I spoke to my sister in the States today and got a definitive "I'm coming to Crufts next year!"
Yahoo!
I'm so thrilled my big sister will be coming for a visit. :) Misha will be over the moon with someone else she can pester for fuss and take for a walk.
My sister will be in for a surprise when she meets Misha. Misha is much more smaller and delicate than my other two Samoyeds that she knew intimately.
I can't wait for March. :)
Wednesday, 21 November 2007
Friday, 12 October 2007
Life gets in the way, but some things must carry on.
Well, nothing has been posted for months. That's because my dear husband suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, suddenly on the 27 SEP. He was hospitalized for over two weeks. The surgeons did operate on him to reattach the lung to the chest cavity. It's not something they do all the time, but given the SP happens usually to people under 40 and DH is over 40 the surgeon decided to fix it aggressively. Hopefully the chance of a recurrence will not be very high.
His recover time has been slow, and fraught with stumbling blocks. First he contracted a cold, and then ten days after he was released from the hospital he developed an air pocket and a partial collapse of the lung. It took two weeks to reabsorb the air and to inflate the lung fully again. To add to that, the surgical sites were not healing properly.
He has now received his release for the wounds, and we have another appointment with the surgeon on the 14DEC to see if he will be released from his care.
In the meantime, DH is still suffering pain from the procedure. In addition, he is unable to walk any distances, or lift anything heavy. Although some patients are back to physical training, sports, etc., within weeks, because of DH's age - which isn't that great, in his early 50s, he is struggling. By this time he had hoped he would be back to taking ambles with Misha, but it's not happening.
So, all of Misha's exercise, play, care, is down to me. In some respects this has worked to strengthen the bond between us, but in another other it has made her highly dependent on me. She now looks to me for every thing.
We last showed Misha on the 20 SEP at a Championship show with a First in her class. Misha showed well, but she was not in full coat at the time. I was afraid I had hampered her chances because I was in absolute crippling pain. I've been experiencing neck and shoulder problems since AUG, and it peaked at that time. The show was on a THU and that MON I could not move without tears streaming down my face. The pain could even be heard in my voice.
It was a cocktail of ibuprofen, paracetamol, and ice that got me through the show.
While I was trying to recover, my husband suffered his lung collapse. When it rains it pours, huh?
While he was/is incapacitated every thing has fallen on me. His care, shopping, feeding, cleaning up, Misha's two walks that can lasts hours, training...everything.
Needless to say, it's one day at a time, and somethings are left undone.
We missed some shows in OCT, and only this last weekend, the 17NOV did we get back to the land of people.
We had qualified for and attended the Samoyed of the Year event. It's a knockout match, dogs and bitches compete against each other until one is selected the winner.
We managed three rounds, getting knocked out in the Semi-final. That round the judge eliminated the remaining two bitches. The final comprised of four dogs. Guess what the judge liked! ;)
I'm not disappointed in Misha's performance. She was incredible and I was so proud of her. I think she was the youngest competitor in the adult division. All the dogs and bitches there are the cream of the Samoyeds. They have all won Best of Breed, or have come second to BOB.
Here is a sampling of the evening:
Misha is all the round photos. In the first one she is at the front of the group, then at the end in the next two rounds.
So, we carry on and hope our health improves and we can get back to doing every thing we enjoy.
In the meantime, Misha is happy, healthy, and loving as always.
We hope to make the British Samoyed Club show on the 02DEC, so fingers crossed.
His recover time has been slow, and fraught with stumbling blocks. First he contracted a cold, and then ten days after he was released from the hospital he developed an air pocket and a partial collapse of the lung. It took two weeks to reabsorb the air and to inflate the lung fully again. To add to that, the surgical sites were not healing properly.
He has now received his release for the wounds, and we have another appointment with the surgeon on the 14DEC to see if he will be released from his care.
