Dog Show Newbie

Feeling the Virtual Love

2008-07-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

MB-F Virtual Dog Show, 7/14-16
1/W/BOB/Group 3

Just for chuckles, I entered the MB-F Virtual Dog Show last year, and was pleased when The Lovely One received a nice JPG certificate for Best Opposite. If I recall correctly, she beat 2 or 3 other class bitches, and the lone dog won BOB.

Of course, the minute MB-F announced this year's virtual show, I was ready to enter. I uploaded some new photos, reused an old favorite (the BOW photo from last year's Goshen show), and crossed my fingers.

On Monday, I received a barrage of InfoDog Winner emails: First in Open, then Winners, and finally Best of Breed. (The competition was two class bitches and one bitch special. There were no boys this year.)

Even though it's just a "pretend" show, I was still pleased. I was about to say that we haven't been feeling the love in the real shows this year, but then I remembered: Dinah's only been in three AKC shows this year. In two of them, she went BOS and would have had a major in one of them if everyone had shown up. I guess we're feeling at least some love -- just not enough to finish.

I sent off a copy of the BOB certificate (which Blogger keeps refusing to let me upload, or I'd show it to you here) to Kathy, to Dinah's breeder Gill, and to Jana, who owns Dinah's litter sister Buffy. They were appropriately pleased, even though we don't get any real-world glory for it.

Then, this morning, I opened up my inbox to find this:

This pleased me quite a bit. The Rough Collie and Aussie who placed ahead of Dinah in Group both had outstanding photos; I'd have picked them, too. The Group Fourth was the Canaan Dog, for those of you keeping score.

Naturally, I shipped that photo off to Kathy, Gill, and Jana right away. After that, I thought I'd check out the photos of the other group winners. I noticed a little icon just below Dinah's picture in the Group Results window. I clicked on it, and up popped this:

This appears to be a quality dog with a correct coat, however there is so much that a judge cannot do in this sort of competition. I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this dog has or will win big.

That, to me, was the nicest surprise of all. Dinah's was the only picture in the Herding Group that contained a judge's note, so it's nice that the judge took the time to comment. This one's a keeper, too!

The Virtual Dog Show is still in progress, by the way, and you may log in to vote for the dogs in the "fun" categories. I had hoped that my friend Patti would enter Clem and Cooper, but the "fun" show has no Beardies. Go and see the other breeds, though, and vote for your favorites!

Oh Canada! Part Trois

2008-07-08T15:15:00.000-07:00

Sarnia Kennel Club, 7/5/08
BOW/BOS, 4 points

7/6/08, RWB

The Lovely One and I took our friend Maryann up on her offer of crash space and dog handling over the July 4 holiday. We planned to drive out there, go to the Great Lakes Bearded Collie Club's regional specialty on the 4th proper, and then head into Canada to show there over the weekend. After the Sunday show, Dinah and I would head back across southern Ontario for home.

The wait on the Bluewater Bridge into Michigan took quite a while, due to the fact that it was a holiday weekend and they'd blocked off the middle lanes from traffic. I'm just a tad afraid of heights, so sitting several hundred feet up at a standstill wasn't really my idea of a good time. I did get a chance to watch the boats and admire the blue water, though.

Of course, of all of the US Customs agents working on the US-Canadian border between Ontario and Michigan, I'd meet up with the one agent in the entire area who hailed from Portland, Maine. He noted my license plate and asked, "What paht o'Maine ya from, deah?" We exchanged my passport and several "Wicked Good"s, and he gave me directions to the nearest Dunkin' Donuts before sending me on my way. Ayuh!

Maybe it's because she's been traveling since she flew across the pond at age 10 weeks, but Dinah has always been a terrific road-trip companion. She enjoys sprawling on the bed with me at Red Roof Inns. Let the boys all sit at home and eat nasty microwaved spaghetti in front of the tube -- our road trips are girl time. I brush her, we walk, we share the bacon from my BLT, we hang out... all we really need to do is braid each other's hair and paint our nails. If the hotel has wireless broadband, then we're all set.

Sad to say, we weren't nearly as good guests at Maryann's house as we were at the Red Roof. I try to be as low-maintenance as possible, but I failed to give Dinah a copy of the memo. Much to my shock, she marked in the house -- always on the white carpets. She got along well with Maryann's Beardies, but developed a major crush on the young intact male, and wouldn't leave him alone. Poor Chase just wasn't used to that kind of attention; he just didn't know what to make of the little hussy. Although she'd already been mostly past her last season, she decided to start back up again just for his sake. I ended up having to keep Dinah on a Flexi, even in the house. I think we ran through the entire stock of Nature's Miracle in the house while we were there.

Thanks to Maryann and Jack and pups for their sainted patience with us! I honestly wish we'd been a little more low-impact than we turned out to be, but we had a terrific time. Someday, when I win the lottery or the escalating battle against clutter, I want to have the same doggie setup in my house that Maryann has in hers.

Why, Oh Why, Do We Do This, Again?

Stick around dog showing long enough, and you're bound to hear that question asked, in tones ranging from gently bemused to agonized wailing. I know I've sung several choruses of that particular song. Think of it as the Being and Nothingness of the dog show set.

The GLBCC Regional was one of those shows that inspired choruses of that same song from most of the attendees, even some of the winners. This has nothing to do with the host club, whose hospitality was matchless, and who put together a nicely run show. It was great to run into people whom I hadn't seen in years, and to put some names and email addresses together with some faces. I even won one of the raffle baskets.

Amy, the sweeps judge, is an old friend, and it was a pleasure to see her there. She will make a wonderful judge; she was gentle yet upbeat with everyone in her ring, and appeared to be having a terrific time. Jack showed Sparkle to her in Puppy 9-12 and received a 4th-place rosette. Maryann says that Sparkle will have a great time going toy shopping with the $9.10 cash prize.

One of the advantages of importing a judge from another country is exactly the same as one of the disadvantages: You probably won't know what that judge is going to do.

For people concerned about possible political choices and "face judging," importing a foreign judge provides a little hope that all exhibitors can start out with an equal amount of consideration. On the other hand, you also won't have any foreknowledge of what characteristics that judge favors, or his/her method of working, or anything that can help you calculate your dog's chance of success.

Some judges are "head judges." If your dog has a nice head, you probably want to show to that judge. Some favor type over movement, and some favor movement over type. You know your dog better than anyone else, so your best chance of success comes when you show to a judge who prefers the characteristics that match your dog's good points. Even if you're showing to a "face judge," your best chance lies with hiring one of those faces to show your dog.

Let's just say quickly that most of us probably won't be jetting off to New Zealand to show to this judge any time soon. This even goes for some of the winners. It wouldn't do to talk smack about her, much as I'd enjoy it. She's entitled to her choices; it's just that none of us could discern the pattern behind them.

Anyway, no majors for Dinah. Why, oh why, do we do this, again?

Good Day, Eh?

Although we knew there'd probably be majors at the Ann Arbor shows elsewhere in Michigan, the logistics of getting there from Maryann's house were just daunting -- plus the road there was heavily under construction. We decided to show closer to home by attending the shows in Sarnia, Ontario instead. Not only was Sarnia much closer by, but we could enjoy the trip, show at the more laid-back Canadian shows, and maybe forget about Friday.

Maryann, Jack, Chase, and Sparkle made the journey in the famous Doghair-mobile. Dinah and I followed in my little car. I put on my shades and listened to podcasts. Dinah napped in her crate. The trip over was absolutely delightful; we passed through gently-rolling, bright-green farm country, rode a six-car ferry across an aquamarine strait into Canada, and breathed in the sunshine. I contemplated the glacial color of that water and tried to imagine how I could possibly duplicate it in oil paint, or maybe gouache.

I even ran into the very same US Customs agent from Maine whom we'd met on the Bluewater Bridge. He caught sight of my car and called out, "Hey, what paht o'Maine ya from?" -- even though he already knew the answer. I guess you can get there from here! (Old Mainer joke. You had to be theyuh.)

