We had a wonderful time at our first Silverwood! We left here on Wednesday morning, stayed in Reno, NV, and arrived in San Jose in just after noon.Here's a photo of Ivy at the Bonneville Salt Flats, setting another land speed record for brilliant thinking or some such thing....
We got checked in, walked dogs, and went to meet people! Finally met Amy Woodman, who made it all possible to breed Raven's litter. Over the course of the weekend we met tons of online friends that I've been talking with for years but never met in person, including Raven's breeders John and Mandy Young from England. The weather was sunny and warm, and Ivy enjoyed the view from our 6th floor balcony.
Thursday evening was the puppy and veteran Sweepstakes event. We had a great time showing Olive and Copper; both placed second in their classes.
Melissa showed Oprah in Veterans, and I showed Ivy to her class win at the age of 11 1/2 years! She still loves it!!
Friday evening was the Futurity event that I've been looking forward to for well over a year. Olive placed second in her class, but Copper had a huge win, the going on to win Best 15-18 month old in the Futurity. She came up against Amy Woodman's red and white boy Floyd, also sired by CH Dazlin Defiance, for best Junior. Floyd won, but I found it interesting that it came down to half-siblings for the top two Juniors; always nice to see consistent judging! It was a wonderful evening that made the trip all worthwhile! The photo below shows Copper and Floyd going head to head for Best Junior.
We thoroughly enjoyed our first Silverwood competition on Saturday; watching it, that is! We didn't qualify, but hopefully the girls will be mature enough in the coming year to be competitive at some ROM shows. It took 9 hours to judge, but it was wonderful to see so many top class Bull Terriers together in one place. Congrautlations to all the finalists and Trophy winners!
Saturday evening's banquet was the one big meal we had on the whole trip, and it was really good! The BCBTC did a fabulous job with the banquet and the entire weekend; I can imagine how much work it takes, and they did a top notch job.
Sunday morning was the BTCA National Specialty. Melissa was up first for Junior Showmanship. Unfortunately there were no other entries, but she showed Oprah just as if she was in a full class, and I was very proud to see her out there representing how wonderful our breed is with kids of all ages. I hope everyone will encourage the young people in their lives to take an interest in showing bullies!
Olive again placed 2nd in her class. Copper didn't manage a placement in the Bred-By class of 7 entries; I was quite disappointed, but I know she'll do just fine with a little maturing, and I'm proud to have shown her to the best of my ability, and she's still the one I want to take home!! I heard so many lovely comments from both friends and complete strangers all weekend...my sincere thanks to everyone for your kindness and recognition. I'm looking forward to the future with both my girls!
So, we made it to our first Silverwood after 11 years in the breed, and now we're hooked! Hope to see you all in Pittsburgh next October!!
