Jim Kofron Photography

It's a sad day for our family. Greta, pictured below from this last weekend, passed away suddenly this morning. It appears that she had a tumor in her abdomen that burst, and she bled out from the time Jen noticed that she was in distress until the time she got her to the vets (maybe 15 minutes). Greta turned 11 a couple weeks ago, and for a very long time she's been my dog. At least that's the way I think of her. But she was Noah's dog too. And Jen's. And occasionally Grace's. And Max's when he's home.

She was just a great dog. Full of life, full of fun (just like a curly). I remember the day I picked her up at air cargo down at O'Hare. After a long flight from Sweden, she came flying out of the crate to see what all the fuss was about. Brave, fearless, and brimming with love. She carried that attitude for her entire life. She was a great mom to a couple litters of beautiful puppies, and was always willing to help with the other litters and puppies that graced our home. Her nickname of dancing bear came from her little dinner dance that she'd do when feeding time came around.

I'm going to miss her terribly—I loved that dog so. She has a special spot in my heart, right there with Johnny, Buddy, and Widget.

Here are some older photos that I found:

So, before Grace got to compete in the finals for junior showmanship, she had the opportunity to show Mr. Darcy in the breed ring against five other field spaniels (I think all but one had pro handlers on them). The hope here was that Darcy might score an award of merit, which would be a nice feather in his cap. But no—that didn't happen—instead, Darcy and Grace won best of breed against the five dogs! What that meant is that after the juniors competition Grace and Darcy would go into the Sporting Group ring, nationally televised, and compete for Sporting group.

Wow! A junior making it to the group ring. By my count tonight, she was the only one to do so.

In junior showmanship, Grace went in with seven other juniors. She didn't win, but came away with a 3rd place—worth a $4000 scholarship!!! How thrilling for her, and how incredibly proud we are of the two of them!!! Then she immediately moved to the sporting group ring, and I got to watch her compete on the USA network. She did a great job with Darcy (they both must have been beat by then), he moved wonderfully for her, and she nailed the free stack. It's not a surprise that she didn't get pulled (although Jen and I both swore the judge pointed at her before pulling the dog next to her), but she did terrific and what a great experience for a seventeen year old! Madison Square Garden packed full of people watching you show your dog!!

At this point, I've got to thank all Grace's support staff there—Diane, Linda & Laura, Linda, and everyone else who was helping out (I'll get names up eventually). We can't thank you enough—and your love and support of Grace is so dearly appreciated!!

And congratulations to my daughter. What a rock star!!

Just a proud father bragging about his daughter. Grace left for NYC and Westminster yesterday; she and Diane got in yesterday (with Tyson). We took Darcy to Linda and Laura, and they're driving out as I type. Grace has been to the top of the Empire State Building (last night) and shot some wonderful photos. They visited the 911 memorial today and I've seen more great photos. If you're a facebook friend, I'm sure you can see them on her wall. As an aside, I'm very impressed with the caliber of photography coming out of her, as seen here. Although I help by throwing her my camera or answering a question or two, she does this stuff all on her own.

Tomorrow is the start of the Westminster Kennel Club show, and Grace will be competing in Juniors as well as the Field Spaniel breed ring. She had a nice feature photo in the Milwaukee Sentinel Journal (page B8) with Darcy. Good luck Grace—and Diane too!!