Spring is done.....

I can't believe how fast time flies by these days! As I get older, the time just is not slowing down, but rather going by faster it seems.

Since I last posted a lot has happened both in the dog family and in the human family, but I won't bore you with all of the happenings, just some highlights.

Dreamer continues to be shown this year, but a little more selectively. He is still the #1 All Breed Havanese. Dreamer went to Colorado in April and came home with back to back Best In Shows and about 3000 dog defeated points! Thank you to Judges Mrs Claire Kitty K. Steidel and Dr Anthony D DiNardo for awarding these prestigious wins to our Dreamer. This makes 5 BIS's for Dreamer and a total of 7 BIS's for Bellatak Havanese, which makes this the breed record.

Last year, when Dreamer won the 2011 Havanese Club of America Specialty, that meant that I as one of his owners also won and retired the HCSC (Havanese Club of Southern California) Perpetual Trophy for being the first Havanese owner in the history of the breed to have owned 3 National Specialty winners. Vallee won twice and Dreamer won last year, both of which I bred. I was so honored winning that trophy! In April, I decided to re-donate it back to the HCSC in honor of MBIS & MBISS CH Bellatak My Funny Valentine (Vallee) and MBIS & MBISS GCH CH Bellatak McDreamy (Dreamer) to continue to be offered again for the owner of 3 National Specialty winners.

In May, our youngest child graduated from High School. He along with his 19 year old brother will both be attending college in the fall. Tom and I are very proud of all of children!

June begins with the "Favorite Movies" litter turning 6 months old. Brisa, Bellatak Gone With The Wind, made her debut in the conformation ring and had a great time! She almost shows herself, but don't tell her mom, Amanda that! I foresee Amanda and Brisa accomplishing great things in the future in the conformation ring, at home and in performance events!

2012 Begins

I can not hardly believe that 2012 is here! Where did 2011 go?

2011 proved to be a very successful year in the dog show world. A couple of Bellatak puppies finished their championship (Keely and her brothers Robbie and Maverick and Angel, all CH Bellatak My Funny Valentine kids). Dreamer showed beautifully anytime he entered the ring.

Dreamer won the 2011 Havanese Club of America National Specialty, in North Carolina in July of 2011.

He continued to have another great year.

The 2011 Eukanuba was held in Florida this year. David and Dreamer were there along with John Oakes and his wife Carole Shea. Jane Samson and Tom and myself stayed home in California for this show. Of course now we wish we had gone too as Dreamer, GCH Bellatak McDreamy, won 2011 Eukanuba Best Of Breed! What a spectacular way to finish his 2011 show year!

Dreamer finished 2011 as the #1 Breed dog and the #1 All Breed dog and also finished as the #14 Toy Dog in the USA. Needless to say, we are all thrilled and look forward to what 2012 will bring for the Bellatak Team!

The end of summer is near....

This past weekend, I drove down to Santa Barbara, CA with Maggie (Vallee's daughter). Tom decided at the last minute to not go as he felt his football team needed their head coach. I understood and so Maggie and I made the trip together. She is a good traveler and was good company too, as she does not talk back when I am talking to her nor does she interrupt me. We were going to Santa Barbara for the dog show as well as to be able to spend some time with John, who was flying in from CT and Jane, David, Sherry, Hal, Brian, Joanne, and Susan.

Unfortunately hurricane Irene decided she needed to head north from the south east part of the U.S.A. and be in a direct line with CT where Jo

hn and Carole live. Therefore, John had to cancel coming to the Santa Barbara show at the last minute. While we all missed seeing him, we all felt he made the best decision too.

The Santa Barbara Kennel Club started a Breeders Showcase 3 years ago. Bellatak has been represented since the inception of this event. It is a wonderful event. Good food is served to all under the lights of the arena. Wine and cocktails are available. Watching the best of the best compete in the Breeders Showcase while dining under the stars is awesome! To enter, two dogs from the same breeder must be entered and shown. For the past two years, we entered Vallee and Dreamer. This year, we entered Dreamer and Vallee's daughter, Keely. To see my dogs move together in unison around the ring is breath taking for me. As I did last year, I shed a tear of joy to witness them together and seeing how beautiful they look. It is confirmation for me that I am doing something right as a breeder!

