December 21, 2013

Don’t you hate when you just cannot stop doodling those annoying Christmas jingles long after you walked out from the shopping mall? This is exactly how I feel about the color combination of “Dog Show Floor Blue” and “Eukanuba Pink.” They have saturated in my brain and drive me crazy days after the show. So I’ve decided to write about last week’s National Championship Dog Show in Florida one last time.  (My shrink always says that I have to talk about things to address them…)

I do not plan to incite a Christian sectarian religious upheaval between Protestants and Catholics here or try to lessen the cultural impact of the various great powers set foot on this continent, however, personally, I am glad that Florida was conquered by the Spaniards. They have left real flavor, temperament and style on the subtropical appendix of North America (no pun intended – please…). Let’s admit, without the historic footprint of the Spaniards in the region, Eukanuba would not be the same fun.

I think most of us look forward to it and we all want to go back to Orlando every December. It is more than just a big prestigious dog show. It is a reunion, the place for new friendships, great memories and a bit of vacation. We are like a big family there. For us Pumi fanciers, Eukanuba is especially a positive reinforcement, as each year, more and more people recognize our breed. For me, personally, It was a roller coaster week – mostly downhill. While some dogs had to win,  naturally some had to lose. In conformation, Kaffogo Agyag missed the opportunity to become America’s Sweetheart Pumi the second year. She did not even make it to the end in conformation.

The Best of Breed title went to Pattogo Parazs Buda with Nancy Ben-Dror. For my further disappointment, Abiqua Csupasz did not get through the qualifiers in dock diving.

The real life altering Pumi impact, has happened on the agility course as ZuZu and Tammy Hall has won the invitational agility championship in the “Sixteen-inch” class.

I remember when coming to the U.S. more than two decades ago, it was quite a headache to learn the United States Customary Units or the standard system after “growing up metric.” I remember how I was reciting the conversions, “a yard is three feet, a foot is twelve inches” etc. It was a painful learning experience with a very shallow learning curve to say the least…

After the Eukanuba 2013 weekend, my relationship has improved with the standard system as I’ve witnessed the inclusion of a new unit that you will also remember, especially,  when talking about agility. Now you can also recite the conversions with the new addition; “a yard is three feet, a foot is twelve inches and sixteen inches is a Pumi…!

Blogs supposed to end of with something important, witty or memorable that readers like because it has some impact that they can remember. Eventhough, I’ve been thinking the last few days to finish this blog with something smart, I could not come up with anything significant. So let me just say this.  Orlando’s hospitality industry has been a great and very generous host to us, the thousands of dog people with our pooches who flock to Eukanuba each year. All the motel, hotel and restaurant  employees, the people who work the shows whom we’ve met have been wonderful, friendly, helpful and very patients with our eccentric dog habits. To keep this relationship mutually cordial and lasting for years to come, so we can be welcomed back again like friends and family, can everyone please pick up after your  dogs around the hotels, the parking lots, parks and on the streets of Orlando and not leaving a serious shit storm behind you next time?

See you next year!

http://youtu.be/TwLVGTRcTYQ <——Zuzu and Tammy Hall

http://youtu.be/34d-O8ERfVo <——Pumi bitches on the “”Dog Show Floor Blue” floor with the “Eukanuba Pink” in the background

http://youtu.be/p0OMHhgd9lE <—– We had some fun during the trip down to Florida