Dhali's First Show - We Got Ribbons!

We went to a dog show yesterday!  It was fun and we learned a lot.  AKC has a new 4-6 month puppy class and Dhali is 4 months old now.  

It was an Open show, so there were people like me, who had never been to a show before, but there were also a lot of people who looked like they showed their dog all the time and maybe this was just a practice for them.

I'm pretty sure we were the least prepared of the entire show - I didn't even have a show lead for Dhali!  I just used a grooming loop attached to his regular leash.  Totally ugly, but it worked - sort of :P  Everyone else had pretty leads and I had leash envy.  

We met some very nice people.  Everyone was extremely friendly and tried to help each other out.  I'm not sure if this is what a 'normal' show is like or just because it was an open show, but I was surprised at how friendly everyone was.  After watching 'Best In Show' you would think they were all cutthroat and mean LOL!

The show ran very smoothly, even though they kept changing which breeds were going to show in which ring.  There were 3 rings.  Everyone was ready to go, except at the very beginning there was one girl showing 3 dobermans and she kept having to change her arm bands to show the next one.  Pretty much every class had just one dog in it.  Except there was a group of 4 Briards that were all from the same litter, so they were all in the same class.  It took the judge FOREVER to decided how to place them.  She kept sending them around and around the ring.  One was darker, but otherwise they all looked the same to me.

Anyway, I knew nothing about showing.  I thought that Dhali would be competing against other puppies, but nope.  Silly me!  

He got first place and best of breed, but he was the only Tibetan Terrier LOL!  And then for group (non-sporting) he got 2nd out of 3 dogs.  I wish I knew why the judge gave the poodle 3rd.  I should have asked when I was there, but I didn't think about it until I was home again.  

The judge seemed to like Dhali.  She said he was a good, good puppy.  :)

It was fun and I think we did better as we went along.  Dhali was adorable, of course.

I did it for the socialization and exposure to a trial environment.  And also, because I have always wanted to be in a dog show!  I mean I organized a neighborhood dog show when I was 10, so it's always been a dream of mine :P

It was very good for Dhali, because for about an hour he just laid in his crate and watched dogs walking back and forth in front of his crate.  There was one little shih tzu that its owners almost walked to death.  Back and forth and back and forth for an hour BEFORE the judging started.  

He got a little antsy at the 1 1/2 hour point when I had moved his crate 3 times - to get near the correct ring where we would be showing.  And after we had shown he didn't want to sit around any more.  He was pretty bored.  I should have brought something along for him to chew on, but I didn't want him to get bully stick breath or mess up his coat!

It was an interesting experience.  I wish we could find more open shows or b-matches or fun matches.  It's very good training for a puppy.  Easy, because you can have food and they just have to walk around.  Easy for me too!  I've always thought that conformation dogs were very laid back when it comes to hanging out in a crate or working around other dogs.  That's what I want for Dhali!  So he sees it's not a big deal.

Here is our video!  Feel free to laugh - I'm sure I made every mistake possible!

All handsome and brushed out.  He was VERY tired when we got home.  

He is super, super good on the grooming table.  I'm always prepared for him to freak out, like Tibby, but he just doesn't!  I'm always happy to be 'disappointed' by him LOL!