Success at the 2008 PCA National Specialty
Alasera Phalenes all went to the PCA National Specialty in Frederick, Maryland from April 21-April 27th. It was a long drive out to the East Coast. On Monday, Mellie and Abby competed in the National Specialty agility trial. Mellie qualified in her Jumpers with Weaves run and in the FAST run. Mellie had never ran in the FAST class, which requires some distance work as well as some obstacle strategies to gain points. She took second out of over 25 dogs in the Novice B FAST class. Only one point out of first place!
Abby only qualified in one run, her Open Jumpers with Weaves class, but she made it count. She earned a second place finish with lots of time under course time. It was a superb performance and earned her High Scoring Phalene in Trial! She got a huge beautiful rosette and a lovely commemorative tote bag. It was also her third leg of her Open title so she earned her OAJ title at the trial as well. She had a few issues with her contact obstacles so it is back to the drawing board there!
Later in the week, Ace competed in the Open dog- drop ear conformation class in the PCA Specialty show. He took third place, earning a nice rosette and a beautiful print of a Phalene by the beach. He was lovely in the ring and has really come alive in the show ring.
Mellie, not to be outdone, took fourth place in the Open bitch-drop ear class out of 7 bitches entered. She has been out of the show ring for two years and I was happy to see that she is ready to come out of retirement. She moved beautifully and loved every minute of her time in the ring. She also earned a nice rosette and took home another Phalene art print.
Ripley was not entered in the conformation show, but enjoyed our outings. We took the dogs to the Capitol Mall in Washington D.C. where they were a hit with the crowds. They posed by some famous monuments and enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.
