Pictures Now, Stories Later

I'm just so happy that Blogger beta -- while still holding first place as the most crippled piece of blogware on this earth -- has finally fixed its picture loader that I'm going to quickly upload all the show photos now, and will follow up with the tales from the road later on.

First of all, here's Dinah's Best Puppy in Show photo from the Canadian Specialty (photo courtesy of Kathleen Schaffer of Pup Art):



Next, a shot of Dinah in the ring at the Northwest Bearded Collie Club Regional, where she placed 4th in her class (photo by DogHouse Arts):



And finally, a photo of us with our loot after Dinah earned her first herding title at the BCCA National (thanks to Ray Salmon).



There will be stories!

Dammit!!

I just spent hours writing a new blog post detailing our adventures at the BCCC Specialty and at the Mid-Coast KC shows, and either Firefox or Blogger choked on the lot. It's all gone, and I just haven't the intestinal fortitude to redo it just yet.

Anyway, here's the short version: Dinah won Best Puppy in Show (plus first in her class) at the BCCC Specialty, and a Puppy Group 2 plus 1st/BOW/BOS at the Mid-Coast show.

I will probably move this blog to .Mac so this sort of thing doesn't happen again. Thanks a heap, Blogger.

Competition!

We received the judging program for the BCCC Specialty yesterday. There are five entries (including Dinah) in the Senior Puppy Bitch class in Sweepstakes. This will be the very first time we've ever been in the ring with any other puppies. I hope we do well!

As for the regular classes, all of the bitch entries have been lumped together. All I know is what time we start, and the rest will be a surprise.

Pssst... Mom just turned her back on the grill. Whaddaya say we make off with the hot dogs while she's not looking? 

Dinah's BOB at Lakes Region Kennel Club. Joseph Gregory is the judge. Photo by Fritz Clark, The Standard Image. 

The Lovely One herself 

Go With What You Know

Before I forget, here's a picture of Dinah and me at the Augusta shows. Photo by Fritz Clark, The Standard Image. Both Fritz and the judge, Margaret Cook, showed saintly patience with us while we struggled to get Dinah's head and feet pointing in the right directions. Looks easy, doesn't it?

Dinah's been in season (her first), so we've been staying away from the shows for a while. We can still take lessons, though we're doing private sessions until her season is over.

You'd think that there wouldn't be much to just grabbing a leash and prancing around the ring with a pretty doggie on the other end, wouldn't you? I sure used to think that while watching the shows, either at ringside or on TV... and then I got to try it for myself. Let me just say that I've come away with a whole new appreciation of the handler's craft: it involves making a dog look its best while not appearing to be doing anything. Talented handlers are like stage magicians, allowing a dog's good points to appear and draw the judge's attention while making the not-as-good aspects disappear (or at least fade into the background). It turns out that I have much more to learn than I thought.

I am not a natural athlete. Although I played a couple of sports in high school, I had to work very hard just to be mediocre. Once I get something into muscle memory, though, it stays there, and I can reproduce that action (or sequence of actions) just about exactly the same way over and over again. Until the point where muscle memory takes over, though, I'm awkward and self-conscious about my lack of coordination.

In Dinah's and my first few shows, I've tried my best to apply the things I've learned in our classes. Without muscle memory, though, I've tended to forget parts of the showing routine that she's taught me. Even though we haven't had any competition (so we always get first place), I don't generally walk away from the ring thinking "Gee, that was my best performance yet." I almost always forget something, some detail or action or part of the routine that would have made our presentation so much smoother.

Thanks to Tracy, I had a breakthrough of sorts in how to commit the routine of showing to muscle memory. We were practicing entire routines at once, from entering the gate to standing for exam to the gaiting patterns. Tracy watched how Dinah and I stopped, started, and gaited. "It's just like heeling in obedience," she said. "Lead off with your left foot each time and the rest will fall into place."

