Just a quick note...

Still on cloud nine after Sadie's amazing weekend. Taking some time to spoil her a bit. Working on our next blog entry all about her first shows!

Sadie turns six months old tomorrow. Happy 6 month Birthday baby girl! Taking a looking back over the last six months....

Click link to see video
http://youtu.be/GA-XaLutEOw

If A Dog Were Your Teacher

If A Dog Were Your Teacher
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
If a dog were your teacher
These are some of the lessons you might learn...


When loved ones come home, always run to greet them
Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride
Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face
to be pure ecstasy

When it's in your best interest
practice obedience
Let others know when they've invaded your territory
Take naps and stretch before rising
Run romp and play daily

Thrive on attention and let people touch you
Avoid biting, when a simple growl will do
On warm days stop to lie on your back on the grass
On hot days drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree
When you're happy dance around and wag your entire body

No matter how often you're scolded
don't buy into the guilt thing and pout
run right back and make friends

Delight in the simple joy of a long walk
Eat with gusto and enthusiasm
Stop when you have had enough
Be loyal
Never pretend to be something you're not

If what you want lies buried
dig until you find it
When someone is having a bad day
be silent .....
...sit close by.

...and nuzzle them gently.

 —

Our Story

My love for Cocker Spaniels started as a young child when one Christmas morning I woke to find Santa had left me an adorable little buff colored female Cocker Spaniel. I affectionately named her Teddy. How I loved that dog. She was my best friend and I loved playing with her!

As newlyweds, my husband and I got a Cocker, again a buff color, but a male this time named Luke. What a wonderful dog he was and was great with our young children. Time went on, life got busy and after we lost Luke at the age of 12 we didn't get another cocker. We eventually got two Shih Tzu, Chloe and Ali.

One night after a long day at work, I pulled into the driveway to find our son, Daniel holding a little brown bundle of fur. Yep, a chocolate Cocker Spaniel pup. I was so mad. We already had the two Shih Tzus, I was working full time, and we had young children still in grammer school. Who would have time to spend with her and train her? Life was hectic to say the least. Of course my anger didn't last. Who could resist this beautiful, little chocolate bundle?  Our son did take the bulk of the responsibility and everyone pitched in to help.  Dakota immediately fit right in here and she was a delight!

Daniel and Dakota....the dog that rekindled my love for Cocker Spaniels 

Then our life changed, like many families after 9-11.....our son being a United States Marine got deployed to Iraq and now she was with us all the time. Oh how she missed Daniel. She would keep going into his room looking for him and would just sit on his bed. She would lay on the top of the couch and watch out the window, waiting for him to pull in the driveway. She was definitely Daniel's dog! We all somehow got through the months of him being away and thankfully he returned home safely. What a happy day for all of us! Dakota was thrilled to see him! She would not leave his side.
Then the day came that Daniel moved out on his own and of course Dakota went with him. The house seemed so empty without the energy of a cocker. We missed them both soooo much. So that led to a new search for a cocker and how I have my current cocker crew : )

I wanted a black female cocker and found a beautiful little girl from a breeder in the Pocono Mountains. Which is one of our favorite places! What could be more perfect than getting her from there? Lexi is a joy and what energy she brought back into our home. Then three months later, I thought maybe she needed a playmate. So back to the breeder we went in search of a buff cocker, our Lily. What great friends they are. They are always together, playing, sleeping, eating...best buds : ) .

This past Fall we needed a little "Hope" in our life. I happen to go on the same breeder's website that we got the other two girls from and saw this adorable little white and buff girl. I had to go see her and of course immediately fell in love with her. She turned eight weeks old on Christmas Eve and we went to pick her up that morning. We named her Hope....that's just what we needed at that time, Hope.
Boy oh boy is she a ball of  mischievous energy...lol. One day while being outside with her I noticed what nice movement she had. She had the prettiest walk I have ever seen on a cocker. I said something to my husband and he had noticed it too. That led me to start looking into showing her. What I found out was ACA (what she is registered under) does not do any shows in the north-east. That started me looking into AKC dogs shows. We attended several shows and I was very interested in pursuing this. I loved it and it sucked me right in. That brings us to our story of our precious little Sadie, which is in my very first post on the blog.

