Our debut in the show ring!

Well i've come back from a busy but fun weekend! Kinta and I had our first shows this weekend and it was heaps of fun! What I didn't realise when Ana entered us was that it was in 'central Gippsland' area.... eek! 2 hrs away from home... or more! So it was organised for me (and Kinta of course) to camp at Ana & Ben's place for the weekend so that we could attend the shows without having to get up in the wee hours of the morning to get there! The weekend started on Friday morning where I was to meet A&B to get the dogs ready for the shows :). Learnt a bit about how to groom them properly too :P. Once they were all spiffy clean we all drove to Morwell (?) area for the show (started at 3pm). Quick training session about how I should get my dog 'presented' properly (don't worry, we'd already been practising, but pointers are always wanted!). I was suprised that not many ACD's or Kelpies were shown! Kinta behaved really well and acted like a pro. The first few days she lost it a bit on the gait but by Sun we were pretty much 'into the groove'! On Fri/Sat we won BPOB (Baby Puppy of Breed.... baby puppies can't go up against the 'big dogs' so we couldn't go for the challenge :P) but didn't go anywhere in group (group is against all other 'working breeds' of that age grp).... not that I expected her to!

Sunday we actually had some competition with Tracey's pups making their debut (these were the 'Ben babies' I was looking at a short while ago!). Kinta won the class again, but didn't get anything in grp. Oohh she was such a good little girl and i'm soo proud of her! Completely hooked too! All in all it was a good weekend :D.

I also had the pleasure of seeing my 'almost puppy' again along with her brother and sister. OMG she is adorable! Absolutely stunning pup.... and guess what..... she has gone feral *ggg*! She looks like she is going to be heaps of fun... cheeky little girl! I'm still pleased with my choice though!

Leo unfortunately had to stay home due to limited space, but in hindsight I think it was a good thing for him. It gave him a good break and now he is 'back' to his normal self, wanting pats from me etc.... just being his usual cheeky, goofy self which he wasn't really since Kinta came.... happy but not the silly goof! He was soo happy to see us again and the two of them have being playing non-stop ever since! Nice run yesterday and a really long walk this morning before work!

I also have big, breaking news - Kinta likes toys! I was playing with the two of them in the park yesterday (want a good workout - play chasey with dogs!), I'd tie one up and we'd play games. With Leo i'm looking at getting him more revved about pats and being silly, something that he doesn't really do when he wants toy/food for rewards... so he'd get pats, silly me then the toy will be thrown. He was having a ball. Basically i'm working on this sort of things over the break, rather than heel, heel, heel; stay,stay,stay. With Kinta i'm doing the opposite - really rev her up for the toys and then she gets to be silly, have pats with me. You should have seen her! As soon as I got the toy she was jumping around like a loony getting really excited. We tugged, exchanged tug for food, threw tug, she brought it back - had pats and repeat! She loooved it! And even this morning she chased the ball, got it and brought it ALL the way back! yay!!! Man this girl is sooo much fun though... she is always so happy and bouncy, unlike Leo who sometimes needs his 'nanna naps'!

Kinta also came with us to the Nursing Home on Thursday. A big day for her. She took it all in her stride and behaved remarkably well. Didn't gawk at anything and was happy to say hello to everyone - resident's and staff alike (she preferred the residents!). By about 4pm however (don't worry she had PLENTY of breaks and rests!) she was a little 'overwhelmed' and everything became scary. I'm not overly worried about this as I think she was just having difficulty 'soaking' it all in etc. I was soo proud of her! She also was fine with judges going over her etc, all weekend including them checking her mouth etc. Body she was fine, but mouth she would let them, but wasn't overly impressed. I think this is because she is teething etc.

The strangest thing aswell - her ears were in perfect position all weekend, and seem to have dropped a little.... weird! Last night they were a little funny, but today she holds them really well!!!! So maybe they won't go prick.... Ana doesn't think so, but hopefully if they do, it won't be anything a little bit of 'tampering' won't fix! Ana says she has a 'definite fold' in her ear so she is quite confident they will stay in place!

Well thats it from me. A busy week, followed by a busy weekend. Back in the show ring this Fri/Sat coming!

And some cool tests to take if you are bored: here