PRICELESS: DOGS STOLEN AT EUKANUBA VALUED AT $500,000. UPDATE

UPDATE: ALL FOUR DOGS HAVE BEEN RECOVERED. READ THE LATEST NEWS AT http://deepacresfarm.blogspot.com/

The Orange County Media has placed a value of $500,000 on the 4 dogs that were stolen, along with the van that contained them, en route to the Eukanuba Dog Show in California. But, as any dog lover knows, our best friends our priceless.

FOR MORE INFO ON MISSING DOGS SCROLL DOWN TO PREVIOUS POST

This post is dedicated to Trace, Didi, Bunny and Peter. We hope you come home safely and soon.

"I reach out my hand to stroke his hair and he's not there. Oh, how I wish that wasn't so. I'll always love a dog named Beau." - Jimmy Stewart

My dad remembers first watching Jimmy Stewart recite this poem on Johnny Carson when he was a freshman in college. He told me he had forgotten about it until a Facebook friend posted it recently. Thinking about those poor dogs that were stolen on their way to the Eukanuba dog show in California makes it even more poignant. It is sad to lose a best friend and heartbreaking to think you may never see them again. Or to know you will never see them again. And like Jimmy says, I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night. I wake up at night and I have this fear...of the dark, of life, of lots of things. And it makes me feel better to have him there. I think he feels the same.

"The truth is that it's just really hard for me to get to sleep without a dog in my bedroom. It's funny about that. I once had a dog named Beau. He used to sleep in a corner of the bedroom. Some nights, though, he would sneak onto the bed and lie right in between Gloria and me. I know that I should have pushed him off the bed, but I didn't. He was up there because he wanted me to pat his head, so that's what I would do. Somehow, my touching his hair made him happier, and just the feeling of him laying against me helped me sleep better. After he died there were a lot of nights when I was certain that I could feel him get into bed beside me and I would reach out and pat his head. The feeling was so real that I wrote a poem about it and about how much it hurt to realize that he wasn't going to there any more." - Jimmy Stewart

I later learned just how intense his feelings were for his dog Beau. At the time, Stewart was making a picture which was shooting on location in Arizona. One evening he got a phone call from his veterinarian, a Dr. Keagy. The call was about Beau. Keagy told him that Beau was very sick. He was having trouble breathing and was in considerable pain. The disease had progressed to the point that it was obvious to Keagy that the dog couldn't be saved. He was calling for permission to end Beau's life quickly. Stewart's wife Gloria said that she couldn't make that decision since Beau was Jimmy's dog. "I can't just tell you to put him to sleep like this," Stewart said, "Not over the phone--not without seeing him. You keep him alive and I'll be there." Stewart was always known as an easy actor to work with, who never made excessive demands. So, the director was taken aback when he went to him to ask for a few days off to fly home to see to his dog. The leave was granted and Stewart got to sit with Beau for a long while before making the decision. He later admitted that when he left the veterinarian's office he had to sit in his car for around 10 minutes, just to clear his eyes of tears, so that it would be safe to drive home.

I'll always love a man named Jimmy Stewart.

Van and Dogs En route to Eukanuba STOLEN

UPDATE: ALL FOUR DOGS HAVE BEEN RECOVERED. READ THE LATEST NEWS AT http://deepacresfarm.blogspot.com/

I just got this message from a friend at the Eukanuba Dog Show (Lori Rickard of
Dream-Hi Akitas). Please cross-post!

PLEASE HELP EUKANUBA TRAVELERS OUR VAN WAS STOLEN IN LONGBEACH AT THE MOTEL6 YES SOME OF THE DOGS ARE IN THERE. 2AKITA'S AND 2 CORGI'S WHITE CHEVY VAN
WITH BLACK BOX ON THE BACK ALSO THERE ARE 3 DOG STICKERS ON THE BACK WINDOWS
AN AKITA, BRITTANY AND PARSON. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

white chevy express 2006
California license plate # 8D50252
Contact David Peek 530 917-6846

11/30/2010 3:45 PM EST Here's an update from the Contra Costa Times:

Note: This is not the van that was stolen. Just an example.

BELLFLOWER — A Redding couple visiting for the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship dog show in Long Beach pleaded for help Tuesday in finding four show dogs stolen from their Bellflower motel.

The couple awoke around 6 a.m. Tuesday to find their cargo van was stolen from the parking lot of the Motel 6 where they were staying.

