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Well, here I am back in the town I lived in for 15 years. It was kind of weird being back. I really wasn't looking forward to this show. This town has ghosts for me, and I have a long history of having
Friday started off as expected - thunderstorms in the morning (but it stopped by show time). And as expected, I got beat for best of breed owner-handled. I did get Select dog, which was a pretty good win for me, but that's really not my focus this year. It was a heavy dose of reality to stand on the sidelines and watch the OH sporting group instead of showing in it. Time to work a bit harder, and keep trying!
Saturday was another day of the same, only this time I didn't even get select dog. Complete loser all the way around. That's a tough thing to swallow after having such huge successes. I had some good friends around me and that made it better, because hanging with them is really what it is all about. I know I need to have these losing weekends - they keep me humble and make me appreciate the good ones. well, I am humbled, for sure!
Sunday was much better! I picked up select dog again, and this time I won best of breed owner-handled.
I have moved up into 15th place in the all-breed NOHS rankings! Oh I hope I can stay in the top 20 through October...that would be so great! That's another goal of mine.
This weekend we were in Huntington, West Virginia. we started off the weekend by having a fun dinner out with some Weimaraner friends on Friday night (at Olive Garden, of course!). The show was at the convention center in downtown Huntington. It was nice to go out to various restaurants for lunch during the afternoon. We didn't have much luck this weekend - got shut out in owner-handled groups, but we did manage to win best of breed on Sunday so that was cool. My losing streak continues....after having such great success all year this is hard to swallow. Humbling, for sure...
I hung up the official sign on our property today.
I spent all evening the night before I left cooking up 6 bargain-priced steaks to make a huge pile of bait for the next month of shows. Of course, what did I do but forget to bring the bait to this show. Go figure! Luckily I stopped at my parents' house for a day before the show to visit, so I ran to the store and bought another steak (this one at full price...ugh!) to cook up for the weekend. Yup, I think Pretzel is a little spoiled....
This weekend I traveled to Marshall, Michigan with a friend of mine for a girls' weekend at the dog show. My show was, um, OK...picked up two Group Fours in the owner-handled sporting group. The best moment of the weekend was seeing my friend win owner-handled reserve best in show. It seriously made my weekend. I still feel like my own showing is in a bit of a doldrum, but I LOVE seeing a deserving friend win big. That made the weekend a success for me!
Corky had a vet appointment this morning to do a pregnancy check and check her progesterone level. She is at day 137 today. When the vet first saw her, he said "This isn't the pregnant mare, is it? She doesn't look pregnant." My heart sank, and my stomach churned. However, when he palpated her he said that she was definitely still pregnant. Whew!!! He pulled blood for a progesterone test, and I will find out the results at the end of the week. Keep your fingers crossed...
Thank goodness this show site was air-conditioned, because it was
Corky's progesterone levels came back - still rather low at 4.3. Anything under 4.0 needs to be supplemented with ReguMate, but she really should be quite a bit higher. The vet recommended that we keep her on ReguMate for the time being, and re-test her in two months. Better safe than sorry! So onward we go...
I really didn't want to go to this show, but I am so glad I did! I ended up having a really good time, and we had some really good success also.
On Friday, we got Select Dog over some good competition and were awarded owner-handled best of breed over some good competition...a real
Saturday was pretty amazing. we started off the morning by taking best of Breed over some really really amazing champion dogs! That was really cool. I tried to stay really cool about it until I left the building, then we celebrated! It's always nice when a nobody owner-handler like me gets the nod.
The afternoon went better, picking up an owner-handled Group 3. Of course we were the invisible pair in regular groups. I should also mention that this weekend was hot hot
By Sunday morning, Pretzel was pretty tired. He did not show well for me in breed, and that is putting it mildly. By sheer luck, we still managed to win Select Dog, but I could tell the judge was not to thrilled with him (can't blame her!). This was a bit of a disappointment to me, because this judge was also going to be my owner-handled group judge later in the afternoon. I fully prepared myself to get
When I walked with the judge over to the photographer, she mentioned to me that I looked surprised at the win. I told her I am always surprised! She told me that Pretzel won it on his movement, which she loved.
