August 11th The Show and Other Stuff

This is Princess sporting her new scarf.

That night, I removed her scarf to avoid any hazard, and left it on the end table. I thought maybe I'd throw it out, but didn't. Wednesday morning Princess saw the scarf on the end table by the couch, jumped up beside it and whined at Jim until he put it on. She is apparently rather fond of it.

So last Friday I loaded up Princess, a grooming table, a suitcase that was more full of dogfood than anything else (silly me), the dog backpack, my suit (skirts normally aren't my thing, but with the heatwave I'm having second thoughts), three different leashes, a dog seat belt and lots of coffee and headed down the road towards Marion Illinois.

We checked in to the hotel and swung through the McD's drivethrough for some chicken nuggets which Princess gladly helped me eat. Of course after chicken nuggets who wants dog food?...

Anyway, once we finished eating, I drove us over to the site to check it out. It was a very nice indoor arena, and I was happy that it was air conditioned. The Crab Orchard Kennel Club folks were busy setting up, and it looked to be an exciting time. The inside of the building was huge and was sectioned off into four rings with plenty of room for crating and grooming opposite each ring around the outside of the walkways. Each of the four rings had a rubber mat around the outside and rubber corners so the dogs won't slip while being trotted around. They also had a rubber diagonal mat for whichever pattern the judge had you take.

I chatted a bit with the lady that was setting up the auction table, then made my way back to the hotel. Princess finally peed, but hadn't pooped all day, and I worried about her. We watched a bit of TV (I always am amazed and amused at how Princess actually watches the TV with me) then went to sleep.

Early morning Princess woke me to go outside, and we walked around for a good thirty minutes before she finally peed, but again no poo. I met one of the other Siberian exhibitor and their beautiful carmel colored boy. Immediately it was obvious to me that this dog was a show dog and not bred to race like Princess. Which depending on the judge's opinion of what a Siberian should look like we would be put on completely opposite ends of the spectrum. Princess is obviously built for speed and running, and she does so much of it, no matter how much I feed her, she always seems to be at optimal weight for her build. This boy was stocky with shorter legs and only slightly overweight, but enough to notice. Princess is short coated and he was long coated. He was a happy boy though, very cute and personable, and I thought his exhibitors were great people. It was a pleasure to meet them both.

I showered, dressed, packed the kennel back up and headed over to the hall to set up. With her short coat, Princess really doesn't require a whole lot of grooming with her coat already blown, so I opted not to set up the grooming table, and placed her kennel so that I could easily get her out and around to the ring we were to be in. I chatted with Judy (the other Siberian owner/exhibitor who just happened to have a booth across from where I put Princess' kennel) for some time. She had some lovely dogs, all of them quite friendly and happy. Princess settled in her kennel remarkably well and I left her alone for short periods which she seemed fine with, thank goodness. Usually she fusses when I leave her alone someplace other than home (she fussed at the hotel in the kennel while I unloaded the truck for instance).

(more to come)