Well, I've been very bad about blogging the past few months--busy, busy, busy writing enough to pay for my upcoming safari to Tanzania in September, not to mention the vet bills that accumulated last year. But my friend Gina over at petconnection.com has coaxed me into resuming, so here I am.
I had a bit of an adventure last month at JFK, where my husband and I spent a day and a half trying to fly back to the Golden State, where the only weather that delays flights is fog. Although it seemed as if fist fights would break out at any moment, everyone was really very well behaved. Maybe it's because so many of them had their dogs with them. We saw a black-and-tan Cavalier--natch!--two Yorkshire terrier puppies whose handler had shown them at the Toy specialties preceding Westminster; an Irish water spaniel; various small terriers; a Golden puppy; and quite a few more. I'm just glad I wasn't shipping a dog in cargo. Steve Dale (who was stuck at LaGuardia) and I were both concerned about the dogs that must have had to wait for hours in crates before either getting loaded on a flight or taken away by their owners.
Jerry and I gave up trying to get out on Jet Blue after being at the airport from 7:30 Wednesday morning to 4:30 Thursday afternoon. Our friend Beth Adelman and her husband Craig invited us to their house, where they soothed our nerves with tea and put us up for three nights until we could get a flight out on Continental. The good news is that if you have to be stuck somewhere, New York is the place to be. I was really pleased to get to see the Stubbs exhibit at the Frick Collection, which started the day we were supposed to leave. It runs through May 27.
Breaking to note that my friend Jen just called to report that someone has locked a small dog in a van at the shopping center where she was having lunch. Folks, it's hot as hell here today, even though it's only mid-March. Jen says the pup was panting and obviously in distress. I gave her the number of Irvine Animal Care and Control so she could get someone out there to rescue him. Don't leave your dog in the car, even for a few minutes, with the windows rolled up. Cars heat up fast, and you never know what will delay you. Now back to our regularly scheduled post.
Westminster was fun, as always. No surprise, really, that the Springer won. It wouldn't have been a surprise if any of those dogs had won. I was rooting for the Standard Poodle--I can't help it; I think they're gorgeous, despite the foofy trim. Here's a picture of me with some of my favorite people.
I dragged Jerry out of the hotel early on Monday morning to see the Cavaliers. We weren't early enough to get one of the chairs ringside, but we did get excellent seats in the stands. We unexpectedly met Darcy's breeder, Heather Lamont, who's from Ireland. I noticed in the catalog that two dogs of her breeding were entered. Then I noticed that a woman seated a few rows behind us looked strangely familiar. I decided she resembled Heather's photo, we asked who she was, et voila! It was indeed Heather. We had a brief chat, and I barely managed not to cry when talking about Darcy.
My latest MSNBC column, on dementia in dogs and cats, went up while I was gone and I've been so busy playing catch-up since I got back that I didn't have a chance to look at it until last night. It's gotten lots of good response, but the illustration they used is awful--a dog with empty eyes. It was, to quote one of my readers, creepy.
On a happier note, my friend Tamela, who also has Cavaliers, is planning a fun match for our local Cavalier play group and the funds raised will go to the Darcy Fund. It's a wonderful idea and I'm looking forward to helping with it.
