We woke up early for a Saturday.  6:30 a.m.  Well, that’s early for me, the human of the household.  Though for some reason, most of my Doberchildren can get up at any hour and are pretty much raring to go and do anything wide-eyed and eagerly. Not me. Before leaving, I took this picture.  Baby was shaking with excitement.

Even with my morning-person disorder, Baby and I got to the arena right on time due to my over-estimating how long it would take us to get there. 

 Baby was ready to go onward and upward.

As a member of the DOCOH, I volunteered to help at the raffle table, but warned Rose, the raffle goddess

 

(she does a spectacular job on the raffle every year), that I would be no good until I was finished showing my darling Dobergirl.  And it was true.  But Rose had all the help she needed and thensome, so all was well.  

Baby sat while I set up her ex-pen including triple blankey and towel flooring. We were at a rodeo arena.  The ground is red dirt.  

Look at Baby in her ex-pen 3/4 away from me at the raffle tables…that’s a lot of raffle!

We practiced around the arena, so at that time, we didn’t have much time to get to know the other exhibitors for the fact that we, OK, I was nervous.  It had been a very long time since I’d shown in a serious class and due to the fact that Florida does not offer practices matches as California had, Baby and I hadn’t had the chance to practice in the ring even.  Something happened, though, and we clicked – even though the Golden and handler before us peed right where everyone does the recall – OK, the Golden did, not the handler.  That seems to happen to us regularly.  At the last trial Pippin and I showed for Pip’s Rally Novice degree, the dog before us also tinkled.  That was an indoor competition, but it was entirely on-leash. 

Whatever the case, Baby and I were able to forgo the pee interference, and we acted like a team.  It was good.  She stayed with me on the heeling, her stand was solid, and her recall was splendid.  She even picked up speed on the way to me, as if she were happy to come!  Listen, she’s a Diva.  One never knows when a Diva will retaliate on a long-held grudge, so I am just thanking God today wasn’t the day. 

As  for our sits and downs, they are always nerve wrecking for me, and today was no different.  Baby was restless and intrigued with the goings-on around her.  On the down stay, she got into a sniffing rampage during the second minute, licked her front leg because it suddenly need cleaning in the last minute, and when the judge said, “Back to your dogs,” I said, “Hallelujia!” and Baby stayed till the exercise was finished.  We rallied as a team till the end and Baby at 10-3/4 got her first leg.  We even got a 3rd place and a yellow ribbon, along with a very appropriate prize – a clicker, liver treats, and a new treat bag for me to wear while training. 

 Here’s one of our group – 1st through 4th.

This was a totally worthwhile prize because I use clicker training primarily, and we will use these trophies.  The person who helped me with the above picture happened to mention when my camera stopped working that she dropped it.  DROPPED MY CAMERA?!  MON DIEU!  I am still shaking.  That taught me a lesson, though.  Will not ask Sister Sledge to help out in the camera department again, though I thank God my blessed camera is still working.

Later on, when we got to relax behind the raffle tables, one of the funniest things of the day was a handler whose dog was about to break on the sit stay suddenly got a whopping cough, and couldn’t stop.  The handler coughed all the way from the line-up back to the dog.  What a trick!  As if no one knew…eh…trying to keep the dog from moving.  Meanwhile, the dog did get up on the down stay and strolled over to its handler.  Bummer.  Especially after that performance.  That creative handler probably threw the back out for nothing. 

Here are some pictures of other dogs that showed. 

First, there were quite a few Dobies showing today, which was really nice.  Here are three of five or more I saw. 

Here is a very nice man with his very nice red girl, who is 11 months old, and they showed in Novice B also.  He is also the man who owns the red boy named Scout, whose Frisbee story will be recounted in tomorrow’s blog.

This is a handler who shows her Dobies in advanced classes.  She has a pair, if not three, she is showing, but today, she brought two. 

Here is Pete and his red girl.  Pete and I tied for High Scoring Working Dog and Dobie on Saturday.  Sunday, as you will find out in the next post, Pete and his girl came out on top, and won again that day.  Instead of having a run-off, Baby and I got the prizes today, and Pete and his girl on Sunday.

These four Boxers are owned by a man who is very involved in dog sports.  Two of his Boxers are German imports.  The outter cages are the males, and inner are the females.   The couple who owns these four had only one entered on each day, yet they brought all four to socialize them.  They are training them in Shutzhund as well.  I learned this breed originated in Austria.  The handlers of these dogs are very dedicated as setting up four crates and working with your dogs all day is hard, especially when you are showing a dog in a trial.

I love Poodles, and though I have never had one, quite a few family members had them during my childhood.  I wasn’t as fond of them then as I seem to be now.  Though no breed will ever top my Dobies, I would love to have  a poodle someday.  Standard is preferable…though a mini wouldn’t be undesirable.  This little love is 14 years old and she is striking.  Her beak is so feminine.  Love her!

And as seniors go, besides the poodle and Baby, there was a team with a sweet black/white Aussie, who is also between 10 and 11.

They were entered in Novice A, but the little dog moved on the stand.  She is an agility dog, so has had a lot of practice moving around the ring over the years. 

This is the Raffle Goddess’s husband, Harold, and his handsome boy, Morris.

This is our club’s president, Harryette. 

Baby Diva – so cute!  She was the only black-and-tan Dobie I saw today, by the way.  

Here is a team with a sweet-as-can-be bi-color Border Collie.  This girl is an absolute angel, and less hyper than the average BC. 

Here we have the Raffle Goddess showing off some of her prizes to an exhibitor.

 All exhibitors were given a nifty treat sample after showing through the moving routine.  Baby got to eat her special treats for doing a good job.  She couldn’t help getting a little of that red dirt on her nose.

Here is Baby getting ready to go home.  She’s so proud!  So am I!

 And later, Baby chowed down on a pair of chicken wings.

I promised her if she got both legs this weekend, she would get chicken wings for breakfast everyday this week, so if tomorrow is another good day, we will stop at Costco on the way home for a slab of scrumptious raw wings for the Queen Mother. As for me, I found out that Publix gives a nifty bag out if you buy 4 bottles of wine at once!

Baby may be the only Diva in the house…

but the Dobermom gets to indulge now and then, too.

Helen