Dog Show

We had a rather good show weekend; however a very bright and early one as we got up at 4:30 A.M. on Saturday and at 5:20 A.M. on Sunday... it sure is rough when the alarm goes off but once up, it’s alright. After a shower I was all awake and ready to rumble. =)

Saturday:
The ring judge was Senor Alberto Valesco and the Amstaffs were set to begin, which meant that James was first up. As we were “warming up” our handler said James ran well with me and that it would be better if I showed him myself. First I was like: “hell no”... but after a few seconds I felt like: “well, I have to have my first time at some point”... so I decided to do it. I felt alright as James and I entered the ring but the “OK feeling” was pretty much gone once it was our “alone time” with the judge. I did a horrible job stacking James. I mean, I am not claiming to be good at it at any time, but I sure can do it better when not nervous. It is called Lack of Experience, people!!! Ahhhh, I could feel myself not doing what I should have done, or what I would have done at home, and of course it effected James. Since I did not stack him properly his top line was off thus the comment (see further down). Had I not messed up, my Gorgeous Baby Blue would have won (I believe). But oh well... what to do. It does feel good that I have one show under my belt (it can only get better from here=)). We finished 2nd with the following comments:

“excellent head, good moving, can have better topline”

Sunday:
In the last minute the show program had changed and the Amstaff puppies were to be in another ring (than the rest of the Amstaffs) but they were not due until after all the Bedlington Terriers and all the Staffordshire Bull Terriers had been shown which meant that 56 dogs were ahead of us. This translated to a long waiting time for us, as we still came to the show early considering it is excellent training for James. Upon arrival we set up at ring 3 where the other Amstaffs were going to be shown. Our handler had 2 other dogs to show in this ring so we watched them, and both did well. Congratulations!

Since the ring had changed for us, it also meant we got a different judge than originally planned. We got a Finish judge by the name of Tuire Okkola. My God was this woman meticulous and thorough; she had the measuring tape out and took her sweet old time with every single dog. Sure, it is good she takes her time (unlike the Spanish judge yesterday who rushed through every dog in no time) but come on... I am sitting here waiting... =) Well by around 1 P.M. it was finally James’ turn to enter the ring. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our handler (Marina) did an EXCELLENT job with James. For a while he looked a bit timid as he was stacked in front of the judge's table, but Marina took her time with Jay so he could relax and she got him stacked perfectly. He looked so good, my perfect little baby! =) James came 1st (well I have to be honest, he was alone in his age group today which kind of sucked but it sure sounds good saying he won!!!) LOL. The judge really liked James but felt he was a bit too high (he measured 51 cm). Some judges are really picky with the height, but comparing James with other Amstaff puppies he’s shorter than most (he’s our little low-rider). But oh well. All judges are different and look for different things. As the judge spoke Swedish we got our critic in Swedish so first comes the comments in Swedish, with a translation in English underneath:

“Välutvecklad 8 månaders hanvalp som redan nu är över idealmåttet. Välutvecklad kropp. Huvud i bra balans med kroppen. Stora öron, fint bett. Fin blå, djupblå färg. Fina tassar. Rör sig utmärkt för åldern. Välvisad. Bra benstomme”.

And in English it sounds like this:
“Well-developed 8 month old male puppy who is already now over the ideal height. Well-developed body. Head in good balance with the body. Big ears, nice bite. Nice deep-blue color. Nice paws. Moves excellent for his age. Well Shown. Good bone-structure”.

I would like to give our handler, Marina, a big THANK YOU for being so nice and for showing James the best possible way. He looked fabulous in the ring! THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

A very dear friend of mine came to the show today as well... she came to see us and to show us her little puppy. A little 4 months old Kerry Blue Terrier by the name of Vilma. She was so adorable and so tough. James liked her but considering Jay is quite rough with his play, we were careful that he would not scare her. Not that I believe he could have, as tough as that little lady was! =) It will be fun for James to play with her as she gets older. We are looking forward to that, and thank you Gabbi for coming today. Hope to see you soon again!

I have not had time to go over any pics yet, if there are any good ones from the show I will post them tomorrow. That’s it for today, folks! I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend, wherever in the world you may be. Take care... Ciao!