I was fairly beat yesterday when I posted about my weekend. I am glad I posted though otherwise I might not be doing this follow-up post! I gave so little info!!
The shows we attended this weekend were part of the Ballston Spa circuit, a 5-day annual show in New York (up a bit past Albany). Holly, Honor’s/Bug’s breeder, has had good luck there in the past and it is very close to her home which makes it quite convenient.
Katrin and James (FCR) came with to keep us company. I bathed and blow-dried the boy on Friday morning before leaving and off we went. Bug’s bum hair was a bit unruly and thank the dog gods for Katrin – she wrangled it into submission! Actually, we don’t know what happened, but Saturday morning it looked much better than Friday evening. I will chalk that up to Bug and James PARTYING all night. I know my hair always looks flatter when I have been up 24+ hours! Katrin did a great job of making it behave (see towel photo below). We attempted to crate the Bug with the towel on but he immediately got out of it! Hence the counter photo op.
Saturday I was a WRECK. The Bug was not. He was great! I was so relieved that he was so happy to see Holly and Leonard and seemed to *know* what his job is. Holly thought his topline looked good and he was moving well for her. Hooray! Like I said in the previous post, he went Reserve in Winners on Saturday. Holly was pleased with him, so therefore I am too!
Sunday, Bug’s bum hair looked even better and he was really being a little ham for Holly. Excellent. He went Reserve in Winners again, so we have more shows in our future. Holly and I are trying to figure out what dates work. I am also going to make the leap and do some UKC. After that initial handling class I was so incredibly stressed about handling. After this weekend I am much more at ease. I even gave Holly back her loaner lead and bought my own!
Since the boys are in pretty good shape chiropractor-wise, I can make attending Kerry’s classes on Wednesdays a regular thing. Between the one class I attended with Kerry and this weekend, I can see how handling could actually be a little bit of fun. I do still think it is pretty stressful that breed handling is so subjective, but …. I think I could have some fun with it and it will certainly be a useful skill for future puppies!
2 months ago
2 comments:
Sounds like Honor had fun at the dog shows ;-) Conformation is *very* subjective... but fun in it's own way :) I wanted an agility dog and came out with a "show dog"... never did get to doing that agility thing ;-)
Enjoy yourself! :)
It sounds like you guys had a great weekend out! I would have been so nervous too, but Bug sounds like a pro. Having to go to more shows with him isn't really such a bad thing. :-)
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