It DID! I can't quite explain why that little tiny detail did it for me, but things just seemed to fall into place, and I was able to get us to perform the same way each time we tried. Assuming I don't space it due to performance anxiety, this should make a huge difference in our ring presentation.

I am still reluctant to mess too much with Dinah's feet during stacking. She has a fine sense of balance and usually places her feet right where they should be without any help from the other end of the leash. Any attempt I make to perfect an already well-balanced stance just throws her off balance and makes her wiggle.

A bunch of my Beardie buddies are entering the Fitchburg shows in mid-August, the weekend immediately before the Canadian Specialty. I had argued with myself for weeks over whether to enter Dinah in those shows and finally opted not to, preferring to save my energy and hers for the trip to Ontario. Now that so many of them are planning to show in Fitchburg, I'm waffling again. I have a little less than a week to decide, but the option is still available if I decide to join them all down there. Dinah would be showing in 9-12 Puppy for the very first time -- not that we'll see any more competition in that class than we've seen in 6-9 Puppy, mind you.

The Canadian Specialty will be the site of another debut for both of us. It will be the very first time I've ever shown in any venue in Canada, and you could definitely say the same for Dinah. There, Puppy 9-12 is referred to as Senior Puppy. Because it's a national specialty, we'll definitely have company in the Senior Puppy ring for the first time since we started the whole beauty-contest game. I'm likely to be the only newbie handler there, but it will be fun to see all the other puppies of Dinah's age. The judge is English, which is a break for me; she won't want to see the Beardies all teased and clipped, and I don't know how to do any of that stuff anyway.

What About BOB?!

(Dinah says, "Yeah. What about it?")

We drove up to the Lakes Region KC's show yesterday figuring that we'd probably go BOS to the male special who was entered, just as we did to Trav at the Augusta shows. No points, but brags are worth something too.

Imagine our surprise when we discovered that the special had not checked in, leaving Dinah as the sole representative of Bearded Collie-dom for the whole show! You might call it the fast track to Best of Breed.

The breed judge, Joseph Gregory, was lovely. He's judging herding breeds (including Beardies) at Westminster next year. He appeared to like Dinah, and might even have picked her if we'd had any competition. At least he didn't laugh too hard when I looked at the BOB ribbon and said, "Wow. Our first trip to Group." He was gracious and patient as we wrestled for another goofy show photo. Two handlers, Greg, the judge, the photographer, and I all struggled to get Dinah into position and looking like a show dog. Guess we'll find out how that went when the photos arrive.

Wish the weather had cooperated a little better for him, poor man. The grooming area was covered by a huge series of tents, but the rings were all exposed to the elements -- and there were some elements, believe me! That poor judge, in his nice suit, had to judge a gazillion junior handlers in a downpour.

Up until now, we've been done showing for the day as soon as breed judging is finished. This time, we had to wait from 10:15 in the morning until 1:45 PM, when the breed judging commenced -- and did I mention that Herding was the last group to show? By the time we got around to actual Group judging, the downpour had ended and the summer heat had started to return to the fairgrounds. Pounding sun is not kind to little black puppies, so I kept Dinah in the shade as much as possible.

Our first trip into Group was quite the different experience, but fun. In Group, dogs enter the ring roughly from fastest to slowest. As the only puppy in the lot, we ended up third from the last, after the Malinois and in front of the Corgis. The Group judge, Linda More, took quite a bit of time to look Dinah over, and watched us carefully as we gaited. She didn't pick us over the adults with clean feet, but I think she liked us more than I expected she would. The two stewards were friends of mine, and they made quite a bit of noise applauding as we circled the ring. I think it helped to have our fans there, too.

Anyway, we brought home our sleepy puppy and our collection of ribbons, and called it a good day's work. Whether or not she had to beat anybody to get there, we're proud of our little Best of Breed puppy. She might end up going around the Group rings more often in the not-too-distant future.

