Sunday, April 5, 2015

Walking the Walk

Thanks for following my Blogging A to Z Challenge on Dog Shows. As I stated on Friday (C for Conformation) I had four dog shows this weekend and I promised to share the results (because blogging 26 times in one month isn't taking up enough time).

Friday Jedi and I had two shows in one day. The German Shepherd Dog Club of North Florida hosted a morning and an afternoon specialty show.

Competition was fierce! There were so many beautiful dogs that I'm sure the judge had a tough time. It wasn't easy for the handlers either. We had a double ring and there was A LOT of running. The first judge had us run around the ring twice before even looking at the dogs. Jedi was the only dog not handled by a professional handler in his class. Yikes. I'm sure my inexperience hurt Jedi's performance. We came in 4th both shows. Jedi did everything I asked, and I'm proud of those white ribbons!

The Greater Orange Park Dog Club hosted all-breed shows on both Saturday and Sunday. Our ring time was really early both days, requiring us to be up and on the road by 6 AM both days. ugh. The competition was still tough. We were up against some the same dogs from Friday's specialty show. Again, I was the only owner-handler. And for the first time I've ever seen, the American Bred class was bigger than the Open class! Jedi and I placed 3rd both days, coming home with a pair of yellow ribbons. It's been a long weekend and we're all glad to be home. We're looking at entering a couple shows in Georgia the first week in May. Between now and then we need to work a few things:
  • I need to move faster. Jedi's back end looks a bit wonky at slower speeds, but at the right pace he's gorgeous.
  • We need to work on free stacking (Jedi walking into the correct stance) as well as Jedi holding the pose for just a little bit longer.
But for today, we're taking a break and spending the evening with friends. Thanks for all the happy thoughts and well wishes. I appreciate all the love. Here are a few pictures from the weekend, and then I'm off to take a nap.-- K



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