An Extra Christmas Gift This Year!

We got snow on Christmas Day in  the Atlanta Metro! This was the first measurable snow in the ATL are on 12-25 since 1881 (they say). We had a White Christmas in Atlanta!  It was fabulous...about 3 inches. Enough to be pretty. Norman and the girls were, of course, thrilled!

They put My Picture on This Big Red Sock...Does This Mean Something?

Hello, this is Norman. It is Christmas Eve, and they gave me a big red empty sock with my picture on it. They told me Santa would put things in it tonight. I'm good with that. Merry Christmas everybody!

The Christmas Photo Shoot AKA Three-Ring Circus

Norman is a lot easier to handle than my girls, who shift into extreme-monkey mode when the camera comes out.

I saw Norman Kissing Santa Claws....

 Norman just loved Santa. I think he would have spent the day with him!

Please Vote for Norman in his Video Commercial Debut!

 A big favor to ask...This is an AT&T video contest....you have to be a Facebook user (I think) and go to 
http://simplify.att.com/videos/what-trees-are-good-for-2?fbid=-q5PCMXYvTl&wom=false to vote for Norman's commercial. I would really appreciate it!  Voting ends midnight Dec.7. Here is the video below too....

.

What I did on T'giving Day (by Norman)

Norman and Co: The Retro Look

Sweet Baby boy Norman.

Doolittle, Belle, and Norman.

A pile of puppies with Norm on top...

"I didn't do it!"

Taryn was kind enough to send me these sweet pics she made of Norm and his littermates in Dec. 2009. That's about a month before we got him from Laura! I though everybody might enjoy looking at some puppy pictures...even if  they're not puppies anymore!

We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming...

Hey..this is Norman reporting (again). I am off-duty for awhile and chilling on my new memory foam bed that my "home people" bought while I was away at the show. It is very nice, especially on a cold and rainy day! I have just returned home from the Priceville AL shows and I am not sure whether I was a good boy or not. The first day (thurs) I won three ribbons: a blue, a purple, and a blue and white. Then I had to stay in the crate pretty much the rest of the weekend. (except they played with me a little more, I think..)  They told me I was "singled out" so I had to wait till next year to find  one more  major to "finish." That is OK with me...as long as I can have some Thanksgiving Dinner in a week or so and watch that dog show on TV  that comes on after  the big parade with the floaty characters....

From Showdog to Batdog!

Norman came home just in time for Halloween, and we were very happy to have our little buddy home. However, he seemed to be settling into the showdog routine pretty well by the end of the second week with Cheryl. Most importantly, the little table problem seems (hopefully) to be a thing of the past. I thought he looked great on the table for the All Hallows Cluster Shows in Marietta GA. He went WD two of the four days, so he is now at 11 points (and he needs another major). We had a great time on Halloween evening trick-or-treating with our Batgirls and Norman (batman). We went up to First Baptist Church here in Villa Rica (GA) and he was seen and petted by many people...lots of my FB friends  had seen him on Facebook only and were glad to see him in-person. He had a great time and wore his costume without complaint for FIVE HOURS!! We trick-or-treated some more around the neighborhood, then everybody collapsed! Kudos to my kids' school for planning a teacher's workday on Monday!

A case of adolescent rebellion?

Am I doing OK, boss?

This is better....

Emily enjoys Ice Cream at Groups courtesy of Grandma.

Sarah, the eternal dog petter.....

Norman...Norman...what were you thinking? The first day of the Atlanta Shows (AND OUT CLUB DAY TO BOOT!!!) Norm decides it is time to assert himself on the table and get excused for nipping at the judge (and then Cheryl too). It was like watching a terrible accident. He was put in time-out for the rest of the day...and was gone-over by every human (I think) Cheryl could find in the grooming area. Our club prez saw me later and said "I heard Norman tried to bite Polly" (the Mrs. Dr. Smith). Thanks Norman.  BUT he was much improved by Saturday, and we were WD  Sunday ,so that was encouraging. He has gone back to TN with Cheryl and even attended her handling class so he could do lots more table work. Laura said he did pretty well at the class so hopefully this little bump in the road has passed. Four more shows in Marietta GA this weekend.....It has been VERY tough without Norman. We will all be glad to have our little buddy home so he can be Batman for Halloween with the girls (BATGIRLS!)

See you later , little buddy!

We dropped Norman off with handler Cheryl Mika on Sunday at the Nashville Show (Norm was not entered). He will be staying at "Camp Cheryl" for some training before the Atlanta shows this weekend and the Marietta (GA) shows Halloween week. We miss our SWEET Boy but we are sure he is having fun and learning some important things that a good show boy needs to know! Congrats to Norm's sis Rosie for going WB on Sunday in Nashville!

Well...

This is very belated... here is the official show pic of Norman with handler Cheryl Mika in Atl from August 29 when he was WD and Bos for 5pts. I tried to retouch the bkgd a bit and added the BOS ribbon to Judge Bolus' hand as it was not in the orig. photo. I think that Norman looks very much like his dad "tex" (grangefield Rob Roy) in this picture... well except Tex is red...On a sad note, out 12yr old male kitty was mauled and killed in my mother's garage last Sunday. Dasher died in my arms. It was just awful, and we are still looking for the dogs.The terrible irony here is that Dasher just loved dogs (well our dogs...NICE dogs).Norman is still looking for his buddy.On a happier note... Norman is entered in both Atlanta cluster shows the last two weeks of October. Seven shows in nine days. He will be one tired puppy!

A Responsible Boy

We went to AKC Responsible Dog Ownership Day with Norman today. He happily sat on the table most of the 3hrs as a cute "display"....I only wish I had $10 for everybody that asked 'what kind of dog is that???' We even had signage with his breed and name. He was a very good boy.

So Fun, Show Fun!

Water Break!

We drove up early Sunday AM for the Chattanooga Kennel Club Show in East Ridge TN (about 2 hrs from where we live). Laura (norman's breeder) groomed and handled him for us. Norm was RWD to the very nice boy Nash. Norm's sis Rosie went WB for both days of the show. Congrats Rosie and Laura! Thanks also to Janet for her hospitality after the show. Scout loved rolling Norman in the yard!

Norman, the Builder

Norman is such a great boy with the girls. My mother recently found my old (like VERY OLD) Lego blocks and the girls were playing on the floor with them. When Norm came in , he just sat down beside them and watched intently. I would really like to thank Laura for entrusting us with Norman . He brings so much joy to our lives everyday.

Happy Birthday, Norman!

We had lots of fun celebrating Mr. Norman's Birthday on Thurs. Sept 2! Here's a short video I put together of the festivities.....

MAJOR NEWS!

Norman went WD and BOS for a 5pt Major under judge David Bolus at the Conyers Kennel Club Show in Atlanta on Sunday! A BIG BIG thanks to handler Cheryl Mika for offering to groom and handle him for us on Sunday. He just loved her! Thanks also to Laura for handling him in the breed ring while Cheryl handled Scout. Norm now has 8 points, and will be 1yr old on Sept 2. It was a fun show (close to home), and winning is a pretty good thing too. BTW, we all got to meet Chase and sign his book too. The girls were so excited about his autograph book that they went home and made one for Norman. They are so funny.