This was our last show for about a month or so. Dinah appears to be starting her first season, and we aren't entered in anything else until the Canadian National in August.

Stacking 101

Now that Dinah's eight months old and we have a few shows' worth of experience, Tracy has started to expect more from us in our handling classes. We started out with just standing up (as opposed to sitting in the mud), and have progressed to a little more self-stacking with attention work. Just as we're beginning to get used to self-stacking, Tracy is moving us on to actual stacking and placing of the dogs' feet.

This lesson comes just in time. Dinah's last show photo was 80% WWF wrestling match, 20% photo shoot. Although I've been handling her feet since I brought her home, she didn't take too kindly to my messing with them in an unfamiliar place, in front of a bunch of people she hadn't met before. After considerable squeaking and tossing of toys and other distractions, the photographer managed to get a reasonable shot of Dinah with four on the floor and the very-patient judge smiling.

Dinah hasn't been enjoying these stacking lessons. Part of it is due to my technique, I'm sure. She allows me to place her feet, but she dances and wiggles. Tracy showed me how to hold Dinah's head (by a handful of Beardie beard) so I could better control her. If we practice this, it might work someday. Dinah is not a big fan, however. I think Tracy thinks she's a spoiled brat. That might be true, but Dinah does learn when she's shown what is expected of her.

The other technique, which I have to UN-learn, involves how much I talk to my dog. I'm still operating in puppy kindergarten, where chattering to your dog is expected, and where you praise for every little thing. Tracy made me realize just how much I yammer to Dinah, and I'm trying to cut down on the chatter a little so she'll listen to me when I do speak to her.

Our next show is the Lakes Region Kennel Club show next week. There are only two Beardies entered, and Dinah is the only class dog (the other is a male special). I guess we're on the fast track to BOW/BOS again. No points, but no complaints either -- we enjoy bragging rights.

Horseshoes and Hand Grenades

North Shore Kennel Club and Middlesex County Kennel Club, June 16-18

You've heard that old saw before about how almost doesn't count except... yadda yadda yadda. That's also true in dog show-land, but sometimes "almost" can really give you hope.

Since the last post, we've been out showing for the past two weekends. We attended all three days at the Topsfield shows June 16-18, and went right out again last weekend to the Augusta show on the 25th. Dinah took home the firsts in her class every time (since we were the only entry), but there really is more to tell.

The Topsfield shows had a respectably-sized entry for a show in this area: 10-12 Beardies overall, 3-4 specials. Of course we didn't do anything in Bitches with the older dogs and the professional handlers, but Saturday's judge gave us a reallllly long look. For one brief moment, I honestly thought she was going to put Dinah up over the adult bitches. She ended up picking two of the older dogs, but I had a Sally Field moment there: "She likes us! She really likes us!" At minimum, we should plan to show under this judge when Dinah's a little older and my handling skills have improved. My spies at ringside told me that Dinah moved beautifully, and looked better than just about all of the adult dogs out there. We're just still paying our puppy dues.

Dog shows seem to bring out old friends whom I haven't seen in years. In my early days in Beardies, the local Beardie club in Massachusetts was large and active, with a strong and congenial presence at the local shows. Most people showed in conformation, and only a couple did any sort of performance events. By the time I became active in performance, the old gang had pretty much dispersed, and the new gang underwent a series of changes. The new gang, for the most part, didn't do any sort of events with their dogs, but they did throw wonderful get-togethers (and still do) a few times a year.

Anyway, the old gang still shows in conformation, so I've been running into people whom I haven't seen in 15 years. They're showing the grandpups and great-grandpups of dogs I knew back in the day, but it seems as though we've all just picked back up where we left off 15 years ago. Funny how time passes, and yet it doesn't.

Central Maine Kennel Club, June 25

We entered only one day of the Augusta shows last weekend because Seamus and I had rally business on the other day. (Post coming to Greetings from Blogdog soon.) The only two Beardies entered in the show were my friend Val's Traveler (Tolkien Haven of Eldar) and Dinah. Trav was there to gain some experience in the group ring, now that he's one three-point major away from finishing his championship. (He got the other major at Topsfield, under the judge who liked Dinah so much.)

