Welcome home, Buckethead!  6 weeks ago, Orso went to Danny & Vanessa’s house to freshen up his show training and work on his AKC Grand Championship.  This past weekend was a great weekend for Team Orso!  Today, Orso came back home an AKC Grand Champion!

Although we missed him incredibly, his absence was necessary for many reasons.  Lots of stuff happened while Orso was gone!  Gus and I went out of town a couple of times, including our trip to Vegas for the Cane Corso Association of America’s (CCAA) Specialty Shows and Annual Events, and we wanted him to be somewhere that he would receive attention all day.  Auntie Nichelle, our resident dogsitter extraordinaire, is awesome but she can’t be home all day with him.  Then we closed on a new house 2 days later and immediately started efforts to get the house ready for move-in, including securing the perimeter of the acreage to make it doggie-safe.  We’ve also had strange people in and out of our current house giving us moving & repair estimates; lots of unusual activity that we didn’t want Orso to be exposed to since it can be stressful, even for the most well-adjusted dog in town.  Finally, we wanted to bring home Cleo, who came home last week, with only Mouse & Luna in the house so that she could have a peaceful transition to her home.  We figured she needed some alone time with Mouse and Luna to acclimate to each other without Orso wanting to take turns wrestling everyone to the ground, LOL.  With everything behind us, we are thrilled to have him back home.  Despite traveling to most of Orso’s shows and regular visits with him, these were the longest 6 weeks of our lives!  Needless to say, today is a wonderful day for Team Costa Bel!

Congratulations and thank you to our amazing handling team, Daniel Sanchez & Vanessa Lanz-Sanchez, for putting an AKC Grand Champion title on our Buckethead in just 5 show weekends - most of which we were lucky enough to be at - and ending his conformation show career with a Group 4 placement!

Also, thanks to all the judges who contributed to Orso’s success since his very first time in a show ring, as follow:

Mr. Robert J. Caswell (CH)

Mr. James E. Frederiksen (CH)

Mrs. Lee Canalizo (CH)

Mrs. Kimberly Meredith-Cavanna (CH)

Mrs. Catherine Bell (CH)

Mr. Burton J. Yamada (CH)

Mrs. Patti Widick Neale (CH)

Dr. Wanda V. Spediacci (CH)

Mrs. Patricia V. Trotter (CH)

Ms. Victoria A. Brown (Rally Obedience)

Mrs. Carol Ann Klein (Rally Obedience)

Mr. Robert R. Withers (Rally Obedience)

Mrs. Ruth H. Zimmerman (GCH)

Ms. Beverly Capstick (GCH)

Mr. Jim C. Briley (GCH)

Mrs. Linda Robey (GCH)

Mrs. Jean Fournier (GCH)

Mrs. Karen McFarlane (GCH)

Mrs. Susan Catlin (GCH)

Mr. Steven D. Gladstone (GCH)

Mr. Robert E. Fetter (GCH)

Mr. Ralph Ambrosio (GCH/G4)

Mr. Robert J. Caswell (GCH)

Today was Orso’s conformation showing retirement day after earning his AKC Grand Champion title yesterday and he went out with a bang!  He took Best of Breed with handler Vanessa Lanz-Sanchez under Judge Robert Caswell and then earned Working Group 4th Placement under Judge Ralph (Sonny) Ambrosio!

Orso looked amazing in the ring today! Gus and I couldn’t have asked for a better way to end his conformation show career!  The best part of all this is that Robert Caswell was the very first AKC Judge to award Orso points when he was 8 months old last year in Lakeland and today he was the last AKC Judge to award him points and send him off to the Working Group ring!  Thanks, Mr. Caswell, for being so good to Orso!

Karma was also awarded Select Bitch by Judge Robert Caswell with handler Maria Devier.  Thanks to all involved in these nice wins! 

Orso’s professional show photos will be posted as soon as I receive them!

Below is a photo of Orso's Working Group 4th Placement ribbon and a video compilation of today's show day, enjoy!

Between the Cane Corso breed judging and Orso’s time to be back for the Working Group, Gus and I escaped the show ground with Orso & Karma and took them to have pizza with us!  Below are some fun photos, not the best quality because I took them with my phone, but fun nonetheless!  Enjoy!

One of the highlights of this weekend was bringing Cleo home!  This afternoon, after the shows ended, Danny reluctantly gave Gus and me back our girl for her to come home with us.  Having finished her AKC Grand Championship a few weeks ago, it was finally time for Cleo to come home and become a professional couch potato, like the rest of the dogs in our home!

Cleo’s acclimation to our lifestyle started immediately with a thorough bath in the hotel’s bathtub, followed by a night on the town with us.  We took her to dinner with us and introduced her to some locals before heading back to the hotel for a good night’s rest.  Below is a photo of Cleo in the hotel with her new cow hoof and then a picture of her hanging out with us at Sebring Diner, enjoy!

Our 2nd day in Sebring was just as successful as yesterday!  Orso took Best of Breed and Karma took Best of Opposite under Judge Robert Fetter with handlers Daniel Sanchez and Susan McQueen, respectively.  Thank you to everyone involved in today’s wins!  Orso is now only 2 points away from finishing his AKC Grand Championship and Karma is not too far behind him with just 9 points left to finish her AKC Grand Championship!

Later in the day, Orso did showed beautifully in Working Group; below is a short video clip of him in the ring.  Also below are our favorite photos of Orso hanging out waiting to go into Working Group and then in the ring, enjoy!

Orso patiently waiting outside the Cane Corso Best of Breed ring:



Orso in the Cane Corso Best of Breed ring:





Orso patiently waiting outside the Working Group ring, getting some love from Handler Daniel Sanchez:









Orso in the Working Group ring:







Short video clip of Orso in the Working Group ring:

Today was a great show day for Team Costa Bel!  Gus and I drove up to Sebring, Florida, bright and early this morning to go hang out with Orso and Karma at the Sebring dog shows and spend some quality time with our handler, Daniel Sanchez.  This was a small show and very relaxed, so we had a nice time!

Orso was awarded Best of Breed and Karma was awarded Best of Opposite under Judge Steven Gladstone with handlers, Daniel Sanchez and Susan McQueen, respectively.  Orso then went on to show in Working Group and made the cut!  This was so cool!  There were 16 dogs competing in the Working Group.  Making the cut means that the judge selects a group of his favorites, eliminating the majority of the other dogs, and from this selection he then awards his top 4 placements.

Thanks to all involved in today’s show successes!  Below are our favorite photos of Orso in the Working Group ring, enjoy!