St. Joseph Show

This weekend was the St. Joseph show. It was my first show without Chris, as he was getting his scuba diving certification this weekend. The conflict was due to bad planning and bad communication! Luckily my parents were able to make it out both days to help with grooming, carrying, and cheering, and Kate was able to make it out on Saturday to watch some as well. Thanks to all three for coming out to St. Jo!

I was only showing Lemon this weekend, so that made the whole thing quite a bit easier than it would have been otherwise. It may not seem like it, but Jack can be a bit of a handful sometimes. :) Anyways, Lemon didn't win anything this weekend, not even a second place. But, she had fun and she didn't know she lost, so all in all a fun weekend. On the way home today I stopped at the Legends to run into a store really quickly. Of course my fear about the dogs getting stolen kicked in, so I was really hurrying to get back to the car. Lemon ALWAYS sits in the front drivers seat when left in the car by herself. I was walking back to the car and she wasn't there! Unheard of for her to stay in the back when no one is making her, I had a bit of a panic. When I got to the window of the drivers side, I saw she was curled up in a little ball in the drivers seat asleep. How cute is that?

Along those lines, the fact that a Berner can curl up in a seat of a car deserves mentioning... I'm a little concerned that she is going to start struggling in shows now for two reasons. She just graduated to the 3rd older puppy class, 12-18 monthes. Technically, it isn't a puppy class anymore, but just 12-18 months. I call it a puppy class because it makes me feel better. First of all, the judges now know there is no way she is 6 months, or even 9 months, either of which could explain her small size or crazy temperment. She is a teeny little thing, but very well proportioned and has very nice bone. With other smaller bitches, she doesn't seem undersized, but if we end up at a show with a lot of tall or doggy bitches, she seems teeny tiny (which was the case this weekend). The other problem is she is still cooky, although getting better. But not getting better in proportion to how old she is getting. Judges don't tolerate "silly puppy" behavior quite as much when they are over 1 year. Unfortunately, Lem is still very much in the "silly puppy" stage. Part of her problem is just how happy she is and how much she loves people, which I'm so grateful for that it is difficult to complain about. But she is definitely still a wiggle worm as that tail gets started going when the judge approaches.

On the positive side, Jack got his CGC on Saturday. I drove Lemon home after she showed and then went back on with him. We got there two hours early, and did obedience heeling, halting, down, etc... for about an hour off and on to wear him down a little bit. He did a great job, passed with flying colors. Now to get ready for real obedience!!! It is so much fun, so I can't wait!

We'll be in Des Moines in two weeks. There is a 4 point major in dogs (11 dogs), so if Jack were to take winners dog one day out there he will be a champion! Of course, that would be a REALLY big win! There are only 5 girls, so a possibility of a crossover. That would be a really big win for Lemon as well. So, on the to do list for the next 2 weeks is get the motor home up and running, get the dogs beautiful (which they already are of course!) and get everyone trained up! No more silly puppy routines!