This show was held in the Augusta Civic Center, and it was Dinah's first indoor show. I wondered how she'd adapt to the noisy atmosphere indoors and the strange surfaces on the floor (i.e., not dirt or grass). The small entry helped keep the racket to a minimum, but the smells in the carpeting and on the rubber matting provided some new distractions we hadn't encountered before. Dinah stopped to sniff one particular spot in the ring, and not even the presence of her sweetie Traveler in the ring could distract her.

Because we were the only bitch entry, we ended up with first in her group, Winners Bitch, and Best of Opposite to Trav. The judge did compliment us with a "nicely done", so I like to think we earned our ribbons (even though all we had to do was show up).

Goofy new puppy parent that I am, I just had to have a picture takens with the judge. This was Dinah's first BOS at the age of 7 months, after all.

Getting to Second Grade

Our handling classes have become much more detail-oriented, now that we've survived our first two shows and have learned the basics of how to get into the ring and go around it. Tracy is attempting to refine our technique and get us past some of our newbie habits. If all goes as planned, we might not always look like the world's goofiest amateurs out in the ring.

First objective: Get Dinah to remain standing and "at work" for the whole show experience, both in the ring and while waiting. Tracy had me correct her when she attempted to sit, which made Dinah wiggle and rebel until she decided that she could live with the idea. We've also made our first progress toward free-baiting, which pleases me because we can both stand up straight and look confident for the judge. If we practice, someday I won't have to hold her up to keep her out of the dirt while the judge is examining her.

I'm sure going to miss Dinah's puppy coat when it grows out, though. It rarely mats and is a dream to groom. I half feel guilty at the shows, watching Val and Pat work for ages to get Traveler to look "just so," and finishing up Dinah with one flourish of the brush and a couple of squirts of water mist. When Dinah's adolescent coat comes in and I'm up half the night taming mats, I'll look on these days with longing.

The Mud Bowl

Vacationland Dog Club shows, 5/20 and 5/21/06
1st in 6-9 Puppy, RWB



Note to self: Never wear a skirt suit to an outdoor show the week after 17" of rain falls on the show site. Oh, and while you're at it, test the panty hose you plan to wear to make sure the elastic's not shot on them first. That way, the pair you wear won't slip down your body while you're showing and threaten to land in the mud at your ankles.

Despite a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, we really did have a good time at the vacationland shows. My friend Val referred to the event as "The Mud Bowl," and the name will probably stick. Some year it's going to be 85 degrees and bone-dry at that event, and it'll still be called the Mud Bowl. (Hey, where else can the grooming tent be considered "waterfront property"??)


Look closely at my legs in the closeup shot of Dinah being prepared to be set up for judging. They are spattered with mud from ankle to knee. (It was windy. Her coat looked fine when the judge went over her.) As I mentioned, we've had something like 17" of rain within the past week, so the show grounds were swampy and all of the rings were half under water. A few people slipped and fell, and some lost shoes while going around the ring. I managed to keep both my shoes, but my muddy pantyhose started slipping downward, and I thought I would lose them if we'd had to go around once more. (The vendor selling rubber clogs and wellies sold out completely by Sunday afternoon.) Good thing I have a puppy who loves mud, and who didn't decide to show that love by rolling in it!! (Lesson learned: I wore brown trousers and Bean boots today.)

Anyway, I'm proud to announce that Dinah took firsts in her class and Reserves both days. She didn't get Best Beardie Puppy on Saturday -- an older male puppy with a professional handler did -- but she did beautifully, and the fans at ringside said that she looked as though she knew precisely what she was out there to do. Both judges were lovely, but Sunday's judge made a point of telling me what a nice puppy I have. That made me happy. There were a few old-timers at ringside whom I've known since I started in Beardies, and they said she looked wonderful and behaved beautifully.

