I was cold all night and finally at 4:30am woke up all the way and couldn't go back to sleep - my mind was so busy thinking of our big day today. Plus I was just too cold to sleep. Then, right at the stroke of 6:00am (the end of quiet hours) all the neighboring dogs started barking and making quite the ruckus.
Mike got up to see why it was so cold, only to find out that our super expensive electricity wasn't working. This experience so far has been very frustrating...poor Mike.
The pants I bought didn't end up matching the shirt and jacket that I had purchased a few days prior. So I scurried around trying to find something else to wear. I found some items that went together but they weren't all that dressy. I thought it might be okay - in the end I don't think it was acceptable at all.
Here you can see the rings and tents that I was talking about yesterday. Everyone that is showing in a particular ring is allowed to set up a crate in the center of the tent during their judging time only. Then you remove all your stuff so there is room for the next group. All the running around is done out in the green grass area in front of the tents.
The Puppy Sweepstakes was first thing in the morning so we had to get going right away. There is a huge tent, probably 100 yards long by 40 yards wide, where there are many vendors. I didn't have the correct brush or comb so I ran in there right away to buy these needed items. There were so many to choose from that I was truly overwhelmed. This very nice guy asked me if I was finding everything okay. I told him that if I knew what I was looking for I could probably find it just fine. He immediately recognized that I could use a little kindness and guidance and found just what he said I needed.
Then I scurried out to watch our ring so I could see how the judge was doing things so that I'd know what to do. The very first thing I noticed was that all the people showing the dogs were wearing suit jackets - this was important as they had these pockets that were easily reachable for storing more items than I even brought! They had squeaky toys, treats, bushes, combs...and who knows what else in their pockets. I'm so out of my league.
I was careful to wear pants with pockets but I found I couldn't reach in easily enough to get the treats. I'm in big trouble. So I decided I'd just put a few pieces of food in my mouth as I saw other people taking food from their mouth - I had brought little pieces of left over steak.
While I was waiting for our turn I practiced walking Boogie a little. All was going well until I tried to get some of the steak out of my mouth. It had gotten stuck up between my gum and cheek and I couldn't get it out! Shoot, I couldn't even handle a leash and a treat! How were all these other handlers using all the items they had with them in the ring even! We haven't even started and I can tell this isn't going like I'd hoped or imagined.
I brushed Boogie all pretty and combed his little whiskers and shaped them just like I had been taught and put his show collar on the proper way. Then I'd set him down and he'd be off like a rocket which pulled his collar all out of place. He was so wiggly he was impossible. So Mike would pick him up to try to calm him down and then his hair and whiskers would be all messed up and I had to start the whole procedure all over again. ....I can hear you all laughing now but it wasn't funny at the time!
I was putting his collar in place about every 15 seconds to no avail. Finally it was just moments before we were to go in the ring when the steward motioned for me to come to her. She proceeded to tell them that his collar needed to be right up behind his ears. I KNOW - but I obviously missed the lesson on how to make it stay there while Boogie is doing his cart pulling imitation!
There were four dogs in our class. I was the third dog to go in. By now, I had decided just to give up using treats as there was just too much else I had to be doing - like walking in the correct place at the correct time!
I thought Boogie did pretty good. Overall he trotted nicely and stood just how I put him....until the judge would look his way, then he'd wiggle all around. He stood on the table for exam very nicely I thought. He didn't shy away from the judge one bit (way to go Boogie!) although he did move a little.
But when all was said and done we came in third out of four dogs. We got a little yellow ribbon and $6.40! That's right - Boogie is now the highest paid member of the family! Interestingly enough, the order we all entered the ring was the exact order we placed. I guess this guy just didn't know to move the best dog (that would be Boogie!) up to the front. Tee hee.
I was a little disappointed in our placement but figured maybe the next judge would like us a little better....and maybe I could handle a little better too. I was very careful to watch as much as I could so that I'd know what this new judge wanted us to do.
Once again there were four dogs in the class and like before Boogie was the third dog in. Boogie's gait was pretty nice...except when he had to stop and scratch! This was not a good thing I found out.
When it was our turn on the table I got Boogie set up very nicely. I had been told I don't have much time so I really hurried and got him all set up. But I did it way too soon as we had to wait and wait for the judge to be ready to look at us. So just before the judge came over, Boogie got tired of standing still and moved! Yikes! So the judge turns to look and we were all out of place. Darn!
The judge then started looking Boogie over...and over....and over...and over. She spent about 10-15 seconds looking at the other dogs and spent a good 30 seconds looking Boogie over. I didn't think she was ever going to stop! I figured she must really like him to look him over that much! I'm wondering if she thought he had skin trouble since he had scratched. She even checked his skin and I didn't see her do that to any of the other dogs.