You have to love CKC shows. They're just so laid-back, with the same simple running scheme as UKC shows. Everything just seems more informal and personal. I even got to meet Mark of COLMAR Show Services, whose emails I've been reading since Dinah and I first went to Gananoque in 2006. He even brought his two little puppers along to the show, and a dish of little Zukes treats that you could offer to them if you wanted to be their Best Friend Ever.

We parked our vehicles side by side under some large shade trees, set up the grooming tables and a couple of chairs, and just worked out of our cars. The weather was perfect. We chatted with friends. All was well.

Dinah ended up going BOW and BOS to the handsome, charming, and huggable Hart, earning her her first 4 Canadian points (and you only get 5 for going BIS!). Chase went WD for his final 2 Canadian points, so he's now a CKC/AKC/UKC champion. Dinah was only too happy to give him a congratulatory love-tap with her front paws. Our good day at Sarnia helped clear our collective mood after the existential confusion of the Friday show.

On Sunday, the 2 available points were hers to lose. She was a bit burnt out from showing and didn't care who knew it. The judge really wanted to give the points to puppy Hannah anyway, so everyone managed to go home happy.

That's the thing about dog showing. One day you're in the dumps and wondering why you bothered to get up that morning, and the next day you're on top of the proverbial world. Those top-of-the-world days are the real reason why we're willing to endure those other days.

Shout-Outs and Stuff

Thanks again to Maryann, Jack, Cowboy, Chase, Sunny, Checkers, and Sparkle-Pup for putting up with us. I had hoped we'd be lower-impact guests than we turned out to be, but we did have a good time. We hope you did, too.

Another shout-out to Ashley in New Brunswick, mom to Sadie and Chester (one of Trav's kids and a handsome little brownie). I had no idea you read this blog, but I'm tickled to bits!

Kathy reported that our buddy Jake took two of the majors in Springfield to finish his championship. Way to go, Jake! Congratulations to him, owner Deb, and Kathy for handling him! (Must feel nice to be finishing SOMEbody this year, eh?)

Public Service Announcement: Dog Shows on Jeopardy!

2008-07-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Make sure to watch Jeopardy this Thursday, July 3rd to catch the category “A Day at the Dog Show.” Video clues were filmed at the Silver Bay Kennel Club of San Diego, thanks to the assistance of Show Chair Jim Locke and AKC Field Rep Lee Herr. AKC provided AKC banners and information for the clues. There will also be a “Spotlight” segment -– a brief vignette about Obedience.

You can find out where/when the show airs in your market at:
http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/jeopardy/indexflash.php

Tempus Fudge-It

2008-06-23T15:27:00.001-07:00

Last night I emailed back and forth with my friend Pat in Ohio. As with almost every conversation about show entries this year, ours turned to the fact that entry numbers are in the proverbial toilet. Pat's one of those real die-hards who is out there showing every single weekend, taking the old Monster Van as far as it needs to go -- even to the FCI World Show in Mexico last year. She bemoaned the fact that sometimes she'd drive hundreds of miles to find that no one else had shown up, or that judging programs would come back and the only entries would be her dogs. This in Ohio, convenient to just about every decent-sized show location between the two coasts, plus Canada!

Anyway, in talking to Pat it suddenly hit me that we haven't had a major in Beardies in the Northeast since last December's Boston shows. Small wonder the pickings seem so slim -- I'd say that going 6 months without a major would narrow down the field of possibility some.

Since my luck is my luck, of course there are majors for both dogs and bitches in Beardies over July 4th weekend, when I won't even be here. Apparently Linda was successful in recruiting a bunch of people to come to Springfield (ugh, Springfield) and show that weekend. But would they come to Maine to either of our supported entries? Nooooooo. So much for the "supported" part of "supported entry."

If You Can't Beat 'Em (Because There's No One to Beat), Steward For 'Em

BCCME's second supported entry of the year, at the Penobscot Valley KC shows, seemed like a sure thing to us. School would be out, it would be summer in Maine, the sun would shine, and the lobster would be plentiful (if not exactly cheap). We figured that the weather would be more predictable (by Maine standards, anyway) than it usually is in May. If enough people showed enthusiasm for that weekend, we might even expand to holding a regional specialty then in future years! We felt like real heroes for supporting our local kennel clubs.

In theory, it seemed like a nice idea. In practice, we ended up drawing only 4 class bitches, and Val and Pat and I were the only Mainiacs who showed up. I decided (yet again) to leave Dinah at home and go play ring steward for the weekend. At least Trav took BOB both days, which pleased Val and Pat.

After some initial confusion when the head steward assigned two stewards to the same ring, I managed to end up working a ring with Jean Fournier, who was charming, gracious to everyone, and a lot of fun to work with. After she found out that it was my second time running a ring solo, she continually encouraged me and gave me some tips to help speed things up and keep the ring running on time.

I had great fun working across the table from an experienced steward from the Vacationland club. As the day grew progressively hotter and more humid, we peeled off layers, fanned each other, and compared notes about freezing at Acton in May. We joked about the hot spaghetti, hot chowder, and hot coffee we had for lunch (but it was good, and free, and we enjoyed it thoroughly anyway). We fantasized about ice cream sundaes and trips to the beach. We hoarded hand wipes for our judges and shared the walkie-talkie. Other stewards dropped by to visit and to hand out numbers while we were busy directing ring traffic.

Ring stewards share a kind of camaraderie that's unique among groups of dog show attendees. Once you've been initiated into the club, you get to keep company with a friendly, funny gang of self-described masochists. The experienced stewards band together to help the fledglings, and come armed with a wealth of "war stories" and helpful hints. The venue may change, the hosting club may change, but the legion of stewards is always the same.

You can always spot a show that's chaired by a ring steward (Vacationland being a great example). The coolers under the ring tables are always stocked. Volunteers come by with hot and cold drinks, extra hand wipes, Band-Aids, and other necessities. Everything runs on time. If you're stewarding at such a show, it's easy to get spoiled by all the care and attention. This show wasn't such an example -- we were lucky to see a single hand wipe per judge by the time Sunday rolled around - but no matter. We survived, and Sunday's sandwiches were fantastic.

A Quick Shout-Out

Steph and Bowie of Run Bowie! fame were in my ring on Saturday at the Penobscot show! I'd been hoping to meet her for a while, and we finally ended up in the same place. The two of them worked together nicely in the ring from what I could see, and I hope they do very well at the shows this summer.

Road Trip Over Niagara Falls

This week, Dinah Moe and I get to drive out to Michigan for the Great Lakes Bearded Collie Club's regional specialty. My friend Maryann and I devised this plan last year after I set up her Web site. "Think about this, " she said. "Bring Dinah out here where we'll definitely have a major. I'll show her there, and then we can go show in Canada for the weekend."

It seems as though we've had this plan forever, but now it's actually time to make the journey. The car has been outfitted with new front brake pads (cha-ching!), and has just undergone its 150,000 mile checkup. The entries are in for the shows in both countries, and we're ready. We'll drive across New York, enter Canada right by Niagara Falls, and cross the bottom part of Ontario to reach the "thumb" of Michigan. All three shows are just a short commute from Maryann's house. Wish us luck out there!

Road Trip, Part Two - Already

Hard to believe, but we've also just started planning for the BCCC National Specialty in Gananoque in August. Kathy's coming up to show Dinah, Jake, and Diva, and we're already compiling our To-Do lists and our To-Pack lists. August seems like it's a long ways away, but July starts next week. What happened to the summer, and where was I when it started to whiz by?

Of course, I have fond memories of returning to the site of Dinah's first big win ever (Best Puppy in Show at a national specialty at her fourth show) -- but I'm also looking forward to seeing everyone again. It'll be even sweeter this time because I won't have anyone screaming at me. Seamus's breeder will be there with one of his sisters. Moxie's breeder always throws a margarita party in her hotel room, and maybe the lovely Miss Moxie herself will be there. Pat's coming up from Ohio with Merlin (her English import) and a couple of puppy entries. Val and Trav are coming along to split the expenses and share the fun, and we're hoping for a better journey than the one we took to National Capital. (I intend to rent a van from a more reliable rental company. Enterprise had its chance and failed miserably.) If we're very lucky, Dinah will step into the ring with a few Canadian points already to her credit. Trav will enter a show as a class dog for the first time since he finished.