Once again this year, Bellatak was awarded a group placement. This year though, instead of getting a Group 4 like the last two years, Dreamer and Keely got a Group 3 from Judge Janet Allen.

Maggie and I had a wonderful time seeing everyone and being able to talk to our hearts content!

Dreamer won Best of Breed and Group 2 three out of the 4 days of the show with a beautiful final lineup in the Toy Group each day. We are all thankful to all the judges that see Dreamer as the exceptional Havanese we know he is.

I look forward to next year at the Santa Barbara show, as it has quickly become one our favorites to attend.

August 2011 and all is well!

WOW, I can't believe that it has been 8 months since I last posted on here! Just goes to show you how time flies as we get older! LOLOLOL

A lot has happened in the last 8 months. Dreamer has remained #1 Havanese All Breed all year again and we hope he continues to be #1. He won his 3rd BIS on May 1, 2011. Here is a picture of that awesome win from Judge Paula Nykiel.

In April our pool was taken over by a female Mallard Duck and her 12 ducklings after they were born in a well hidden nest behind our pool. They moved out when the ducklings were 8 weeks old and it took us a month to get the pool back to it's swimable state! Here is a picture of Daisy Duck and her 12 Ducklings.

We have wonderful weather this spring and summer. It has not been as hot as it typically can be here in the Sacramento Valley.

Travis, our 4 child, graduated from high school the end of May. We can't believe that he is old enough to graduate, but the school district and Travis claim he is!

I went back to work after being out on disability (yes, getting older isn't all fun!) in December. I made plans to attend the 2011 HCA National Specialty in North Carolina. I wasn't sure I would be able to go due to my injuries, but I was able to make it. I was so looking forward to attending, as it was my vacation for the year. Tom had to stay home and keep the "fort" under control.

The entire Bellatak Dream Team was in attendance as we have been for the last few years. It is always fun to be with everyone. I enjoyed myself even before the final day.

For the 3rd time, never to have been done before by anyone in the Havanese breed, a Bellatak Havanese won the 2011 HCA National Specialty. Judge James Reynolds pointed at GCH CH Bellatak McDreamy to be his winner! What a thrill and this time I was able to sit ringside! I could never sit ringside when Vallee (CH Bellatak My Funny Valentine) was in the ring. Dreamer winning meant that Bellatak retired the Havanese Club of Southern California Perpetual Trophy! I still am pinching myself to be sure all of this is true! While I always knew that Dreamer was structurally correct to the Havanese standard, it is nice my belief in him was once again confirmed by a prestigeous judge like Mr. James Reynolds. His choices remained very consistent from WD to WB and BOS, as they were all very similar in type and style. The Dream Team made it happen! Thank you, John Oakes, Carole Shea, Jane Samson, Tom Patrick and David Murray.

Something I think you ALL would like to buy can be found by clicking on this link. You will not only want one for yourself, but you should buy a lot to give as gifts since the Holiday's are just around the corner. http://havanesetalk.tumblr.com/ So BUY, BUY, BUY! All proceeds go to Havanese Club of America.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Thank you Judge Dr. Klaus Anselm

Today is the beginning of a new year, with new hopes, new challenges, new loves, new friendships, new blessings and so much more.

While I am still dealing with the pain and limitations of having a back injury, I am optimistic there will come a day I am pain free again.

2010 was a great year for Bellatak Havanese, as so many wonderful things have happened. The biggest news if that GCH Bellatak McDreamy, owned by our dear friends, John Oakes, his wife Carole Shea, Jane Samson, and Tom and I, finished the year as the #1 All Breed Havanese. Dreamer is exclusively presented and handled by David Murray. David and Dreamer are a team and the relationship they have together shows in the ring!