Hope and Sadie are best buddies. I love watching them play together. I am so happy that they have each other.

Everyone has a story....what's yours?
I would love to hear other people's stories of your start and love for Cocker Spaniels or any other dog.  Please feel free to post your story in the comment section below.



Seems I always have a cocker in my lap when I am writing my blog....but I wouldn't have it any other way   : D

Two Handling Classes and a Show

It has been a busy couple of days for us. On Saturday we went to the Springfield,  MA show. Sadie had never been to an indoor show.  She did incredibly well. It was a lot noisier than an outdoor show and it was crowded.  It didn't bother her at all. She had a lot fun meeting people and having them tell her how cute she is. She does very well being around other dogs and it seems the bigger the dog, the less afraid she is. This girl LOVES going places and is wonderful traveling in the car. When she knows she is going somewhere she bounds down the stairs, it looks like three at a time!

With only approximately three weeks until Sadie turns six months and could technically be entered in a six to nine month group in a show, I thought maybe it was time to pick up the pace. As I had said in earlier posts, Handling class has had many dogs recently. While it is good for her, we have a lot of idle time while the instructor works with another  dog. I felt we needed some one on one instruction. I am so glad we went. It is a different place and building, which is great, so she doesn't always expect the same environment.  We were able to discuss questions, concerns and work on things that I felt we needed to improve on. One concern I had was there are always only females at the classes and I wanted to see how she would be with a male judge. The instructor's husband was there and he played the part of judge and I was delighted to find that she did great. Another thing I wanted to discuss was conditioning Sadie. She had wonderful ideas and helpful hints. We will be working on conditioning Sadie little bits at a time so we don't overdue it with her for the rest of the week and then reevaluate on Monday.

Tuesday night took us to group Handling class. Last week and this week there was a different instructor. At first I wasn't so crazy about the idea because the other woman knew what we were about and where we were at with our training. But I found it very helpful to be instructed in different ways and the class be held differently. She is tougher on us as handlers than the other person. At first I cringed, but as the class went on last week and this week, it has helped me to be more thick skinned and take the criticism and turn that into improving on what I did wrong. I am glad that she tells me when I am not doing something right or suggests to do it a different way. I have found it very helpful.  Sadie stacks fine on the table but as soon as the "judge" comes over she is all wiggly and just wants to be talked to and pet and played with. She is such a happy girl and loves everyone! The instructor gave me some tips and we tried them and it worked like a charm. And she wasn't even on the "happy legs!" With how tough she has been, it really meant a lot when it came our turn for the second time and she told us to do a diagonal down and back and when we were done she looked at me and said, "that rear movement down was drop dead gorgeous"  and "I don't do this breed but even with not knowing the cocker standard I can say she has a beautiful head and front". Wonderful encouraging words!

So in the words of Greg Strong, we continue to......condition, prepare and then hopefully present!

Not Losing Sight of the Journey

I came across this saying below and instantly loved it. I am going to make it our motto for Sadie's journey. I don't ever want to get so caught up in trying to get to the "destination" that I forget to take the time to appreciate the journey and the wonderful, helpful people we have meet along the way.

"We are so often 

caught up in our

 destination that we

 forget to appreciate 

the journey, especially

the goodness of the

 people we meet on the

 way. Appreciation

 is a wonderful feeling, 

don't overlook it."

I always want Sadie to be this happy girl
and to be with her every step of the way, enjoying every minute of it.

Handling, Grooming repeat....

