So my good intentions of setting aside a few minutes each night to write an Eastern blog turned out to be just that...a good intention. So much to do and so little time. Instead of a day-by-day recap, I can do a super abbreviated account.

Thursday: Saw lots of friends. Got called an old married woman! Set up, completed final grooming and bathing. Quick shower before welcome party. Good food, long meeting. Early to bed.

Friday: 13 hours of showing!!! Good placements and/or cuts with ALL of the dogs we took. Fell asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Saturday: Sleep deprived and sore. Now that I'm 30, my knees don't work as good as they used to! Again, placed with ALL the dogs I took and again made a cut with Peyton in breed.

Final recap: It was great to see and catch up with all of our friends. Look forward to next year!!!!

It's that time of year again. The weather is scorching, the storms are unpredictable, I turned another year older (gulp) and Eastern is fast approaching. Since this is the first year of the Wynmoor website and blog, I figured I would give a semi-detailed description of our trip. Through wins and losses, rain or good weather, I will give my account of the 2010 Eastern.

To begin my account of Eastern, I must start with the preparation for Eastern. Even though we are a small family based kennel and breeding program, I find myself with six dogs to show. So much for keeping it small and simple! With the idea of an easy relaxing Eastern thrown out of the window, I started the preparations with grooming. The first five dogs (Malcolm, Kumbe, Bella, Stash and Amber) took a combined 8 hours to trim. This really isn't too bad...less than 2 hours per dog. However, when it came to Peyton, my semi-speedy grooming came to an abrupt stand still. You see, Peyton's last show groom was in April (double gulp)...and he grows hair like a yeti (triple gulp). When all was said and done, it took me 6 hours to completely and satisfactorily trim him. How do you explain to your non-doggie friends that you spend six hours cutting, plucking and sculpting hair on your dog?! More importantly, how do you explain it and not sound completely insane?!!!!

With all dogs trimmed, I joined Mom at her house in VA on Tuesday. After making our list and checking it twice to ensure we  had scoops, dog food, food bowls, grooming supplies, towels, generators, blow dryers.....we loaded our white Chevy van (affectionately known as Moby Dick). We settled in for the night knowing that we had a long day of traveling on Wednesday.

Well, here we are....Wednesday, the beginning of our journey to Warwick, RI. As I type, we are in Pennsylvania, getting closer to Harrisburg. We will be stopping over in Millford, CT before continuing to the show site. Except for the obscene amount of trucks on I-81, things are going well. All dogs are settled in with their toys and Mom and I will be starting an audio book by Charlaine Harris. She is the author of the Sookie Stackhouse books which are the premise of the awesome HBO show, TrueBlood. So as we become enveloped in a world of vampires and werewolves, we will slowly make our way north for the always awesome Eastern!

Last week my labmates told me about an event at the Carolina Inn that takes place every Friday, aptly called "Fridays on the Front Porch". As if live music and beer was not enough of a draw on its own, but you can also bring your dogs. But which dog to take? At the time, I had both Amber and Justin. Although I knew Justin would have a blast, I couldn't help my imagine him bolting after something, leash in one had, beer in another and me drenched and bruised when all was said and done. So after a few seconds thought, I decided to take Amber.

As Friday approached, she was cleaned and brushed and ready for our night on the town. We got there and of course all eyes were on Amber. There may have been other dogs there, but none quite like Amber. Not only was she one of the few pure bed dogs, but she was THE only show dog there. Since my dogs are my kids, I'm allowed to brag just a little! She was the most well behaved dog there. She sat by my side while men, women and children came up to pet and fawn all over her.

Two hours and two beers later, I packed Amber up and took her home. On our drive, she looked over at me from the passenger seat. There seemed to be a smile on her face. Not only had she enjoyed the mounds of attention, but I think she truly liked being out with me...just the two of us. I smiled back at her, patted her on the head and said, "Next week girl...next week!"

This story comes from a friend at work. She has a beautiful Golden Retriever named Sutton. One weekend my friend and her roommate grilled out bratwursts. They decided to grill the whole package, which consisted of six, so they could have leftovers for the next day. Between the two of them, they ended up eating three bratwursts. The time came to clean up and they brought the leftovers into the kitchen. The food was placed on the counter, far enough away to keep it safe from the dog. They then went back outside to clean up the grill. Since the warm North Carolina weather was so nice, they stayed out just a few extra minutes, enjoying a nice cold beer. Finally, they decided to head back inside. My friend went to take a shower, thinking the roommate would put the food in refrigerator. After the shower, the roommate asked my friend if she had put the food up. My friend said, “No. Was I supposed to? I can do it now.” The roommate looked at her and then pointed to the counter. Before them, lay a spotless counter without even a crumb to be found. As they looked around, they noticed Sutton sitting near the edge of the kitchen with a look of utter contentment. Apparently the smell of freshly grilled bratwursts was too enticing to ignore. With backs turned, Sutton decided he was free to help himself to an early birthday present. No more leftovers!