In the meantime, DH is still suffering pain from the procedure. In addition, he is unable to walk any distances, or lift anything heavy. Although some patients are back to physical training, sports, etc., within weeks, because of DH's age - which isn't that great, in his early 50s, he is struggling. By this time he had hoped he would be back to taking ambles with Misha, but it's not happening.
So, all of Misha's exercise, play, care, is down to me. In some respects this has worked to strengthen the bond between us, but in another other it has made her highly dependent on me. She now looks to me for every thing.
We last showed Misha on the 20 SEP at a Championship show with a First in her class. Misha showed well, but she was not in full coat at the time. I was afraid I had hampered her chances because I was in absolute crippling pain. I've been experiencing neck and shoulder problems since AUG, and it peaked at that time. The show was on a THU and that MON I could not move without tears streaming down my face. The pain could even be heard in my voice.
It was a cocktail of ibuprofen, paracetamol, and ice that got me through the show.
While I was trying to recover, my husband suffered his lung collapse. When it rains it pours, huh?
While he was/is incapacitated every thing has fallen on me. His care, shopping, feeding, cleaning up, Misha's two walks that can lasts hours, training...everything.
Needless to say, it's one day at a time, and somethings are left undone.
We missed some shows in OCT, and only this last weekend, the 17NOV did we get back to the land of people.
We had qualified for and attended the Samoyed of the Year event. It's a knockout match, dogs and bitches compete against each other until one is selected the winner.
We managed three rounds, getting knocked out in the Semi-final. That round the judge eliminated the remaining two bitches. The final comprised of four dogs. Guess what the judge liked! ;)
I'm not disappointed in Misha's performance. She was incredible and I was so proud of her. I think she was the youngest competitor in the adult division. All the dogs and bitches there are the cream of the Samoyeds. They have all won Best of Breed, or have come second to BOB.
Here is a sampling of the evening:
Misha is all the round photos. In the first one she is at the front of the group, then at the end in the next two rounds.
So, we carry on and hope our health improves and we can get back to doing every thing we enjoy.
In the meantime, Misha is happy, healthy, and loving as always.
We hope to make the British Samoyed Club show on the 02DEC, so fingers crossed.
Friday, 21 September 2007
Show Dogs
Most people think of a show dog as one who is pampered and protected, never allowed to be a 'real dog'.
I'm here to bust that myth wide open.
When we were looking for a new family pet I was asked by breeders if we wanted a dog for showing or a pet. I said I would show our pet to any one who would look. That answer seemed to go over well. ;)
We weren't interested in showing. All we wanted was another beautiful expressive Samoyed to come into our lives.
It just so happened that the pup we were destined to get was from show stock, and very good show stock at that.
Our agreement was for one show. Misha's litter was the first for her sire. They wanted the pups to be seen so people could see what he was capable of producing.
We trained, at least I did, Misha came by it naturally. I felt so lost and out of my depth, I had no clue.
I read what ever publication I could get my hands on. I watched tapes of Crufts. I always felt I was missing something.
My original USA understanding of showing was you get a dog, you get a handler to train and show the dog, you don't get to spend a lot of time with your dog.
Not so here. Samoyeds are best if they are owner shown. The owner is the person who spends the most time with the dog, they are the one who understands its foibles and habits, what makes it spark. We much prefer that arrangement. :)
One show has turned into a show career for Misha, chasing the title of Champion.
However, Misha is a pet, a companion, a very spoiled member of the family. She is first and foremost a dog. She has her training sessions and her walks. She does roadwork and then runs and plays in the fields. She loves to get mucky, to roll in the grass and some not so nice things! She loves to meet and play with other dogs. People are amazed when they see her tumbling around and being tugged and pulled by their dogs then find out she is a show dog.
The one common phrase is, "It's so nice to see a show dog playing like a regular dog."
