Ahhh....the drama llama.

Oh the joys of owning an intact dog.

Rocket being intact isn't usually that much of a bother.  I did get the chance this weekend, however, to get to know him in his "altered state" - otherwise known as "horny little toad."

What does this altered state entail?

1.  Stacking? What's that again?

2.  Gaiting?  OH...you mean the "let's see how fast we can pull the human around the ring."


3.  What's my name?

4.  Who are you again?

5.  sniff.....sniff.....sssssssssnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiifffffffffffffffffffff......whine, whine...........snifffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff

6.  You're blocking my view of the bitch behind you.

As fun as that all sounds, it was really, really obnoxious.  It did not help that I purposely tried to avoid the "blossoming" bitch by putting us second in the ring for BIS...only to get told by handler of said bitch "I'm going in front of you."

Now, really?  Was that necessary? Technically, my dog was the second fastest mover.  He should have gone second.  But instead, a handler with an bleeding bitch forces herself between myself and the dog in front of us, causing my immature dog to overload on delicious smells. (EEWWWW)

As my first experience showing UKC, it could have been better.  I'll keep going, but I wanted to try UKC to see if I could be successful handling my dog myself and get away from the politics of AKC. 

I did score an awesome basket at the raffle and a new Scentsy warmer, so the weekend wasn't completely without enjoyment.  ;)

Rocket's First UKC Show

Leah and I made the short trek back to the Amana Colonies today for a UKC Show.  We managed to fit Rocket, Jayne, Chuckie, myself, and Leah in her HHR - Chuckie and I got to share the passenger seat.  :)

It was Chuckie's first show ever, and he did a fine job!  Both of the judges told him how handsome of a little man he was.  Leah and I took turns showing him, and he didn't mind the handler switches.

It was Rocket's first time in the UKC Confo ring, and it went well.  He got a Group 2 his first show and a Group 1 his second show, so he has a competition win. 

Jayne did a great job and got a BIS Altered!  WTG brotha from anotha motha!

Rocket acted like a diva.  Yes, I said Diva.  He likes to show when he wants to show, but god forbid I have him do it when he doesn't.  When he wants to, he does a great job.  When he doesn't, he decides that it's more appropriate to be in BIS and ignore bait, sniff the floor, and refuse to free stack by ignoring me.

Some day I will be smarter than my dog?

Overall a good day....off to the gym! 

I'll never be in Novice A again.

For a very good reason!

Last weekend was fabulous.  Leah was wonderful enough to get up early and go with me, help me with my class conflicts, hold my dog when I went into the ring for our pre-class talk, not making fun of me having to stop to go to the bathroom every exit on the way home when we were only 20 miles from her house......

Ruby did such a great job.  She was good in the car both days.  She didn't cause a ruckus being crated in the Rally building.  Her only "issue" was wanting to visit with everyone she saw...kind of throws off her concentration when she's worried about catching the eye of the next person she sees.

In Obed on Saturday, she received a 192 1/2 and 2nd place to finish her CD title!  We then ran over to the Rally building and received a 100 and 2nd place for her second RN leg.  Of course, there was a ton of schmoozing involved.  She can't walk by someone without an attempt at getting their attention so they'll pet her and tell her how pretty she is.

In Obed on Sunday, I told her she could do anything she wanted as we finished her title the day before.  She decided that she really wanted that $10 prize and walked out of the ring with a 195 1/2 and much love and praise from the judge.  We finished her RN title that day with a 97 and 2nd place, and commenced with much schmoozing, grunting, rooing, and growling.

I was planning on her retirement - a dumbbell will take an extremely long time to teach her (convincing a Sibe that she really wants something enough to chase it down, pick it up, and - oh my god - bring it back because YOU want her to is so simple.....) and she just gets frustrated the more we work on it. 

I *may* test the waters and train her in a different way to see if it works.  I got a ton of guilt trips this weekend from my fellow club members about how I owe it to her to see how much I can teach her.....maybe I'll take that challenge on.

She was such a great girl this weekend - I love this dog!