Conformation Class

Jedi's noble pose

I got Jedi with the intention of showing him. I've read a dozen books, been to a handful of shows and thought "I can do this." WRONG! But now that it's a possibility I'm scared to death! We went to our first conformation class on Tuesday out at the Jacksonville Dog Fanciers Association grounds. The fact that Jedi decided to be a total turd doesn't help build my confidence. Fortunately, the instructor is calm and knowledgeable. She has the number one cattle dog in the U.S. so I'm comfortable in her tutelage. The only dogs at Tuesday's class were Jedi, his brother Chili, and his sister Pinky. Instructor recommended that we all sign up for the fun match in March being sponsored by The Greater Orange Park Dog Club. I said, "OK we could do that." Then she asked how old the puppies were. When we told her, Instructor's eyes lit up and said "Great! You can enter the dog show in April!" By the way, that specialty show is being organized by The German Shepherd Dog Club of North Florida -- MY club. My mouth meekly said "Are you sure? Do you think we'll be ready?" Meanwhile my brain screamed "Are you high? Did you not just watch my dog act the fool? What if he does that in the ring? In front of all my friends?!"

So what's a girl to do? I contacted The Greater Orange Park Dog Club and asked when and where their fun match is being held. (No response yet.) I also looked up GSDNFL's show on InfoDog and saw that the last day to register for the shows is March 20th. Jedi and I had a talk. The decision: if he does really well with his training over the next six weeks, I'll sign us up. Realistically, we won't win any points. He's a puppy and I've never seen a pup go beyond Best Puppy, but we'll get the experience and it might help with the points for someone else. (More dogs in the show = higher points for the winner.) So if nothing else, it'll be good Karma. Right? So why am I so afraid?

OK, enough of my dog show neurosis! Take another look at Jedi. Both ears are up nearly all the time now. He's a beautiful boy -- owned by a big, fat chicken. I'll keep you posted. -- K