I'll never forget one of the 'Nine O'Clock Dog Walkers Club' member who used to allow her Boxer to chase Misha and bowl her over with a paw swipe. Jack is just a huge, active, hyper bundle of energy. His owner would laugh and encourage Jack to have a go at 5 month old Misha. When we went to out very first Championship show and won her class, which gained us our entry for Crufts 2007, then came home and told Jack's owners, what a difference! All of a sudden they were calling Jack away from Misha, not allowing him to play with her. In fact most of the people got a little funny about letting their dogs rough and tumble with Misha. I had to tell them to please not do that. Misha needed the companionship of the dogs.
If I had to make a choice between showing Misha and letting her enjoy life with canine companionship, I know what the choice would be. It's a joy to watch her meet the dogs and run with them.
On the other hand there are some breeders and show people who keep their dogs in kennel and take them out only to work them and show them. How sad. They are missing some of the best times of their, and their dogs lives. I feel very bad for them not knowing the joy of their four legged companions. The love and affection they can give you with just a look and a sigh.
Showing is a hobby with us. If Misha did not enjoy it I would walk out of a class with her and never enter her in a ring again.
But most of the time, Misha is a fun loving, squirrel chasing, ball chasing, happy go lucky playing machine!
I'm here to bust that myth wide open.
When we were looking for a new family pet I was asked by breeders if we wanted a dog for showing or a pet. I said I would show our pet to any one who would look. That answer seemed to go over well. ;)
We weren't interested in showing. All we wanted was another beautiful expressive Samoyed to come into our lives.
It just so happened that the pup we were destined to get was from show stock, and very good show stock at that.
Our agreement was for one show. Misha's litter was the first for her sire. They wanted the pups to be seen so people could see what he was capable of producing.
We trained, at least I did, Misha came by it naturally. I felt so lost and out of my depth, I had no clue.
I read what ever publication I could get my hands on. I watched tapes of Crufts. I always felt I was missing something.
My original USA understanding of showing was you get a dog, you get a handler to train and show the dog, you don't get to spend a lot of time with your dog.
Not so here. Samoyeds are best if they are owner shown. The owner is the person who spends the most time with the dog, they are the one who understands its foibles and habits, what makes it spark. We much prefer that arrangement. :)
One show has turned into a show career for Misha, chasing the title of Champion.
However, Misha is a pet, a companion, a very spoiled member of the family. She is first and foremost a dog. She has her training sessions and her walks. She does roadwork and then runs and plays in the fields. She loves to get mucky, to roll in the grass and some not so nice things! She loves to meet and play with other dogs. People are amazed when they see her tumbling around and being tugged and pulled by their dogs then find out she is a show dog.
The one common phrase is, "It's so nice to see a show dog playing like a regular dog."
I'll never forget one of the 'Nine O'Clock Dog Walkers Club' member who used to allow her Boxer to chase Misha and bowl her over with a paw swipe. Jack is just a huge, active, hyper bundle of energy. His owner would laugh and encourage Jack to have a go at 5 month old Misha. When we went to out very first Championship show and won her class, which gained us our entry for Crufts 2007, then came home and told Jack's owners, what a difference! All of a sudden they were calling Jack away from Misha, not allowing him to play with her. In fact most of the people got a little funny about letting their dogs rough and tumble with Misha. I had to tell them to please not do that. Misha needed the companionship of the dogs.
If I had to make a choice between showing Misha and letting her enjoy life with canine companionship, I know what the choice would be. It's a joy to watch her meet the dogs and run with them.
On the other hand there are some breeders and show people who keep their dogs in kennel and take them out only to work them and show them. How sad. They are missing some of the best times of their, and their dogs lives. I feel very bad for them not knowing the joy of their four legged companions. The love and affection they can give you with just a look and a sigh.
Showing is a hobby with us. If Misha did not enjoy it I would walk out of a class with her and never enter her in a ring again.
But most of the time, Misha is a fun loving, squirrel chasing, ball chasing, happy go lucky playing machine!