Then of all things the judge moved the last place dog ahead of us and that was that. We ended up last. I was so disappointed. This time we got a little white ribbon but no money. It's going to take a long time to pay for this trip at this rate! Ha ha. Actually I had no idea they gave out money at all so that was a bonus. I have my own theory as to why Boogie placed so low each time...and it had nothing to do with my sweet little Boogie.
But that's okay - we still have Rally to do and there was no time to waste as it was time to head over there. From our Conformation ring to the Rally ring was a good 15 minute walk. While I went over to check in, Mike went back to the RV to get Wazzu.
However, when I got to the ring I was informed they were running about an hour behind.
So we decided to get a mat to put down so that I could lie down while we waited. Mike brought over a crate and a chair and we decided to all wait there so we wouldn't take a chance of missing our turn. I knew we were going to do well at Rally so I wanted to be sure to be there on time.
If you look, you can see the rally signs around the ring that tell us what to do at each station.
When they handed out the course maps I was really excited as the course looked really easy. The stations that were included in this course were all ones that Boogie is really good at. He could do this in his sleep! At least we were going to end the day on a good note.
Wazzu was first which was good as I could practice the course so that I'd be sure to know what I was doing when it was Boogie's turn. As is Wazzu's usual way, she did just what I told her to do - which was really good as she hasn't really been trained for any of these moves. She sniffed the ground very briefly once but other than that she was perfect. When we finished everyone clapped - I was so surprised as we didn't know anyone. And then people came over and told me how great we did. Wow, fun.
But when I looked at the score, we hadn't done all that well - we got an 88 out of 100. I couldn't figure out what we'd done to lose so many points until this one gal came over and said that I hadn't had Wazzu sit before doing our fast forward. Darn!
She did everything I told her to do...I just didn't tell her to sit. That was a 10 point deduction. As it turns out if I would have had her sit she would have gotten 1st place! Way to go Wazzu. Mike said we would have done better if I would have let Wazzu read the signs. (Reminds me of a time once when my doctor said he would feel better if I let Wazzu drive us home.) Hmm, everyone seems to think that Wazzu is smarter than me!
The last dog in the class was Boogie. I was really confident - this course was perfect for him. I knew they had saved the best for last. We walked to the line and Boogie did a perfect little sit. That was the last perfect thing we did. From then on Boogie did his cart pull imitation, his scratching demonstration, his stand and stare (why couldn't he have done that in the breed ring!), his bark at the fountain routine, his let's see if we can make mom trip, his where is the rat sniff, and finally his deaf dog imitation. The only thing he didn't do was dig for gophers. You're not supposed to touch your dog but many times I just had to pick him up and place him in the right direction so we could continue on.
If you look on the right side just past the red tent you can see the edge of the ring. On the left side on the other side of the fence is the area that was so interesting to my dear little Boogie.
It's a very pretty garden as you can see - but I still have no idea what Boogie thought was so interesting.
Most dogs were doing the course in about 1 minute 30 seconds. It felt to me like we were out there about seven minutes. In fact, Mike said at one point the judge started reading a book! Hmph. The last station was the Moving Down. I knew Boogie would do this as this is his favorite command. But NO - instead of doing a down he just did another cart pull. I had him come back to try one more time. This time he did his moving down perfectly! The crowd erupted - Boogie had finally done ONE thing right!
I was so embarrassed. The whole time we were out there I was thinking "these people must think that this dog has never spent one minute being trained." Well, at least we were good for some comic relief for all the people watching.
When we had practiced in the field right next to the ring before our turn he did great. But on the actual course he somehow totally lost his brain. But what can you do? So I just picked him up and gave him a nice big hug and told him we have nowhere to go but up. I'm sure he didn't know why I was laughing and he didn't care - he was just happy that mommy was playing with him and hugging him.
Mike's first response was "Well that was certainly worth driving 600 miles. Then he was walking around saying "puppy for sale - cheap! No references required." But I was holding on to Boogie as tight as I could! I wouldn't sell him for all the money in the world. He's my boy - even if he does come in last place in everything. My thought is - people remember the best and the worst but none of those in between. That means only two out of the whole lot are remembered! So we're in pretty good company.
Mike said that today Boogie had the attention span of house fly. Unfortunately, I think this really was a very good description of my little boy today. But it really doesn't matter what others think. I think Boogie is the best boy in the whole wide world and I'm so glad he's mine.
We'll just keep plugging away - he'll be leaving all the others in the dust soon enough.
Debbie
1/4/08
No comments:
Post a Comment