Doggies earning additions to their names!
Dec. 10th, 2012 11:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelHappy news: Zhava has earned the first point toward her championship, and my fluffy little sparklefox is now 'Outlaws Cobalt Gambit CD,CGC' on paper. There was a dog show! We totally won! It was great!
I decided to enter one last dog show for the season, because I didn't have time to do many this summer, and my dogs and I strongly prefer to show in cooler weather anyway. The last reasonably local show of the season was a 2.5 hour trek inland to a tiny fairground in a bit of the state I don't know at all, so it was kind of an adventure. Long before dawn, (we had to be there by 8 in the morning) my wonderful dog-show-supporting Kyn and I gathered up a truckfull of really clean dogs and hit the road.
We ended up running late, and by the time we got there, Coba's class had already started. Thankfully, there were 12 dogs entered (10 of whom were actually there), and we hadn't even missed our place in the lineup. Coba got a little time to warm up, but not as much as he really needed to focus and be relaxed in the ring. Heeling is usually one of his strengths, but he was distracted enough to lag badly in both on and off leash patterns. There have been a few moments in the past when I should have given an extra command, which is a penalty, rather than let Coba disqualify himself; on this occasion, I gave the extra command in time. He came back to heel, and we qualified.
His sits and downs were really beautiful---all of the practice we've been doing on that showed well. We ended up coming in third of four qualifying dogs, and the little guy got his title. He was also absolutely fluffy and adorable; they don't give ribbons for that, but perhaps should.
We had enough time before Zhava's class to catch our breath a little, and to groom Zhava reasonably well. As she was squirreling around, I told her that if she earned points, I would let her have her very own hamburger, and promised to make good on my word even though she was a dog and could not possibly understand such an agreement.
Princess Unpredictable Puppy actually gaited and stacked much better than she ever has in the past. I wouldn't call myself exactly relaxed, but this was probably my most competent conformation handling to date. In our last puppy class together, Zhava and I were still a sensitive young hound with a nervous novice handler, but we pulled it together and she showed well. She was awarded Winner's Bitch and her first point.
They really, really, really loved that hamburger. They are all such emotional and expressive dogs (Rooster, our support collie, also got a morsel, of course). Watching their dawning realization and delight as they came to understand that I was actually going to feed them a hamburger was sweet and precious.
They're great dogs. It was our best show, and I'm proud of them.
I decided to enter one last dog show for the season, because I didn't have time to do many this summer, and my dogs and I strongly prefer to show in cooler weather anyway. The last reasonably local show of the season was a 2.5 hour trek inland to a tiny fairground in a bit of the state I don't know at all, so it was kind of an adventure. Long before dawn, (we had to be there by 8 in the morning) my wonderful dog-show-supporting Kyn and I gathered up a truckfull of really clean dogs and hit the road.
We ended up running late, and by the time we got there, Coba's class had already started. Thankfully, there were 12 dogs entered (10 of whom were actually there), and we hadn't even missed our place in the lineup. Coba got a little time to warm up, but not as much as he really needed to focus and be relaxed in the ring. Heeling is usually one of his strengths, but he was distracted enough to lag badly in both on and off leash patterns. There have been a few moments in the past when I should have given an extra command, which is a penalty, rather than let Coba disqualify himself; on this occasion, I gave the extra command in time. He came back to heel, and we qualified.
His sits and downs were really beautiful---all of the practice we've been doing on that showed well. We ended up coming in third of four qualifying dogs, and the little guy got his title. He was also absolutely fluffy and adorable; they don't give ribbons for that, but perhaps should.
We had enough time before Zhava's class to catch our breath a little, and to groom Zhava reasonably well. As she was squirreling around, I told her that if she earned points, I would let her have her very own hamburger, and promised to make good on my word even though she was a dog and could not possibly understand such an agreement.
Princess Unpredictable Puppy actually gaited and stacked much better than she ever has in the past. I wouldn't call myself exactly relaxed, but this was probably my most competent conformation handling to date. In our last puppy class together, Zhava and I were still a sensitive young hound with a nervous novice handler, but we pulled it together and she showed well. She was awarded Winner's Bitch and her first point.
They really, really, really loved that hamburger. They are all such emotional and expressive dogs (Rooster, our support collie, also got a morsel, of course). Watching their dawning realization and delight as they came to understand that I was actually going to feed them a hamburger was sweet and precious.
They're great dogs. It was our best show, and I'm proud of them.
