2018 was a year filled with many highs, lows and unexpected moments. Showing was definitely high up on the agenda but we also explored different activities with the boys. Riley continues to do well in search training (“Ziel Objekt Suche”), Indy started to use his jumping skills well in Agility and both boys are starting to do well in Dummy.

Below a short summary of the year with links to each of the news posts with more detail.

We started 2018 with the confirmation from the VDH that Riley had gained his German Champion (VDH) Title and was now entitled to compete in Champions Class.

In March we received the unexpected and very surprising news that Indy was given perfect HD and ED scores (HDA1/A1 – ED 0/0) following the assessment of his x-rays. Given the tumbles and jumps our little “Kangador” made as a youngster, we were so pleased that there was no damage or signs of hereditary problems.

Then in April two more lovely milestones were reached.
Firstly Indy passed his LCD Wesentest (“Character Test”) under Judge Mr. Karrenberg and given excellent scored and lovely report. Not that we had any doubt but Indy has all the character traits one would expect of a Labrador.

That same day Riley was shown in Luxembourg and gained the necessary points to be awarded his second title: Champion de Luxembourg

May saw us heading to Gymnich for the annual LCD Clubshow but also Indy’s LCD Formwert (“Conformation Test”) which he passed with flying colours under the critical assessment of Judge Mrs. Tanja Nordhuess. With this Indy completed all pre-requisites for his acceptance in the LCD Studbook (“Zuchtzulassung”), confirmation which we received in July.

June was a turning point for both boys. After several months of struggling in the ring things started to come together for both of them – first in Zwolle where both boys were placed first and ended up against each other for best male twice, only to repeated later in the month in Tilburg where both were placed first and in the end Riley received his first BOB (“Best of Breed”).

Starting off the summer season too us to the Retriever Club Luxembourg show in Mertert where we had high hopes for Riley under esteemed judge Mrs. Penny Carpanini, breeder of Riley’s legendary grandfather Carpenny Scenario. Sadly, Riley was not able to impress Mrs. Carpanini entirely as he suffered with the very warm temperatures and was awarded an Excellent 3^rd Place.
Indy made his last appearance there in Youth Class and used all of his charm on the Judge, who in the end against all expectations placed Indy Excellent 1^st out of a very strong class of 11 and also awarded him the title Champion Jeune de Luxembourg (“Luxembourg Youth Champion”)

In August we emabarked on our Mini-Show-Marathon with 5 shows in one week. We started in Germany at the LCD Clubshow in Hasselroth, followed by the CACIB in Giessen.
After Giessen it was off to The Netherlands for a few days rest at a lovely campsite before heading to Amsterdam for the World Dog Show 2018. A week with mixed but overall satisfactory results. You can read the full report here.

And so the weeks of shows went on and on with mixed results

In November our little world was shaken when we had to say goodbye to Albert – our original “monster” at the age of 12 and the Man of the House in many ways. We miss you Buddy.

December brought some more highlights though. At the National and International show in Kassel Indy managed to win both days and was awarded another 2 CAC’s for the title German Champion VDH so well on track to follow in big brother Riley’s footsteps.

Riley closed off the season for us with his second BOB (“Best of Breed”) placing of the year at the Christmasshow in Landen (B)

And now we look forward to another exciting year ahead of us with few expectations other than that we are sure to have more good times. We thank all who supported us over the last year, we’ve made many new friends and look forward to much the same in the coming year.

Happy New year to you all and may all your wishes come true in 2019.