I think what tickled me most is that a couple of nice owner-handlers from Massachusetts (they have mother and son, and the mother is from Charlotte Laning) went over Dinah with me after today's showing was over. (The husband was handling the mother, and she took breed over all of the pros. We were all overjoyed!) Anyway, they were really impressed by the depth and width of Dinah's chest and her nice tail set, as well as her overall structure -- so we know she's growing up nicely. The wife finished by telling me that I would definitely be successful with her, and gave me a Facts of Life-type talk about politics in the ring. I'm happy and impressed that she thinks enough of Dinah to be warning me about the poor sports already. I've always known that Dinah's a really good specimen, but she might actually be a really great one if I don't hold her back.

I'm not yet sure when our next show will be. Val says that the Saturday judge at Topsfield in mid-June is very nice and knows Beardies. I'd also like to go to the Augusta show on June 25, but I have Seamus entered in a rally trial in Massachusetts the day before. It all comes down to how many miles I'm willing to drive, I guess.

Is It Plagiarism If You Steal From Yourself?

I posted the following to the ShowBeardies email list a little while ago, in response to a discussion about professional handlers vs. owner-handlers...

------

Thanks for having this discussion, warts and all. It helps to know I'm
not alone, and that other people feel just as daunted by the prospect
of being an owner-handler in a world of pros. My puppy is great in the
ring; her owner's the one who's naughty. :-)

I'm all too painfully aware of my newbieness in the conformation ring,
and I worry that I'll actually be a handicap to my dog. I don't know
the least thing about chalk, trimming, Dippity-Do, or how people
manage to stay clean and well-organized when they have to show in
skirts. I don't mind telling you that I'd rather be herding in the
rain in 2" of mud than loping around the ring with the professionals
on my heels.

There is an upside, though. I like hanging out with my buddies at
ringside, and they've been really helpful and reassuring. Not only
that, but entries in 6-9 Puppy are cheaper than my handling classes,
and we get to bring home some really nice souvenirs. Who knows? Maybe
we'll both enjoy this sport when we've been around enough to get used
to it.

Till then, though, just the prospect of having to go compete for
majors someday makes me want to crawl back into bed and pull the
covers up over my head. I know when I'm in my element, and I guess my
element is Mud.

It's Showtime!

York County Kennel Club of Maine, 5/7/06



After finishing Seamus's RN title the day before at this show, I came to the Sunday half of the show with a carload of equipment, a snappy new suit, a freshly cleaned puppy, and more than a little trepidation. For years I'd snickered at conformation as a dog sport. It didn't require any real skill, right? All you did was dress up and trot around the ring, and the judge picked the handler -- er, I mean picked the dog. It struck me as more like buying lottery tickets, only you had to run around.

As I pulled my show-crap-filled car into the parking lot, it hit me that I'd never needed even remotely this amount of stuff to go out and do performance events. Maybe there was more to this conformation stuff than I thought -- and what if I had all the wrong stuff?

Dinah and I had had to arrive at the show site at approximately oh-dark-hundred that morning. I'd volunteered to help POC by stewarding in the obedience trial, and I'd been assured that I'd be able to finish up there in plenty of time to show Dinah.

Fast-forward to after the obedience trial. Dinah and I walked around the show grounds so she could see what was going on. She never showed the slightest sign of fear or even nervousness (unlike her owner). She just took everything in, and rested peaceably in her crate when we weren't walking.

My Beardie buddies had set up in one of the grooming areas closest to our ring. Bless their hearts, they'd saved space for me to set up my grooming table and Dinah's crate. They groomed, I brushed the wood shavings out of Dinah's butt-fur, and we all chattered until...



Showtime!

