There is big news about Radar and Smokey, two of Thunder and Tule’s pups.

Radar has been accepted as a therapy dog at a local Children’s Hospital.  He has his Canine Good Citizenship (CGC) and his Therapy Dog International (TDI) certifications along with his Rally Advanced (RA) title.  I understand he had to go through an interview to be accepted as a Therapy Dog at the hospital.  Great job Radar and congratulations to his owner/trainer Robin.  We just know that the kids at the hospital will be so happy to meet and visit with you!  Unfortunately I don’t have a current picture of Radar.  🙁

But there is more news!  Yesterday Smokey took a 4 point major to finish her conformation Championship in style.  She went Winners Bitch, Best of Winners and Best of Opposite Sex over two Specials from the Bred By Exhibitor Class.  I have some pictures of her in the ring, but no formal pictures with her ribbons because they weren’t going to be able to take those until later in the day.

Smokey in The Ring
Good Girl Smokey

Smokey has been a busy girl for just turning two in December.  She has earned three titles Ch (Champion), JH (Junior Hunter) and RA (Rally Advanced).  She also has earned her WD (Working Dog), CGC (Canine Good Citizenship) and TDI (Therapy Dog International) certifications.   Congratulation to Smokey and her breeder Cindy!  Cindy really did agreat job when she bred that litter.

We were so happy that we were there to see Smokey’s triumph.  We took Thunder to the show because they were having a CERF  (Canine Eye Registration Foundation) clinic and we wanted to have his eyes CERF’ed.  The purpose of a CERF exam is to check for heritable eye disease.  The exam is performed by a Veterinary Ophthalmologist (A.C.V.O.).  Normal dogs receive a certification and this certification is good for 12 months.  This is just one of the health screenings that owners of Chessies do on dogs that are available for breeding. 

Thunder hanging out before the show waiting to watch Smokey.

The test itself consists of putting drops into the dog’s eyes to dilate them.  Then the veterinary ophthalmologist looks into the dogs eyes in a darkened room.   It is very similar to the way an ophthalmologist examines a person’s eyes (except no eye chart 🙂 ).  The benefit to having the test done at one of these clinics is that the price is reduced.  However, it is first come-first served so there can be a bit of a wait for your turn.

Thunder waiting for his Eye CERF exam. He looks ticked off, but really it is just that his eyes are dilated.

Since this was the first Saturday we had off from training in weeks, we had a list of stops to make on the way home.  One stop was the local Bass Pro Shop.  We will not leave our dogs in the car unless the car is within our eyesight.  Usually that means one of us goes into a store while the other waits in the car.  However, Bass Pro Shop welcomes working dawgs.  So after checking to make sure it was OK, we ventured into the store.  Poor Thunder with his dilated eyes was trying to navigate displays without brushing against them.  We quickly found what we were looking for (rain gear for when we are training or testing in the rain).  Of course when you take a dog into a store it always takes longer because people want to pet the dog or talk about the dog.  This store is a little different because some actually recognize the breed.  No one asked whether he was a labradoodle, but more than one person asked if he was a chocolate lab.  Chessies are just not that common so there are always a lot of curious looks and questions.  Thunder was a good boy and the store actually thanked us for bringing him in.  He was happy because he got lots of hugs from kids who just happened to be there for some sort of children’s program. 

Thunder got the day off from training yesterday, but today he will be joining a different group for a training day.  Hoping for a good session and that the rain holds off!