Monday wasn’t the best day I’ve ever had at a show, though I suppose it didn’t help that I’d had such a good day on Saturday!

We only had two breed classes, so we’d put Sam, Sarah and Tosca in the first and Solei, Jason and Topsy in the second.

The first class was about 9 dogs. Sam won it (that dog can do no wrong! 😆 ), Sarah got 3rd and Tosca got chucked. The second had 6 dogs and Jason won the class and Morris got 2nd. Solei was pulled out 5th, but at open shows they only away down to 4th so technically he got nothing! This judge was American and whenever you get foreign judges they always seem to pull out 5. Topsy was chucked.

Jason got BOB and Group 3, and Sam RBOB.

Tosca, Topsy and Solei were the only Phalenes there and as Tosca was unplaced in the first class and the only two dogs he threw out in the second were the two Phalenes, I think it’s safe to say he didn’t like them!

We stayed on for the Puppy Stakes (under a different judge) which was worthwile as Tosca won it 🙂

I was a bit galled because Solei is showing again on Saturday, but he won’t be bathed again. He always looks nice but never as nice as he does the day after he’s had a bath. I don’t think the judge on Saturday minds Phalenes, so he was looking fantastic for a judge that wasn’t even going to consider him and now he won’t look quite as good for a judge he might have a chance under! Waste of a bath 😆 He’ll still look good, I wouldn’t dream of showing him otherwise, but he’s the sort of dog you think looks great and doesn’t need a bath….until you bath him! I’ll top and tail him (ears, tummy, feet, maybe trousers & tail), just not bath him properly.

Yesterday I went over and we bathed for Saturday, because Wallace (b/w Papillon, Jason/Mac/Morris’s father) has been in America for almost a year now and he’s coming back today (Friday), so S & T had to leave for London at about 3am this morning, pick up the humans from one airport, go to another to pick up Wallace(!), who may not clear check in until around lunchtime, and then come back home (London about 3hrs away). After that K (one of the people) will want to bath Wallace (he’s showing Saturday) so there was no way we could fit our lot in as well!

This weekend is the weekend we’re splitting up – it’s UK Toy but it’s about 3hrs drive each way and I don’t think the judge will do a lot for Sol so I opted not to go. Instead there’s an open show less than an hour away which I’ll be going to. There are 6 dogs going to UK Toy and four coming with me, so with a hectic week as it is of preparing for guests the less that need bathing the better, thus leaving Solei!

So tomorrow S, T, American guests and Winston, Sam, Wallace, Tosca, Tara and Tammy will be headed for UK Toy in Stafford. Meanwhile I’ll be headed for this open show with Storm, Solei, Topsy, Tarna and Sarah (who’s just coming along for the ride – she was meant to be going to UK Toy but she’s refusing to show for anyone but me atm so she’s not going!).

Because today is so hectic for them I picked up my dogs yesterday, so I’m currently living in the chaos of 5 dogs from Thursday-Sunday! I’ve got two 3yr old entire males (who are marking everywhere!) a 12mth old that still thinks she’s about 6mths and two 6 month old puppies…yes, I’ve got my hands full thanks! Sarah tried to kill Topsy when I first brought them home and Solei is convinced Topsy is his one true love and keeps trying to mount her (which is going down really well!). On the plus side it’s nice to see the puppies playing, the three of them are having great fun chasing each other all over the place! Solei and Topsy play quite nicely together as well actually, when he’s not trying to mount her! Storm is as good as gold, no trouble at all (except for the marking).

I’m currently attempting to keep them clean until after they’ve shown on Saturday, and Storm is absolutely horrendous to keep clean. You look at him and he goes pink! And his pre-show prep is even worse than trying to keep him clean 😆 Not helped by the wet weather we’ve got at the moment, I’m constantly drying off dogs and sorting Storm’s feet and underneath out!

We’ve only got two breed classes but we have Any Variety classes for each group and if your breed doesn’t have a puppy class you can enter a puppy in AV without having to put them in a breed class (I checked with the kennel club that it applied to any AV class not just puppy as well), so Solei is in Graduate Papillon, Storm in Open Papillon and then Tarna in AV Toy Puppy, Topsy in AV Toy Graduate and I’ve also got Tarna in the AV Minor Puppy Stakes (all breeds/groups) and Topsy in the AV Puppy Stakes. I’ve only got one pair of hands so I could only have one in each class, and Tarna is teeny one of the litter and Topsy big one so it works best that way 😆

To say nothing of the fact I’ve got to prepare 4 dogs to show and show them all by myself, Storm will also need a 5 mile (slight exaggeration…) walk before he goes in the ring cos otherwise he’s way too hyper – he’s like a coiled spring, awful to show (I’ve had the pleasure!) and ruins his topline and movement – and Topsy will need a walk as well to settle her.

And I wouldn’t have it any other way 😀