GRAND CHAMPION ORSO IS BACK HOME! – 04.30.2012

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 I missed him incredibly, his absence was necessary for many reasons.  Lots of stuff happened while Orso was gone! I went out of town a couple of times, including my trip to Vegas for the Cane Corso Association of America’s (CCAA) Specialty Shows and Annual Events, and I wanted him to be somewhere that he would receive attention all day.  Auntie Nichelle, my resident dogsitter extraordinaire, is awesome but she can’t be home all day with him.  Then I closed on a new house 2 days later so I could move on to a new chapter in my life and immediately started efforts to get the house ready for move-in, including securing the perimeter of the acreage to make it doggie-safe.  I’ve also had strange people in and out of my current house giving me moving & repair estimates; lots of unusual activity that I didn’t want Orso to be exposed to since it can be stressful, even for the most well-adjusted dog in town.  Finally, I 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.  I 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 me, I am 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 my life!  Needless to say, today is a wonderful day for Team Costa Bel!

Congratulations and thank you to my 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 I was 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 follows:

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)