Ok, Here we go. I know it was almost a week ago, but I wanted to tell you all how my show debut went. Let me take you back....
It dawned a clear, cold December day. There was frost on the windows, and the smell of snow in the air. I was up at 5:45a, ready to face the day. I just had to get out there, out into the Outdoors. Mom, of course, had other ideas but I quickly vetoed the sleeping-in initiative, and we began to get ready for the day. I should have known something was going to happen because Mom had been primping and pampering me all week. When we hopped into the car to go for a Carride, we drove to Lehigh University's Stabler Arena Sports Complex. Right away I could feel the excitement in the air and smell the wonderful smells of a thousand dogs (some of them wet) enclosed in a rather small indoor track. Oh boy I was excited! What a HUGE Dog Run... the only problem was the mom wouldn't let me off the leash or play with the hundreds of varieties of dogs. There were little yip-yip dogs, and big roulf-roulf dogs, and all the different kinds of dogs in between. And the PEOPLE! What characters! They had their dogs on tables and in crates stacked on top of each other, and were brushing, washing, drying, combing, spraying, fluffing, primping, and generally getting their dogs in to "Show Shape". Being a Vizsla, of course, I have a lot less work to do to get ready for a show... and yes folks that is where I found myself... at my first dog show ever.
Mom and I found my ring --Number 1 (naturally)-- and waited. And waited. And waited. I wasn't sure why we were just hanging out there... something about letting me get used to the arena and the hustle and bustle. Well, I certainly don't think that was necessary, I was calmly lying at mom's feet, ready for a snoozer when the coolest person ever walked up to us. It was Jenna! She is my "handler" and she is the one responsible for me in the ring. 
Mom has no clue what to do, so we really depend on Jenna to get the job done. After lots of licks, wiggles and loves, we headed outside for a little pre-class warm up. Boy, do I like this show stuff. I get HOTDOGS and CHEESE and CHICKEN and BEEF JERKY. All of these being delicious treats that mom usually doesn't let me have. I was in heaven. All I had to do was sit next to Jenna and run and then stand and then run and then stand. Easy. I had it down: I give Jenna The Look and she gives me some of her delicious treats! I had her trained in no time... AND she said I was just beautiful. Did I mention she is the Coolest Person Ever??
Where was mom during all of this? Taking photos of course! And discussing the intricacies of the show with Jenna's mom, Karen. I like her, too; she is the best.
Anyway, I digress. There was some time before my class and mom said we would be seeing Ms. Stern, my sister, Rosie, and brother, Owen, so we relaxed ringside for about 45 minutes. Mutti also came to watch my show debut (and video tape it which we're hoping Pappa-Dino will put into an MEPG format so that Mom can email it to everyone), which was fantastic since she is not too found of dogs and we got her to come to an enclosed space with tons of them. Mom was proud and grateful to have her there because mom was so nervous. Her palms were sweating! But DON'T tell her I told you that... that was just supposed to be our little secret.
Mom handed me off to Jenna, and we went near the ring entrance to wait until it was my turn. I busied myself with rolling on the floor, making new friends with the other competitors, sharing stories of our new families with Rosie, and catching up with Ms. Stern. Before I knew it Jenna was starting towards the ring! It was time!
We first lined up for the Judge Lady and Jenna placed my feet in to a "Stack": Aligning my back feet and legs so they were perpendicular to the floor and my front feet and legs so they, too, were perpendicular to the floor. Woah! This wasn't what I signed up for!?!?! I signed up for giving Jenna The Look and getting treats. What was this "work" thing she was making me do?!?! Doesn't she know I am meant to be pampered and loved? I tried to stage a sit-in by plopping my tush down in protest, but she kept making me stand up again!
Then we were on the move, running around the ring, showing off our reaching stride. And I do think I have quite the beautiful gait, if you ask me, so I showed off my stuff.