"I don't think they were after the dogs. I think they just saw a cargo van and thought there's high-priced stuff in there," said David Peek, whose girlfriend is a professional dog handler.

Inside, however, was something almost beyond value, the couple's two purebred Akitas — Trace and Deedee — and a client's two purebred Corgis — Bunny and Peter.

"We had them in the van because they have heavy coats. It's more comfortable for them to sleep outside where it's cooler. It's better for their coats too," Peek explained.

Peek and Kristina Rickard arrived at the motel at around 11 p.m. Monday.

They left the four dogs with the heavy coats in the van, and took three dogs with shorter coats — a Boxer, a Brittany and a Parson Russell Terrier — inside the motel room.

When they awoke at 6 a.m. the first thing they did was to go outside to check on the dogs. Instead they found an empty parking space.

"The (motel staff) said 'Sorry, nothing we can do.'" said the couple's friend, Tamara Houser. "I asked if they were sorry about the lost dogs or the stolen van."

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department deputies are investigating the thefts. So far nothing has turned up, deputies said.

The dogs were sleeping in crates in the back of the van, though if they had been free they would have put up no resistance, Peek said.

"They're really friendly. They're very socialized. They show about every week," he explained.

Rickard said she has shown her dogs and clients' dogs at the Eukanuba show in Long Beach, the second largest in the nation,

BELLFLOWER, CALIF. -- Kristina Rickard, of Redding Calif., after her van was stolen with four show dogs inside on November 30, 2010, in Bellflower, Calif. (Jeff Gritchen / Press-Telegram)

in the past.

She and Peek planned to travel this year to New York for the Westminster Dog Show, the largest in the country, he said.

Unless they find the four missing dogs, however, they won't be showing at either event, Rickard said.

"It's too hard. They're our dogs. They're like our kids," Houser said.

The dogs have microchips injected in their backs that help with identification and all area animal shelters have been notified of their theft, Peek said.

Sheriff's Department deputies said a description of the van and the dogs has been shared with Southland law enforcement agencies.

The vehicle is a Chevy Express cargo van with a black box on back and with dog-paw stickers on the windows. The license plate number is 8D50252.

Anyone who sees the van is urged to call 911.

11/30/2010 9:42 PM EST Update From LA Times

4 competitive show dogs are stolen in Bellflower

November 30, 2010 | 3:16 pm

A champion Akita headed for one of the country’s biggest invitational dog shows and three other competition dogs vanished Tuesday when the van they spent the night in was stolen from a Bellflower parking lot.

Trace, a 3-year-old male Akita slated to compete in the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship in Long Beach this weekend, along with a 10-month-old female Akita named Didi and two Pembroke Welsh Corgis -- Bunny, 2, and Peter, 1-- were discovered to be missing at 6:30 a.m. at the Motel 6 lot.

“These dogs are our family,” said David Peek, who owns Didi. His girlfriend, Kristina Rickard, is one of the owners of Trace. “They are not just pets. You pretty much stole our kids, so just give them back.”

Authorities were searching for the stolen cargo van, a white, 2006 Chevy Express with the California license plate 8D50252. The heavy-coated dogs had spent the cool night in the van -- a standard procedure, said Peek, who travels the show circuit with dogs.

Keeping the dogs indoors “would be kind of like a person wearing a coat in Arizona -- even with the air conditioning on,” Peek said.

It’s common for owners of competition dogs to travel to shows in RVs with their animals and stay on the site of the show. At the AKC show this weekend, many competitors -- and their people -- will stay in RVs parked on site at the Long Beach Convention Center.

Peek and Rickard -- who live in Redding, Calif. -- often stay in motels and park their van right outside their motel window, running an extension cord to a fan they put in the van to cool the dogs even more.

“We weren’t able to do that at this site,” Peek said. “But it was so cool last night it didn’t matter.”

Peek said they cracked the windows about an inch for the dogs and locked the doors. The Akita, Trace, is registered in the weekend competition as a Grand Champion under the official name “Dream Hi's I Got My Game On.”

The other Akita, Didi, and the two Corgis -- whose owners are in Japan -- were expected to compete in other local competitions scheduled in the days before the AKC/Eukanuba show. Southern California is just one stop in a nearly month long tour, Peek said.

“They all travel a lot,” said Tamara Houser, who is accompanying the owners and the dogs. “They have more miles under their little toes that a lot of people do.”

The group also has a Boxer puppy, a Parson Russell terrier, and a Brittany with them. Those dogs slept in the motel Monday night.

