This is not exactly a “Wordless” Wednesday post. This weekend Spirit participated in her first dog show. It was the Northern Alberta Canine Association All Breed show. Everything started Thursday night when Coreen (the breeder) gave Spirit her second bath and groom in less than 2 weeks. She was a lot more relaxed and less stressed for this bath than her first one. Even the high powered blow dryer didn’t phase her.
On Friday morning, Jo-ann (the handler) showed her and Spirit worked with her beautifully. So well in fact that she got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category. She then went on to compete with all the winning female Berners and she got reserve (second best) which gave her two ribbons for the day. Coreen and Joanne were so happy with how well she showed that they nicknamed her “Little Rock Star”. Spirit’s Mom Sophie was amazing in the show ring and her nickname is “Rock Star”
On Saturday morning Spirit won best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category again. Then she went on to compete in the winners bitch category only this time she won it beating the dog that beat her on Friday. The win gave Spirit her first two points towards her championship.
I was in total shock. Spirit was absolutely horrible for Jo-ann…the complete opposite of Friday. She constantly sat in the ring and she was just not listening to her. I barely had a chance to digest the win when all of a sudden Jo-ann is handing me the leash and telling me that I have to show Spirit in the best of winners category because she will be competing against her older brother Axl (previous litter) and she had to show him instead.
It was almost a blessing because I had all of about 30 seconds to panic and then I had to grab the leash and run into the ring. I felt like a fish out of water. I kept apologizing to the judge for not understanding what she wanted me to do. The good news is that Axl won the best of winners category and it gave him all the points he needed to finish his championship.
Next came the best puppy in breed category where the girls compete against the boys for the first time. I handled her again. Her brother handsome Samson had won his 6-9 month old puppy category too so that meant Spirit had to compete against her brother. Although she won, it was a bitter sweet victory. It just didn’t feel right competing against her beautiful brother.
Sampson and Spirit NACA 2015
Spirit’s first in the Winners’ Bitch category meant that she moved on to compete in the best puppy in the working group. Since she was so horrible for Jo-ann and worked beautifully for me both times, we all decided that I would show her in the afternoon. She competed against 8 or 9 different working dog breeds and she came in fourth which gave her a beautiful big white ribbon.
Here is her official winners picture.
Sunday morning was an exact repeat of Friday except that I showed her in both rounds. She got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category and reserve (second best) in the winners bitch category which gave her another two ribbons. In total she won six small and 1 large ribbon.
Here are just a few more pictures of Tailspin’s Berners at the show:
Spirit and Axl
Axl, Spirit, Samson and Bentley (Axl’s brother)
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Life In The Dog House 