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her by name and can pick her out of anywhere. All you need to say when we get to the show is ‘Where’s Karen?’ and he will find her.”
Chance started out winning as a pup and never looked back. He finished AKC with a 5-point major at the Orange Empire KC show in January of 2001; he was 17 months old at the time. “From there, we showed him in breed a few times, where he was equally successful,” says Nancy, “but when he got to Group, he still looked like a youngster (at 18 months), and we decided to lay him up for awhile and let him mature. The next year, the first time back in Group, I had my movie camera in my hand and was filming him. Because of the camera, I could not clap as he was going around, so, not think- ing, I whistled. Of course he was right in front of the judge, and he turned and started to bolt across the ring to come to me. Poor guy, poor Karen!” Nancy does not whistle anymore when Chance is in the ring.
Chance’s ASCA career was off to an equally impressive start. At the Colorado ASCA Nationals in 2001, at 13 months old, he was WD at a pre-show, RWD at another pre-show, second in sweeps, and fourth in his National class, all from the 12–18 month class. That November at the next Arizona Speciality, he was WD, finishing his ASCA championship with a 5-point major. Now four years old, Chance is a multiple premier award-winning dog and a multiple AOM winner.
Nancy very much wanted Chance to have the oppor- tunity to compete at the Garden. “He showed extremely well all year and definitely earned his invitation,” she says. “I go everywhere with the hope that he will win and with the goal/expectation that he will give it his all. He gives it his all, show after show, and it seems that he is loving it more and more all the time.”
On Monday night at Westminster, handler Karen Bruneau set her first record of the show by winning Group with her Great Pyr (the first Pyr to do so). This presented a potential dilemma.
“I did not panic when Karen won with her Pyr, as that was on Monday,” says Nancy. “Why panic, I thought? After Chance showed and won BOB on Tuesday, I pan- icked. I wanted to give Chance the best opportunity I could to be successful in Group. That Tuesday after- noon, Larry Fenner, Karen, Paul (Karen’s husband), and I talked. We all decided it was best for Larry to show Chance in Group.” Larry Fenner is a professional han- dler from Northern California who had shown Chance successfully before.
Nancy is still on cloud nine after Chance’s BOB and Herding Group 2. As for Chance, well, he’s taken it all in stride. “No nerves on his part, he did really well,” says Nancy. “As I said before, he seems to be loving the showing right now. He especially liked the cold air of NYC, all the walks on Seventh Avenue, and all the people on the streets who stopped to talk to him. He thrives on all that attention.”
As if Westminster wasn’t enough action, Nancy and Karen and Chance flew from New York to Denver very early on Wednesday morning for the Aussie specialty and four days of all-breed shows. “Exhausted? Yes!” says Nancy. “Karen and I picked up a horrible cough and lung infection in NYC. Poor Karen could barely get around the rings with the dogs.”
In Denver Chance showed in breed all four days, winning BOB three out of four days. He also received a Group 1 and a Group 3 placement. As if that showing wasn’t enough, he also trialed in agility on Saturday and Sunday and qualified in four out of four runs, earn- ing his NA and NAJ with first and second placements. Kristi Cetrulo, a good friend of Nancy and Chance, runs Chance in agility. “After training Chance in agility since he was a baby, it was evident that I could not run him in trials, as I can’t run fast enough,” says Nancy. “He has known Kristi since he was 10 months old, and they are very quickly becoming a team. She runs a lot faster than Mom, and as far as Chance is concerned, the faster, the better.”
Nancy is, however, training Chance on stock herself (with Kathy Warren, in Cayucos, California), and she hopes to trial him personally later this year. “We’re hav- ing a great time learning together,” she says.
Such a great time, in fact, that she’s already acquired another Aussie. “Her name is Windsongs Skys the Limit, aka Ms. Maddie. She is a two-year-old Windsong/Twin Oaks bitch. Beyond that, I do not want to upset the applecart right now. Down the road, there are definitely more Aussies in my future.” What a surprise!
May/June 2005 The Australian Shepherd Journal 15