Dog Show: Westminster!

Our last dog show was  February 2020, right before the Covid Pandemic began.  Our next one is Westminster!

Yes, Ramen and I are heading to the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show!

This year is different due to Covid.... The show is outside, at a Mansion north of NYC, without crowds, in June.... instead of at Madison Square Garden and Piers 92/94 in NYC, packed full with people, in February.

Broadcast Schedule is here.  Sunday Groups and Best in Show will be broadcast on regular FOX, where the earlier events are FOX Cable Channels (FS1 and FS2) and breed judging is streaming at https://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/ during the day.

Tibetan Mastiffs are in Ring 2, at 9am ET, on Sunday.  

If you want to watch other breed judging and events, you can find the details in the WKC 2021 Judging Schedule as follows:

·  Friday, June 11:

o Agility

·  Saturday, June 12:

o Agility Finals

o Junior Showmanship - handlers are broken out by age and judged on their handling skills, rather than the dogs' conformation.

o Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding Breeds during the day - - pages 10-11, 13-19

o Hound, Toy, Non-Sporting, and Herding Groups in the evening

·  Sunday, June 13:

o Obedience

o Junior Showmanship Finals

o Sporting, Working, Terrier Breeds during the day - - pages 20-21, 21-27

o Sporting, Working, Terrier Groups in the evening

o Best in Show

The program includes all of the general information as well as history of the show.  There is also more information on the Agility competition.

Context:

Westminster is the second longest, continuously-held sporting event in the US, behind the Kentucky Derby.

·  This year is the 145th WKC Dog Show.

·  This year's KY Derby was the 147th.

·  Later this year will be the 125th Boston Marathon.

The Top 5 Dogs of each breed are invited, along with each breed's National Specialty Winner.  Then entrants are accepted up to a maximum number; this year is 2500.

100% of the dogs entered this year completed their Championships ahead of entering WKC.

There are dogs entered from each of the 50 states, 2 territories, and 10 other countries.

The largest entry is Golden Retrievers at 44.

Dog Show: Tibetan Mastiff National Specialty

I have wanted to attend our National Specialty for quite some time.

Since the Tibetan Mastiff is a rare breed in the US, I would like to see dogs from across the country...  To be able to see the best of the best in one location would be a great experience.

I see that other breeds have multiple Regional Specialties along with a National Specialty.  Still other clubs have multiple shows at their Specialties.

The Tibetan Mastiff club has only one Specialty each year.  It is the National Specialty and, at least as far as I know, is only held on the coasts... alternating between Portland, OR and Baltimore, MD.

So it's always at least a 2 or 3 day drive for us, in the spring, when the weather is unpredictable and other things in our life are extra busy.

But this year, after Ramen did so well at the Denver Shows, we decided to go.

This involved cancelling two major activities that were also scheduled for the same weekend and coordinating the trip with a friend who was planning to be in the same area, at the same time, for a different event... and getting two weeks of vacation approved from the Day Job.

I made all of the arrangements and schedule adjustments.... then the spread of COVID-19 started gaining steam.  Dog Shows have been cancelled from mid-March thru most of May and into November (so far).

We were supposed to be leaving next week.

So while I am disappointed that we won't be going this year, I am still hoping to attend our National Specialty someday.

Fiber Arts Friday: Stitches West

It finally happened.  I went to Stitches West.

At the encouragement of a friend who lives nearby and often works at the show, I was able to fit it into my schedule.

I have family in the Bay Area, who I wanted to spend time with too, so I did not take any of the classes offered... but I did attend a couple of the evening programs and went to the market.

Having only been to Estes Park, Taos, and Interweave's Yarn Fest, all of which are comparatively small, so this event was a very different experience.

First a few things.... there are two paths to register.... one is to buy market tickets and the other is to register for evening programs or classes.... I have no idea why these are on two different systems.

There was no where I found on the website stating that attending the evening programs also granted access to the market... I bought the (non-refundable) market tickets first... then found out I didn't need to on the emailed receipt for the evening sessions.  :-/

I also found their website to be disorganized and difficult to navigate.

So aside from the fact that I paid for my visit twice, I did enjoy the event.

Franklin Habit was entertaining.

The Fashion Show was fun.

The Market was crowded.

There was a lot (!) of color.  According to my friend, this year was toned down.

I met StevenBe and The Shiba Guyz.

The parking at the Santa Clara Convention Center was easy and (surprisingly) free.

It was wonderful to see so many people sporting their handmade goods.

Since this was primarily a yarn market, there were a lot of kits and samples.  I certainly like being able to see what yarn looks like in a finished product so I enjoyed seeing the finished samples.

But in listening to the conversations happening around me, it became clear that a whole lot of people really like kits.

I liked what they did in this booth... on a few tables at the front, they had finished samples from the books shown and the yarn used together... so while these weren't set up in kits, they had all of the related items together.... my retail-loving Hubba would have been proud.  :-)

Knitters are industrious people.  We find small moments to make progress on our projects, including waiting in line for a Fashion show.  ;-)

The little bit of color I did buy was due to this piece.  I liked it at the Fashion Show and happened to speak with it's Designer the next day.  Tho the colors I chose were not quite as bright.

In spite of being almost overwhelmed by the amount of color on display at this show,

I did find a few things that had to come home with me.

I think there's a good chance I'll go back to Stitches West.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday!