Peek declined to put a price on Trace -- "he’s priceless" -- or the other dogs. He also said he doubted the dogs were targeted by a thief.

“Not a lot of people realize what the dogs are worth,” Peek said. “I think someone just saw a cargo van with people’s stuff in it.”

Peek said they will offer a reward to anyone who can lead them to the dogs.

Anyone with information is asked to call Los Angeles County sheriff’s Det. Ron Vande Vegte at the Lakewood sheriff’s station at (562) 925-0124. They can also call David Peek at (530) 917-6846 or Tamara Houser at (661) 860-3147.

Photos: Clockwise are Trace, Peter, Bunny and Didi. Credit: Tamara Houser

Spirit of Happiness

I have a new friend. His name is Chris and he's from Koewacht, Netherlands.

Hello Suddie,

I hope you will understand that English is not my native language so sometimes I will make misstakes or write in a non understandable manner. If so, please ask for explanation.

We have six TT's :

Glory 7 years (B/W)

Djara 5 years (black with some white)

Gaya 4 years (Sable)

All Star 3 years (Tricolor)

Raysha 2 years (greysable)

Ciedjee 17 months. (smoke)

All Star is a daughter of Djara and Ciedjee is her halfbrother, being a son of Djara.

So you can understand that the actions of Gaya and Glory were of non-family dogs.

Regards

Chris

It was a beautiful clear winterday, no wind and the sun was trying to give a little warmth to the earth. Typical day to go to the beach with our doggies. When on the beach our TT's started to run and play and so did the 6 month old Ciedjee too. With his enthusiasm and fearlessness he crossed a little sealake that was left on the beach on the lowtide. Halfway he seemed to realize: OMG what have I done and stopped immediatly. And he really stopped. He stood still in the water and weeped softly. The other dogs all looked at him but did not do anything, exept Gaya, she walked 3 steps into the lake and looked at him. I wanted Ciedjee to learn something so I did not jump in for his rescue. I just went to the other side and called upon him, trying to persuade him to come back. That did not help at all. In the mean time our other TT's were standing beside me, looking how Ciedjee was doing. Suddenly Glory went into the water towards Ciedjee, give him a little "nosekiss", turned and walked back. In all confidence Ciedjee walked right behind her, out of the water!!

Introducing New Champion Deep Acres Autumn Splendor

Above: New Champion Deep Acres Autumn Splendor

I received a text message on Sunday at 2:31 PM EST from Sherpa's dad.

All it said was:

"CH. Deep Acres Autumn Splendor"

"Really?" I messaged back. Followed Immediately by "OMG!!!!" And then "Congrats. What did he get?"

Well Sherpa, CH. Deep Acres Autumn Splendor took Winner's Dog and then Best of Winners for a three-point MAJOR. And he was crowned a new CHAMPION. Sherpa had not been shown all summer. His dad had a lot of other fun things planned like a new deck with a hot tub overlooking their green acres. And dog parks. And Cape Cod. But he performed fantastically when he returned to ring this fall. And on the road to his championship he racked up three MAJORS. We have to admit that, for a moment, we doubted he would become a champion so quickly. But his dad has A LOT of positive energy and he predicted it would happen today!

And, as an added bonus, I think I now will be recognized by the Tibetan Terrier Club of America with a Register of Merit. I believe a Register of Merit is given to bitches like me that have produced three or more champion offspring. Sherpa is my third. Preceded by Angus and Roxie from my first litter. And, if I have anything to do with it, there's more to come. You know my little Rufus is nearly there. And although she hasn't been in the ring much yet, my beautiful Pandora is racking up points toward her championship. Not bad for a gal who has only had two litters. Toby, I think boys have to have five champion offspring to receive a Register of Merit. Seems fair to me. I mean I was the one who endured hours of torturous labor, fed them, cleaned their little hineys, etc, while you were sitting by the pool in San Diego. OK, perhaps I am exaggerating a bit. But just a bit. Our little champs! Of course, I think all of our pups are champs.

Congrats Sherpa. You're a GORGEOUS HUNK.

My Kind of Town

Above: Scott and Rufus at the Peninsula Hotel, Chicago

So today we traveled to Chicago for the Lakeshore Kennel Club show. Rufus looked mighty fine and took Best of Winners. We got to see some other beautiful Tibetan Terriers from Cedar Creek and Barnstorm and Ri Lee's Reese. Now all Rufus needs is his final MAJOR and he will have his championship.