Here's hoping we do well, eh?

No Prizes for Beauty, But Pretty Durned Slick

2008-06-12T16:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Ann, who has Brittanys (and a blog -- link to come later), sent me the link to Showdays.info today. Since I get my daily emails from Infodog, I wasn't sure I really needed another show information site... but I took a peek, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Holy Pup, what a great site! The design and user interface won't win any beauty prizes any time soon -- the looks are strictly Microsoft FrontPage circa 1996 -- but you can find, and sort, and save, and contribute to just about anything you could want. The list of Very Nifty Features is almost too long to mention, but I'll give it a try.

1. Everybody gets to play hurry-up-and-wait at one dog show or another. Just because your ring has a start time of 8:00 AM doesn't mean you do, especially if there are two breed entries of 25 dogs apiece before your breed comes before the judge. Showdays has a terrific feature that helps you calculate your actual start time, as opposed to your judging program's assigned start time.

2. Favorites, favorites everywhere! You can pick your favorite host clubs and sign up to get notifications when information on their shows is available -- and not just conformation and obedience, either. You can also pick rally, agility, herding, tracking, and other activities. ShowDays covers all of the show superintendents in all of the 50 states, so you can even put up all the specialties in your breed and get information.

3. Let's face it, there are only three types of dog show judges in the whole world:

a. Great judges. These are the ones who put your dog up.
b. Sucky judges. These are the ones who didn't put your dog up.
c. Judges you haven't shown to yet, but who will eventually end up as a. or b.

Showdays allows you to not only rate judges you've shown under and to see what other people thought (experts as well as regular exhibitors), but you can even pick your favorite judges and keep them on a short list so you can see where they'll be judging next.

4. Host clubs have lots of resources to promote their non-show events as well as their shows. There are forums, announcement boards, and even virtual "booths" where a club can promote matches, clinics, and so on. Our local kennel club's publicity chair is going to love that!

5. Entry Promises. They really should rename this Major Builder. Luckier people, who actually get majors in their breeds, can collaborate online with fellow exhibitors to try and build majors. Not that I mind asking around and then trying to guess who actually did (or didn't) follow through, but this feature could take a lot of anxiety and guesswork out of entries once enough people you know start using it for your breed.

I could go on and on and on, but just go have a look for yourself. The site supports itself by offering two levels of membership: Basic (free) and Advanced (paid). Really, how much fun can you have for $5 or less per month? That's still only two-thirds the price of Infodog, and you get to try out all the features for a month before you decide whether to commit.

Go on -- check out ShowDays. Tell the nice folks there that you heard about the site from Dog Show Newbie. I don't get any kickbacks for endorsing the site, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't accept any.

Public Service Announcements

2008-06-01T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Lovely One Herself

Handling Class Update

Penny Cary is starting handling classes in Brunswick, ME at The Natural Pet on Pleasant Street. The next 6-week session starts on Tuesday, June 3 at 6:30 PM (no class July 1). Contact Penny at 282-7317 or at sasanoa@hughes.net (new email address).

Sanctioned Breed/OB Match in Augusta July 19

The Central Maine Kennel Club is holding an AKC Sanctioned Breed/Obedience match on Saturday, July 19, at Union Park in Augusta, ME. The Mid-Coast Kennel Club will be at the match offering AKC Canine Good Citizen testing.

For more information, call Match Chair Jody Hansen at 622-9948 or email her at valkyriek9@verizon.net.

End of a Dream?

2008-05-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

Kathy and I have been repeating a little dream of ours to each other for the past several months. We stopped showing Dinah for the year after Thanksgiving, since neither of us wanted to show in Boston and attendance at the other wintertime shows is light in a good year. We'd email the dream back and forth to each other and console ourselves with it when shows we hoped to enter turned out to be miserably low in entries, or when we'd return in despair from another doomed weekend in Springfield. The dream kept us going through the winter, and helped us look forward to the spring.

Here's the dream that kept us going for so many months: We had really, really hoped to finish Dinah at the Ladies/Framingham shows this year. Not only do we both have soft spots in our hearts for those shows, but they were almost always guaranteed majors. Last year, Rosie finished there with a Best of Breed and a Best Opposite to Trav with Kathy on the lead one day and Brian (our favorite junior) on the other. This year, we had hoped to make the same triumphant finish with Dinah there, and with most of my family and a few of my high-school friends at ringside to watch. After Dinah's two BOS/BOW wins in the rain a couple of weekends ago, our hopes were high. Kathy remarked after the St. Hubert show that Dinah looked more mature this year. We were ready to live the dream, out in the sunshine, with everyone there.

Val emailed us the bad news when she first saw the entry breakdowns. Only 3 class dogs and 4 class bitches -- at Ladies! Even if Dinah went Best of Breed over the three male specials (there were no bitch specials, either), there would be no way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks that she could earn more than two points at either show. Even the boys, who now only need to field 4 class dogs for a major, couldn't get that many together -- and for a show that everyone speaks of fondly.

It took me a few minutes to react. Could the dream be shattered so quickly? Could the one guaranteed weekend of majors in New England be so easily un-guaranteed? What could Kathy and I hope for now?

We knew entries were down; it's all anyone talks about at shows and show committee meetings these days. Most of us in my local kennel club don't yet know whether the club broke even, since our entries were down by 200-something dogs from the previous year -- and that even before the rain kept the spectators away. People have been talking about the decrease in entries for a year at least, since the unconscionable increase in gas prices has forced everyone but the oil company executives to re-evaluate their travel priorities. The fact that the economy is in the toilet hasn't helped. If you try the "Odds on a Major" function at the Infodog site, almost all of the shows within 250 miles return results of majors from 2006 and 2005 -- only one or two of those had majors in 2007.

But... Ladies! Surely we could have fielded enough dogs for Ladies! If we can't get a major together there, then where in New England will we be able to do it? The AKC did us no favors by not lowering the number of Beardie bitches needed for three points this year, but even if they had, what would the magic number be? We couldn't even find 5 class bitches. Could we get 4? Do I hear 3?

I don't want to have to face the very possible fact that there just might not be any majors for Dinah this year. She now has 16 points and still no majors. How much longer do we have to pour our time, money, and hopes into chasing the impossible? Even our least-favorite venue, Springfield, never holds any guarantees. Some shows will have the requisite numbers, but we've never done well there. Some shows will have just a couple of bitch entries one year after majors the two previous years. You won't even know until after you've flushed another $30 per entry down the toilet. That same $30 could buy us two runs at an agility trial, or a herding lesson, or even most of a tank of gas for my 5-year-old Subaru.

Kathy and I have been evaluating the other shows this year to try and determine where our next next chance is -- if it lies anywhere. We know we have to come up with another dream to replace the one that just disappeared. That's going to be the hardest part of all.

Flying Solo and My Bag of Rocks

2008-05-18T01:20:00.000-07:00

Vacationland Dog Club, 5/17/08

Something strange is afoot in the universe. The world has tilted on its axis, and the stars are aligned in curious configurations. The weather at Vacationland this weekend is absolutely gorgeous, and it poured mercilessly on the York County shows. In a normal year, Vacationland is six inches underwater, and the mud in the rings has been known to pull shoes from exhibitors' feet. Apart from the Great Monsoon of 2005 (about which the club old-timers still speak in hoarse whispers), the YCKC shows generally take place in halfway decent weather. This year, everything turned upside down.

It wasn't because of the weather that I didn't enter Dinah in Vacationland this year. The chances of there being enough Beardies for a major -- or even one point -- hovered between zero and negative infinity. My friend Nancy, one of the deans of the local ring steward SWAT team, recruited me to join their ranks at Vacationland for my first solo adventure in stewarding.