Colorado Kennel Club, 2019

This year we brought Wilma to the famed National Western Stock Show Complex.

She was the only female and only class Tibetan Mastiff exhibited.

She was awarded Best Opposite Sex (BOS) and Best Owner-Handled (OH) both days.

She had a wonderful time meeting people and dogs.

She passed the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test, the CGC Advanced test, and the CGC Urban test. 

At the encouragement of the examiner, we attempted the CGC Trick Dog test, but like most TMs and LGD breeds, she's not keen on doing tricks for the sake of doing tricks.  She did manage to complete two of five tricks, which was two more than I expected.  ;-)

As I've mentioned before, this in one of our favorite shows because it draws a large non-dog-show crowd, so we have the opportunity to introduce the breed to people who have never seen a Tibetan Mastiff in person.

Dog Show: Cheyenne Kennel Club, 2018

We participating in the Cheyenne Kennel Club Dog Show over Labor Day Weekend.

This is a much smaller show than Greeley was a couple of weeks ago.

Wilma was the only Tibetan Mastiff entered and I had the opportunity to be a Ring Steward for the first time.

We did more practice with having strangers go over Wilma as if they were a judge.  As well as practiced waiting our turn in the Group Ring.

Photo by: Cheryl Mechalke

Wilma found a Fred. :-)  He's a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Puppy, just a couple of weeks younger than Wilma.  These two were fast friends.

She also got to play with her doggie buddies, Levi and Mo.  These guys have met before, so they went straight to wrestling.

I think her favorite part of the show was visiting with the information kids several times each day.  :-)

Ramen made a special appearance on the "Can You Guess the Breed?" poster.

Points if you know all of the breeds shown.  ;-)

I really enjoy this show.  It's extremely well run and very clean... and we were both very tired at the end of the weekend.

I hope you were able to do something fun too.

Dog Show: Greeley Kennel Club, 2018

Wilma joined our family in March.

She's been going to conformation class and learning about protecting alpacas.  Ramen took the early lead in mentoring her.

She has competed in 3 fun puppy matches in preparation for her show debut at the Greeley Kennel Club last weekend.

In the Puppy Matches she was awarded a Group 1

and a Group 4.

Wilma gets very excited when she sees other dogs.  So these matches are especially great for providing opportunities to practice being quiet, patient, and polite around dogs she doesn't know, in places she doesn't know.

We feel it's important for all dogs to have manners... especially large, independent-minded dogs.

These matches also provide an opportunity to practice being bathed and groomed.

The formal show was a bit overwhelming with so many new scents, scenes, people, and dogs.

So we took plenty of time to allow her to explore the grounds at her own pace and went into several of the buildings several times.  She especially liked the Royal Canin booth.  :-)

Most important was practicing having strangers go over her as if they were the judge and making sure everything was fun.

It was an unusually cool and rainy weekend, which is always a treat in August.

I'm so proud of Wilma and how she's maturing thus far.

Introducing Timberline's Colorado Yabba Dabba Doo, aka Wilma. :-)

A New Lead

Our friends at Windy Pine Cane Corso make beautiful show leads.  Hubba surprised me for Christmas by commissioning one.

Bonnie chose the beads and colors.  She made the lead thicker and shorter, since my dogs are bigger and taller than hers.

The bead is in the perfect location to weigh the lead out of the way during the standing portions, and to aid in handling during the movement portions.

It's beautiful.  The colors are perfect.  I love it so much.  swoon.

Dog Show: Denver Cluster, 2018

Back in Februrary, Gunnar and I entered the Denver Cluster Dog Shows.

Although the "cluster" broke up a couple of years ago, the three kennel clubs now hold their shows at two different venues, but still on the same weekend.

It's a 5-day event the weekend after Westminster, in February.

The first 3 shows were held at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds which is a very nice, although small venue.

The last 2 shows were held a the National Western Complex which is a large venue with a long history.  This venue will be undergoing renovations in the coming years.

Over the five shows, Gunnar was awarded Best of Breed three times and Select twice, as well as Best Owner-Handled all five days and an Owner-Handled Group 4 one day.

The OH Group placement was a huge accomplishment since Gunnar prefers socializing with his fans over being in the ring.

A news photographer took some amazing photos of Gunnar.

courtesy: Helen Richardson

With the winter weather turning bad, we did not stay for the group competition on the last day.  But the next day was gloriously beautiful... as is typical in Colorado. :-)

I enjoy the shows at the National Western Complex immensely.  There is a significant attendance by the general public, which means I have the opportunity to educate a lot of people about Tibetan Mastiffs.

We learned there is a couple that come to that show every year with the expressed purpose of seeing Gunnar.

We also learned that another couple got a Tibetan Mastiff from Gunnar's breeder because they saw his joyful greeting ringside the first time we attended this event.

I have a few more posts to catch up with from the winter.... we'll see how it goes.  ;-)

Dog Show: National Owner-Handled Finalist, 2017

Ramen received his formal invitation last week.

He is a finalist for the 2017 National Owner-Handled Series!

As I've mentioned before, the top 10 dogs in each breed (measured October to October) are invited to the National Owner-Handled Series Finals.  Ramen is #5.

The finals are held in conjunction with the AKC National Championship in Orlando, FL in December.

I would love to go, but things outside of the dog world are taking precedence.