Since we were the only puppy entry in Bitches, we watched the dog judging (one dog in Open, one in Bred-By)... and then it was our turn! All those weeks and months of worrying, and now it was down to this! I led Dinah into the ring and stammered, "This is our first time in this ring." The judge smiled, replied "Me, too," (he was kidding -- the guy's judged Beardies in the past), and asked us to go around the ring to our judging position. In the back of my head, I heard Tracy's voice say, "Thumbs up!" We loped around the ring, and neither of us tripped the other.

I must admit that I'm very proud of my little Dinah-mo. She never sat down in the ring, she remained alert and focused the whole time, and she let the nice judge examine her teeth without wiggling, jumping up on him, or rolling over on her back. We gaited, we did our circuit of the ring, and we cruised to a halt in front of him.

"First," he said. Of course, we were the only entry in the class, so there wasn't much we could have done to not take first, but hey... a blue ribbon is a blue ribbon, and it was Dinah's first.

We didn't place at all in bitch judging, but I didn't care. I'd survived our first time in the show ring! We could brag to our breeder and the owner of Dinah's litter sister. Best of all, it was over!

Girl Clothes

Two Days Until Showtime

So why is it that most decent outfits don't have any pockets on them whatsoever? Do clothing makers assume that women always have their purses with them? They obviously don't design clothes for women who go to dog shows.

After pawing through my wardrobe of rarely-worn "nice" clothes, I discovered that not a single outfit had a pocket anywhere -- and that the only clothes that actually fit me were either black (which meant they'd blend in with Dinah's coat) or too casual for dog show use. There remained only one solution: Mercantile Therapy.

Shopping malls were gobs of fun when my sister and I were growing up. Our little town didn't offer much in the way of entertainment, but as soon as I had a driver's license, she and I would head off to the nearest shopping malls. We ate Food Court food, bought stuff (or didn't), chatted up guys in the record store, and wandered around for hours looking at everything and nothing. That was a blast, compared to what we would have been doing at home.

It's been a long time since I've regarded shopping malls as fun. Maybe my regular life is more exciting, or maybe my tolerance for Orange Julius has decreased over the intervening years. Whatever the reason, my main objective upon entering a shopping mall is to exit again as soon as possible, preferably with the object of the search nestled in a bag in my left hand.

Since there was nothing else for it, I marched myself into Macy's with my goal firmly in mind: to find the one suitable suit in the store and to walk out with it again in as short a time as possible.

This task proved to be a tad more difficult than first imagined. For one thing, I'd managed to parlay the classic "newlywed's 20" into another dress size, and I was appalled that I would have to shop in the (gasp) women's section. In addition, all the nice suits were black, and the rest didn't have pockets. I admired a fancy-looking red suit with a skirt and wondered how much it would detract from the overall presentation if I simply went into the ring with a hot dog dangling from my neck.

"May I help you find something?" My savior arrived in the person of Kathy, a chipper Macy's saleslady who had been hanging new suits on racks as she watched me frantically speed-examining every outfit in her department. A little breathlessly, I replied, "I-need-a-suit-with-pockets-that-isn't-black-and-it-preferably-has-pants-but-skirts-are-okay-cause-I-gotta-wear-it-in-a-dog-show..."

Kathy probably deals with a lot of this in her job. She smiled and practially led me by the hand on a much slower tour of the department. She lifted a garment, we'd examine it for pockets, and then reluctantly let it drop back into place on the rack.

Eventually, she selected a rather fetching off-white jacket with gray and taupe pinstripes and a coordinating cocoa-brown pair of trousers -- the only pair of its kind in the department. Miracle of miracles, the thing fit me perfectly. I offered up a chorus of thanks and hallelujahs to Kathy, and then sprinted for the car.

Note to self: On some non-show weekend, do some reconnaissance and buy everything that has pockets.

Thumbs Up!

Our final class before the first show was both a hopeful sign and cause for dread. Dinah still sat at the end of every circuit and whenever her body wasn't being held up with one hand while the other hand held up her head with the leash.

