Competition

There is nothing like competition! The recent Winter Olympics has shown us many sides of competition from the Great Wins to the near losses, to the falls, crashes, and even deaths due to miscalculations, fears, and inexperience of the competitors. Anything can happen! Competing brings out the best in all of us, it gives us a chance to do our Best Performance. When you win the Gold Medal, or Best of Breed, or even Best in Show, you know you have done everything you could to make it happen, from the best conditioning, best nutrition, best training, best grooming products and techniques, ....there is a process, a formula, and even a natural talent or Breeding for Excellence. It is an effort above and beyond the usual. It is an effort with heavy doses of determination, desire, passion, and exertion of extraordinary energy. We are looking forward to our next competition, our next opportunity to show that we have it all together, that we have done everything to show that we are a Newfoundland of Excellence, a Newfoundland with substance and beauty who is worthy of Best of Breed. The dogs that win are not just beautiful, they show something special, whether it is a look in their eye, a movement in the ring, or a certain energy that catches the eye of the Judge, the Winner is something SPECIAL THAT DAY. Every competitor has a chance, every competitor has an opportunity to prove their prowess. We will enter Competition on the weekend of Memorial Day at the Hangtown Kennel Club in Placerville at the end of May, and expect to win. There is nothing like Competition....

Life After Cow Palace

The Cow Palace Show was, as usual, great fun and a wonderful chance to meet the public and share our beautiful dogs. The weekend came and went in a flash of grooming, showing, and talking non-stop to people who passed our bench in droves of strollers, wheelchairs, couples, babies, children, petting and hugging Hummer who stood as long as he could for all the adoration and awe inspiration over his size and sweet disposition, until he could defy gravity no more and lay in irreversible relaxation on the floor for the remainder of the day. He may not have won the competition, but as one of the patrons said " He still has won," as Hummer stood in the middle of a huge crowd of people who adored him with camera flashes and patting him on top of his head. One incident that stays in my mind is when I was walking him back to the bench with two kids who were walking along side him and wanted to pet him. I gave the boy, a big kid of around 11 years old, Hummer's lead and I let the boy walk him. I told him to tell Hummer to "Wait" and he immediately stopped walking. It worked! Hummer stood still until the boy commanded Hummer to move with "Let's go". The best appreciation of this breed is to put your hands on him and feel his strength and then to walk along side him. I think the boy went home telling his Mom he wanted a Newfoundland.

I still don't know if there will be a Cow Palace Show next year or not. Hopefully so because we love this show and enjoy sharing the Karazan Newfoundlands with the world! Until then, Hummer is helping raise a wonderful yellow Labrador Retriever named Alexander who he has accepted into his family with a huge open heart. Alex will be shown in the Labrador ring along side of Hummer this year. See you at the Showgrounds!