Thursday, 13 September 2007
Interesting Meetings
Misha and I have a routine every morning. After I have my morning perusal of the internet, shower, and get dressed we set off on our morning walk to the park and lake.
We are actually lucky in the location of the house because we have some very nice walks available.
With a little walk through the cul-de-sac, across the road and down a gravel road, we cross the bridge over the canal and start walking the path. At that point I can take Misha off lead and allow her to trot ahead or linger behind to have her investigations.
She loves the freedom. If she gets ahead of me she will check to see I'm not too far behind. Sometimes she will stop and wait, sometimes she will just slow her pace.
When she lags behind there will be a sudden pounding on the pavement as she comes flying up behind me. Misha will stop and nudge my hand with her nose to tell me she is there.
If for any reason I feel I need her by me, a dog is coming, people or children, a call and a hand to the pocket grabs her attention and she flies to my side.
We will carry on and arrive at the park. Once there it's for certain Misha will meet all sorts of two and four legged friends.
I can say without prejudice that Misha is a very stunning dog. Her breed is one you do not see a lot of nowadays. Many times she is mistaken for a Chow or a Husky. Although those breeds and Samoyed share the Spitz breed genes, that's as far as it goes. So, it's usually up to me to educate people about her breed.
A groomed Samoyed is a thing of beauty. The longer guard hair has silver tips that literally shine in the sun.
So when a person sees a medium sized, gleaming white dog trotting along with her fluffy tail held high and curved over her back, ears erect, bright intelligent eyes taking in everything, and a smiling face, they have to stop us.
Their first instinct is to bury their hands in her fur. Of course Misha absolutely adores the attention. And if the person is walking a dog so much the better. Misha sets about making friends with the dog.
Up until a few months ago she used to want to jump on all the dogs to get them to play. Now she has matured a bit in attitude she is prone to nose nudging them and asking them to play. Over the course of the past year she has discovered the ones who aren't interested in playing so after a cursory hello she will move on.
Eventually we get to the fields. This is a place of great fun. Misha will chase her ring or a ball, or play with other dogs. This is a great meeting place for the dogs and a lovely chance to socialize.
We met a 13 week old Eurasier puppy named Dakota in the fields 4 weeks ago. He is such a lovely little chap. His is a breed that has no standing with the Kennel Club at the moment. It's a breed that is only about 50 years old. It was created in Germany, and is a cross between a Chow and a Keeshond. They found they needed to add another breed into the mix to control the personality and to add more to the gene pool, so a Samoyed was crossed with it as well.
The result is a very striking animal.
Dakota is all puppy. The tumbling, biting, running, barking puppy.
I've been working with Dakota and his owner for the last 4 weeks. We've been doing some off lead training. It's best to teach a dog to recall as young as you can. I made the mistake not letting Misha off until she was almost 4 months old. I had a lot of training to do with her. I am now firmly of the opinion the younger you start them off lead the better you will be able to teach recall. Any future pup will be off lead as soon as possible!
He has been so funny the last few days in his actions. Dakota is reaching the gangly stage - all legs and head. His little legs just fly over the ground. He is off to investigate every thing he possibly can in the shortest time possible.
The one trait of Eurasiers is they are very timid of people who are not their family. All this time I've known him and treated him when he has come or stood, or given me downs, he barely will let me touch him. He will take treats from my hand, he will lick my fingers. But if I stretch that little bit to pet him, he is off like a rocket!
Dakota has shown himself to be a quick study and very obedient. But, he is a pest to poor Misha! :)
I do have to say that she has shown the most amazing tolerance with him. She allows him to tumble over her, pull her ears and tail. He nibbles at her legs and paws and tries to jump onto her back.
Occasionally she will tell him off and put him in his place, but it's all part of the learning process for him. Today she took off after him, letting him have what for! He ran away with his tail between his legs whimpering. Misha never even touched him.
I think she is gentle and will make a very good mother.
There are so many other friends we've made on our walks. They too will have their stories.
