The Dog Days of Summer

This summer has been one for the books.

Bryce used the summer of 2019 to prove the coolness of poodles; dyed hair! Bryce sported dyed bracelets and ears all summer.

First, the heat! Alaska has experienced record breaking heat all summer long. And if the records were only barely broken. If the heat index had registered only a smidgen above what is normal for Alaska summers… maybe I wouldn’t be so worried.

But the records that were broken were not gently tapped with the butt of a butter knife until cracks could be seen.

Nope.

Instead, these records were smashed. Demolished with a massive hammer that left nothing intact. What old heat index records? There are no old records here!

Galavanting’s home is right on the edge of what is known as South Central Alaska and Interior Alaska. And the heat in our area should live at a beautiful upper 60’s ºF to mid 70’s ºF

Not this year.

Jupiter the Catahoula Leopard Dog climbed trees in Talkeetna Alaska all summer!

This summer 2019, we hit more than 90ºF often. Multiple days a week. Each week. For two months. Those days of more than 90ºF included enough 100ºF days to make the three digit temperatures go from never before seen in Alaska to just another hot, hot, hot summer day in 2019.

Heat index records; DESTROYED.

Next, Pali has been killing it at the Alaska dog shows.

Poodle Pali won several Group One honors from the Non-Sporting Dog group at the dog shows this summer

The summer of 2019 saw Galavanting Poodles at just about all of the Alaska dog shows. All but 1 show that Pali attended, she won Best of Variety in the breed ring AND placed in the group.

After a quick summer season for Pali, she finished the summer in the Top 20 Standard Poodles in America.

Pali also earned her Bronze Grand Championship this summer.

Not too shabby.

We had the fantastic opportunity for my friend and handler extraordinaire, Allison, here in Alaska to show Pali to her beautiful wins.

Believe me when I say, we are forever grateful to have had Allison join us on part of Pali’s journey. When you have a retired handler friend love your dog so much that she’s willing to take time from her busy teaching schedule to work with your dog and teach you some tricks… well, dog show life can’t get much better.

Third, our youngest poodle, Kluane finished her AKC Championship in fine form.

Kluane proved this summer that poodles are STRONG. Kluane carried a log around with her everywhere she went.

I am super happy with how Kluane has grown and matured. She finished her Championship with three 5 point majors in two weekends.

This little spitfire of mine is one special girl.

Stay tuned for updates on what’s next for Kluane!

Fourth, we brought home a new puppy.

But sadly, we lost the puppy to a deadly and highly contagious illness.

This experience tossed us on the floor, stomped on our heads and kicked us in the gut.

Repeatedly.

We’re still reeling from the sudden and unexpected loss.

Eventually, I may blog more details. But not today.

I live my life in such a way that I am always working to better my soul by finding the good, the graceful and the gratefulness.

In this loss, I’ve found myself being forever grateful for my breeder and co-breeder. They have come at this situation with a wealth of knowledge and understanding.

The three of us together have learned so much. Both wonderful things to help prevent another loss. But also very unfortunate things; like the simple fact sometimes dogs are exposed to very bad things due to the carelessness of other people.

Galavanting Poodles spent nearly every day walking through their new home town of Talkeetna, Alaska.

Fifth and finally, 2019 is our first summer on our brand new Galavanting property!

We love living here. We love the log home/homestead life. We love the privacy, the quiet, and super small town life.

I’ve never lived in a town with more than 3,000 people. So small town living is pretty familiar to me. But our big move to Talkeetna has put a whole new spin on what I’ve known as small town living.

Our town boasts about 900 year round residents. And I gotta say; I totally love that number!

Galavanting is quickly becoming known as the Talkeetna Poodles. People stop us in the streets when we’re in town, and I’ve even had a few folks stop their car(s) to chat if they see us out on the bike trails.

I love the small town life. And I really love that my new small town is Talkeetna, Alaska.

Galavanting Poodles hiked Kesugi Ken, commonly known as Curry Ridge, in Alaska, many times in the summer of 2019.

2019 has been a wild ride.

Lots of adventures and travels (this is, after all, Galavanting Poodles)

Some tough lessons

Home projects and a newfound passion for furniture sanding

And my favorite of all; the love, support and laughter of family and friends.

The Dog Days of Summer: 5 Highlights from our Poodle Summer