It’s Just Home!

As much as I love hitting the road for an out of town dog show, I really do love coming home after one even more.

Traveling is awesome!  Very seriously, I adore pretty much any form of travel.  Road, rail, air…  it’s all good.  I absolutely love going places – and going places with my dog is even better.  And the crazy familiarity of the dog show scene is always grand.  The same faces, the same busyness, the same routine – all repeated in a different place every few weeks is such fun.  I really do enjoy it.

And when you are away, the stresses of home all kinda melt away.  Sure, there are new stresses and things to replace them.  Even away from home I’m crazy busy with a ton to do – and yeah, sometimes I need to be up at 5:00 or 5:30 to be in the ring for 8:30 or 9:00 (which is definitely NOT part of the usual routine)…  but it’s great.

The very best part though?  Is how much being away makes you appreciate being at home.  There really is NOTHING like coming home.  Even before being a mom, I was always happy to be home with Damon and the rest of the kidlets…  but now that I get to come home to my little girl too, it’s even better.

I’m laying in bed right now, with her legs mushed up beside me as I type – almost knocking the computer off my belly.  Just listening to the sounds of the keyboard, the air filter, and her breathing.  This, to me, is home.  There is nothing better.  The dogs are all asleep around us.  Damon is upstairs, probably playing a computer game, with the Parrot chatting at him.  The cat is roaming the stairwell – looking for anything suspicious – and the turtle is sitting in her favourite spot, half in the water, half out.  Everything as it should be.  Everyone well.  Everyone doing what they always do.  It’s just home.

Last Night in Regina

It’s our last night in Regina.  We’ll be heading home to Saskatoon tomorrow in the early afternoon.  So pretty quick we’ll start packing up our room, to make our morning a little easier.  I’m more than a little tired, I’m a little scattered just now.  My brain is simply too full – as usual the night before the trip home.    It’s all par for the course I suppose.  So, to save me from having to bumble through a blog post, as always when words fail, here are a few pictures of Alice and I in the ring this morning – when she won Best Puppy and Winners for another point (that’s three total towards her championship).

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Thanks to Judge Heather Langfeld for the point! 

Sleeping Chihuahua (pic)

Long day.

Folks checked into the hotel room next to ours at 6 AM…  loudest people ever!  Seriously.  I gave up on getting any more sleep at 7:00.  We had no plans on waking before 9.  So by the time Alice and I were in the ring in the afternoon, we were already ready for a nap.  Which is exactly what we came back here to do:

My cow baby, snoozing on her cow.

 

No points for little Alice today, but hopefully with some rest and treats she’ll be back to her usual self, and ready to own the ring tomorrow.

Dog Show Expenses… GAG!

Sooo…  I’m getting ready for bed, wondering how it’s only 9:00, when it dawns on me;  I haven’t written a blog post.

Ugh.  Seriously.

It’s just one of those days I suppose.  I’m brain tired and body weary.  It’s only Tuesday but it feels like it should be Saturday.  It’s going to be a long week.

Photo shoot tomorrow afternoon.  Zoo school trip on Friday.  Leave for Regina Friday after supper.  Dog show from Saturday-Monday.  Head home Monday…  like the weekend never happened at all.    I like lazy boring weeks with only one or two scheduled things to remember.  A couple photo shoots plus all the regular every day stuff.  I love being AWAY AT a dog show, but the getting ready while having to continue doing everything else is exhausting.

I booked our hotel room tonight.  I have to admit, it made me gag a little.  I think this is the very first year I’m handling expenses all on my own.  I’ve been showing dogs for other people for so many years that I’ve never actually had to cover my expenses all myself before.  It is a pretty amazing experience showing a puppy that I bred though…  it’s like nothing else really.  And while the large expenses make me want to gag, they’ll be worth it in the end.  Just got to get back to finding a client dog or two to help absorb things a little.  It’s always much easier on the pocket book to SHARE the burden that are show expenses.  LOL

A couple dog show photos of Alice.

We’ve had a couple super late nights…  Mom and Dad went out last night, and did again tonight.  So we were over at their place keeping an eye on everyone.

I had brought my computer and one of my hard drives along.  So I spent some time doing editing from yesterdays shoot, and also had a peek at the photos my sister took for me during the HCKOC show on the weekend.  I knew going in that today was going to be just as late as yesterday so I pulled out a couple photos from the dog show.  Figured I’d share them tonight. 

