On October 8th in Friendsville, MD, close to 30 Bergamascos and their people came together from various states to participate in the UKC breed National and picnic in the park. This event is full of friendly faces, beautiful dogs, good food, amazing prizes and so far every year a kind and patient judge. Jess and I made the trip from CT and we met with Rachel, another friend and Alp Angel family puppy owner. We have really figured out how to travel easily with dogs but I am saving that for the next blog post :) Jess and I have been on the road together for years with anywhere from 2 to 5 dogs and now we have it down to a science. Anyway, we found a great Airbnb right near the park and arrived in the evening just in time to attend the dinner with other NBSA breeders and Bergamasco owners at Moonshadow. After seeing some of our puppy families there and friends we do not get to see often we enjoyed some girl time with the girls, Faggia, Freya and Burke at the house. Saturday was cold but the rain held off. Susan, breeder at Windy Hill and head of NBSA put on a great show for everyone. Our judge was lovely and wonderful with those new to showing. Audrey did a fantastic job with the merch table and what a great selection of shirts and artful pieces for sale this year. The prizes were absolutely beautiful hand painted boxes and plates. The Italian porcelain plates came from Italy from SAB, the Italian breed club which made them extra special. The raffles were all just amazing. Everything was really top notch and so much thought was put into making this event really special. The food was great too! Everything from hash casserole and chili to smoked pork and lentil soup. The deserts, Bergamasco cake and cookies were also such nice touches. It was very special for me to handle Faggia myself for the first time since she was a very young dog. She and her sister Freya are almost 9 and these times with them are memories I will cherish forever. Although Faggia officially retired from showinng in AKC, I still wanted the chance to show her myself and I think that was the most appropriate way to come full circle. Jess felt the same way about Freya. We enjoyed the time we spent with everyone and with our puppies Nuvolo, Burke and Moppi. I am proud of each of them for each is a wonderful example of our breed and I could not be prouder of their temperaments. Friendsville park was beautiful during the fall and we were there for peak foliage. It was a great time to take some photos and I hope you enjoy them at the link provided at the end of this post.

We tried a brace class for the first time with the sisters and well, I guess maybe we should have practiced first. It was a lot of fun.

Thanks to Susan and Audrey and everyone who worked so hard to give us a great day in the park. I am humbled that Faggia was this year’s Best of Breed winner and Best Veteran.

PHOTO GALLERY of the beautiful event.

Some photos of our puppies and their families from the weekend.