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Jedi ringside

Ocala was tough. And cold. Our ring times for Friday and Saturday were 8:30 and 8 AM respectively. The temperatures were high 30's to low 40's both days. We ended up just staging from the SUV. The weather finally cooperated on Sunday. It was a nicer day. Ring time wasn't until 12:45 and the temperature was in the high 60's. Unfortunately we were all tired by then and ready to come home.

We did well despite the crappy weather. RK got into the ring for the first time this weekend. Her dog, Chili (Jedi's brother) did great. RK is hooked! After her first run in the ring she came out grinning and asked "When we can do this again?" I suspect we'll be showing a lot more this year. RK showed in the bred by class and won all three days, making it to the winners dog round. The same gorgeous dog won Winners Dog all weekend, but RK and Chili held their own against several professional handlers. I was so proud!



Big(ish) win on Day 1

Jedi and I didn't do too bad either. On the first day we won our class (12-18 months) even beating out a professional handler. We made it to the winners dog round and were beaten by the gorgeous dog mentioned above. However, we did pick up Reserve, which is the equivalent of first runner-up. (Should Gorgeous Dog be disqualified for any reason, Jedi gets the points.) The last two days we were second in our class, earning red ribbons.



I'm rethinking showing three days in a row. By the third day we were spent. Two grown women with two adolescent dogs in one hotel room can get a bit crowded. Jedi and Chili may be brothers, but they aren't sure how they feel about each other. They seem to have a love/hate thing going on, which gets tiring very quickly. One minute they want to play and the next minute they're growling at each other. And heaven forbid one is getting more attention or treats in the other! We didn't trust the two of them alone together so when we weren't with them they had to be crated. They seemed more comfortable with each other by the end of the weekend, so maybe they'll be better next time. RK is already looking at upcoming shows on Infodog, so "next time" might be rather soon. Until then we'll be at a conformation class every week and will definitely be practicing more consistently. Don't tell RK, but I think I'm hooked too. -- K

P.S. I can't believe I took a camera and a smart phone this weekend and didn't take any pictures of us in the ring! Hopefully RK got a couple. If so, I'll share them with you later.