Well, I survived my first ever conformation show! We attended the Spokane Valley Sieger International show in Post Falls, ID. I had no other option than to handle Steve myself and luckily it went okay! I was able to attend a handful of conformation classes at the training facility where Steve had his puppy classes which provided some level of comfort!
Our very first judge, Pat Putnam was very very kind. I told her it was our first ever show and she was very specific with what she wanted to see and even showed me how to properly show his bite. Overall the judges were very complimentary of Steve.
There were two shows each day and he won best of breed jr puppy in all his shows (granted, he was the only one, but still!).
It was over 100 degrees all weekend and it got pretty miserable as the afternoon wore on. The first day his first show was at 8:30 am, we then left and returned around 1pm for his second show. After that we hung around until 4pm for group (best herding puppy). I think Steve was just so hot and worn out because he had a very difficult time concentrating after the first two minutes and was very wiggly. Needless to say, group class didn’t go well. I decided that we should end on a good note on Sunday and we didn’t even try for group. It was really just too hot!!
I will post more pictures soon, but I wanted to share the comments. And I didn’t have him stacked exactly right (it’s hard enough getting him to hold still at this point) so I think that explains the roachy comments.
What can I say? I am a fan of Team Steve! You both did a great job. On your own initiative you took a few local and long-distance handling lessons and went out there and did it.
The judges’ critiques are very complimentary. Three are pretty much in the same ballpark saying that you have a well-balanced, good-moving dog. All were in agreement that Steve is a looker: masculine head, dark eyes, rich color, full bite all wrapped up with a good temperament.
It doesn’t matter whether there were 10 dogs in the class or one. Each dog is judged against the breed standard. The highest rating for a pup at this age is SG1. However, if the judge feels that your dog does not meet the breed standard, then a lower rating (Good, Fair, Poor) would be given.
Super Congratulations to NatJR, IntJR Alta-Tollhaus Ulfr and Julie K!
Yea team Steve! Can hardly wait to see the pics.
Great job with Steve.
Congratulations Julie!
Julie and Steve-O,
I’m so pleased that you had such a positive experience for your first time out. Are you hooked? LOL It’s fun! I love when the judges take the time to help out newer handlers, it shows care and compassion for what they’re doing, IMO.
Good on you, that you took your pup into consideration and pulled when it was needed.
I’ve never heard of “wheel back”….is that what that says?
One last thought………it doesn’t matter that he was the “only” one in the class. He is judged according to the standard….not other dogs. He did great and so did you! 🙂
Terri and Qwendi