Tia

Trying very hard to concentrate on all I needed to do before we could leave a day early for NYC, I just kept thinking that maybe, just maybe, the win at the Garden was a possibility. The competition would be hard with many of the Top Ranked dogs going to be there; dogs with more experience than Tia, advertising behind them and handlers they had worked with all year. But maybe, just maybe, Gaby and Tia could do it.....

Managing to get things in order and the kennel sitter to agree to start a day early, we left for NYC on Friday evening, stayed over in NJ and drove into the city on a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning. (Where was that blizzard?!?!) We checked into the hotel and walked the few blocks to the Hotel Pennsylvania, hoping to find Gaby and Leyda and watch some of the Papillion Specialty. We met up with them and Gaby gave us all the details of the win at the Progressive.

That night the snow started and it came down and came down and came down; sometimes the snow was falling so thick that you could not see across the street. It snowed all night and most of the morning on Sunday. The walk to the Hotel Pennsylvania was a little trecherous and very cold with blowing snow and wind. We made the walk and watched more of the Specialties. Dr. June showed her homebred mini wire hair daschund, Gretchen, who won her class both in Sweeps and the regular class. We also watched the papillion specialty again.

Tia and Gianni rested up in the hotel room. They were thinking about all the excitement of the show on Monday morning.

On Sunday afternoon we walked up to the Garden to take some equimpment up ahead of time. I can't tell you how it felt to place Tia's crate on the bench and think about what the outcome of tomorrow's show might be. The nearly empty benching area would be a mob scene on Monday and there wouldn't be much room to move or quiet for thoughts.

I had promised Gaby I would stay away on Monday so Tia would not be wondering where I was, so I wished Gaby good luck on Sunday night and told him I hoped he had a wonderful time, no matter what the outcome.

Monday morning the walk to the Garden was a little easier, but there were new obstacles! The snow plows had been through and there were "snow mountains" at every intersection and crosswalk. Decisions had to be made....do we go around the mountain and through the iced over puddle or "plow" through the snow barrier and across the street? We arrived in time and found a seat pretty high up so Tia would not see us, or smell us and would concentrate on Gaby.

The judging began. The IGs came into the ring. It was a beautiful class of champions! I spotted Tia and I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was groomed to perfection and moving beautifully with Gaby. Dr. June was ahead of them, a few dogs up the line, with Gianni Angel. As I watched them I thought about how lucky I am to have two such beautiful dogs in the ring. My handsome, deep red, Gianni, with his beautiful side gait and happy attitude, presented so expertly by Dr. June, made me very proud. Gianni did a fantastic job until the end when he just got antsy and excited by the flash bulbs and the crowd.

I have to admit that watching the judging was difficult. I know my eyes were seeing what was happening, but my brain was not registering much. When the judging was finished Bob let out a very loud cheer and I turned to ask him, "Did we win?", his look clearly said, "Of course we won! Why else would I be yelling?" It was an unreal moment and after hugs and kisses we both ran down to the ring side as quickly as we could get there. Hugs for Gaby and Tia and a few happy tears, the congratulations from other people, the phone calls from friends, the crowd and the lights and the whole atmosphere of the Garden... all unbelievable.