Dreamer is the ONLY Havanese in 2010 to be awarded with 2 Best In Shows! Dreamer exudes breed type for a Havanese. He is structurally correct, has correct coat type as well as very black pigment. His coat is naturally a very crisp white and shiny black that doesn't need to be overly groomed for it to be beautiful and correct. His topline has the essential "slight" rise, not appearing like a ski slope which is incorrect. What helps set Dreamer apart though is the same movement his half sister Vallee, CH Bellatak My Funny Valentine, has and his temperament that is special to a Havanese. Needless to say we are all very proud of Dreamer.

Life is good and Tom and I are blessed in so many ways.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all!

Dreamer Rocks!

What a wonderful day today has been!!!

Today at the San Luis Obispo KC show in Paso Robles, CA, GCH Bellatak McDreamy (Dreamer) was awarded his second Best In Show of the year from Judge Dr. Klaus Anselm. It was a star studded Best In Show ring and Dreamer was among the best in the dog show world thanks to Gay Dunlap who chose Dreamer as the Toy Group winner and Best of Breed today. I would have loved to have been there to see it all unfold!

Dreamer started his "special" career off with a bang in Palm Springs earlier this year and has remained the #1 Havanese all year.

John Oakes, Carole Shea, Jane Samson co-own Dreamer with Tom and I and we are all very fortunate to have David Murray expertly present Dreamer. We are a team and we all have so much fun and respect for each other. THANK YOU John, Carole, Jane, and David.

Also today, Amanda, who has been doing agility with her Bellatak boy, Bellatak Dash of Holiday Cheer (Dasher), qualified for the 2011 AKC Agility National to be held in Lexington, VA in April, 2011. This is an awesome accomplishment for Amanda and Dasher as Dasher is under 3 years of age which I am told is young in the sport of agility to come so far. Amanda and Dasher make such an awesome team! I knew from the beginning that she would earn many titles with Dasher and boy has she.

Till next time.......

Memorial Weekend!

Today our youngest child turned 16. Today our youngest grandchild celebrated his 6th birthday. It is pure joy to be able to be a part of watching a child grow. They are pure, fun, exciting and new. Tom and I are blessed to have such a wonderful family. Our 16 year old invited several of his friends to go paint balling. They were there all day. No injuries thankfully! They had a great time. Dad was with them but didn't "play", instead he read a book and got to relax for several hours, something he needed. I attended our grandson's party along with mom, and our other two adult children. The food was delicious! Our oldest son has a fabulous recipe for a marinated chicken, oh YUM!!!! It was nice to see everyone and watch our youngest grandchild be the VIP for the day. He plays that role very well.

After we got home, played with the puppies and got a chance for some R & R myself before Tom and 5 teen boys arrived back here for pizza and ice cream cake and lots of video gaming!

May has brought tears of joy and tears of heartache. Dreamer getting a BIS made us all cry tears of joy. I realized the other day that Dreamer getting a BIS means his mother has produced 2 Havanese Best In Show winners. Not sure any other Havanese has accomplished that. Then shortly after that "high" we learned that my daughters Biewer Terrier has LCP and will need to have surgery, which of course brought tears of heartache. He started limping in severe pain suddenly so she took him to her vet having no idea what could be wrong. Who would ever think when they see a limping dog that they have some kind of genetic defect??? We sure didn't!!! We got a second opinion to be sure. Yes, she has a contract covering this type of genetic issue with the breeder, but.....doesn't seem to matter. This month we also learned that mom was given a clean bill of being cancer free, which brought more tears of joy! Her oncologist had felt all along that even though the biopsy's had shown no cancer that she still did in fact have cancer. Well, after a couple more tests this month, he now believes she does NOT have cancer at all!

Some of the puppies have gone to their new homes and some are still here waiting for pick-up. I love watching them and am pleased with how nice they have all turned out. I plan on taking them one at a time out front to work on their lead training this weekend since the weather is suppose to be nice and they have had their second shot.