Right, now I’ve recovered from the shock of seeing myself in the paper 😆 ….

On the 22nd we went to Weston-Super-Mare (didn’t have time to see the sea though :() for another open show. We’ve actually got these weeks quite well spaced for diversity – we go on the M5 one way one week then the other way the next week! We ended up being a little too efficient and got there at 8am – show didn’t open til 8:30 and they wouldn’t let us in until then cos of the insurance! So we stood outside for half an hour 😛 But then we got first choice of where to park the trolleys! And we managed to get the prime parking spots, so it was worth it 😆

The usual crowd you get at Exeter don’t usually come up to Weston, so we had most of the Paps entered. There were 5 in Post Grad (the two babies doing their first show at 6 months and 1 day, Solei, another pup just shy of 12 months and a 5yr old bitch) and 3 in Open (Jason, Morris (who although owned by friends now was with us today) and another dog).

Our classes were on very late but it didn’t really matter because we had to stay until the very end anyway for the Junior Warrant heat that Morris was entered in. I wasn’t impressed with our judge. He was very quick going over the dogs and gave the impression he’d rather be elsewhere – I didn’t actually see much of his judging cos I was busy with our dogs but the little I did see I saw him ask a dog to go down and back and then look away whilst he was moving! Anyway, he placed them in age order – Sam 1st, Sara 2nd, 12mth pup 3rd and Solei 4th (only place 1st-4th). Not sure what the chances are of that actually happening, I suppose it’s possible….but although Sam showed well both Sara and the 12mth old puppy had their tails down and although Sara is nice otherwise the other dog is definitely not as nice as Solei. But how do you judge a six month old puppy against a three year old dog anyway? You can’t! Maybe that’s what he decided so thought he’d put them in age order instead 😉 I think maybe he thought it wouldn’t do his street cred any good for a Phalene to win his class but he couldn’t bring himself to totally ditch him?

The really fun bit was when my chair decided to break right in the middle of the class. Cue panic! Luckily I’d already moved Solei but there’s nothing more humiliating than having to be pushed into the lineup and then out of the ring. Plus as we had 2 dogs in Open and T was at home with the puppies I was showing Morris! So we frantically started trying things to make the chair work and thankfully it suddenly decided to fix its self so I was good to go again. Meanwhile we’re busy switching dogs at top speed, sorting numbers out….and at this point we realise because Morris belongs to friends we’d forgotten to get his number! (When you arrive you usually go up to the secretary’s table, give them your surname and they give you an envelope with your numbers in). So I grab Morris, S grabs Jason and we go into the ring whilst someone else dashes off to get Morris’s number! Jason got 1st and Morris got 2nd 🙂 So then back out again, put Morris away so I can get Sam and take him in for Best of Breed. Unsurprisingly (they are *so* ugly at the moment) Jason beat him and he got Best of Breed whilst Sam came out with Best Puppy in Breed!

And so after sitting there doing almost nothing for hours there was our frantic few minutes! Then there was a little break before I took Solei back in for AV Toy and he got a 3rd there. Then came the groups. S took Jason in for the normal group and he got Group 2! Behind a Pom who went on to win BIS. Then she took Sam in for the puppy group and he got Puppy Group 2! So pleased with him – first time out at six months and one day and he wins his class, gets BPIB and PG2!

More waiting and then I took S took Sam and I took Sarah in for the AV Puppy Stakes. Nothing there – not a little dog judge. Though they both showed nicely 🙂

Even more waiting then – the whole reason Morris was there was for the Junior Warrant heat which was right at the end of the show so we had to sit through everything else! Unfortunately the judge for the JW heat was the same judge as the stakes so we weren’t overly hopeful. And alas we were proved right. She pulled out her 5 dogs and they were all big – a Dobe, Curly, Irish Setter, Lab and something else I can’t remember!

So that was the weekend before last. Then last Sunday we went to Okehampton (see, other way down the M5 again 😆 ), this time with Sam, Sara, Solei, Tara and Storm. And….oh my gosh 🙄 There were three classes this time so Sam & Sara were in Yearling, Solei & Tara in Graduate and Storm in Open.

I was handling Sara again. It was only a class of three, the other dog was almost 13 months and her owner is rather well known too so we weren’t expecting to beat her with our little 6 month and 1 week scruffballs! So in to the ring we go….stand the dogs ready for the judge to walk down the lineup….and Sara decides this is a great time to pee! So when the judge was finishing looking at the dog before her down she squatted….and it was a massive one too, she took ages! So the judge and I stand there and patiently wait for her to finish, me silently cringing! This was indoors as well to make it worse. Then we can’t start again until it’s cleared up because she’s managed to do it right where you move the dog. So, eventually we precede! Sam went on the table first, meanwhile the 13mth old decides she wanted to pee as well which made me feel a bit better – though at least she had the decency to do it out of the way and whilst the judge was busy with another dog so no-one else actually noticed!

Sara was next on the table, so we did that, did the triangle and then started on the down and back. We went down away from the judge, turned round to come back and the little bugger suddenly decided she had to poo right this minute and it could not wait! By this point I’m just standing there laughing so hard whilst I wait for her to finish because..honestly. Small class so she wasn’t in the ring very long, and she’d been outside before we started! Whilst she’s pooing the judge comes up to me and says “you are having a good day aren’t you!” Naturally it was a very smelly one as well.

So clear *that* up and then resume the down and back, stand her at the end and crawl sheepishly back to the end of the line! Thankfully she didn’t find anything else to do to embarrass me whilst the last dog was going and it ended okay – she beat her brother and got 2nd! But oh gosh, talk about an experience! I suppose it’s one way to draw the judges attention to your dog 😆

The next class all went smoothly except the judge had to ask what the ear set of a Phalene should be and should she lift the ears up! Obviously I’d have rather she’d known but I like it when they’re not afraid to ask if they don’t know rather than just ignoring the Phalenes or pretending they know what they’re doing. She pulled 1st, a nice Pap, out very quickly and then took ages deciding 2nd. She kept looking at Solei, then looking at this little Pap pup and then back to Solei again. I think she liked him but wasn’t sure if she had the courage to go for a Phalene or not. In the end she decided she did and so we got 2nd! Tara got 4th and then in Open Storm came 2nd.