Our Semi-Grand Finale

Worcester County KC Shows
12/2: Best of Winners, 1 point
12/3: Reserve Winners Bitch

(show photo to follow)

As finales go, we didn't do too badly. Dinah picked up her third point at the Worcester County shows in Fitchburg, and now we're ready to hibernate for a little while. It would be perfectly fine with me if we didn't see the inside of a show ring again until April, but I've decided to enter the Fitchburg shows in mid-January anyway -- partly to keep in practice, and partly to see how much we can accomplish before Dinah has to compete in Open in the spring.

For a while there, I thought I was the only one who was thrilled to bits at the prospect of not having to show for a good long while. It seems, though, that everybody in my crowd is feeling pretty much the same way. We're all a little burned out after the Springfield shows the previous weekend, and all we want to do is stay at home for a weekend (or a few weekends) and hibernate. I'll still plan to take handling classes just to keep working on my own skills as well.

It's an appropriate time to stay home and away from the shows now, as it turns out. Kathy was grooming Dinah for Saturday's shows when she suddenly asked, "Is Dinah in season?" I replied that that was impossible, since she'd been in season just in August -- and then Kathy held up a towel with blood spots on it. I've been told that if a bitch doesn't ovulate during her first season, that she is likely to come into season again when she does ovulate. Since her mother only comes into season once a year, it remains to be seen whether Dinah will have unusual seasons. I'm a little bummed out at the prospect of her coming into season in June instead of February, though.

One thing I do miss about not handling my own dog in the ring (actually, about having to hide from Dinah while she's being handled in the ring) is that I miss out on some of the ringside conversations and the judges' comments to the other handlers. The owner of the other entry in 12-18 reported back to me that Sunday's judge had looked over Dinah and Cocoa, smiling, and told both handlers that he'd judged Bearded Collies all over the world, but that he'd rarely seen as nice an entry as he'd seen that day in the puppy class. Although I still kind of wish that he'd picked Dinah over Cocoa, commentary like that is absolutely invaluable. I'd show Dinah to him again anytime. He's one of those judges who gives feedback to every individual in his ring, and he obviously loves what he does.