Jolene's 2nd show weekend 4/12-4/13

We headed out to Harrisburg this weekend to see what we could do there. We entered the 12-18 month class. Saturday's judge was Alane Gomez. She was very nice to Jolene and I in the ring, but I could tell that she knew I was a Novice handler. Jo stood for her exam well, stacked well, and moved nicely around the ring. We were the onlyones in our class, so we did get to move up to Winner's Bitch. However, the judge never looked at us.

Sunday was different. The judge was Chuck Winslow. We again entered the 12-18 month class and this time we had competition - two other younger dogs. The judge asked about Jolene's age. I think because of her small size, he might have wondered if she was in the correct class. But, he seemed to like her as a smaller boned bitch and commented on her nice face. Needless to say, I think we had a friend here. We did win our class and was able to move up to Winner's Bitch. He picked a fairly smaller bitch (liver colored) as Winner's Bitch (I found out later this was a Michelle Markoff dog) and a smaller black and white bitch from the line-up as Reserve ( found out this was a Nancy Reiter dog). I do think that the handlers made the difference at this level - both were experienced, but one handled their dog better than the other. boy! did THAT hit me smack in the face. I "GET" conformation now! The dog needs to be a NICE dog, BUT they way the handler makes the dog stack/look is THE secret to getting the judges' attention.

Here was a judge that seemed to like smaller girls - how exciting! I chose to stay to watch who won for Best of Breed. The judge really agonized over the bitch he picked for Winner's Bitch and the smaller black and white bitch for Best of Breed. Cool!! Needless to say, he did not play the politics, and chose the smaller black and white bitch as Best of Breed. I think we need to keep this guy in mind for future shows. Once Jolene gains some weight and starts to fill out/mature - I think we could have a winner!

Next, we will be entered in Dal Nationals in KY on April 27-29. I entered Jolene in Sweeps and Regular classes. I truly do not expect much. She and I have only been in the ring 4 times. But, I'm doing it because I happen to think that I have an AWESOME, AWESOME girl on my hands. I HOPE there is some conformation judge out there that POSSIBLY agrees with me!