At least we seemed to be making some progress overall. Tracy, always encouraging, made suggestions on finer points of technique and exhorted us to keep our thumbs up whenever we were in motion. Nothing we were doing had exactly become second nature yet, but it did seem like a teensy bit less of a struggle.

I have to admit to a little frisson of dread when Tracy said she'd be attending the shows. If I screwed up badly, I sure as heck didn't want an audience.

Handling Classes

If I plan to do anything with this dog show game, I'll have to learn some techniques. To that end, I've started taking private or semi-private lessons with Tracy over at Diamond Dream Dog Center.

Like most people in the dog fancy, Tracy's a morning person. I have no idea how she manages to be so chipper while the clock is still showing single digits.

Our first private lesson wasn't exactly a disaster, but we weren't exactly ready to take on Westminster, either. Sue and I had joked in puppy class about Dinah's insistence on heeling on my right. "It had to be because they drive on the wrong side of the road where she comes from." I'd made some headway working with her and luring her along on my left side with a treat. At handling class, though, Dinah kept wiggling and crossing into my path to get to my right side.

Standing for exam was more "pick her up off the ground and hold her up for exam." Dinah's generally eager to please, but she definitely didn't think much of this new game. At least she had fun circling our "ring" a few times. As for me, my back ached from running half bent over.

There's so much to remember between where to hold the leash and when, how to keep one's distance, when to present a profile after going down and backm how to hold a wiggly puppy still for the exam, and so on. I'm not coordinated on a good day and I stink at memorizing stuff on the fly and under pressure.

Our first few sessions were private -- just Tracy, Dinah, and me. As the time for our first show grew nearer, though, Tracy had me switch our lesson time to an even earlier slot so we could practice working with another dog/handler team.

We were introduced to Deb and Ruckus. Ruckus is a Flat-Coated Retriever puppy, somewhere around a year or 18 months old. Deb has another Flatcoat, Dan, who is currently being shown by a handler... but she decided to take Ruckus in herself, and so she's really just as much of a newbie in the ring as I am. She's far better coordinated than I am, though, and her puppy is older. He's taller, too, so she gets to stand straight up.

Of course, Dinah and Ruckus wanted to play immediately, but Deb and I had to squelch that. Much as we'd love to let these two play, we don't want them to think that they're able to play with the other puppies in the ring. (Of course, since we're the only entry in 6-9 Puppy and she and Ruckus are the only entry in Flatcoats, it might be a while before we actually have to worry about company in the ring.)

Registry Roulette

I felt considerable trepidation when I first joined the ShowBeardies list. I was sure to be out of my league, surrounded by long-time competitors who could barely suppress snickers at the silly questions of trembling newbies. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Both Seamus's and Dinah's breeders are on the lists, as well as the breeder of Duncan and Doogie's father (whose dogs I have admired for a very, very, very long time). The breeder who owns Seamus's father (and who imported him from Germany 12 years ago) has not only been very helpful, but also has been sending me pictures of Dazs and other dogs in the "family."

I had first posted to the list to ask about registering Dinah in Canada, and to answer another question about Canadian microchips because I'd just called CKC about that very subject. Dinah is microchipped, but the chip used here in the US is not acceptable as a permanent form of ID in Canada because it doesn't conform to the ISO standard. This means that in order to register her in Canada, I would either have to drive the 4 hours to Montreal to get a second chip implanted, or have her tattooed.

Turns out that there is a second type of registration you can use if you and your dog live outside of Canada, but you want to show and earn titles there. It's called an Event Registration Number, or ERN. The ERN does not have the same ID requirements as "regular" registration, though it does have its limitations. If your dog whelps in Canada, the puppies are not automatically CKC registrable. (If they're born in the US, they can be registered.) Also, the Canadian titles don't automatically appear on their pedigrees. Since I'm not planning to breed Dinah for a long while if at all, the ERN will suit our purposes just fine.

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.