Winner's Dog

Now those of you that have no reference point to the Dog Show World will have no idea what that heading means...  But for those that do, you will jump for joy when I share that Elvis went Winners Dog, and not at any ol' dog show either,  but at a Specialty!  This is a BIG DEAL!

In one of my previous posts I was lamenting the challenges of showing a dog in "the Breed ring" - that it is terribly political and so frustrating to participate when one is not an avid competitor.  It takes a lot of entries ($$) and a lot of traveling around to lots of dog shows ($$) to get the judges to realize that you want to be taken seriously.  Never mind the dog - so often it doesn't seem to matter what the poor dog looks like at all!  What seems to matter more and more is who is at the other end of the leash - are you SERIOUS about this and have you shown your dog to me enough times that you have 'earned' the privilege of being granted a point?  Well that has always been my frustration.  I don't have the time or money to pound the pavement and "earn" the judge's attention (???) so it is quite unusual for me to win.  Cases in point....  The previous weekend we took "Reserve", which is considered "glorified second place".  Two shows, two different judges, and actually two different entries of competitors.  I lost to different dogs each day.  Then on the magical day, there were two shows; one in the morning with judge A, and another show in the afternoon with judge B.  For the morning show, I showed my dog, myself.  He did not win.  He did not even get Reserve.  In the afternoon show, I was advised to let a friend show the dog for me.  Now you have to understand one important thing:  I am short and chubby and don't run very fast or gracefully.  My friend is a tall man that can run well and has years of experience showing his own dogs.  My dog won with my friend handling him in the ring.

I am very happy that my dog won.  I am very grateful to my friend for handling him.  I guess this means that until I lose weight and can run better, my friend should handle my dog ;-)

Elvis and my friend, stepping out beautifully!

On that same day at the Specialty show, I also entered my two old dogs in the Parade of Veterans.  This is not a competitive class, but rather just an opportunity to bring out your old show dogs, have someone read their resume of accomplishments, and let the oldies "strut their stuff".  Here they are (with me cut out of the picture because my image was so unflattering!)

                                 Buckaroo and Maija stepped right out and were happy Oldies

                                       (They are litter mates that just turned 9 years old.)

I received many compliments and congratulations for Elvis' win.  Many people were very encouraging and supportive.  I am very sad that my friend Lynne passed away - she bred Elvis and had planned to show him in the breed ring, herself.  But I am thrilled that he won today, in a show that was dedicated to her memory. Now I will do my best to get out there, pay my dues, lose weight and be more fit and get the rest of Elvis'  points to earn his Championship.

Two more shows next weekend......  Wish us luck!