Weekend Report - Iowa Edition

Last weekend, Ann Brodie and I were invited to Adel, Iowa, to judge earthdog for the Central Iowa Dachshund Club. I was very happy and honored to go, especially since I haven't judged in over a year (I've been secretary for the local tests, and the secretary isn't allowed to judge).

  The club has been doing earthdog tests for several years, so they know what they are doing and they do it well. The site was very, very nice. Here's a photo Ann took:

The barn housed the secretary's table and the hospitality tables. The Junior tunnels are behind the barn, to the left. The club has recently dug a second set of Master/Senior tunnels, so we could use a different set for each test. I judged ME on Sunday, and I loved the walk-up hunt portion- lots of tall grasses on one side, woods on the other. The dogs ALL hunted quite well!

Ann and I were able to spend the weekend at the host farm's guest house. It was so nice to have a full kitchen, comfortable beds, and real bathrooms available, and it was wonderful to not have to pack up and drive to the site every day!

We took dogs with us, and I'll post soon on The Terriers' Great Iowa Adventure. For now, I'll tell you that they had a great time!

Judging went quite well for me. The entries were good, the weather was perfect, and the dogs were having a great time. However, Ann had a "challenging situation" in SE on Saturday. After several dogs came out of the hole smelling like dead possum, the committee inspected the tunnel and found......... a dead possum. The decision was made to pack up the test and move to the other SE tunnel, and to re-test the dogs who had NQ'ed due to the deceased critter.

If you read Patricia McConnell's blog, you know she frequently ends with a fabulous photo of her farm. So, as a nod to Patricia, here's another photo of the Lehmann farm....