by Penny Pyrbred
Wow! A lot has happened in Dutchland since our last issue. The Pyrenean Fun Day was a HUGE success, in large part due to the efforts of Gail Hillard. The new location provided more room to spread out under the pavilion and share the people's tasty lunch.
Jack Witt, assisted by some Newfs and their people, introduced us Pyrs to the finer points of carting. Some Pyrs enjoyed it, but Penny has a chauffeur to handle any wheeled vehicle she cares to use. The people take this "working dog" thing much too seriously (click here for photos).
The people actually got to the canine games this year, and they were great fun for Pyrs and people alike. Penny's favorite remains the game requiring both Pyr and human to perform some of the basic obedience commands simultaneously. New this year was the water balloon relay game where each human team member would throw a water balloon to the next member in line. Even more fun was the water balancing act where each human, accompanied by a Pyr or other Canine-American, would walk the course with a glass of water on his/her head (click here for photos). At least they didn't make the Pyrs balance glasses!
Over 80 people and nearly 40 Pyrs attended, and Penny has again lost her notes so most will remain nameless. It was nice finally to meet Dakota Dworsky, with whom Penny has corresponded by e-mail. She really seemed to enjoy the day and was a serious competitor in the games. Clondike Kintsfather and Klondike Setlock anchored "Team Cklondike," which took first place in the games. Sheryl Mosher brought her assistance Pyr, Princess--now there's a real working dog, and a sweetie.
Pam and Roy Smith brought Otis, who looked very fetching in a red draft harness. Leggo My Eggo Worsham made a return visit and helped Team Cklondike take top honors. Fred and Stephanie Unger prepared really adorable T-shirts with a little help from Chelsea.
Speaking of Chelsea Unger, she served as Pyrenean hostess this year and was very gracious about performing introductions and making sure all the Pyrs got plenty of mooched food.
The next big event of the year was the Penn-Dutch Supported Entry at the Lehigh Valley KC show, Sept. 13th at Macungie. It was a beautiful day and great fun was had by all. The tailgate lunch was excellent as usual, and a fair amount ended up in the Pyrs.
September also brought the return of the Penn-Dutch Fun Match, an event not held for a couple of years, possibly because of Clondike Kintsfather's tendency to want to eat any competition. The Coombses hosted this event at their beautiful farm near Gettysburg and a substantial contingent from the National Capital Area GPC came up to help make this a super fun day! Show Chair Dianne Migas organized a variety of fun activities and, assisted by Catherine Oldham who came all the way from Vermont to help out, prepared a sumptuous feast for the hungry competitors.
Stephanie Alleman administered the Canine Good Citizen test and three participants achieved this title: Chelsea Unger and Jackson Floyd (handled by Maureen Simon) from Penn-Dutch and Rumpus Woodward (Nancy Woodward's whippet). Jane Gill judged obedience and gave lots of good pointers to the participants. Betty Mentzer judged conformation and put the nervous humans at ease. The Pyrs took it all in stride, looking forward to lots of goodies from the humans' lunch (click here for photos).
Special mention should be made for the performance by Clondike Kintsfather. She won the highly suspect class of best spayed veteran (no doubt instituted to insure she didn't take a bite out of any young, inexperienced bitches) and received as a prize a beautiful silver tray (to be engraved as the Clondike Traveling Spay/Neuter Trophy) and a bag of frozen brussels sprouts (Hanover brand, of course--picked in Guatemala under the personal supervision of Whitney Coombs). The judge was pretty surprised by this award!
To be fair, Clondike behaved like a real lady and managed to beat the very handsome Frank Woodward for best spayed/neutered veteran. She skipped across the ring on the last down and back, and darned if Frank didn't do the same! It's nice to see our senior citizens so sprightly!
Looking ahead, December brings the annual Holiday Party, which this year will again include us Pyrs. The location has been moved to Lancaster Central Park. The details are contained elsewhere in this issue.
The last Saturday in January Penn-Dutch Pyrs will again strut their
stuff at the Canine Learning Experience in the Ag Hall at the Allentown
Fairgrounds. Be sure to come out and help introduce the public to
our breed and Club.
