Headed into the Weekend...

Yippee! A dog show at last! This weekend we are headed to Iowa City to the Johnson County Fairgrounds.

Four weekends ago, Walker, Raven, Maggie, and I went to the Bloomington, IL shows. Time has flown by, as it is wont to do when I'm busy, taken up by preparing for and recovering from trips to Nebraska and Rhode Island this month. Last weekend was a catch-up weekend of cleaning, and laundry, and grooming but not a lot of rest.

We had a bit of excitement Saturday when Lynn cut his thumb on the table saw, requiring a trip to the emergency room and eight stitches! Ironically, it was the same table saw that kicked back a few months ago and ground up the pad of his thumb so badly that it could not even be stitched! Ironic, too, that he was in the process of making a push tool that would prevent such injury when the accident happened.

Having already begun one of my famous "to-do" lists, show preparations are well underway. The dogs will be groomed tonight and bathed Friday evening. Packing is sometimes the worst part of the preparation. Fearful of forgetting something important (thus the lists), I recall one show when a friend left her garment bag full of 3 days worth of clothes home. At least she remembered the dog and all the necessary dog items, like the lead, the food, and the grooming supplies. Fortunately, she had time to shop for new clothes! As for forgetting the dog, back in the 1980's another friend once loaded a crate in the car and left for the airport to ship one of her girls to be bred. Not until she arrived at the airport did she realize she'd left the dog at home in the backyard where she'd put her out to potty before the long trip.

As for forgetting clothing, so far I haven't done that, but once I packed a pair of shoes, one navy blue and one black (hey the closet was dark – and in my defense, they were the same shoe style, just different colors). I did not discover the error until I was in the ring and happened to look at my feet. I went shoe shopping that night! When I got home, I put a drop of red nail polish on the inside of each of the blue shoes so I could distinguish them from the black ones.

It takes a concerted effort from all of us Lhasa exhibitors in Illinois, Missouri, and Wisconsin to ensure we have enough entries at a show to make it worth our while to enter. Entry fees add up fast, and there is no sense entering if there will be no points. When some indicated they were skipping the Iowa City show and others told me they were not sure about entering, I decided that I should enter both puppies, not only to give them some practice but also to make sure that there would at least be a point available. So Maggie is entered in the 6-9 Puppy class and Raven in the Bred-By Exhibitor class. It is good I did that because they are the only two girls entered in the classes. If they behave, perhaps each will come home with a point. My prediction is that Raven will beat Maggie. She is more elegant at this age than Maggie is. Maggie has lots of coat and it makes her look wider and more awkward than Raven looks.

Breaker, 2 years, 9 months

Breaker is making his debut in the Best of Breed ring at the Iowa City shows. Everyone please send positive thoughts our way. Winning would be nice but mostly I am praying for good behavior! He is a pretty dog but such a dork. He has a short attention span and so much energy that he can hardly contain himself. He is a happy guy too! When he is on the move, all is well. It's the standing still part that presents a problem on the floor and on the table. He'll learn what to do eventually, and I'll learn some lessons in laughing through the embarrassment. Really, he means well. LOL

Breaker, 7 months

 

I'll let you know how it goes.

Breaker, profile 7 months

 

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce