This afternoon, we got thrown a major curve ball only an hour before my daughter’s ring time. When she took Huggie out of the crate to walk him to go potty, clearly the nerves had gotten to him. The anxiety of the changes to his daily schedule, the change it diet (he has eaten more chicken than kibble) and perhaps the spewing poopies from yesterday – What ever it was, he spewed himself and his tummy was cramping up so clearly he was in not position to enter the ring.
We were left with two options – My daughter couldn’t show today OR she entered the ring with KC. You see, as a Junior, she can only show a dog that she owns or is owned by a family member that she lives with. Since my husband was already on his way to the Fair Grounds, we couldn’t have him bring another dog from home and her true disappointment on not being able to show broke this mommy’s heart. So we had to give her AND KC a quick little lesson. Alexis has never worked with KC and she requires a bit more tender touch than Huggie.
I stood ring side biting my nails and cheering them both on. For their first time as a team, I must admit – THEY ROCKED! Alexis followed the judges instructions to a T but lacked the confidence that other kids had. Of course, using a dog you have never worked with in the ring most definitely can make one questions one’s confidence. So as far as I am concerned – They both won!