2008 was a very gratifying year for Pouch Cove PWDs.  First and foremost, Digit ended the year as America's Number One PWD in both Breed and All Breed competition and Number Nine Working Dog.  To date, Digit has five all breed Bests In Shows and 36 Group Firsts to his credit.  Digit faced excellent competition throughout the year in the breed ring, but none more formidable than the lovely bitch from California, Ch. Aviator's Luck Be A Lady, bred and owned by Mike and Kathy Dugan and presented by Liz Volz and Amy Rutherford.  Indeed, Digit and Lady Bug battled it out until the final week of the year as indicated by the narrow margin of victory in breed points.  Congratulations to Team Lady Bug and the other top PWDs for a job well done in 2008.

Digit's successful campaign was a true team effort, and it certainly would not have been possible without the excellent care, grooming, presentation, energy and patience provided by Correy and Rindi Krickeberg over the past 18 months.  Watch out for this very talented handling team in the coming years!  Finally, Digit now has champion offspring, siring two very promising litters in late 2007/early 2008, the first out of our Cartmel girl Bess, and the next from Martha Thomas' lovely Groovy, who is a Pouch Cove favorite.

2008 was also an action packed year for our other stud dog and English import, Carlo.  During the past 12 months Carlo, beautifully presented by Michael and Michelle Scott, won the Open Dog class at the national specialty, completed his championship, passed all recommended health tests and sired litters with our girls Elsa, Busy and Portia.  Carlo was represented by two of his kids at the national specialty (Isaac and Go Go, both out of Elsa) who won their respective classes!  However, Carlo's successes are bittersweet in that Miss Pat Jones, the driving force of Cartmel, passed away in early June.  We miss Pat's knowledge and dry wit, and much appreciate our opportunity with the Cartmel bloodlines.

Speaking of the 2008 National Specialty, we were pleased to have Pouch Cove PWDs win 11 classes and/or Award of Merits, including Bling's RWB and BOS in Sweepstakes and her mom Jane's win in the Brood Bitch class.  Thanks to Jen and Rick Krieger for helping pull together and present Team Jane!  Jane kids also won an Award of Merit (Desi) and the 12 to 18 class (Vivi).  Perhaps most exciting was Fannie's return to the show ring after several years in retirement, winning Best Veteran in Show and an Award of Merit.  Fannie, so capably presented by Laura King, was our first group winning PWD, and still proudly represents so much of what we find special about the breed in attitude, showmanship and style.  We thank Laura and Fannie for the many thrilling moments (handling Fannie has its challenges!) that they have provided to us and others.  Topping it off, the team of Joanne Thibault and Brita went Best in Junior Showmanship, Orion, our handsome boy from the midwest repeated his Award of Merit performance and Gus, the young dog from Texas won the American Bred class.  A big thank you and congratulations to the owners and handlers who made the possibilities a reality.

The showing of Pouch Cove PWDs went well beyond the National Specialty, and we are proud to report that the following Pouch Cove PWDs earned their American championships in 2008: Sparkle, Ruby, Willow, Indy, Vivi, Bling, Darwin, Carlo and Jax (making him the tenth champion from the two litters with Nick X Grrilla).  To top it off, Willow went Winners Bitch at the Canadian National Specialty, and on that same weekend she and her best friend Nolan earned their Canadian championships!

Finally, on a less happy note, we unfortunately lost Cybil (Ch. Pinehaven Primetime) this year.  Not only was Cybil a great dog to live with, she was an outstanding producer and is the foundation for the Pouch Cove PWDs in the ring today.  We thank Joanne Watkins for providing Cybil with such a great home and with unparalleled care.

We now look forward to 2009, keeping a close eye on the young adults, the adolescents and the babies.  In closing, many thanks to the puppy owners, trainers and handlers who work with us in presenting healthy, happy and handsome PWDs to the fancy, with a special nod to Belinda for keeping our web site up to speed!  Happy New Year and all the best for 2009!