Sadie's First Show Part 2 Preparation

Sadie had some socialization and some obedience training but she had never stood for examination so I decided that I would take her to a local club for some confirmation run thru's. Even though she was all right around other people she had never had anyone examine her the way a judge would. I was also concerned that having been taught to sit at my side when I stop she would not hold a stand. Most handlers believe that you should not teach a dog Obedience if you are going to show that dog in confirmation. I however, do not believe that and have always been able to train a dog to do both. With Storm I taught him that if I used the "HERE" command he was to walk or stand next to me but if I used LEFT or RIGHT he was to sit next to me on the appropriate side. I do not use the HEEL command because there are times that I want my dogs to heel on the left and other times I want them to heel on the right so I teach them the difference. It was my intent to do the same thing with Sadie but it was 2 weeks before the show and we had not worked on this.

One evening about a week before the show I took Sadie to a local training club to do some run thru's. It just so happened that the night I choose to go there were about 20 dogs that showed up for the 40 min confirmation class. If you have ever been to a show you know that you can not judge 20 dogs in 40 min fortunately another breeder showed up and we were able to split the group in half giving instructions to the beginners at one end of the building and doing run through's with the others at the other end that way we at least had time to run our dogs through a couple of times. Sadie moved well and had no problems standing for examination. She even allowed the judge to examine her bite and open her mouth without a problem. She did not sit the whole time. I would like to believe that it was because she knew the difference between HERE and LEFT but is more likely that she just had not learned to set consistently when I stopped. Whatever the reason I was very pleased with her performance.

This would be Sadie's first road trip since I brought her home last fall. I take her and Storm with me frequently but never over a half hour at a time. Storm loves to go and will try to knock down the door as soon a I get dressed to go anywhere. Sadie on the other hand will run the other way as soon as she sees me head for the garage. I have yet to figure out what her problem is with traveling. She does not get car sick but does occasionally drool while in the car so this time I decided to give her some Ginger Snaps before we left which I hoped would take the edge off.

For anyone that has not been to a show I would suggest that you make a check list of the items you will need to take with you. The following is the list I use for Dog shows.

Dog Crate
Exercise Pen
Show collars
Show leads
Grooming Supplies
Win Sheets
Towels
Dog food
Camera
Dogs Papers
Business Cards
Shiloh Tri-folds
Training Tri-folds
Trash/dog waste bags
Dog dishes
Bottled water
Umbrella

This was also the first road trip we took in the new car that I bought for just this purpose. I liked my Avalanche and it worked great with just Storm and I but with the addition of Sadie it was not very practical, it just did not have enough interior space or headroom for 2 dogs. Since I do not see myself as a minivan person so I compromised with a Buick Randovoz. (What we do for our dogs) By removing the rear seats there was more than enough room for 2 dogs and all the equipment I needed. It also had the added advantage of getting better mileage than the avalanche. The car also came equipped with a navigation system which turned out to be invaluable. Whenever I get a new client I give a free evaluation which I prefer to do at the clients home so that I can evaluate the dog in its own environment. Because of this I have to find a lot of addresses over a large area and with the navigation system all I have to do is enter the address and it directs me right to their home. The same is true with shows I just entered the address and off we went.

Next Sadie's First Show Part 3 the Show