Between them, Nancy and Susan (another long-time veteran ring steward) trained me to steward last summer. Nancy brought her famous "Ring Stewarding 101" class to one of our local kennel club's meetings, and then I observed Susan at the Topsfield shows after Beardie judging was done. I worked the ring with Susan and another trainee at the Lakes Region shows last July, and then worked my own ring at our club's fall B match. Nancy and Susan agreed that I'd served enough of an apprenticeship, and that it was time for me to run a ring of my very own. While standing in line to use a ladies' room at a function in Augusta this past winter, Nancy asked me to work a ring at Vacationland -- so the initiation began, and I received my ritual bag of rocks.

Nearly everyone who sees Nancy or Susan working a show ring remarks upon the cute bone-shaped stone paperweights they use to keep the various ribbons, armbands, books, programs, and other articles from flying off the table when the occasional breeze kicks up. Occasionally Susan has had to reclaim one of her paperweights from a judge who mistook them for trophies and was about to award them to a winner. Anyway, Nancy awarded me my very own bag of bone-shaped rocks as part of my stewarding kit. She arranged her stewards so that my ring would be next to Susan's in the event I needed expert help.

My very first judge was Ruth Zimmerman, who was unfailingly kind and encouraging to newbie stewards and exhibitors alike. Some of our breeds -- especially the toys -- had multiple dogs entered under one owner or handler, and we gave the exhibitors a chance to breathe between frantic dashes from the ring to switch dogs. Mrs. Zimmerman frequently gave me encouraging comments along the way: "You're really catching on," and "You're doing great at this." The show committee members came past frequently, offering up hot cups of Tim Horton's coffee and donuts. I owe Nancy one for pairing me with a patient and kindly judge for my first trip out -- and for making me my very own set of Official Stewards' Rocks.

After our duties were completed and our ring disassembled for Groups, I caught up with Val, Pat, and Traveler back at their booth. Val reported that Trav had seen me going back and forth to my ring, and had been concerned that I hadn't come in to see him. (Trav and I have a special relationship. We like to wrestle and talk like pirates together: "Arrrrrr. Arrrrrrr. Arrrrr.") I visited with Trav and reviewed his favorite letter of the alphabet ("Arrrrrr") before he went into the group ring. He made the first cut, but not the Final Four. I'm hoping he does better in Groups today.

I didn't have a lot of time to socialize yesterday, but Vacationland was just a nice, fun, intimate show with some very nice vendors. The show committee switched things up a bit by putting the show itself in the area where the parking had been in previous years, and putting parking where the show had been (and which we affectionately called "the swamp"). The rearrangement suited the show well, I think. The weather wasn't an issue this year and the swamp wasn't swampy, but the new layout worked nicely. I hope the club decides to stick with it for future shows if they go back to that venue. (Actually, I'm really hoping they'll cluster with our club at our site, but that remains to be discussed.)

Shout-Outs and Stuff

A quick shout-out to Steph and Bowie the Brittany: Did you guys make it to the show? I only saw two of my Brittany buddies there, but I was busy in my ring right up until the time Groups started.

Another shout-out to Barb Rimoshytus and Rio, whom I ran into just as Dinah and I were leaving the St. Hubert show in CT. Barb's been going through some stuff, so think good thoughts for her. Rio did magnificently -- I'm bad at quoting people, but I think he had at least one group placement that weekend. (Dinah got 2nd, not even Reserve. She was very, very uninterested in showing that weekend. Since she'd been showing the two weekends previous, she was feeling a little burnt-out. We had a nice little reunion with Auntie Kathy, Auntie Deb, Jake, and puppy grrrrl Diva, but that was about it. Dinah's never going to be one of those dogs on the dog show circuit, and that's fine with me.)

New Point Schedule, Same As the Old Schedule

2008-05-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

The new point schedules always come out the week following the York County shows. I was just checking them before entering Dinah in the Penobscot Valley KC shows (our other supported entry this year). Here they are:

Bearded Collies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1 point: 2 dogs 2 bitches
2 points: 3 dogs 4 bitches
3 points: 4 dogs 6 bitches
4 points: 5 dogs 7 bitches
5 points: 7 dogs 9 bitches

Good news for anyone showing the boys these days. I can't believe we still need to field 6 bitches for a major, though. I wish AKC had noticed how totally freakin' hard it was to get 6 Beardie bitches of any age anywhere last year, and would have cut us a break. At least for the boys' side, since there were hardly any boys showing in our area last year, at least they're making things easier for the crop of new puppies coming in this year.

Sigh.

What Not to Wear, Dog Show Edition

2008-05-11T11:45:00.000-07:00

Junior handlers, avert your eyes now!

(Thanks to Dinah's breeder for sending me this one and making me almost spew my morning coffee.)

So Close, and Yet So Far Underwater

2008-05-05T17:37:00.002-07:00

Dinah's other Auntie Kathy and Dinah romping in the swamp at YCKC

York County Kennel Club of Maine, 5/3-4, 2008
1/WB/BOW/BOS both days, 2 points

This business of chasing majors is as much an exercise in humility as it is an exercise in futility. Just when you think everything's in place and things are going to work exactly as you thought they would, the universe always finds a way to intervene and teach you a little lesson about excessive attachment. If there is a God, He must be a Buddhist.

Our kennel club was sooooo prepared. We had everything set up/swept/cleaned, the fairground plumbing had been fixed, all of our trophies and supplies had been collected and placed in the correct locations, and all appeared to be well. Even the local weather report called for partly-cloudy weather with sun in the afternoons -- not too hot, not too cold.

Our local Beardie club was similarly ready to get out there and have a good time. Our grooming area was staked out and set up, the Beardie Parking signs mounted, and the food and drinks and silent auction items were all ready. The Weathervane was prepared for the post-show onslaught of hungry exhibitors seeking lobsters and beer. Val had outdone herself painting piles of gorgeous trophies for both days of showing. Everybody baked cookies. We were primed.

However, the Weather Chair for the event must have fallen down on the job. Although nothing can equal the sheer, abject, freakin' shin-deep sucking misery of the Great Deluge of 2005, the stuff that Mother Nature sent us made us seriously question the entire concept of outdoor shows in Maine before Memorial Day. If this doesn't make us move our show date to later in the year, nothing will.

Saturday was the better of the two days. It rained most of the time, with a few brief periods of letup that enabled us to show between the raindrops (mostly). However, the clammy temperatures managed to get to us all eventually. Everyone who could do so sported extra layers of clothing, including hats and gloves. The husband of one of our out-of-state exhibitors kept nudging his wife and saying, "So this is that beautiful Maine weather you were raving so much about."

Worse still, just when we thought we had everything set up for our major in bitches, one of our out-of-staters admitted sheepishly that she'd forgotten her class bitch at home and had brought along one of the dogs instead -- and she'd only realized her entry mistake when she arrived at the show. It was too late to call Barbara down in Massachusetts and advise her to turn back, and there was no answer at her house when I called to ask for her cell number. Barbara arrived at the show after beating feet for 100 miles to make it in time, and I had to break the news to her.

I'm afraid that my initial response, upon hearing this news, may not be published in a family blog. The exhibitor in question was so sorry that we really couldn't beat her too hard for slipping up. After all, her bitch missed out on a chance at a major, too. It would have been Dinah's first, but it proved to be an exercise in letting go instead.

Not that we let that get in the way of our having what fun we could in the midst of a freezing swamp. After all, we had coffee and home-baked cookies and all of us together. With enough EZ-Ups and the semi-shelter of the barns over our heads, we were about as well set up as anyone at the show (except for the toy breeds showing indoors).

My friend Kathy had offered to show Dinah for me, since she said that her bitch special really wasn't into showing and was happy to attend as a retiree. I might otherwise have passed on entering Dinah in this show, since I had so many hats to wear as YCKC trophy chair/show committee member/BCCME member/cook and bottle washer that I don't think I sat down for more than 10 minutes both days. At least I kept somewhat warm that way.

