The end of the ASCA Year

Have done some travel since the last post, as the ASCA year wrapped up May 31. Thumper went to Wisconsin to the Rock River Valley shows the weekend of May 10-12, where he went BOB 3 of the 4 shows, under judges Flo McDaniel, Ronnie Bates and Bev Eichel.  The week following, Maria made a quick trip to the Florida Panhandle ASCA shows where Thumper was able to pick up one BOB win (judge Diane Keedy) despite some iffy behavior due to his developing a crush on one of the females in the ring with him. (That's our excuse, at any RATE!).

Thanks Flo McDaniel!

Thanks Ronnie Bates!

Following Florida Thumper and Maria went to Michigan for their final weekend together as a full-time team. They started with 2 AKC shows in Kalamazoo where Thumper went BOB under judges Keke Kahn and Peggy Biesel-McIlwaine.
Then on to Centreville MI where I went to watch Thumper finishe out his year with Maria and bring him home after. ASC-MI does a mammoth 9 shows on Memorial Day weekend and also on Labor Day weekend, plus performance events (I am only counting the conformation shows!). So the breakdown was, of 9 shows, Thumper BOB x4, BOS x4, under judges Kim Cochran, Bruce Caldwell, Liz Gibson, Mary Quam, Gail Karamalegos, Richard Klatt, Cherrie Cannon and Glenda Stephenson. The marvelous Aria (Ch. Sazbrat Enamoured), our main competition all year long, was there as well so we were trading off wins (Aria with 5 BOB's to our 4). Well, if we are going to compete, we are thrilled it is with such quality as Aria exhibits. We had fun.

Aria going for Thumper's bait. The noive.

Aria and Thumper

Once around the ring (x9)

Aria, definitely #1 ranked bitch for the 2012-2013 ASCA year. She was hard to beat! I am glad we were not sharing the same rings every single weekend!

Thank you Glenda Stephenson!

Thumper and Aria, just for fun.

Then it got ugly.

And so Thumper's full time year with his magical handler Maria came to an end. I won't pretend I am not absolutely THRILLED to have my baby back home but I am forever in debt to the Neff team for their endless support and work toward our goals this year, and for their friendship as well. Maria is a true talent, as I time and time again saw her pull a terrific performance out of a dog that sometimes lacked focus or  interest. Virtually every single weekend they were out traveling and showing in all sorts of conditions. I am so glad my dog could be her first full-time special , and so glad SHE could be his special handler.

It will be a couple of weeks before all the final months'-worth of ASCA shows are entered into the ASCA record books. Once that job is complete we should know Thumper's final position in the standings. We know who the Top 3 will be (Thumper, Aria and Jasa Hatcher's Memphis, out of California). The final order is to be determined. Stay tuned!