be harder for her to find things to eat beyond her dinner bowl. She looks better now and I know Kate took a couple pounds off of her before she got to the Nationals, but she probably still needs to drop 2-3 pounds. I also have her entered in a show in Tennessee in a few weeks that I’m hopeful might pull majors, and either way it has some very good judges.
2 weeks!
We leave for Nationals in 2 weeks! Eeeeek!! In preparation, Lizzie has started to, yes you guessed it, shed hair by the fistful. *sob* Nash hasn’t joined the party yet but we’ll see if that continues. In her defense, it IS 80 degrees here now pretty regularly, so I can see where she might be ready for summer wear. She also hasn’t quite grown in her belly hair yet, but I don’t think it’s too noticeable anymore unless you flip her over.
Nash is still in the throes of teenager-hood but is starting to show tiny glimmers of a brain and a body. He’s just barely 30 pounds at this point, so I’m very happy with where I think his adult weight will be. I’m trying to give him some showing refreshers over the next couple of weeks…I got lazy after his show debut and he’s getting some bad habits on the table. Like, wiggling when the judge walks up. The babies will be 10 months old in a few days!
Nashville takes on Atlanta
(yes his name is sometimes Nashville. Mostly when he’s in trouble.)
So, Nash’s ring debut yesterday can pretty much be summed up with the following thoughts from him:
“Look, there’s dogs!! Want to play? Playplayplayplay?”
“MOM!! There’s FOOD ON THE FLOOR!”
“Did you hear me?? FOOD. On the FLOOR.”
The worst was on the down and back when he just straight up refused to move because about halfway down there was a hotdog within eyesight. He just stood there and STARED at it, and me giving him a leash pop (or twelve) had no effect whatsoever. I think he was lucky to get 2nd of 3 in the bred-by class.
Sooooo, Saturday evening after BIS there was a free handling class, so we went and basically worked hard on “leave it”. Got a couple of other good suggestions too. Must have worked, because he was much better today! Not on the table, but that’s a different story…judge made a funny sound to get expression and Nash took that as a cue to try to jump on his shoulders. Whoops. Never did get him to stand still after that but luckily the judge was understanding. He also asked me how old he was (since he was in bred-by) and replied with “Aha!”when I told him. LOL And I was thrilled when he won Winners Dog for a 4 POINT MAJOR! During pictures the judge was quite chatty and told me several times what a “pretty boy” he is, he just loved his expression and movement.
So yay! Good boy Nash…sort of. We have lots of work to do, but at very least he did definitely have fun!
And we’re off!
Well, tomorrow morning that is. Tomorrow is Nash’s debut show in Atlanta, and yes I think I’ll show Lizzie too, naked belly and all. Naturally, it has been raining for about 3 days so the yard is a mud pit…I’m washing and drying dogs knowing full well that they will get filthy again before tomorrow. Sigh. We leave at about 7 am and show around 2:30ish Eastern time.
Wish us luck! If nothing else, I want Nash to have a good experience. I’m not too worried as he pretty much thinks life is a party thrown just for him, but you never know when something weird will happen to a puppy! And Atlanta is indoors, noisy and usually crowded. These first shows are so important for building that great show attitude for later, so I will be trying my best to keep it lighthearted and fun.
Another entry fee down the drain…
When I entered Nash in Atlanta, I brashly decided last-minute to enter Lizzie too, in BOB. I looked down at her lovely shiny coat, good weight, happy demeanor and said “aww why not, I’m going to the show anyway.” I conveniently, ahem, forgot one little thing…oh, remember that abdominal surgery? Not too awfully long ago (little over a month)? Oh yeah, that’s right…her BELLY IS SHAVED. *doh*
Today was bath day so after drying her I decided to snap a few pictures to see if maybe it didn’t look “that bad” on the table. Uh huh. Damn shame too, because I think she looks awesome otherwise!
Happy Half Birthday, Babies!
I intended to have this post be accompanied by pictures of the Nash boy, clean and fluffy and stacked up. But alas, the day got away from me and no clean dogs are to be had.
The Plizzards turned 6 months old TODAY! Hard to believe they’re getting that big. Nash celebrated by eating some crayons (a favorite delicacy, the acquisition of which is aided by the 2-year-old toddler) and peeing on the rug. Little $hit. Happy Half Birthday to Vegas, Lucy, June, Harmony, Nash, Echo, Wall-E, Maddie, and Piper!
Brady and Nash play a LOT...but Nash is always on bottom.
You can't pet Nash or Lizzie without petting BOTH of them, thankyouverymuch.
In case you aren't convinced of the consequences of being a trashund...
Stupid. Dogs.
Lizzie is at the vet, getting abdominal exploratory surgery for a blockage. She’s been throwing up in increasing frequency for about 3 days and today has been unable to keep anything at all down…thankfully my vet has some Saturday hours so I made her an appointment. X-ray showed a large area in the small intestine…so please think good thoughts for my girl. I’ll update when I hear back.
UPDATE: Vet just called and she’s doing ok. He actually decided not to cut the intestine once he got in there…he massaged the blockage through and straightened the part of intestine that was telescoping in on itself. As an added bonus, he fixed her closed umbilical hernia while he was there LOL. She’s recovering.
Friend or Family?
It’s always interesting when you add a new dog to the household. Even more interesting to me this time because it’s the first time it’s one that was BORN here and now has to live with his mama. I know over the years I’ve talked about Brady, who has always been the dominant personality in our house by far. He’s alpha and opinionated, a bit of the fun police, and everyone has to play by his rules. As he’s gotten older he’s gotten less and less tolerant of dogs that disobey him LOL. But at his base, he’s never a mean or aggressive dog…his goal in life is always to play, and play hard. Just as long as everydog knows that All The Toys Are Brady’s.
So, Brady and Nash get along just fine. Nash, at least for now, crawls on his belly and sucks up to Brady, who will then decide to play with The Boy. And they do fine together. What has surprised me is how much Lizzie likes her son. (granted, I can understand, as I’m a bit smitten with him myself…) They spend most of the day together, chewing on sticks and bones in the backyard, wrestling, barking at the neighbors, coming inside to crash on the floor. I still think that Nash would really prefer a more playful playmate…he loves his mama and they do great together, but at her core she still just doesn’t like to RUN that much, so most of their time together is fairly low-key. I try to pick up the slack in exercise because otherwise in the evening, Nash is So. Bored. he is forced to chase his own tail for entertainment, because the older dogs turn into pumpkins at about 8 pm.
First, I bite you face off
Then we can wrastle
What did you roll in, mom?
Pretty boy
The family that chews together, stays together?
Jack is upset because I'm spending too much time with dogs. Anyone feel bad for him?
Maybe he and Nash can share a bone.
Now LIZZIE is jealous!
Mama Dog
Since yesterday was so beautiful Heidi and I stalked all over the grounds at the show site looking for a place to take purty pictures of our dogs. I’m not sure we were successful, and we were being chased by some woman who kept asking us where she could park (umm, like we know??), but we had fun anyway. I don’t think Rush’s pictures turned out very well but we’ll try again soon…Nash’s weren’t that interesting…but Lizzie’s turned out OK. So, mama dog! She’s probably in some of the best shape she’s ever been in right now…still growing coat back (especially in the pants area), but she’s shiny and fit. Good girl Lizard.
Waggin, of course!
Better on the ears, but her rear looks a little funny because we were on a slope