Albannach
Show Dogs
With Judy letting us keep Argyle, I decided to show him. I had absolutely no idea of what was involved in the show world, so started with a few lessons at the local kennel centre. A month later we were on-route to Hawkes Bay for our first ever show and although our first times were stressful, we soon started to enjoy these trips, myself for being away from home and showing my boy, and for him to get special treatments. We were so fortunate to get Judy's mentoring here too and soon Argyle got his first Best in Group which was to be followed by many more.
When Judy passed and during her funeral, her best friend Maureen Murphy mentioned 28 Juscot Champions and this is when I vowed there would be one more: Juscot Queen of Hearts, our Isla. This wasn't going to be easy; she had never been shown and was 4 1/2 years old and Isla only does what Isla wants, but with lots of praise, grooming (and treats), in early 2024 we had the 29th Juscot champion.
FIRST SHOWS
If I had to summarize our first shows in a few words, I would use "stressing" and perhaps "embarrassing" too. There is one thing both dog and handler were showing and that was inexperience. Argyle was more interested in discovering that whole new world, sniffing the ground, bins, poles and other dogs. I was very nervous, hoping he would behave.
Which was worse, the time when he moved backwards on the table and his hind legs fell off, resulting in me trying not to hang him whilst pulling his rear-end up again, all knowing full well that Judy was just behind us and watching all this ... or when he decided to stop walking at a best of group judging?
PERSEVERANCE
If I had to summarize our first shows in a few words, I would use "stressing" and perhaps "embarrassing" too. There is one thing both dog and handler were showing and that was inexperience. Argyle was more interested in discovering that whole new world, sniffing the ground, bins, poles and other dogs. I was very nervous, hoping he would behave.
Which was worse, the time when he moved backwards on the table and his hind legs fell off, resulting in me trying not to hang him whilst pulling his rear-end up again, all knowing full well that Judy was just behind us and watching all of this ... or when he decided to stop walking at a best of group judging? We were both on a big learning curve and with time, both handler and dog became more relaxed.
FIRST WINS
Our first wins came on a very hot January weekend when Argyle won Best Junior of Group in three shows out of four. This was also when he obtained the last challenge certificates to become a Champion. At 14 months old, he started to understand what was expected of him in the ring and became quite a bit of a show-diva. His grooming left a lot to desire though, something I am still working on to this day.
Note on photos below: I have since learned to record the judge's names but didn't do this in the early days.
Manawatu Kennel Association - 21 January 2023
Wanganui Kennel Society - 22 January 2023
New Plymouth Kennel Association - 18-19 March 2023
Our greatest win - Best Junior in Show - and we missed the photoshoots !!!
Manawatu Kennel Association - 22 April 2023
Ruahine Kennel Association - 6 May 2023