Anyone that has or had Cocker Spaniels knows that it takes a great deal of time and patience to keep them groomed. As I mentioned in previous posts I have had a couple of lessons so far and I ordered my grooming supplies. So I figured I would try my hand at it. There's nothing like doing it yourself to learn. I started with my quiet buff girl, Lily and then my black girl Lexi. They both were very cooperative and did great. They both came out fairly good for a first time on my own. A couple of days later I tried my buff and white girl, Hope. Well, I'm glad I didn't start with her! She is only 8 months old so she was all over the place. I tried everything. I had someone hold her,  just had the clippers on by her, ect, ect. Finally I found it worked best for just her and I to be in the room and to take a very, very calm approach. I went slow with her and gave her breaks in between. Not to mention the goldfish crackers that were a good bribe : ).  Finally after many hours and my first (I'm sure of more to come) grooming cut to my finger....ouch! those thinning shears are sharp! we were done and she looked pretty good. Both her and I were exhausted after that...lol. I have trimmed Sadie's face and ears a couple of times since my last lesson with Judith but I want to wait until we can get together for another lesson to do the rest of her. I know I can do it, I just want the moral support to guide me through it.

For the first couple of weeks of handling classes there were only one or two other dogs there. The past three weeks there have been six or seven. It has been a good mix of different situations for Sadie. She's not the youngest one there anymore and she has been the demonstrator of how to use the "Happy Legs" for the other puppies. Although even now that there are younger puppies, she is still referred to as "the little baby cocker".  Tonight at class there was a different instructor, which was good because she had some new helpful tips and things to do. Also it hopefully helped get Sadie and I used to the fact that things will be set up differently at shows and there will be different people.

On another handling practice note....my husband made me a set of "Happy Legs" for Sadie to practice on at home. I had looked up ordering them online and they are $200. YIKES!   

Greg Strong Seminar

I was looking at the infodog site when I came across information for a dog handling seminar, Greg Strong Seminar - Only 15 Points to Go! As I read through the description of it, I was immediately intrigued. Everything that was listed was of great interest for me to learn. Yet I hesitated about signing up. One, it was in New Jersey and two, I didn't know if it would be too advanced for us seeing as we just started taking our handling classes. So I began to research my fears. Upon looking up the directions, I found that it was  2 1/2 hours away, but it was a nice drive up RT 84 and then over back roads. We didn't have to contend with going through New York and the New Jersey Turnpike. Next I made a phone call to the person organizing the event, Cathy to ask a few questions. I explained to her that we were new to showing and that Sadie would only be 4 1/2 months when we attended.  She assured me that we would be fine and there would be other puppies at the seminar as well. They had hosted this seminar in the past and people loved it and came back year after year. So sign up we did. And let me say it was one of the best decisions that we have made. It was a two day seminar from 9-4 both days. The time just flew by. I was totally captivated by it both days. I felt like a sponge just soaking up all the info I could. I heard several other people also say they wish the seminar was a couple days longer. There was soooo much great information, tips and techniques. He was a excellent speaker and teacher, both in the classroom part of it and when we did the hands on part. He gave us an outline at the start of the seminar and as I looked at it I immediately thought wow, I can't wait to learn and hear about these topics.

He began the seminar with the definition of a Handler: Knowledge to condition, prepare and present a dog to the best ability and apply that knowledge in the ring. And that's what the seminar was built around:
-Condition
-Prepare
-Present


95% success in the ring starts at home – 5% success is at the shows.

If you are not prepared properly, then you have a handicap and are at a disadvantage.  Someone else in the ring will be better prepared and will prevail.

I Loved his analogy of the Handler and the Dog being a  "complete picture" with the dog being the actual picture and the Handler being the frame. You both have to be prepared and do your part because you can have a beautiful picture but if the frame around is terrible it will take away from that beautiful picture and vice a versa. That is SO true!

We learned that our hands are "magic wands" and how, when and why to use them to comfort our dogs.

Greg giving me some helpful tips with Sadie

Fun at the hotel after class

I've had an exhausting day!

Day Two

I can't stress enough how worthwhile this seminar was. I would highly recommend it to anyone new or having difficulty in the ring. I wish there were more seminars like this to expand our knowledge.

