I should know better

Well, things have moved quite quickly here.

Sparkle, who was Best Puppy at the big Scottish show, really impressed the judge.   And the result has been that he is now owned by me in partnership with a top winning kennel.   They will promote him, and get him to a lot of shows I just don`t manage any more, due to distance.    I wouldn`t have done it if there was any doubt about how he would react – but frankly the arrogant little beast is so far up himself that he would settle anywhere.   His main concern is himself and how important he is.   And he is in good hands.

Sparkle  - "How much food have you for me ?"

I would not do this with Tess Trueheart.   She is a Mummy`s girl, and is staying here. 

I handed Sparkle over at a big show down south, where he had just made an important discovery.  Everyone at dogshows has a supply of titbits.  And if you look like Sparkle, people are incapable of resisting, and just hand them over.  By posing, and adopting the sad  Bambi look, he managed to hypnotise quite a few innocent  people into donating their entire food supplies, before moving on quicky to the next hapless donor.

Meanwhile his sister had won  Best Puppy in Breed.  It was her first time on grass, and she loved it, and swaggered about, and despite a tendency to climb up my leg without warning, showed well.  It meant that we had to wait to compete in the Puppy Group.

Tess Trueheart, Best Puppy in Breed

Tess was not at all sure about that.  I took her in and she registered the alarming total absence of Papillons in the big ring.   She was required to stand between two of those Notpap dogs, and she didn`t like it.  She looked at the Minpin puppy with great mistrust, and her tail went down.   To tell the truth, I don`t think she even recognised the Peke on the other side as a dog:  it wasn`t moving, and she may have thought it was just a fur rug which smelt as if a lot of dogs had sat on it.  Her mother had this problem, and the sight of a Notpap dog was enough to make her climb up my leg and suggest with big anxious eyes “Time to go home now!”  Tess is made of sterner stuff, and I hope she will grow out of this.  She was at least willing to walk with tail up.  She did not ask to be picked up and taken home.  I am hopeful.

It looks as if this season`s shows will be very interesting.

A busy time.  I went down south to judge, and had a surprisingly good time.  This despite having stayed in the only hotel I ever encountered where the TV in your room is password protected.   (However, I have some skill in these matters……)

The weather was awful.  Rain and wind blowing in under the tent, tent flapping and causing many tails to go down.   Very cold indeed, and I decided not to hang about.   We all shivered through the classes, the damp crinkling many of the coats,  and a number of the dogs obviously wishing they were at home, or at least somewhere warm.    I had no trouble finding my best exhibits.

The trouble comes with those which are not, shall we say, the best.   Judging would be easy if there was an outstanding dog in every class…alas, it doesn`t work that way , and often you are left staring in despair at a hopeful selection of very average exhibits.  However, I have had worse.  I was a bit taken aback by a seemingly endless display of dirty teeth, and totally thrown by being presented with two or three fat dogs…actually so fat that  I couldn`t find their ribs.   That

Another success for Cupcake

was a first.

However, I was  happy with my winners, happy at  having efficient stewards for once, and even happier to scoot across the rainswept showground for a hot meal.   Now, I have had some amazing meals at shows – and not in a good way.  I remember, not fondly, the cold congealed turkey twizzlers, and the plate of what I can only describe as “something brown and sticky with potatoes”.  But this time we were ushered into a large tent with a full carvery and all the trimmings, and a large fridge full of delectable sweets.  I began to feel better, and a little less likely to die of pneumonia in the next few hours.

I will gloss over the journey home, which featured five different stationary traffic jams and took more than 9 hours.

Now I have to settle to writing up my report.   This is not as straightforward as it sounds.   The KC insists that all comment should be positive.   Sometimes that is hard.  You must not, for instance write “as she was the only one in the class which did not move like a ruptured duck, I forgave her the light eye and long nose.”  (I am very thankful that I didn`t have anything as bad as that this time).  No, you must only pick out the good points….and in 30 words, too.

Meanwhile, my boys in Eire are doing well.  Mr Wag settled well enough to take Best Puppy in Show first time out.   This is despite his Intimate Problem, which has recurred, and is being treated with a saline wash of the member twice a day.    I felt bad about my Irish friend being saddled with this problem, and said so.     Not to worry, she replied, she once had to perform the same treatment on a stallion, and Wag just didn`t compare.

I bet he didnt!