It was Alice’s first weekend out, and I was quite pleased with how she did.  She was happy in the ring.  Stood pretty well on the table.  Her tail was wagging, and she focused on me.  And to take Best of Winners and Best Puppy two out of three times on a very first try?  That’s nothing to snub one’s nose at.

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Unexpected Common Ground

This evening I went to the home of a new client.  And when I walked in the door, and saw her granddaughter sitting up on a bar stool at the counter I recognized her immediately.  Of course, I couldn’t pin down WHY I recognized her… but I knew I did.  Turns out, she’s a junior handler!  How cool!

It’s always nice when you find you have an unexpected connection with a client.  There’s just this instant warming that happens, when you realize you have a mutual hobby or experience.  Generally people find themselves at ease with me pretty quickly.  I’m just one of those relaxed folks who likes those around her to feel relaxed too.  But it really is a treat when you’ve instantly got something – other than photography business – to talk about.

Now, don’t get me wrong.  LOL  I love talking photography…  but from time to time, it’s nice to have some other common ground. 

Good, old fashioned, gay bacon.

It was a long day today.  Though I don’t think it would have seemed nearly so if I’d gotten more than two hours sleep.    But between hubby staying up late streaming video, the girl waking during the night, and the dogs getting me up bright and early… well…  it was one of those twenty minutes here, thirty minutes there nights.  And they don’t count for much.

Over all today was a good day though.  We didn’t win any more points, but I’m cool with that.  It’s nice to share the wins.  If the same dog(s) always win it can take the fun and sport of it out of the weekend.  More points is always nice, but not having anyone get discouraged is nicer.

After the show we tried to hit the laundromat…  but there weren’t any washers available.  I figured it would be busy, but didn’t expect a complete lack of free machines.  So we’ll make due until we can try again – probably on Tuesday in the late afternoon.

The kid and I played all evening.  And it was one of those imagination games where Mommy doesn’t actually have to get up and do too much to be completely involved.  Considering I’d been too exhausted to attend the volunteer appreciation supper the Avenue Community Center put on (that I was sooo looking forward to) there was no way I was getting involved in any active play.  I rather liked the game we came up with, as I could play it while laying in bed, half sitting up with a pile of pillows under my back.  LOL

The girl was a secret agent – Agent Omega was the name she chose – and I was her superior.  I ended up with the moniker Purple Bunny.  She’d come to me for missions, and I’d send her on hunts for clues, notes, bad guys, and to rescue Agent Stinky Daddy Pants who had gotten himself into trouble and needed an injection of “pure awesomeness” in order to resume his agent duties.  As Purple Bunny I did my absolute WORST British accent.  Back from my acting days, I’ve still got several accents I can pull out of my pocket whenever needed, but this was a new one…  purposefully awful, it kept the girl giggling.  It really was a lot of fun.

To top off our evening, we enjoyed a bit of good, old fashioned, gay bacon:

Mmmm…. yummy gay goodness

Nothing like a sour yet sweet, gay treat. 

Night everyone!  And may all your dreams be filled with bunnies, secret agents, Chihuahuas, and bacon (of the most gay variety).

My Little Junior

Well, today the big show news is all about Lily-Ann and Alice.  They were so cute together!  For both of them, it was their second time in the ring – but it was their first time as a team (you can see the girl’s first time here: junior handling debut) .  Sure, there were a few hiccups.  In an ideal world you put an experienced dog with an inexperienced handler or vice versa…  but they worked their way through it together, and looked cute doing it!

Damon took the video for me, from the other end of the ring.  You can actually see me, standing next to the ring steward (who happened to be the show secretary) at the table.  And Jewles took some photos – but I haven’t transferred them to one of my hard drives yet. 

Alice placed the same as she did yesterday, winning one point for Best of Winners, and winning a stuffed cow toy for Best Puppy.  Gotta love when someone has sponsored a booster and there are little gifties to go along with a win.  LOL

So, one more day left, and then it’s back to business as usual as we wait for the next show. 

The Dog Show Family

I’m going to keep my thoughts to a minimum tonight.  I’m positively exhausted.  Alice did great her first time out, she loved being in the ring and had a blast (except when she had to be on the table or when the judge blew her dog whistle at her).  LOL  She took Best Puppy in Breed and Best of Winners for her very first point.