ECKC Picnic

They said picnic rain or shine. We all gathered at a members house for the club's annual picnic  And of course it was rain! But that didn't put a damper on things. Everyone brought a different dish to share and it was a fun, informal evening of good food and conversation. 

Handling Class

Standing perfectly with Happy Legs

Doesn't it look like she is laughing....See Dad I got this

We headed out for another handling class tonight. What we didn't know was Sadie decided it was time to act up a little at class. I think she is getting quite comfortable there. She starts wagging her little tail and jumping around as soon as we pull in. And why wouldn't she.....she LOVES the instructor and the other puppy that was there, she can't wait to get in the building and start playing with him and then go over to Sarah (the instructor) to say hello. So she didn't really want to get down to business tonight. Sarah had us do a once around the ring, then another "to get the willies out" lol. Then it was time for stacking on the table and of course little miss Sadie had other ideas. As soon as Sarah came over to "judge her" she start moving all over not sitting still. Sarah said I'll be right back. Back in the building she came with a box, with what we now know as Happy Legs. The box opens and there are four squares that you can secured to the bottom of the box by magnets. You then place your dogs paws on each on the four squares and that teaches them to stand still in place on the table. Wasn't quite sure about this at first, but I put Sadie's feet on them and it worked like a charm. She stood great! Almost as if to say "I can do this!" Sarah let us take it home to practice with it during the week.

Norwalk, CT Show

Well, Sadie and I ventured off just the two of us (Rick had to work) to a show in Norwalk, CT. I thought it was going to be a quick visit to this show because there were not many cockers entered. But I still wanted to see them and continue on our path of learning all about the show world. There were also suppose to be a lot of vendors and I wanted to see if I could find Sadie a show lead to start using at handling class.  I was wrong about the quick visit..... While we were standing watching the cockers, someone came over to us and started talking. We had meet briefly at the show in Wrentham, Ma the week before. This began our new friendship with Lisa of Pinecliff Cockers. Of course we engaged in cocker talk, which led to shopping at the vendor booths, which led to Lisa introducing me to a couple more people in the cocker world, which led to sharing stories of how we got stared in our love for cocker spaniels over lunch. Sadie had a ball hanging out with Lisa's cocker girl Oliva, who had just returned from Canada winning her championship there as well as here in the US. Hours later we left the show with a wonderful new friend. It was a delightful day.

Grooming Lesson #2

Sadie and I took a ride to a beautiful part of our state, Canterbury, to visit with and get a grooming lesson from our new friend Judith Webb of Soundview Cockers. Judith was kind enough to teach me the art of the cocker show cut. It was a beautiful June day, so we set up on her outside patio. Sadie was a bit wiggly at first, but with a couple of et-et and stop she settled down. Hopefully with a few more lessons I will get the hang of it. After we were done, we sat and chatted about cockers and got to know each other a little more. We had a nice visit.

Is There Difference in Handling Classes?...You Betca There Is

Learning to free stack

We had taken our first handling class at Paws-n-Effect. Then someone had recommended one in Oxford. We figured we would try that one to see which one would be more helpful. So on Monday off we went to Oxford. I guess you could say we were the only ones there, (the only other one was her young niece who was learning how to start becoming a Jr Handler). It was a little more personalized and I had brought some questions so she was able to take the time to answer them. She had taught some little things like how to hold the lead and free stacking, that we hadn't gone over in the other class. Then on Tuesday we went back to Paws-n-Effect. There were more people at that class and it feels more like a show type of environment. For some reason I felt like I got more out of that class than the other. We went over taking her around the ring, stacking her on the table and presentation to the Judge. Sadie was a little wound up that night and was very wiggly on the table. But that's ok she's still learning. On the note of Judge presentation.....Rick was asked to play the role of a Judge because one of the other dogs was having an issue with a male Judge coming over to him. I had to turn away and smile because I knew that was the last thing he wanted to do...lol...but he agreed and was a good sport about. Yes, I owe him one...thank you sweetheart. 

