- Location
- Wellington, NZ
First post in the Ringcraft and Showing subforum! Mods, feel free to switch it to The Whine Bar if you want to keep this area strictly serious.
So, I spent Friday at the NDS. Friday was gundog judging, and I wanted to see the Labs! I watched a little bit of the obedience, did some shopping, watched a CGC demo, but spent most of my time parked outside Ring 2, which was strictly gundogs. For the afternoon session I was sitting next to two gundog breeders and they were a hoot, but oh la la, they embodied every negative stereotype of "show dog people" - they moaned about the judge, they criticised the attire of the handlers, they criticised the handlers as people, they criticised the dogs (fair, I suppose), they moaned about the MC who "liked the sound of his own voice, won't he just shut up" - I jumped to his defence, because "he's very helpful to amateurs like me", and they had the grace to not argue with that. Their quote of the day when looking at a particularly ribby dog "she's been feeding herself, not the dog" - ooooh catty! The Ladies weren't impressed with the quality nor quantity of the dogs this year. Many breeds had 1-3 dogs entered. It's hardly strong competition. When the show was last in Wellington (3 years ago) I heard a GR breeder lament the decrease in dogs, and The Ladies also compared it to previous years.
And you guys, XENA'S DADDY WAS THERE! BUT I DIDN'T KNOW! I didn't have the programme, but when I was looking at the full show results online yesterday I saw that her dad was there, and he won Best Dog and BOB Reserve. YAY DADDY! Here's his kennel profile: New Zealand Champion BLACKHILLS MICHELANGELO (ai) | Black Hills Labradors and Willowspring Kennels, labrador breeders, Taupo, New Zealand
The puppy Goldens were just adorable
This young woman (The Ladies told me she was only 12!) was junior handling all over the place, and she was excellent with all the dogs.
This boy was just soaking up all the pats
Watching the show
So silky! I've only seen an Irish Setter once before, so this was exciting.
THERE WERE CHOCCIES! The Labs were so funny because their tails never stopped wagging. Even the Goldens weren't that waggy
Maybe this was Daddy?
A Belgian...something?
The swiffer mop demo was next door and I want one soooooo much
Obedience - the down stay with the owner out of sight. Most dogs kept an eager eye on the door but there was always at least one who took the opportunity for a good snooze.
Puuuuuuuuuppiiiiiieeeeees
This Lagotto couldn't handle the pressure
More dead dog down stays
BOB Pug and isn't he just adorable! I do love pugs
So, I spent Friday at the NDS. Friday was gundog judging, and I wanted to see the Labs! I watched a little bit of the obedience, did some shopping, watched a CGC demo, but spent most of my time parked outside Ring 2, which was strictly gundogs. For the afternoon session I was sitting next to two gundog breeders and they were a hoot, but oh la la, they embodied every negative stereotype of "show dog people" - they moaned about the judge, they criticised the attire of the handlers, they criticised the handlers as people, they criticised the dogs (fair, I suppose), they moaned about the MC who "liked the sound of his own voice, won't he just shut up" - I jumped to his defence, because "he's very helpful to amateurs like me", and they had the grace to not argue with that. Their quote of the day when looking at a particularly ribby dog "she's been feeding herself, not the dog" - ooooh catty! The Ladies weren't impressed with the quality nor quantity of the dogs this year. Many breeds had 1-3 dogs entered. It's hardly strong competition. When the show was last in Wellington (3 years ago) I heard a GR breeder lament the decrease in dogs, and The Ladies also compared it to previous years.
And you guys, XENA'S DADDY WAS THERE! BUT I DIDN'T KNOW! I didn't have the programme, but when I was looking at the full show results online yesterday I saw that her dad was there, and he won Best Dog and BOB Reserve. YAY DADDY! Here's his kennel profile: New Zealand Champion BLACKHILLS MICHELANGELO (ai) | Black Hills Labradors and Willowspring Kennels, labrador breeders, Taupo, New Zealand
The puppy Goldens were just adorable
This young woman (The Ladies told me she was only 12!) was junior handling all over the place, and she was excellent with all the dogs.
This boy was just soaking up all the pats
Watching the show
So silky! I've only seen an Irish Setter once before, so this was exciting.
THERE WERE CHOCCIES! The Labs were so funny because their tails never stopped wagging. Even the Goldens weren't that waggy
Maybe this was Daddy?
A Belgian...something?
The swiffer mop demo was next door and I want one soooooo much
Obedience - the down stay with the owner out of sight. Most dogs kept an eager eye on the door but there was always at least one who took the opportunity for a good snooze.
Puuuuuuuuuppiiiiiieeeeees
This Lagotto couldn't handle the pressure
More dead dog down stays
BOB Pug and isn't he just adorable! I do love pugs
What a great day out. xx