One thing you’ll come to notice, after you’ve been showing for a while, is that people at the shows become like part of an extended family.  They are more than friends, they are relatives you see a few times a year at big family gatherings.

There are your dog show parents.  People you can count on no matter what, who always seem to be there with guidance and support.  For me, that would be Kandy and Barry.

There are your dog show Aunts or Uncles.  Those who are always there for a laugh, but whom you know you could count on whenever you need a hand.  That’s how I see Lisa.

Then there are all the cousins.  The folk you love to laugh with, those you can just be silly with.  Share a drink and a story.  But they too will be there through thick and thin.  I’ve got a few of these…

And for us lucky few, we’ve also got real family there too.  Like my Uncle Dan, Auntie Kim, and my sister Jewles.

Dog shows are about the dogs, but once you’ve been there a while, you’ll find there’s a whole lot more to it than that. 

Dreams Dashed, Just Like That.

Just like that, a dream I’ve held for the last half a decade have been dashed.  My heart is more than a little broken.

Ever since I found out I was pregnant, I began dreaming of the day I could take my little one with me traveling to dog shows.  I know so many moms who take their infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers, children, and teens with them on the road…  and they all absolutely love it.

When Lily-Ann was born, I knew she wasn’t the type of baby who could go to a dog show.  If she wasn’t being held she’d cry.  And there was no way for her to be the constant focus of attention at a show.

When she was a toddler, nothing had changed.  And I envied those parents who’s little ones would nap in a stroller while they did their “down and back”.  You put Lily in a stroller and even if she was previously tired, she’d pop up alert and ready to go knowing that something must be going on.  She was a baby and toddler who was WORN not put in a stroller or bucket – so if she was in one of those places she knew something interesting had to be happening.  She also had stopped napping at 11 months old, which didn’t help matters.

As a pre-schooler she LOVES dog shows.  She made her debut as a junior handler at the SKOC show last Summer:  http://td365.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/junior-handling-debut/  And was just awesome.  But she’s still a high needs kid, that hasn’t changed.  She needs your focus at least 95% of the time.  She proved that to me tonight.

I knew she couldn’t handle traveling to dog shows when she was little…  but I’d hoped that by the time she was five it would be a very real possibility.  Tonight though?  Tonight was a disaster.  It took everything in me not to completely lose my cool and fall apart.

We were at handling class…  the first time I’d taken her to handling class.  Usually it’s just me, the dog, and sometimes my younger sister Jewles.  With the dog show in Saskatoon this weekend, and Lily having never worked with Alice before, I thought the two of them could stand to have some practice with one another.

Lily-Ann was obnoxious.  She managed to get through about five minutes before she kept announcing that she was bored and thirsty and wanted a treat – over and over again.  She wouldn’t listen to instruction (from myself OR the instructor).  So after she finished one trip around the ring, I set her up on the sidelines with treats and my phone (on which she has nine or ten apps).  And I went back in to practice with Alice.

That didn’t work either.

The kid kept running back and forth in and out of the ring, disrupting everyone.  So after repeated attempts to get her to listen and just sit down for even five minutes, I packed it in.  Not even half way through the class.  I grabbed all of our stuff and we left.  I have never been so embarrassed in my life.  Her behaviour was atrocious.  Not only did she ignore me when I repeatedly told her to stay out of the ring when it wasn’t her turn, she ignored the instructor as well – who told her to “get out” when it was obvious she wouldn’t listen to me.

So yeah.  Embarrassed by how awful she behaved (seriously, she was shockingly awful, I’ve never seen her behave even close to this before…  ever), and brokenhearted to know I will likely never be able to trust her enough to take her with me…  to enjoy something together that I love so much.  Maybe by the time she’s in high school…  but certainly not before.  I’ll probably still let her do junior handling whenever there’s a show in the city – so twice a year.  But she’ll never get the experience to do well when she can only participate so infrequently and when she’s not able to attend classes between shows.

Yep.  It’s just not going to happen.  She loves showing.  Absolutely loves being in the ring, in the spotlight…  which only makes it harder to bear, and harder to understand.

Seriously…  I can’t even express how awful she was tonight.  We’re not talking just silly little kid antics.  I’ve come to expect those.  But constantly ignoring everything anyone said to her???  yeah, that’s not cool.  And yes… I realize that at this point, I’m starting to ramble.  But it really was the WORST parenting experience of my entire life.  Don’t even ask me how the drive home afterwards went.  Good freakin’ grief.