Match Show

Riva and I went to a match show yesterday (January 6th is a public holiday in Finland). It was his first real show experience, he came along to a couple of shows last summer, but he wasn't shown. This time we were in the ring and testing the things that we have been practicing for his conformation debut at the end of January.

The show was in a big supermarket parking garage and full with people and dogs. Eventhough he was a bit overwhelmed in the beginning, he wasn't really afraid and after a while he was quite comfortable despite of the crowd and noise. I have always liked his very polite and appropriate manner of approaching strange dogs and he showed that it hasn't changed. He doesn't go rushing to a strange dog but greets very politely and if the other seems to be likeminded, is ready to strike up some play. But it the other is less friendly, he is smart enough to just let them be.

He also performed quite nicely in the ring. Stacking didn't go quite as well as in practice but reasonably, he stood very nicely when the judge examined him and we managed a pretty nice gaiting routine around and back and forth. I got some good showing tips from a couple of more experienced handler friends but I still have things to learn in how to show him to his advantage, he's a very different dog from my smooth.