We are actually lucky in the location of the house because we have some very nice walks available.
With a little walk through the cul-de-sac, across the road and down a gravel road, we cross the bridge over the canal and start walking the path. At that point I can take Misha off lead and allow her to trot ahead or linger behind to have her investigations.
She loves the freedom. If she gets ahead of me she will check to see I'm not too far behind. Sometimes she will stop and wait, sometimes she will just slow her pace.
When she lags behind there will be a sudden pounding on the pavement as she comes flying up behind me. Misha will stop and nudge my hand with her nose to tell me she is there.
If for any reason I feel I need her by me, a dog is coming, people or children, a call and a hand to the pocket grabs her attention and she flies to my side.
We will carry on and arrive at the park. Once there it's for certain Misha will meet all sorts of two and four legged friends.
I can say without prejudice that Misha is a very stunning dog. Her breed is one you do not see a lot of nowadays. Many times she is mistaken for a Chow or a Husky. Although those breeds and Samoyed share the Spitz breed genes, that's as far as it goes. So, it's usually up to me to educate people about her breed.
A groomed Samoyed is a thing of beauty. The longer guard hair has silver tips that literally shine in the sun.
So when a person sees a medium sized, gleaming white dog trotting along with her fluffy tail held high and curved over her back, ears erect, bright intelligent eyes taking in everything, and a smiling face, they have to stop us.
Their first instinct is to bury their hands in her fur. Of course Misha absolutely adores the attention. And if the person is walking a dog so much the better. Misha sets about making friends with the dog.
Up until a few months ago she used to want to jump on all the dogs to get them to play. Now she has matured a bit in attitude she is prone to nose nudging them and asking them to play. Over the course of the past year she has discovered the ones who aren't interested in playing so after a cursory hello she will move on.
Eventually we get to the fields. This is a place of great fun. Misha will chase her ring or a ball, or play with other dogs. This is a great meeting place for the dogs and a lovely chance to socialize.
We met a 13 week old Eurasier puppy named Dakota in the fields 4 weeks ago. He is such a lovely little chap. His is a breed that has no standing with the Kennel Club at the moment. It's a breed that is only about 50 years old. It was created in Germany, and is a cross between a Chow and a Keeshond. They found they needed to add another breed into the mix to control the personality and to add more to the gene pool, so a Samoyed was crossed with it as well.
The result is a very striking animal.
Dakota is all puppy. The tumbling, biting, running, barking puppy.
I've been working with Dakota and his owner for the last 4 weeks. We've been doing some off lead training. It's best to teach a dog to recall as young as you can. I made the mistake not letting Misha off until she was almost 4 months old. I had a lot of training to do with her. I am now firmly of the opinion the younger you start them off lead the better you will be able to teach recall. Any future pup will be off lead as soon as possible!
He has been so funny the last few days in his actions. Dakota is reaching the gangly stage - all legs and head. His little legs just fly over the ground. He is off to investigate every thing he possibly can in the shortest time possible.
The one trait of Eurasiers is they are very timid of people who are not their family. All this time I've known him and treated him when he has come or stood, or given me downs, he barely will let me touch him. He will take treats from my hand, he will lick my fingers. But if I stretch that little bit to pet him, he is off like a rocket!
Dakota has shown himself to be a quick study and very obedient. But, he is a pest to poor Misha! :)
I do have to say that she has shown the most amazing tolerance with him. She allows him to tumble over her, pull her ears and tail. He nibbles at her legs and paws and tries to jump onto her back.
Occasionally she will tell him off and put him in his place, but it's all part of the learning process for him. Today she took off after him, letting him have what for! He ran away with his tail between his legs whimpering. Misha never even touched him.
I think she is gentle and will make a very good mother.
There are so many other friends we've made on our walks. They too will have their stories.
Crash Course in Show Termonolgy and Process
Showing was a huge mystery to me with all the ins and outs. I think it took me almost eight months before I even grasped the basics.
