I was suffering from "dog show withdrawal" and am okay now that I've had my most recent "fixes!" Prior to the first weekend in May, the two dogs I'm now showing were last shown 2 months ago. We were entered at a show in March, but the winter weather stopped us from attending.
My gold male (Joyslyn's Heartbreaker, AKA "Breaker") is being shown in the puppy class. He'll be moved up to 9-12 this coming weekend. The black female (Karlyn Joyslyn Who's the Fairest, AKA "Mira") was shown in puppy class at the beginning of May but she has coat to the floor already and is very showy so I've moved her to Open class. She'll be a year old on June 10. She is pictured above at age 10 months.
We've shown the first two weekends in May and have a 4-day show coming up in Bloomington, IL over the Memorial Day weekend. That is always a lovely show – lots of grooming space. The majority of the rings are carpeted. Nice!
At the Badger shows in WI at the beginning of May, the dogs were happy to be at the show but not really sure what was expected of them. They'd been away from the ring too long, I guess. Breaker was "on" both days and he really did well for it being only his second show weekend with 2 months between shows! He was the only one in his class so he got blue ribbons both days. I couldn't have asked him to show better. Saturday he took Reserve Winners Dog. No such luck on Sunday, but it was not because he didn't show well.
Mira was another story altogether. She took 2nd in her class (of two!) both days. Saturday she showed well. Sunday she just got goofy. My friend Jane who had to hold her for me outside the ring first had to put up with Mira barking at Breaker and me while I was showing him. Then Mira decided to do a little ringside table cruising! Finally, when it was her turn to go in the ring, she shook her head at least every 10 steps, lagged behind me in the most aggravating manner, managed to stand still for the table exam, and then refused to stand still on the floor as the judge was doing his final decision making. Finally, I couldn't help laughing. What a little minx! I decided to try a different lead for the shows in Rock Island, IL!
Mira's new lead worked like a charm. She took Winners Bitch both days. Saturday she also took Best Puppy as well as BOW and BOB (no specials were entered). I showed her in Group for the practice and it was there that we discovered that she would "turn it on" for grilled chicken, henceforth to be her bait of choice! Then it was right into Non-Sporting Puppy Group where she placed Group 4. On Sunday she took Winners Bitch and Best Opposite Sex. She now has 5 points. I'm very pleased with Mira and thank my friend Karen Schlais for letting me have the only black girl in Ashley's litter!
As for Breaker, he showed well on Saturday and got another Reserve. Sunday, something spooked him as we went around the ring. He didn't drop his tail but he needed some recovery time, which the judge didn't give him. She was right on him before I even had him stacked on the table. I wish whoever mentored her about judging Lhasas would have discouraged her from grabbing them by the moustache to hold their head still as she went over them. It was not a good experience for Breaker.
Last Tuesday I took Breaker to a training class to see if he was going to spook out again. He did not – and I was so thankful! He seemed to have a good time, for which I was grateful since we had to drive an hour and a half each way to go to class.
Wish us luck at the Bloomington shows this weekend! There are majors in both sexes, something we don't see much of around here anymore.
Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you.
Joyce
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