What's a Little Rain?

We went to an outdoor show in Wrentham, Mass. What did we learn from this show? They do the shows rain or shine!! And at some points it was pouring! All the hours that go into grooming the Cocker Spaniels' beautiful coat and poof there it goes when they step out into the ring. How frustrating it must be for the Handlers! But as I was told "they are sporting dogs, they should be able to go out in the rain." We meet some nice people that helped us understand what was going on in the ring. Sadie had a great time meeting more people and dogs. We also met up with Sadie's Handler again. She gave us recommendations on what to buy in the vendors tents for Sadie's grooming. I also got my grooming table! It was a great show even with the rain, and there were a lot of Cockers there. We had a good time and are learning more and more at each show we go to.

Our First Handling Class!

Ok, so I have to admit I was very excited to start learning all about Dog Handling. Then we got there and nervousness set in. There were three other dogs there older than Sadie and their owners obviously had done handling before and were just touching up on their knowledge and getting helpful hints from the instructor and practice in the ring with their dogs. I looked at the ring and was very intimidated....ugh....I wouldn't let my poor husband watch. I sent him outside. The instructor started asking the three others what they wanted or needed to go over tonight and they talked about issues they were having with the dog when it went into the ring or was around the Judges. Then they got to me....um, we are just starting out and we know nothing. She immediately put me at ease, explaining we would just take it one step at a time and we were just going to get Sadie used to the ring. We went one at a time around the ring and then she played the role of the Judge and had us position our dogs so the Judge would have the right view of them. She explained how to put them and why to put them that way. She had me stack Sadie on the table (this is when the Judge goes over and looks over your dog)...she said "don't worry about her leg position right now, let's just get her used to the table, although her leg position is great!" WOW that was wonderful to hear! At the end of the class she had us all go around the ring together putting Sadie (nicknamed "the Baby" at the class) at the end of the line. Well she LOVED that. Sadie followed all the other dogs wonderfully, picking her legs up proudly, strutting around the ring. She seems so natural at it and loves learning new things. I must say, once we got into the ring, I was concentrating on her so much that I blocked out everything around me. Let's hope I can continue to do that. The other people there were also very nice and supportive. They watched Sadie and told me with how she was doing right off, I would have her finished to her championship in no time. Time will tell....but we are really working at it!

We're Learning

We went to a Match today in Vernon, CT. Didn't really understand what this was all about at first, being that we are so new to the show world. I guess the easiest way to put it is, it's a practice show. Most of the dogs were young and they have to be shown by their owners. No professional handlers. It was also training/practice for others that had different positions in the show, ie: Judges, Stewards , ect. It would have been a perfect opportunity for Sadie and I if we had at least taken a couple of Handling classes. I didn't want to go into the ring and look foolish....you never get a second chance to make a first impression ; )

Puppy Kindergarten Graduation

Sadie graduated from Puppy Kindergarten today. She did so well with all the stations showing what she has learned, (sit, down, stay, come), doing puppy push ups and running through the hoops and tunnel.

ECKC Meeting

Tonight we went to our second meeting for the Elm City Kennel Club. Sadie came along too, as we are trying to socialize her as much as possible. Of course she loved all the attention and everyone telling her how cute she is. They had a guest speaker that talked about a new breed of dogs to the AKC world, The Spanish Water Dog. It was quite interesting to learn about them. The regular part of the meeting was held and we were voted in as members of the Elm City Kennel Club. Yayayay

Sadie's First Dog Show

Today we went to North Stonington, CT for Sadie's first show (as an attendee). I had contacted a handler  that I had observed at shows we went to prior to getting Sadie. I really liked how she handled the dogs and how the dogs responded to her. She has had much success in the ring and has a well respected name in the show dog world. We set it up to meet each other at the show and she would evaluated Sadie. She was wonderful with us, gave us a lot of helpful hints and things to do and not to do with her. She evaluated Sadie and said she has beautiful movement, great temperament and has a promising future. We talked about the next steps and decided Sadie and I will be taking handling classes once she finishes Puppy Kindergarten. I will take her as far as I can in the ring and then turn her over to the handler. Sadie had a great day at the show, she happily walked around meeting all the new people and dogs. She strutted around like a pro!  We will meet up again in June at a show in MA.

