Official Show Dog 'n' Everything

Dinah's AKC registration arrived yesterday, in spite of my credit card company's concerns that identity thieves are rushing out in droves to register puppies with AKC. Now that the little Princess from Wales is officially a resident alien, it's time to enter her in a couple of local shows.

I've chosen the York County Kennel Club show the first weekend in May for the maiden voyage of the USS Dog Show Newbie. YCKC is my local kennel club, so the folks will be congenial and the site is close by. It's also not a huge show with majors in all breeds, so I won't have to worry about being run into the corners by the ultra-competitive types and the professional handlers. Last year, the weather was so horrible on the weekend of the show that only two Beardies showed up at all, so there weren't any points available to fight over anyway.

I have to steward in the obedience ring that day too, so who knows how that whole adventure will work out? Anyway, we'll have a cheering section. (I'm showing Seamus in Rally at this show on the Saturday, and Dinah makes her breed ring debut on Sunday.)

Tracy at Diamond Dream Dog Center offers private handling lessons on Fridays, so I've signed us up for a couple of Fridays in April. We won't have had extensive experience by the time we hit the ring, but hopefully we'll have enough to make a halfway respectable showing.

Help Is On the Way?

Even though I haven't yet started posting regularly to this blog, a great deal has been going on behind the scenes. Dinah's UK registration and export pedigree finally arrived, so I was able to ship copies to AKC. I'm now awaiting her AKC registration so I can start entering her in shows. With luck, her ring debut will be on the first weekend of May at the York County show. With even more luck, Seamus and I will have finished his RN before then, so I can concentrate on one dog at a time.

I've also inquired with a local trainer about Show Handling for Dummies. Although she isn't offering group lessons at the moment, she can sneak us in for some private lessons on Fridays. When my work schedule frees up more, I'll take her up on that.

I also sucked up my trepidation and joined the ShowBeardies email list. Don't get me wrong -- some of my dearest friends are show people -- but I'm feeling distinctly out of my element here. Another herding buddy gave me the name of a decent handler if I chicken out.