Billy's Show

Billy and I did well at his first show in Topsfield, MA. Dianne and I had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to prepare Billy and leave in time to get him to his ring by 11:15 a.m. Being in the first puppy class, we had no time to spare. He blew out nicely and we did a little bit of clipping to straighten out some stray hairs and ran to the ring.


He was nervous and started drooling so I walked him up and down in front of the ring until we were called to try to calm him.































We were the only ones in his class so there we were, two novices, standing in front of the judge and both of us going 'gulp'. The judge turned out to be a very nice woman who was helpful and made it easy for us.





Because he won his first class, he had to go in against the other winners! LOL No, we didn't take any ribbons in that one.














Billy stacked like a pro each time he was asked to. He gaited beside me just like he is supposed to but he didn't keep his head up high or his tail up until his second time in the ring because he was unsure of himself.














He was a very good boy about having his teeth checked and his body touched by the judge.


































He did take the blue ribbon but it still was a good sign because the judge does not have to award it or any ribbon to the only dog showing if they do not feel that the dog is representative of the breed.

We received encouraging words from the judge after his class and from a 60-year veteran of handling and we plan to continue showing Billy. Our next show is Friday coming up in New York. It is very good practice for Billy and will help him to become used to all of the noise and confusion going on.

Billy Nearly Ready for Show

I should say Billy AND I are nearly ready for the show next Friday. Dianne and I trimmed him again after receiving advice from the Groomer's Forum. We took Billy out so that he and I could practice ring work, stacking, moving, etc. It isn't as easy as it looks to properly pace your dog around the ring. I was all over the place and so was he. It was like a three ring circus at first. But we are finally getting it and it is coming together. I am excited and nervous all at the same time.






















































We don't expect Billy to take any ribbons but just to get experience as well as for me too. I was a little taken aback when Dianne told me today that there are 20+ dogs entered. When I checked last year's stats, there were no where near that many. I entered thinking that there would be about 8 and there wouldn't be as much pressure or distraction for either of us. Oh, well. We're just going to jump right into the frying pan and do our best.

Prom Photos

I photographed my first prom and it was quite an experience. I set all my equipment up in studio to make sure everything was working fine then packed it all up and off I went to Wilmington. Ellen came as my assitant and we set everything up and did our tests; deja vous of Hallmark. LOL

Things didn't go quite as I had hoped but I did photograph a very cute couple and I got some experience in doing proms.