Dinah and Kathy made a great team. It must be because she was born during a howling rainstorm off the west coast of Wales, but Dinah has always enjoyed showing in bad weather. If she were a horse, they'd call her a "mudder." She looked lovely, behaved beautifully for Auntie Kathy, and took Best of Opposite both days to Lucy's magnificent Christopher. Chris went on to get group placements both days, and Lucy's daughter Anna got Best Junior in Show on Saturday. I felt terrible for Val and Pat, though -- Trav didn't get any love from the judges, and they went home wet and discouraged. (Rarely do Dinah and Trav do well at the same shows. The judges who like his type don't like hers, and the judges who like her type don't give him any joy.)

On Sunday, the skies just opened, and the day consisted of one long downpour punctuated by short bursts of light rain. Our ring had been moved indoors to one of the barns -- fortunately, within Beardie-lugging distance of our grooming area. Although the ring was so small that only the puppies had a chance to take more than two strides at a trot, at least we were out of the rain and the cold for a few minutes. (The EMTs kept good-naturedly inviting us down to hang out in the ambulance, where it was nice and warm.)

There will be pictures -- fortunately, those were taken semi-indoors as well, since the nice outdoor area that the photographers had picked ended up being unusable fairly early on in the show. Dinah was not happy about having to stand still and be brushed, but we're hoping they come out. Kathy and I kept doing a Chip-and-Dale routine of "you first -- no, you." Eventually we managed to get everyone into the picture who was supposed to be there -- including Dinah.

In spite of the stinkin' weather and the busted major, quite a lot went right with the show. Our caterer for the staff and the judges, bless her heart, served hot soup and hot entrees both days -- and there was always plenty of coffee. Everybody held it together, and the post-show dinner at The Weathervane was convivial -- and dry. The judges had such a good time at their dinner that (as I heard it) most of them just didn't want to leave. The one thing I know I got right was that the two Best Juniors were tickled to bits to have won grooming tackle boxes instead of more stuff they'd have to dust. Sometimes it pays to ask actual juniors what they want to win, and not just the girls.

I have yet to hear whether we made any money, or even broke even. The couple of vendors I talked to actually did an okay business on Saturday, but were eager to beat it out of there on Sunday. At least we can all brag about having survived another year.

When It Was a Game (Newbie Edition)

2008-04-28T17:37:00.000-07:00

Apple Valley Rat Terrier Club, Westfield, MA
4/26-27, 2008
3 BOBs, Group 3, 85 points and one major

If you hang around the grooming tent long enough, you're bound to hear the old-timers waxing nostalgic for the "good old days" of dog showing. The sun was always shining, the judges were always fair and knew a good dog when they saw one, and all of the dogs and their owners were of better quality then. Why, to hear it told, every dog show looked like a Merchant-Ivory production minus Helena Bonham Carter. You have to hand it to the "good old days." Whatever realm they exist in, they always look shiniest when viewed through the scrim of a few decades' worth of nostalgia.

However, if there were a place on earth where you can revisit those "good old days" of dog showing, it would be at a UKC show. Compared to the highly organized and formal nature of an AKC show, UKC shows seem so relaxed and informal -- more like B matches with points than actual competition.

If, like us, you've spent all your show time at AKC shows, the informal character of a UKC show might even be confusing at first. Day-of-show entries? People building the rings before your eyes? Everyone cracking jokes with the judges -- in the ring? No hairspray? No brushes in the ring? No trophies? What kind of a dog show is this, anyway?

Two other things I found remarkable about the UKC shows: the huge number of juniors participating, and the number of rare breeds. The shows we attended happened to be hosted by a Rat Terrier club, so there were many Ratties in attendance who barked furiously every time someone walked by their vehicles. We also saw a Leonberger, three Bergamascos, and an amazing number of northern/spitz-type breeds I had never even seen before and can't identify without a much bigger breed book than the one I have now.

I don't especially like children (aside from my niece and nephew and my best girlfriend's daughter), but I lovelovelove junior handlers. They're always kind, polite, well-spoken kids whose parents deserve credit for recognizing the value of early socialization for both puppies and children. I enjoyed the heck out of the passel of juniors at the show, particularly the bunch with the Aussies. One of the Aussie crew, who came very close to taking a couple of Best in Shows, dropped by the barn to talk shop with me. It was an absolute blast to trade notes on movement with an 11-year-old who knew twice as much about the subject as I did. She admired Dinah's movement and asked to go over her. Her dog, Austin, was perfectly trained to respond to her in the ring -- and he never once lost focus. He wasn't the best-moving Aussie out there (which she herself admitted), but the two of them made such a great team that it was no wonder they picked up so many Group Firsts. They don't do obedience or canine freestyle, but they really ought to. The two of them are amazingly well synchronized; watching them show is like watching a dance routine.

Her mother, and some of the other parents of juniors at the show, raved about how much UKC supports the development of juniors and the family nature of dog events. At every show, juniors show first. This allows everyone who wants to, to watch the juniors in the ring before regular showing begins. In addition, juniors who are showing in the regular classes have time to get through Junior Showmanship before having to skedaddle to their respective breed rings, instead of having to juggle two show schedules at a time as they do at AKC shows. The relaxed environment of UKC shows adds to the supportive nature of showing in that venue, too.

Lots of kids, no professionals... this really does sound a lot like the "good old days." Still no sign of Helena Bonham Carter, though.

Larger shows probably run a little bit differently, but the rest of this event ran in a simple, logical manner. Each group was assigned to one ring for the entire weekend, and the judges rotated to different rings. Judges judge entire groups, first in their respective breed classes, and then in the corresponding group competitions. As in Canadian shows, the breeds within each group show in alphabetical order. The classes have different names, but work much the same way they do in AKC shows: puppies through Open, dogs before bitches. Because Dinah is just two years old, she showed in Senior (Youngster). The Open classes are for adult dogs over three years of age. Each breed judging even includes the Champion and Grand Champion classes before choosing Best of Breed.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only UKC Newbie there. Quite a few other people were attending their first UKC shows also, and we tried to pool our newbie resources to figure out points and navigate the rules. I shared a grooming space with a congenial owner of an English Cocker and a Tibetan Spaniel. The show was intimate enough that we had an entire grooming barn to ourselves, so we parked our Subaru Foresters nose-to-nose and set up around our cars inside the barn. Every time one of us came back from the ring, we clustered around our pooled collection of printouts from the UKC Web site to try and figure out where we stood, and to compare newbie notes. Go Team Newbie!

Like APDT rally trials, UKC shows are set up so that you can in theory (with enough competition) earn a CH in a weekend by showing in two shows a day, each day. In AKC, you're used to putting all your work and energy behind your one show per day. You go out there, do your very best, and then you either go on to groups or you're done for the day. However, at a UKC event, you have to do your best and go on to groups in two shows per day. The thing we found hardest about the experience was remaining fresh and alert for that second show each day. Seamus and I learned to overcome that in APDT rally trials. With practice, Dinah and I will figure out how to shine in two UKC shows in a day.

Unlike AKC shows, though, you can be the only representative of your breed and still be able to get credit for showing. It means that you have to earn the minimum of a Group Three to get credit for competition, but at least you're not wholly dependent on the number of other representatives of your breed to show up. There were three times as many Bergamascos as Beardies at this particular show -- funny thing to contemplate. Dinah did the "flirtation dance" for the male Bergamasco, but she performed the same dance for one of the white Standard Poodles and the red Border Collie. (Those boys must have been pretty special, especially the Poodle. Dinah prefers to flirt with Beardies, and apparently Bergamascos count.)

In spite of my usual stage fright and a wind that turned Dinah into a mop in the ring, we acquitted ourselves fairly well for the weekend. She picked up three BOBs and a Group Three. The Group Three constituted a major for Dinah because she beat the dog who picked up the Group Four -- and that counts as competition. I particularly liked that the judge referred to her as "my Beardie" when she placed her in the group ring. We almost picked up a second Group Three at the show, but one of the other judges sneaked both Corgis ahead of us at the last minute. We had been placed in front of a magnificent Beauceron whom I adored. In that competition, Irene and one of the Bergamasco girls took the Group One, not a minute after she whispered to me, "Ah, we won't do anything in here."

