Grand Larceny

Big big day for Invictus yesterday! Zero, who is from Halo's second litter, is now an American Grand Champion - a new title that was recently introduced to the American Kennel Club show system. It is a way for dogs who are already champions to continue to compete for another title - a harder title than a regular Championship in some respects since you are required to win more points under more judges and only champion dogs can accumulate these points. In just over 4 weeks Zero obtained more than the required points and is now Am. Gr. Ch. Invictus Nightmare Before Xmas JC. Here he is at home being a regular dog with regular kids. What a lucky guy.

Zero started out as a stand out in his litter. It's not hard to see why. Here he is at just 7 1/2 weeks showing off his little 15 pound body of promise.

And here's the Z-boy at just over two years old in an ad that Erin, his owner, put in a breed magazine called the Ridgeback Register. It's easy to see that the 7 weeks puppy lived up to his potential!

I kept Zero until he was 4 months old and done all his vaccinations because Erin had acquired a rescue puppy who unfortunately died of parvo virus. Zero spent his time lazing on the couch and harassing his big brother Raimi. Zero says "Hey! You are wearing my collar!"

Who could say no to that face? Apparently a lot of judges said yes to that face because is he now only one of two Ridgebacks in the USA to complete his Grand Championship title, plus he is also the very first Canadian bred and owned Ridgeback to do so. We at Invictus are so proud and so grateful to Erin Coogan at Aegis and Juliette Clendenon, his handler, for doing such a great job with this guy ... more things to come in his future I'm sure!