20 May 2018

Another day, another dog show.....

Finlay is growing up fast, but not so fast he can't still find moments to entertain us in many different ways. He is such a character, but then this is something many dog owners will say about their furry friend. I really hope that what we've seen so far is what we get for life, a friendly happy dog who just gets on with every human and every dog he meets. We now have about 3 different dogs in particular where the owners have said "our dog doesn't really play with other dogs, but he/she loves playing with Finlay". He just seems to bring out the best in other dogs, and long may that remain.

He is moulting big time! All puppies will lose their puppy fluff coat and it just happens that this is happening at the same time as a spring moult, which means dog fur EVERYWHERE! My wife is grooming Finlay regularly (which would happen anyway) and getting brush-loads of fur out. The good thing is a) this stops quite so much ending up indoors and b) you can now start to see more of a shape to Finlay than just a ball of fluff. But no complaints, you buy a breed like a Tibetan Spaniel, then dog fur on your food, in your coffee, in the car.....it's all part of the bargain.

Dog showing, we're still at it. I've been reading some dog critiques and have read Finlay's first critique. It really helps drive home some of the advice we've had and why that advice was given. Sure we are always going to make sure Fin looks his best when he turns up, clean and well groomed.....but I've seen it specifically mentioned in critiques that it was nice to see smartly turned out dogs. Going to Ringcraft and rigorously going through the drills of getting Fin to walk properly, stand on the table, show his teeth - all this is of course very good for everyday dog obedience but also good for showing him at his best. I've realised now that in order for a judge to work out if he has certain physical attributes then it helps if he is striding out in his walks, standing squarely....again all feedback I've seen in critiques.

We love working with dogs and of course who doesn't love a well behaved dog when out and about. Despite having owned Tibbies before, Finlay was quite an eye opener to train. He was VERY headstrong, and it took a bit longer than we expected to hit that ideal point where Finlay was being cute/obstinate and where we took charge. To know that you can be in charge and he will still love you at the end of the day, it is a valuable lesson. If he can get away with being naughty he still will!

Then the story continues to the Christchurch and New Forest canine society open show, which took place today in glorious sunshine. A brilliant introduction for Finlay's first outdoor show on grass, thanks to our breed judge Hailey (thanks also for the lovely mug) and Carol Farrow the AV Utility judge. Finlay managed to get some more rosettes:
- 1st in a class of 4 Tibetan Spaniel puppies
- Best Tibetan Spaniel Puppy
- 1st in AV Utility Puppy
- Unplaced in the AV Utility Group

Very pleased with that result. Tonight I need to seriously sit down with Finlay's Junior Warrant form, the kennel club rules and what he has done so far to work out whether it is going to be possible to get Fin a "JW" after his name. Questions will be asked (probably) at the next show we go to, so I need to get my facts straight!

Watching the videos back of the show, it really does show how far Deb and Finlay have come, which reflects in some of the comments we've had. Someone gave us some advice today on how to avoid Finlay standing so close to Deb's feet, which we were happy to take on board. That person was afraid the advice may upset us, but trust me, there is much more we DON'T know about dog showing that we do know. Giving positive advice is going to be positively received.

The final line up with Judge Hailey McKnight

The boy did a very good effort here, apart from showing his teeth. We've done this with him so many times and he is SO much better. But on the day, he still tossed his head about the little devil. His walk around the ring was pretty much spot on.

Finlay doing his thing

I'm doing my best show-stand!

Willow (Pauline Bevis' lovely bitch) doing it better :-)

Willow showing how a show-stand should be done

The medal haul

I've popped this video on the end. This is Finlay providing the amusement factor. He decided that the broom was going to get it, and rather than stop him of course I decided to film it!!

5 May 2018

Finlay is now 11 months old.

A mini update for another Finlay dog show, this time the rescheduled South West Tibetan Spaniel Club show at Steventon in Oxfordshire.

It was a gorgeous hot sunny day for the 1 hour drive to the venue which was located on a village green in a very pretty village. The judge for the day was Jeff Luscott.

We had only entered Finlay into one class for this show and because it was originally scheduled in March he was in Minor Puppy, even though he was not now young enough to be a Minor Puppy. You stick in the class you were originally entered - so he was the biggest fluffiest Minor Puppy you've ever seen. Our class was fairly early in the day and in a class of 4 he got 2nd, which we were very happy with. The winner of that class went on to be best puppy, so we only got beaten by the best! Plus even 2nd in a breed championship show would have been good enough to qualify him for Crufts....if he hadn't already qualified the week before.

As a result of only being in one class, this show was a little different. We could relax a little and have a good natter to a few of the other Tibbie owners and start to put some names and faces together. We also watched a fair bit of the judging which made a change.

A lovely day out, checked out over 100 Tibbies, a very pleasant day in my book.

Here's Finlay doing his thing

Plus here's one of him relaxing on his Tibetan Spaniel Association blanket

Don't disturb me now, I'm snoozin'