Posthaste, we headed to the fabled Magnificent Mile to celebrate. But first to the Peninsula Hotel on Superior Street where, our friend, the doorman Scott always has a good stash of biscuits. And, then, on to Michigan Avenue for a little window shopping. And down to Oak Street where I met the sweetest 11-year-old poodle named Shadow. As dad was crouched on the sidewalk posing Rufus in front of the Prada window, a kindly, slightly addled looking, moderately well-dressed black woman threw popcorn in our direction as she wished us happy holidays. My dad looked up at her and then back down to the popcorn at our feet and then back up at her and then quickly back down to the popcorn at our feet. "Thank you" he said "but they can't eat popcorn" and then he mumbled something about it getting caught in our throats. This kindly, slightly addled looking, moderately well-dressed black woman just smiled at us like an angel. We noticed a pigeon descend as we walked away. Did she, perhaps, think we were pigeons?

Then dad sat us down on a bench in the park on East Lakeshore Drive and told us about his Grandma Franny's famous Popcorn Cake. It was kinda like a great big popcorn ball but formed in the shape of a cake. This, somehow, led to a story about a friend of his, Stephanie, who used to volunteer at an after-school program at the fancy Episcopal church on Michigan Avenue where a hot meal and a carton of milk was provided. Stephanie, dad recalled, told him the kids once asked her for extra little cartons of milk so they could throw them at white people on their way home.

Then it was on to Neiman Marcus where Tom and Julie and Jack catered to our every whim and dad was measured for a special holiday suit spun from pure gold. Dad told us that Grammy Jill once had a pair of gold lame capris she liked to kick around in. Tom and Julie and Jack were ever so nice. Tom even shuffled off somewhere and soon shuffled back with biscuits and a kind of doggy pig-in-a-blanket. Delicious! We were told by another Neiman Marcus staffer that the store had recently changed it's policy and dogs were only allowed in the store if held by their owners. We quickly exited.

Above: Alyssa, Penny, and Rufus at Jonathan Adler, Chicago

Alyssa and Penny at the Chicago Jonathan Adler outpost just couldn't get enough of Rufus and took him back behind the counter with them. Crowds soon formed around the windows. I overheard one woman say it was better than any holiday window display she had seen on the Mag Mile. This year Jonathan Adler created a cute poodle ornament for the holidays and one of a dachshund too. I'd like to hang one of those on my tree this year. Wouldn't you?

Righteous Bitch

Well, you know me, I hate to brag. But I think I've hit the big time. I was featured on both the Huffington Post and MyAnimalActivist.com today. The Huffington Post featured those FUNNY lost and found signs I posted on my blog yesterday (see below) and also included a link to my website. I got quite a bit of traffic from that. Who knows. Maybe soon I'll have a multi-book deal with a movie option. I definitely need an agent and a publicist. My dad is just too small potatoes. If that wasn't enough (and it never is), the folks from MyAnimalActivist.com selected my boy, Rufus, Deep Acres Fields of Gold, as their favorite dog at the Minneapolis Kennel Club show and went on to gush about this "really beautiful Tibetan Terrier." Thank you MyAnimalActivist.com!

Above: MyAnimalActivist.com snapped this shot of Rufus at the Minneapolis Kennel Club show and named him their favorite dog at the show.

Now, the folks from My Animal Activist had a HUGE presence at the Minneapolis Kennel Club show. They had an AMAZING display and spent a lot of time educating people about responsible breeding practices. You know things like health screening before breeding, not buying pups from pet shops, and other REALLY IMPORTANT stuff like that. They also had THE BEST merchandise. I think my favorite was their "BALLS ARE OVERRATED" gear.

Above: Amy and Posh

Amy Sparks, who founded MyAnimalActivist.com is a photographer, video editor, and self-proclaimed crazy dog lady. She's come up with some really creative ways to communicate and promote responsible pet choices and the basic idea that all creatures of this planet deserve respect. Amy shares her home with a Havanese named Posh, 12 Happy Hens, an animal loving daughter, a crazy-Animal-from-the-muppets-like son , and a darling creative husband who tolerates and supports her dog crazy-ness and countless “ideas.”

Amy shared a quote from Abraham Lincoln that I want to share with you.

I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights. That is the way of a whole human being.

-Abraham Lincoln

That Abe Lincoln sure was a smart guy. Amy sure is a smart gal. Makes me proud to be a righteous bitch

I Love a Parade

Omar, a Tibetan Terrier whose father works at Saks, Enjoys the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade