conformation show

A couple weeks ago my dog and I drove 7 hours down south to the ABQ dog show. A few friends with the same breed, actually relatives of my dog, were driving and flying in from all over. I had done a few fun matches with my dog and a conformation show as practice where we hadn't groomed up much prior to attending. This was a big show and we were there to go big. The first conformation show of the weekend I placed 3rd of 3 dogs in the ring and then the guy that has been in my breed for like 40 years said " you did pretty well, I didn't like your dog though, he looks immature" well thank you... I guess? It is because I lost my pin brush a while back and had used a shedding comb which striped him of his undercoat and left him looking very un fluffed. I watched my breeder groom that afternoon and repeated those techniques when we got to the hotel. The next day he came in 2nd to his brother and more importantly beat out a dog who had placed 1st the first day of the show. I was so proud. I guess I have no idea what I am doing in the ring and how to make my dog show well but, my spirits were up and we were having fun and not letting the fact we didn't get points slow us down. We are a wonderful team and that is what matters. Someone actually stopped their car the final day of the show to tell me how beautiful my dog was. That is a compliment I can agree with. He looks just like his brothers mostly I just have to figure out what the heck I am doing and I can finish him.
Next stop Longmont,CO show next weekend!

dog walk event

Today my dog and I participated in a fundraising dog walk. We did it last year for the first time and met this nice woman and her collie. We walked the entire way with our 2 shy dogs shoulder to shoulder with eachother keeping one another secure. This year we took a while to find a dog who we could walk with and finally found a nice springer spaniel named oliver who kept with my dog and they behaved nicely. I had fitted my dog with his gentle leader simply because he never gets snippy with dogs he doesn't like while wearing it and I knew today he would be exposed to a lot of untrained dogs with owners who weren't able to read signals and may not even be watching their dogs interact and I wanted a good shot at my dog behaving the best he could. I hate "tools" and like to rely on our relationship for good behavior but, sometimes you need a guarantee.
He had a blast. He played and sniffed many many dogs. He was nipped by a 6 inch chiuaua who was understandably nervous and almost bitten by 2 other dogs but, I read the vertical tail of one well enough to back off and the other had the big "back off" eyes and of course he was like "calm down,I mean no harm" and pushed her too much so she snapped at him luckily out of range. I love reading signals now that I know most of them. It is a great affirmation to my knowledge to be able to know how a dog is thinking. Timing is so important with dogs reactions and when you read the signals it helps your reaction speed to respond before anything gets elevated.
I love my dog most when we are out doing something and he looks at me as if to say "I am doing good right now, right mom?" or "thank you for this, I love you mom" that little look lets me know I am a good human/dog mom. It actually makes me proud of me, that makes me happy.
We were home by like 1030 am and he napped most of the day except a short stint outback when I had him hang out in the yard while I pulled weeds. now he is crashed out again. You know what they say: a tired dog is a good dog.