To become a UKC Champion, you need 100 points and three majors. To the best of the collective reckoning of all of us UKC Newbies, Dinah has 85 points and one major. Grand Champions require five majors, but I forget if additional points are also required.

Dinah and I were so fried after Show Number Three that neither of us could focus well enough to face going back for a fourth time. After the third show, she popped back into her crate in the car and plopped down, sighing, for an immediate nap. I didn't have the heart to make her go back out there again when she was so tired, and I was getting rather close to walking on my knees and talking gibberish myself. I went back to the club table, pulled our fourth entry, and brought us home instead.

So... we didn't finish our UKC Championship in one weekend as Maryann did, but no problem. This just means that we have to go back and enjoy ourselves at another UKC show (or shows) this year. Aw, shucks.

Oh Say, Can UKC?

2008-04-20T13:37:00.000-07:00

Just before last year's Mohegan Sun shows, my friend Debbie (the one who owns Moxie) asked me if I were attending the lunch with the gang after the show. I hadn't heard a word about it, which is how I replied to her. Turns out that the owner of one of the specials, who has always been rather unnecessarily snippy with me, set up a luncheon for "owner-handlers only." Although all the attendees are friends of mine, I wasn't invited because Kathy shows Dinah for me. The organizer even went so far to explain that I hadn't been invited on purpose, for just that reason. She's had a hair across you-know-where ever since Dinah, as a 10-month-old puppy, beat her adult in the ring with me on the lead.

Sometimes the bitches at dog shows aren't the female canines.

Anyway, I haven't given up on the idea of learning to owner-handle entirely. Although all of the big guns and the prestige are in the AKC world, the United Kennel Club (UKC) is nearly as old and has just as long a tradition of conformation and performance events. Since UKC conformation is coming to Maine sometime and there are more such events in new England, I've taken the bait and registered Dinah with UKC. We've signed up for a show in Massachusetts next week, and are going there for the fun of it.

We're both rusty. Whatever happens with clumsy, bumbling me on the other end of the leash, it'll be good practice for Dinah.

I asked my friend Maryann about UKC. She showed her youngest boy in that venue last year and got his CH in a weekend. She's an experienced and successful breeder-owner-handler in AKC, and UKC lacks the "edge" for her that AKC competition provides. It's a great place for dufuses like me to do some handling, though, since UKC requires every dog to be owner-handled. UKC also has some other requirements I like: no overgrooming, chalk, or hairspray, and you can't use bait in the ring. (Dinah might not be thrilled about that last part, though.)

And Awayyyy We Go!

2008-04-20T08:56:00.000-07:00

It happens like this every year: months of nothing, nothing, nothing when it comes to dog showing, and then all of a sudden -- BAM! Everything starts to happen at once. It's not that there's nothing to say during our "off season," but there's less to report because we're not showing.

Now that it's April, entries are open for the May shows. This coming Wednesday, I can even enter one for June 1. We won't be entering nearly as many shows now that all Dinah needs are her majors, but the ones we will enter should be good ones (if the majors don't break).

Speaking of broken majors, we received some good news/bad news about the York County shows coming up. YCKC is my local kennel club, and I'm on the show committee this year. I'm going to be freaky busy, and wasn't even going to enter Dinah until my friend Kathy offered to show her for me. (Different Kathy. "Our" Kathy, Dinah's handler, will be equally freaky busy at the Newfie National that week, so she can't show Dinah. Kathy-the-handler has so many dogs to show that she has one full-time and one part-time helper to help bathe and groom Newfies for the ring. Yowza!)

Here's the good news: We actually have enough bitches for a major on that Saturday! Hallelujah! I don't know how we managed to pull it off, but we did. Must have been the mention of the post-show lobster party that got people going.

The bad news is, I know that the major is going to break, and my hopes along with it. The owner of one of the bitches entered has a litter of baby pups at home. They'll be a week old tomorrow. Even though she entered one of the girls, she won't want to come to the show. All of the people she would trust to litter-sit will be at the show, and she won't want to bring home any possible bugs from the show to the puppies.

I would do the same thing if I were in her position -- stay home and feel bad about it -- but we were so close there! The first major in Beardies in Maine in possibly forever, and it's broken. BAH!

My friend Kathy will still show Dinah for me. Gracious soul that she is, she actually decided not to enter her bitch special (who went BOS last year to the magnificent Christopher) so she could show Dinah. Dinah needs the practice after taking an extended winter off. Our grrrlfriend Moxie only needs majors as well, but Debbie's bringing her anyway. We can commiserate about the broken major over a beer at The Weathervane after the show.

Entries in shows have decreased markedly, at least in this region if not all over the country. Much of that has to do with gas prices and the increase in cost of everything related to showing. Every year, the AKC releases the new point schedules for breed/region in mid-May. I wonder whether the number of Beardies to make a major will decrease this year to match the lower entries. For us, the YCKC show is the last show of the year where the old entry numbers still apply. We would have had a major last year if the show had only taken place after the middle of May.

Another Belated Shout-Out

...to Steph and Bowie. Bowie is Steph's Brittany puppy, and he appears to be growing up nicely. Go ahead and enter him in Vacationland, Steph. Even the most die-hard competitors in the breed are almost always gentle, gracious, and helpful with exhibitors in the puppy class. You could even persuade some friendly soul to go over him and tell you about his good points and bad points, and the best ways to accentuate the positive in the show ring.

It was at Vacationland 2006 where Judie went over Dinah at our second-ever show and did the same for me. We see each other at shows occasionally still, and I'll always owe her a debt of gratitude for telling me some truths about my dog and the realities of showing her. (She said some very, very nice things about Dinah, and warned me more about what competition with her would be like. It came true in some unexpected ways.)

Sister Act

Congratulations to the beauteous Buffy Burfitt (CZ and SK CH Breaksea November Mist, bunch of European performance titles after her name) for receiving her Czech Championship title, second CACIB (challenge certificate) and National Winner designation at the most recent show she attended. No one on earth works as hard with training and showing as Buffy's mom Jana, and both of them deserve a tremendous amount of credit. Well done, Buffy and Jana! You've done the family proud.

Pass the Ketchup...

2008-03-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

...it's time to observe another historic ritual of the dog-showing season: the Eating of the Entries. At least entries don't have any calories, dammit.

Our latest $60 snack comes from the Springfield shows happening the first weekend of April. Last year, there were majors both days. We knew going in that most of the big guns would be showing in North Carolina at the regional down there instead, but we had hoped there would be more stay-at-homes than there actually were. I'm genuinely happy for the nice folks in the Carolinas Bearded Collie Club that they're drawing people for their show -- and it should be a very nice show indeed -- but it does mean that those entries had to come from somewhere.

Now that Dinah has 14 points and needs her two majors, it's likely that we'll be eating a lot of entries this year, or not entering shows where the likelihood of majors is iffy. Last year, we'd enter if there were a slight possibility of enough bitch entries. This year, not so much. If we're not reasonably certain that enough dogs will show up, we won't enter -- and if we do enter and there aren't enough entries, we won't go.

In a way, it's a shame -- the shows least likely to command majors are the ones we really enjoy. Those include the smaller outdoor shows put on by our local kennel clubs, most of the shows in Fitchburg (where Dinah shows well), and pretty much anything that we can day-trip to. With the cost of gas and the cost of entries and the cost of freakin' everything else, we're going to have to rethink the concept of "entering just for the fun of it."

(Not that I myself will be missing out on those shows, mind you. The local stewards all know I'm not showing at the smaller shows, and already I'm starting to field requests to play ring steward anyplace where we're not entered. I fly solo for the first time at the Vacationland shows in mid-May. If you're in my ring, be gentle with me.)

I'd much rather enter a show where we can have fun. Some of my friends who have been showing for a long time speak wistfully of days when everybody would group together to build majors in their breeds, and they lament the lack of esprit de corps among exhibitors these days. I'm not sure it's so much that people are only in it for themselves as that gas was under $1 a gallon in those "good old days" of fairly recent memory. People could afford to enter more shows, even if just to do a friend a favor.

