Roseville, Rocklin, Lincoln, Loomis, Granite Bay - Placer County, California - Real Estate Blog - Souza Realty

The Champ - A Kodak Moment

Well, I just published my "Kodak Moment" contest entry and it gave me inspiration for another "Kodak Moment" so here we go again! This is a photo of Romeo "The Champ" del Morgan, my Cane Corso (taken at 15 months) who is the love-of-my-life...and yes, Bob knows! :)

I took this photo in January 2003, after Romeo finally started winning at dog shows. We started showing him at about 8 months of age and he never won anything. Mind you, he has ALWAYS been an adorable little puppy, but apparently he just didn't have what it took in the judges' eyes...to them, he probably looked like awkward teenager! Anyway, I was so excited that Romeo won (after 7 months of not winning!) so I simply had to photograph him with his medallions...even if they weren't big wins (like "Best In Show") but only "Best of Breed" and "Working Group" placements.

Little did we know what the future held for Romeo because as he grew, we watched him mature into an excellent specimen of the breed. He went from winning "Best of Breed" to winning 1st place in "Working Group" to "Reserve Best In Show" and the coveted "Best In Show" ribbon finally went to him in June 2003, at 20 months of age! His biggest win was at the 2004 National Specialty in Lumberton, NJ (with 63 Cane Corsos registered, including dogs flown in from their home country of Italy and even a couple of Italian Champions). The judge (who was flown in from Spain) selected Romeo as the Best Male Dog in the entire competition...WOO-HOO! :D (There is a photo from that show in Romeo's Picasa Web Album.)

Here is Romeo's dog show resume, in addition to being the #1 Cane Corso and the National Specialty Best of Opposite Sex Winner in 2004, an ARBA Master Champion, IABCA Welt-Cup-Sieger Champion, ICCF Champion, Rarities Grand International Champion as well as earning the titles of Canine Good Citizen, Therapy Dogs International and passing the American Temperament Test Society and Fila Brasileiro Club of America's temperament tests:

• 6x Best In Show (adult)
• 10x Best In Show (brace)
• 10x Reserve Best In Show (adult)
• 5x Reserve Best In Show (brace)
• 2x Best In Show (family)
• 1x Reserve Best In Show (family)
• 42x Group Placements
• 69x Best of Breed
  

Anyway...the moral of the story is "If at first you don't succeed, try again." Or is it "Good things come to those who wait." What about "Patience is a virtue" or "You never know what the future holds"? No, wait...I've got it this time:

"Adorable puppies can grow up to be awkward teenagers. Awkward teenagers can grow up to be cowboys champions. But only Romeo can be "The Champ"! ;p

This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera

To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain.

My First Born Baby Boy at 63 Days - A Kodak Moment

This is a photo I took of our first born baby boy (we named him Cyrano, pronounced "sih-RAH-no") when he was 63 days old. It is my favorite baby pic of the hundreds I have taken of the 35 puppies we've had in three different litters because somehow I was lucky enough to capture Cyrano's "wise innocence" when I snapped this digital photo. He has grown from being a wise, innocent baby to a wise, innocent little boy...and at almost 7 years of age, he is still a wise, innocent little boy! If you don't believe me, just check out his Facebook Page. :)

Cyrano is a Cane Corso and he was born on January 20, 2004 to Italian-born parents, Romeo (from Genoa, Italy) and Giulietta (from Rome, Italy). In his litter, he had 4 brothers and 8 sisters. One sister still lives with the family and the rest went to live in other parts of California as well as Indiana, New Jersey, Arizona, Georgia and Oregon.

Cyrano was what we humans would call a "child star" and has participated in dog show across the USA along with his world-famous father, Romeo. Cyrano won "Best In Show" at his first dog show in Newport Beach, CA at the tender age of 12 weeks, defeating many other dogs up to 18 months of age. He has won a total of 5 Best In Shows as a puppy and his father Romeo has won 6 as an adult.

This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera

To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain.