If it wasn't already for certain, Tripp is now officially an International Superstar! We recently spent a long weekend in Montreal, Quebec for a big UKC event. This time I actually had a chance to see a bit of the city, Poodle at my side. Although I'm a country girl at heart, the architecture of the old urban buildings, particularly the cathedrals, was beautiful, and alone made the trip worthwhile. I just wish I had time to see more. Our hotel was excellent, and everyone enjoyed meeting Tripp. Even the owner herself fell in love, going so far as to invite us into the restaurant so the family could meet the amazing Parti Poodle, and insisted we return. As usual, we were also stopped countless times on the street and at the show for petting, compliments and of course photos. I will always wonder how widespread on the internet random images of Tripp have become! LOL The show itself was once again held in conjunction with a huge Canadian pet expo. It seemed even bigger than in the spring! Every "domestic" critter imaginable was on display (including some not so domestic, like foxes and semi-wild cats), along with various vendor booths, and again they had pony rides and other family attractions set up adjacent to our show rings. The arena for the agility, disc dog, & freestyle demos was right next to our rally ring, but thankfully the view was blocked. Plus it was so noisy in there from the massive crowd that Tripp was oblivious to the nearby excitement, which worked in our favor. ;-) Certainly the whole thing is a testament to good temperament! It takes a very stable dog to handle all that craziness, including a majority of people & kids who are totally ignorant of proper interaction with dogs. Trippy put up with a lot more than he should have to. Such a good boy! Show details below... It was another super busy UKC weekend, with entries in 4 conformation shows, 3 rally obedience trials, 2 weight pulls, and a partridge in a pear tree... sorry, couldn't help myself. (No, I am NOT rushing the season! OMG, can you believe I already saw a house with a lit xmas tree in the window? And another few with lights up. And reindeer lawn ornaments. Sick. It's barely November! But I digress... ;-) Each day started with weight pull. In trial 1, I strategized his turns/passes for minimal effort & maximum attainable weight (that would earn championship points - no sense pulling more for nothing), and Tripp made his 10 points, pulling 840#. Although I apparently set him up poorly, allowing him to hit the rope harder than I prefer, his form was otherwise very good. Unfortunately the thin carpet over concrete appeared to be slippery for him in the last round, as his front leg slipped once while pulling. No harm done, but I didn't want to tempt fate. In trial 2, I settled for a lower weight to keep him safe. He still pulled 560# for 5 points. Better than 0, and definitely better than getting hurt. He was pretty tired from the previous day's showing and rally trials anyway, and it showed in his performance. Still good form, but working hard to pull what is usually barely an effort for him. (I'm sure that carpet played a role too - a good grip makes pulling so much easier. Or perhaps the cart was just moving hard, sometimes that happens too.) No matter, we didn't leave empty handed... we are now 15 points closer to UWPCH, and most importantly, Trippy remains in great shape.
Rally was tricky. The courses were set up very tight (presumably to keep most of the stations on carpet for safety) which made them harder to navigate smoothly. And there were some tough exercises in there too. It made things interesting, that's for sure! I took things slowly so we wouldn't blaze past a sign and blow the whole thing. Tripp performed pretty well overall, esp. considering the distracting environment. Biggest hiccup was a "yucky spot" that he didn't want to work on. Silly dog. Had to repeat that station for a small point deduction, but beats an NQ. Happily we qualified in every trial with decent scores and straight 2nd placements. My goal was to build points for possible rank in UKC's Rally All Stars. We had managed to hang in there up until a month or so ago, but eventually got bumped off. It's just hard to compete with people who are trialing every weekend, or even every month! Oh well. I believe we're up to 68 points in level 3, so I'm not sure if that will be enough to squeeze us into the bottom of the list come year's end, but I figured it was worth a shot. It's not important, but it sure would be neat! :-) Conformation was a blast. There were more Multicolored Standard Poodles entered than I had ever seen before. As usual, Tripp made good point fodder despite looking pretty good out there, and 3 out of 4 shows were a wash. Unfortunately I never got the chance to get critiques, so who knows what the judges were looking for. But we did manage to win once in a large CH class, which gave Tripp another Grand leg, plus with his performance Qs earned him Total Dog award. That's all I wanted! :-) Ok, so a few wins & Total Dogs would have been even nicer... LOL But the highlight of the weekend was going on to compete for Best of Breed in show 3 against the sole GRCH. That would be this guy: Who is that dog? It's not my Tripp! They sure do look alike though, don't they? Why is that??... Well, because that's his father, Rumor!! It was so exciting to finally meet Tripp's sire and his owner Cilla. Our time together in the ring was priceless, and probably the most fun I've ever had at a show. It didn't even matter who won BOB (Rumor did), showing against each other was just so awesome. And the judge - what a riot - I think we blew her mind. She stood there for minutes trying to decide between the two, having a hard time because they are so evenly matched. She pointed out their structural qualities and similarities as she tried to choose, and basically stood there scratching her head... meanwhile Cilla & I are winking at each other and trying not to bust out laughing. Finally the judge cocks her head, thrusts her hands on her hips and exclaims, "they're related aren't they?" We both lost it right there, just cracking up! Soooo funny. Hey, I always said that Tripp was cloned, not bred. Now you see why! LOL Here is the footage from each show. You can guess which video I'll most cherish. ;-)
So that was our last hurrah for the 2013 show season. We'll return to competition after "winter break" when the weather improves - although we'll inevitably hit some fun matches, workshops and such between now and then. Yep, someone call Showdogaholics Anonymous, there's just no stopping us. :-) As promised, I clipped Tripp's ears (which had grown so long and thick that they required banding) down to a 1 inch length the day after we got home. Much nicer... or at least more practical. I do enjoy low maintenance. Not to mention ears that stay clean & dry while drinking or snacking from our plates, and that don't get stuck in the dog's mouth. Plus I think he's pretty darn cute with short ears! Of course, my baby's just cute no matter what. ;-) Some of the city sights... :-)
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11/9/2013 04:53:49 am
Hi Tara,
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