I thought I would try to give a little idea as to the goal of showing.
The main idea is to have your dog made up to Champion. In order to be champion your dog must win three Challenge Certificates (CC or tickets for short) and each one must be awarded by a different judge.
In order to compete for Challenge Certificates, you must win your class and appear in a lineup of unbeaten dogs or bitches. One certificate is given for dogs and one for bitches. There is also a Reserve Challenge Certificate (RCC or reserve ticket) given, and that means that if for any reason the CC winning animal is found to be ineligible, or disqualified, the judge feels the RCC winning animal is worthy to be given the CC. A bit like Miss World and her runner up.
There is no time limit on collecting tickets. It can happen in a short span of time, it could take years. You can collect as many CCs as the judges are willing to give you.
Misha's great-grandfather on her sire's side is the UK breed record holder for CCs, 59 of them in a 10 year show career.
After the CCs are awarded the two CC winners, dog and bitch, are then put up against each other for Best of Breed, or BOB.
The BOB winners from all breeds then moves forward to the Group competition. From all the breed winners in the specific group, the Best of Group is selected and that moves forward to compete in the Best in Show.
We are in the Pastoral Group. There are seven groups all total; Working, Pastoral, Gundogs, Hounds, Utility, Toy, and Terrier. So in essence from all the hundreds and even thousands of dogs that are entered in a show,
it comes down to seven dogs competing for a Best in Show win. That's the real prize.
But to be honest, I would be very happy to have Misha become a Champion.
There are other little things like competing in your class.
Each breed will have specific classes, and they are divided out by dogs competing separately and bitches separately. Usually. In smaller 'Open' Shows, not Championship shows (where CCs are on offer) they will have dogs and bitches competing in the same classes.
Usual classes are:
Minor Puppy (6 to 9 months of age)
Puppy (9-12 months)
Junior (12-18 months)
Yearling (18-24 months)
Graduate (no age limit, but win limits)
Post-Graduate (Again, win limits)
Limit
Open
Veteran (8 years and up)
The above can get confusing, and I won't address them now. As a sample, at the moment Misha is 2 wins away from having to move up to Limit from Post-Graduate. She is allowed 5 wins in PG at Championship shows before having to move up.
So, we are really hoping that Misha has gained that little bit of maturity she needs in her beautiful face to hopefully make the judges decide she is not too young for the high honours!
Misha has been given 2 RCCs this year. Both judges have said that she is young, she has time. :)
Let's hope her time is fast approaching!
I thought I would try to give a little idea as to the goal of showing.
The main idea is to have your dog made up to Champion. In order to be champion your dog must win three Challenge Certificates (CC or tickets for short) and each one must be awarded by a different judge.
In order to compete for Challenge Certificates, you must win your class and appear in a lineup of unbeaten dogs or bitches. One certificate is given for dogs and one for bitches. There is also a Reserve Challenge Certificate (RCC or reserve ticket) given, and that means that if for any reason the CC winning animal is found to be ineligible, or disqualified, the judge feels the RCC winning animal is worthy to be given the CC. A bit like Miss World and her runner up.
There is no time limit on collecting tickets. It can happen in a short span of time, it could take years. You can collect as many CCs as the judges are willing to give you.
Misha's great-grandfather on her sire's side is the UK breed record holder for CCs, 59 of them in a 10 year show career.
After the CCs are awarded the two CC winners, dog and bitch, are then put up against each other for Best of Breed, or BOB.
The BOB winners from all breeds then moves forward to the Group competition. From all the breed winners in the specific group, the Best of Group is selected and that moves forward to compete in the Best in Show.
We are in the Pastoral Group. There are seven groups all total; Working, Pastoral, Gundogs, Hounds, Utility, Toy, and Terrier. So in essence from all the hundreds and even thousands of dogs that are entered in a show,
it comes down to seven dogs competing for a Best in Show win. That's the real prize.