Meet The Breeds

Today we went with the Kennel Club to Petco for a meet the breeds, where people can meet your dog and find out about the breed. Sadie was a little shy at first but then warmed right up and even wanted to play with the big dogs!

Puppy Kindergarten

Sadie is doing so well in her puppy classes. Her focus on us during training is incredible. She is so smart and learns things so quickly. 

Busy, Busy Week

This was a very busy week for us. We finally named her.... Sadie! Sadie had her first visit to the vet on Tuesday April 17, 2012. She weighs 6 and 1/2 pounds. We also started Puppy Kindergarten at Paws n Effect. On Wednesday we attended our first meeting for the Elm City Kennel Club. Once we attend two meeting, we can be voted in.

Happy Easter 2012

Happy Easter...the first of many holidays we will have with our new puppy. She had a great day with all her new toys and playing with her sisters. 

We've only just begun.....

Our first sight of her that day.

Driving home

Loretta showing us how to stack her

 We went to pick up our new little girl today. When the breeder brought into the room, I instantly smiled....she was beautiful! And then yaya, I finally got to hold her. After that our breeder showed us how to give our pup her shots and we got a lesson on the correct way to groom a Cocker Spaniel into that all important cocker cut. We went over getting the right grooming tools and did all the paperwork. 

She's adorable! Can't decide on her name though....names in the running.... Hailey, Sadie, Emma, Ella, Layla

First Visit

 I can't begin to tell you how excited we were to go meet our new puppy. I guess a little nervous too thinking that maybe she wasn't what we expected and we would be disappointed. So we headed off to New Jersey to meet our new pup for the first time. She is from a litter of five puppies and when we went over to the whelping pen, we could immediately tell which one she was. At that point we fell in love with her. We were not able to hold her because she is only four weeks old (she was born on Super Bowl Sunday!) and has not gotten any of her shots yet. The breeder showed us a video about Cocker Spaniels that played on Animal Planet that our puppy's Mom is in. She told us Animal Planet had viewed her website and loved the look of her and wanted her as the feature dog for the video. Impressive! 

Time to head back to CT so we left her with a new toy we bought for her to play with until we can take her home. 

 She is adorable and we can't wait!

So you want an AKC Puppy with Full Registration do you??

We decided that we would like to get an AKC Cocker Spaniel female show dog. I was set on getting either a parti color black and white or a chocolate. You would think that would be easy.....Wrong!! Being brand new to this venture, I spent a lot of time researching what we should look for in a show dog and possible breeders that had or would have puppies. I can't begin to tell you how many different breeders I spoke to. What I found out was many breeders are just plain rude and that some had an adoption process that is pages long to fill out and then you have to be approved. I also learned that there are some that really don't care about the breed and are only out to make a quick buck. I was getting discouraged and frustrated. Then I found there are a few exceptions.... I found a breeder referral list on the AKC website. I looked through the list of breeders and sent emails to the ones that interested me. Shortly after I sent them, I received an email back from a breeder in New Jersey. She email photos of the litter of pups she had and we exchanged emails back and forth and found that we were both going to the same show in Hartford that weekend. We meet up with her and her husband at the show, we talked, asked each other many questions....my expectations, her expectations. She showed me photos of the parents of the puppies, along with their pedigrees and their certificates of having their eyes and hips checked.  She also had a boy cocker spaniel entered in the show and we were able to watch him. Rick and I wanted to talk about everything we just learned and left the show not committing to getting the puppy. We both agreed that we thought that we had finally found the right puppy for us and we were comfortable with the breeder. At that point we set up a visit to meet the puppy in person. We are going to see her on March 9th!