Once we made a circuit, we lined up again and were positioned in our Show Stances -- the Stacks. Continuing my protest, I sat. And then I jumped. And then I scratched. And sat again! What I didn't understand was why none of the other puppies were protesting? Didn't THEY get the sit-in memo? Rosie, the big show-off, was nicely standing in her stacked position for Ms. Stern. I mean, what a little brown-noser! Anyway I couldn't let the other's non-participation thwart the cause, so I continued with my antics despite the skilled handing of Jenna. I will say she did a terrific job and a few times I thought about complying (of course those yummy treats WERE quite the bargaining chip).
Eventually it was my turn to be reviewed by the Judge Lady (oh yeah, there was a terrific Judge Lady watching all of this go down. Apparently SHE is the one who hands out the ribbons. Had I been told about getting ribbons BEFORE the class, maybe I would have reconsidered the Sit-In Protest! But hey, it's water flowing around the dam now.).
I started to look around for Mom when Judge Lady began giving me the Once-Over. She began with a light massage, measuring my ear length and the angles of my bones, and the length of my legs, and then Judge Lady looked at my teeth!
That's getting a bit personal, don't you think? Once she was done giving me the massage, Jenna and I ran around in a couple of circles, away from Judge Lady then back toward Judge Lady. I finally got to return to the other waiting puppies, and got more treats. I picked up the Sit-In Protest right where I left off, of course, but took notice that, again, Rosie seemed to be doing everything right!
She stood perfectly still in her Stack while Judge Lady gave her the Once-Over, and gaited beautifully around the ring, showing me that what I had been doing all along wasn't what I was supposed to be doing! In the words of Homer Simpson: D'oh! Well it was too late to change my tactics now, because Judge Lady began lining us up. Two bitches (as in Female dogs!!! Get you mind our of the sewer people!) were first, then I was moved to third in line, followed by Rosie and another bitch. There was another quick visual Once-Over and Judge Lady sort of swooshed her hand back and forth and we all ran around! Jenna and I went over to the judges' table and picked up a Yellow ribbon (Mom says that's third place AND a miracle) and exited the ring. The 3rd place wasn't enough to move onto the next round, so I was finished for the day. Mom was very proud of me and thought I looked very grown-up.
That night I went home with Ms. Stern to her friend's home in Dallas, PA, because Mom had an event back in New York City. Mom thought it would be fun for me to go to a sleep over and I had a great time with Jaeger, Siren, and Owen! I even escaped out of the back yard! It was terrific and I just wanted to say thanks to Ms. Stern and her friends for taking such great care of me.
The next day Ms. Stern and I returned to the Stabler Sports Complex and to Ring One...
This was a different Kennel Club's show, so there was a New Judge Lady. I couldn't find Mom anywhere so I contented myself with making new friends with a couple of Irish Wolfhounds. Earlier that morning Ms. Stern took me outside for some show schoolin'. I figured out that I am actually supposed to stay in my Stack once I am positioned there. Mom had been practicing that with me just it never clicked until that Sunday. So once we got into the ring I not only knew what to expect but I also stood in my Show Stance - the Stack position for a REALLY long time. I did have an itch that I had to work over, but Ms. Stern, who was handling me, said the New Judge Lady was looking at the other bitch so it was OK. I did much better when this New Judge Lady gave me a massage and teeth check (nothing changed from the day before so I didn't understand why she had to look again, but hey there are lots of things I don't understand). And did my gaiting (that what they call it when we run in those circles) pretty well too. This New Judge Lady asked Ms. Stern to run me around a few more times that the other bitch in the class, but I was just because I was so beautiful I think.
When we lined up in our final positions the New Judge Lady had me second place to the other bitch, because Ms. Stern said the New Judge Lady couldn't "find me." Well I was right in front of her! Next time I am going to ask Mom to paint a big fluorescent yellow "X" on my side so there will be no mistaking who the best Vizsla is. Once we left the ring I saw Mom! She came! I knew she wouldn't leave me! I was so happy to see her I nearly knocked her over! It was so wonderful to be back together again. Mom said she was very proud of me, especially since I really improved in the Show Stance department. We hung out with Ms. Stern and the rest of the gang for the rest of the afternoon. It was a great way to spend a Sunday.