But to be honest, I would be very happy to have Misha become a Champion.
There are other little things like competing in your class.
Each breed will have specific classes, and they are divided out by dogs competing separately and bitches separately. Usually. In smaller 'Open' Shows, not Championship shows (where CCs are on offer) they will have dogs and bitches competing in the same classes.
Usual classes are:
Minor Puppy (6 to 9 months of age)
Puppy (9-12 months)
Junior (12-18 months)
Yearling (18-24 months)
Graduate (no age limit, but win limits)
Post-Graduate (Again, win limits)
Limit
Open
Veteran (8 years and up)
The above can get confusing, and I won't address them now. As a sample, at the moment Misha is 2 wins away from having to move up to Limit from Post-Graduate. She is allowed 5 wins in PG at Championship shows before having to move up.
So, we are really hoping that Misha has gained that little bit of maturity she needs in her beautiful face to hopefully make the judges decide she is not too young for the high honours!
Misha has been given 2 RCCs this year. Both judges have said that she is young, she has time. :)
Let's hope her time is fast approaching!
Back in the Ring Again!
Saturday the 08 SEP we made our way back into the show ring after a two month hiatus.
Misha was taken out to allow her to grow her coat back after her massive shed. In addition we feel it's a good thing to do to allow her time to just relax, be a fun loving grubby little dog. It helps to keep her fresh and not get bored with all the proceedings.
We used the time to work on her off lead commands.
Amazing. This time last year I never would have said that Misha would have come as far as she has in her commands. Every day this little wonder proves to me how smart she is. But this will be a subject for another post.
We had what could be considered a local show. It was only twelve miles down the road for us.
So no very early start. :) We left the house at 1030 a instead of the 630a normal start. We were able to get there in plenty of time, but had to wait hours before we were in the ring.
We went in for our class and managed to win it fairly easily. Misha was perfect. She stacked beautifully and her movement was spot on. Absolutely sailed around the ring easy, graceful and absolute poetry in motion.
In the final lineup for all unbeaten bitches, she again was showing her quality. We won Reserve Best Bitch. Not shabby for not being in the ring for two months and still not in full coat! I'm truly hoping that this is the start of Misha coming into her own and starting to get the honours she should instead of being told she is too immature looking.
Big show coming up next Thursday, so really hoping for very good results!
Misha was taken out to allow her to grow her coat back after her massive shed. In addition we feel it's a good thing to do to allow her time to just relax, be a fun loving grubby little dog. It helps to keep her fresh and not get bored with all the proceedings.
We used the time to work on her off lead commands.
Amazing. This time last year I never would have said that Misha would have come as far as she has in her commands. Every day this little wonder proves to me how smart she is. But this will be a subject for another post.
We had what could be considered a local show. It was only twelve miles down the road for us.
So no very early start. :) We left the house at 1030 a instead of the 630a normal start. We were able to get there in plenty of time, but had to wait hours before we were in the ring.
We went in for our class and managed to win it fairly easily. Misha was perfect. She stacked beautifully and her movement was spot on. Absolutely sailed around the ring easy, graceful and absolute poetry in motion.
In the final lineup for all unbeaten bitches, she again was showing her quality. We won Reserve Best Bitch. Not shabby for not being in the ring for two months and still not in full coat! I'm truly hoping that this is the start of Misha coming into her own and starting to get the honours she should instead of being told she is too immature looking.
Big show coming up next Thursday, so really hoping for very good results!
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
Welcome to Misha Mischief
I thought it would be a good idea to have a blog where I can write about Misha. A place to chronicle her days, her shows, training, and fun.
Sometimes it's sure to be boring, you know, all the eating and sleeping; but some days it can be exciting.
Hopefully we can share some photos of friends, and fellow show competitors.
Sometimes it's sure to be boring, you know, all the eating and sleeping; but some days it can be exciting.
Hopefully we can share some photos of friends, and fellow show competitors.
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