For Dinah and me, this also means that we'll be doing much of our showing this season in Springfield. Springfield has never been good to us, and my heart sinks just a little every time I enter a show there. Dinah doesn't like it there, and even on the days when she shows well, we have never, ever, ever won. Really, I don't think it's my attitude -- even when we're excited, happy, and she's doing well in the ring... we always, always get skunked. After last Thanksgiving's cluster, I'd be happy if I never saw the freakin' place again, and she showed as well as she ever has there.

The hardest part for me about signing up for an inevitable disappointment in Springfield is that it's easy to throw away $300+ on a single weekend. Even when trying to travel on the cheap, you still have to enter the show at close to $30 a pop, feed the car and yourself, pay the turnpike tolls, get a hotel room for the weekend (and we can't really share; Dinah just wants to play with the other Beardie all night -- especially if we room with Traveler), pay for the parking permit or the daily fees, pay the groomer or buy the supplies to do it yourself, and pay the handler or do it yourself. I have a good job, but we're not rich. When we don't come home with anything, we have essentially just blown hundreds of dollars and a weekend's worth of time.

Sometimes it makes you wonder whether the people who go to casinos and gamble for fun are really all that much crazier than we are. Dog showing even makes golf look like a bargain-priced sport. Some days I think that maybe a crack addiction would be cheaper.

The fun doesn't end with a dog's AKC championship, either. Know all those Multiple Best in Show winners you see strutting around the ring on TV? See all of the camera cuts to the wealthy celebrities sitting in the grandstand? It's not a coincidence that those fantastic winning dogs belong to people who are oozing money. It takes a lot of that old ooze to get a renowned handler for a well-bred dog and to send that dog on many, many road trips. Some dogs live with their handlers until they retire from showing, and don't think for a minute that the in-between-show conditioning/grooming/feeding/boarding is exactly a pro bono on the part of the handler. That's overtime work. Even though most handlers are careful to keep the financial outlay at a reasonable level, a small expense here and a small expense there do eventually add up to a bankroll. That's why the top show dogs have sponsors, whether corporate or simply a cooperative of individual co-owners who share the financial part of campaigning a winner. There are top-ranking dogs who belong to middle-class owners and owner-handlers, but the percentage is definitely lower.

Now, just consider how much fun it is to enter a show against a well-financed dog and a well-known handler. Dog showing is a democratic sport; you can show against that handler and beat him or her, but just as easily (or, arguably, a lot more easily when you're showing to a "face judge"), you can flush another few hundred of your own harder-earned bucks down the drain. I've waved bye-bye to my share, and then some.

Some friends of mine, with a great dog and a modest income, have decided to campaign their dog themselves on a limited basis, simply because their handler isn't as famous as the handlers she's competing against, and they're having trouble voluntarily flushing extra money down the drain for essentially the same results. At a certain level of competition, the dogs themselves cease to matter, and the "face judges" would be more honest if they would just examine the handlers' teeth instead. (If you don't believe me, watch a televised dog show sometime. When the winning dog gets picked, just listen to who gets the glory and the credit. "What a great day for handler Highpower Fancypants!") Small wonder most people stop showing after their dogs finish.

Will I campaign Dinah after we reach the magic CH? I'd actually like to, in spite of all my ranting above. Once the almighty quest for majors is over, we no longer have to limit ourselves to those few shows where we might see the requisite number of other dogs. We can stay the heck away from Springfield if we want to. We can even just show at all of the lovely, local, congenial outdoor shows that we have to pass by while we're still showing in the classes. At that point, we really can go to dog shows for the fun of it again. Kathy and I can get a little sun, enjoy the fresh air, and enjoy freshly charred fairground food for lunch instead of microwaved fairground food.

Conformation showing is not the only money sink in all of the dog world, though you rarely see bejeweled celebrities gathered in the mud and the rain to watch their dogs herd sheep. I was talking at an agility trial with a teacher who planned to delay her retirement as long as possible because she knew she wouldn't be able to afford to trial once she left full-time work. Don't even get me started on herding. When I was new to showing, I was thrilled to discover that a conformation entry cost about half the price of a herding trial entry, and you were guaranteed a spot in the show if you entered by noon on the closing date. "Luxury!" I thought. "Conformation people have it soooo easy."

I've had another freelance column in the works for quite a while now with the pets area of MaineToday.com, the online version of the Portland newspaper (no link because my stuff isn't up yet). It will be called "Dog Showing 101" -- yeah, I know that's not exactly an original name, but you wouldn't believe the number of search engine hits this blog gets for that very phrase. Anyway, at some point, I intend to publish a column on the subject of dog showing for cheapskates, in which I share some of the ways fellow exhibitors try to pare down the costs of dog showing.

If you have any cost-saving tips you'd like to pass on to a Dog Show Newbie, please leave a comment or send an email. You could end up in the funny papers!

Almost That Time Again...

2008-03-17T21:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, the first entries are done. I've marked the calendars, arranged for a hotel room, and am planning to do the equipment inventory any time now. My friend Val has asked when I'd like to bring Dinah by for another four-step beauty treatment. We may still have three feet of snow on the ground, but when I let the dogs out for their first biology break of the day, I can hear birds singing.

Oh, it's almost that time again. It's almost dog-show season!

Hard to believe that the Princess and I haven't done the weekend grind since last November, when we showed at the Thanksgiving Cluster out in Springfield and came home disappointed. I'd be lying if I said I missed it, and I'd be lying double if I said I didn't.

This season's "shakedown cruise" starts on the 5th and 6th of April, out in Springfield. It's not our favorite venue, but we're going to have to learn to like it since the vast majority of majors are there (what few we have, that is). Since there's a regional specialty in NC on the same dates, all the heavy hitters (and thus most of the entries) will be down there that weekend. Even if we don't get enough competition to make a major, we can still use the practice. Dinah will be so psyched to see Auntie Kathy again!

Would you believe I've already made arrangements for both National Specialties (US and Canadian)? The competition for rooms is so fierce that the hotels often sell out on the first day. I've reserved rooms for both shows and was lucky to get just what I wanted. Although I'm not 100% confident we'll make the US National, at least Kathy and I will both have someplace to sleep if we do go. As soon as the information is available for the Great Lakes club's regional, I'll be calling that hotel, too!

Now all we need are decent entries (and decent weather) for both of BCCME's supported entries this year: at the YCKC show on May 3-4, and at the PVKC show on June 21-22. My steward buddies are keenly aware that my girl is "pointed out," and have been secretly penciling my name in on calendar dates for shows that have low numbers of Beardie entries. I've already been asked to steward at the Vacationland shows. At least their head steward actually asked me first. I will probably be dragooned into stewarding at YCKC, if only because the chief steward doesn't understand the meaning of "no."

Still Another Public Service Announcement

2008-03-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

On April 6, 2008, the Kennebec Valley Shetland Sheepdog Club (KVSSC) is offering conformation handling instruction in small groups, followed by run-throughs. You can even win a gift basket by entering the run-throughs!)

The morning group class runs from 9-10:30 AM and costs $5.

The run-throughs take place from 10:45 AM until noon and cost $5.

Location: the Buker School Gymnasium, Capitol St., Augusta, Maine

Registration in advance of each event.

Directions: From the north or south on I-95, take exit 109 for Augusta. Bearing right off the exit (17E) on Western Ave. Proceed through three traffic lights to intersection with Armory on left. At that 4th light take a right onto Capitol St. and take your first right into Buker School. Parking is down on the right and enter through the gymnasium entrance.

Chair: Please contact Phyllis Spires (207-474-3766) or Colleen Golding (207-453-2631) woodlandfarm@ prexar.com for more information.

Jog-a-Dog

2008-03-11T10:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit it. I used to laugh like crazy at some of the videos shown between group competitions during the TV broadcasts of Westminster, Eukanuba, and other big dog shows. In particular, I'd point and giggle at the videos showing top show dogs jogging on their very own doggie treadmills in order to stay in shape for the show season. "Geez!" I'd exclaim. "What kind of fanatic do you have to be in order to put your dog on the treadmill instead of yourself?!"

Well, after the winter we've had, I'm beginning to come around to the idea. One might think that weekly agility classes would help keep both of us in shape, but that assumes that class hasn't been canceled because of snow. I think we've had more snowstorms than we have had classes this year!

We do own a (human) treadmill, but for reasons I just can't get into, I refuse to use it. Let's just say that exercising over at the town dump -- er, I mean transfer station -- would be a neater and more aesthetically pleasing experience. I even went out and bought a membership at the new gym in the next town, but they aren't even opening their doors until April.

The plain fact is, we're both out of shape. With the dog showing season more or less right around the corner, we have some catching up to do. We can't really run around outside -- Dinah's less than 2 feet high, and we still have 3 feet of snow on the ground (and we used to have 4!). I can put on snowshoes, but I'd lose Dinah in the snow. Walking on the side of the road is dangerous on a good day; the roads are narrow, the snowbanks are still above my head, and the drivers are crazy and inattentive. We'd get wiped out at some corner by the next pickup-truck-load of teenyboppers before you could say "oops."

At least now that we're into Daylight Savings Time, we might be able to get down to the beach during daylight, even on a work day. All we have to do is get there at low tide.

It doesn't so much matter whether I'm in shape for dog showing, but I sure could stand to lose some (more than some) poundage and build up my stamina for agility. Dinah needs to lose a little and to firm up after a winter of limited activity. If we hope to finish the girlie, she needs to be in condition! We don't have room for a Jog-a-Dog in the house, not even if we placed it right next to the other treadmill. Too bad, really -- we could jog together!

Still Another Public Service Announcement

2008-03-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

If you live in the Topsham area, you're in luck, too. Thanks to Downeast Dog News for this one. Sorry, but this is all of the information I have.

New handling classes are starting in Topsham in mid-March (hey, that's Saturday!). Call 207-442-0190 for more information.

All in the Family

2008-03-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

We're proud to report that Dinah's grandfather Tolly, otherwise known as Diotima Sea Wolf at Ramsgrove, won Best of Breed and the Challenge certificate (CC) at the Crufts Dog Show this past week. Tolly is a Champion in Finland, Sweden, and Norway, and the CC is one step toward his UK Championship. Congratulations to Tolly and "great-gramma" Wendy!

The Breaksea clan acquitted themselves pretty well at the show. Dinah's half-brother Sweep (Breaksea Masquerade) took 2nd in his class (Undergraduate Dog). Arty (Breaksea Allegro JW ShCM) took 3rd in Limit Dog. Dinah's dad Danny (Breaksea Evolution) took VHC in the same class. (Please don't ask me to explain the English system. I don't understand it even one tiny bit; I just cheer when any of our kinfolks win.)

In the Bitch classes, Dinah's grandmother and Danny's mom, Phoebe (CH Breaksea Imagine) took 2nd in Veteran Bitch, and Katy (CH Breaksea Devil in Disguise at Nellbrook) took VHC in that class. Finally, Dinah's aunt and Danny's sister Ellie (Breaksea Immortality) took 2nd in Limit Bitch. Congratulations to everybody, especially "grandpa" Alan and "grandma" Gill, Dinah's breeders!

If you think Westminster's huge, you really ought to see Crufts -- heck, I really ought to see Crufts! The show spreads out over 7 (!) buildings, and includes competitions and demonstrations of nearly every dog activity on earth in addition to conformation showing. The show is so big that it has its own bank and Post Office, medical center, and lost children's area. Oh, and did I mention the shopping?! Crufts is legendary for the quantity and quality of vendors for nearly every canine-related product on the planet. This year they've even set up multiple blogs and a Twitter feed! (Boy, I wonder if any of my publications would send me on a press junket to blog Crufts!!)

Another Public Service Announcement

2008-02-25T11:50:00.001-08:00

If you live in the Kittery, Maine area, read on. Otherwise, feel free to skip this posting.

On Thursday, April 3, from 6-8 PM, Kittery Adult Education is offering a class on dog showing, both conformation and obedience. For the conformation part of the program, Karen Bruno (who grooms and handles Cocker Spaniels and Australian Terriers) will talk about dog shows and breeding. For the obedience part, obedience instructor Sue Walsh (who shows Cocker Spaniels in obedience) will speak about training and showing in obedience.

Cost: $10 for Kittery residents, $12 for non-residents.

To register, call 207-439-5896.

So a Funny Thing Happened...

2008-02-22T16:08:00.000-08:00

Remember last week when I was called in to consult on a very delicate topic for Ask Dog Lady? Well, things get even better from there.

I did know that Ask Dog Lady was syndicated -- unlike yours truly, Monica the Dog Lady is a real, honest-to-goodness journalist -- but I had no idea how many papers run the column. Of course I saw the version on her Web site. When she sent me the link to the version on the Chicago Sun-Times' Web site, I was pleased. I also thought that was the end of it.

Next thing I knew, I received an email from David Simmons, a fellow Beardie owner who also happens to work at the same company I do. "YOU have been blogged," said the subject line. His email pointed me to an entry in his blog. It seems he saw this version of the Ask Dog Lady column in a Waltham, MA paper -- and he's in NC! Another friend from Salem, OR picked up the same article on Google Alerts and shared the link with the BeardieList. The whole thing is mushrooming -- wow! Monica never told me just how famous she is -- but I must admit I'm enjoying the ride on her coattails!

Wouldn't it just figure, though, that my 15 minutes of fame would be spent discussing dog poop?

A Couple of Related Shout-Outs

I had the pleasure of talking today with Bianca, a fourth-year journalism student at Northeastern -- so a shout-out goes to her. Bianca keeps a blog for her class, and she contacted me to talk after interviewing Monica. Monica suggested she talk to me next. (Thanks again and another shout-out to Monica for that!)

We talked about a variety of subjects ranging from old media to new media, from blogs to dogs to Web design to usability. I hope I answered her questions adequately, and that she has a good time writing the article. Thanks, Bianca!

Also... thanks too to Izzy Forman of 360i for sending me this Westminster-related video from Petside.com.

Dog Show People: A Field Guide

2008-02-22T10:18:00.000-08:00

Someone posted this to the Beardie List this morning. I couldn't help but chuckle -- so you enjoy, too.

Dog Show People -- A Field Guide

This is Another Public Service Announcement

2008-02-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

I read the Google search phrases, and I know you've been asking, so...

Show Handling Classes in Westbrook, ME

Saccarappa Obedience Club is offering Show Handling classes with Penny Cary starting on Thursday, March 13. Class sessions run for 6 weeks, and are held at the Westbrook Armory, Westbrook, ME. For more information or to register, call Evelyn at (207) 284-4093.

Penny's Web site lists the different classes she teaches around southern Maine and the different session dates.

Show Handling Classes in Raymond, NH

Bo-Gee is offering show handling classes with Patricia Barrett on Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM, starting March 6. the course runs 6 weeks. If space is available, drop-ins are welcome at a cost of $15 per dog.

See Bo-Gee's Web site for all the details.

Show Handling Workshop in Lincolnville, ME on March 16

Sue Morlan, who is a UKC (United Kennel Club) conformation judge, is offering a workshop on show handling at Wag It! Sports Camp in Lincolnville. FMI, email Sumac or visit Wag It's Web site.

Show Handling Classes in Bangor, ME

The Penobscot Valley Kennel Club offers show handling classes at Pet Quarters on Stillwater Avenue in Bangor. Price: $7.00 per class.

Private Show Handling Classes in Kennebunk, ME

Tracy Shaw is offering private handling classes at Diamond Dream Dog Center in Kennebunk, ME starting on March 7. Send her an email or call 207-985-6985 to set something up.

Dinah and I took group handling classes with Tracy, and we learned a lot. We also met fellow show people from the area and created an instant cheering section for all of the dogs in the class! Of course, we went on to work with Kathy later on, but our early training in the class was invaluable for both of us.