My daughter’s first official Junior Showmanship competition – With actual competition – Started off with a real bang! A soupy diarrhea bang that is!

Per the catalog, we assumed that Alexis would be alone today in her Novice Intermediate class. Soon after she entered the ring, it walk a young lady with her St. Bernard. The first trip around the ring as spectacular, but it ended with a rather large pile on the mat and a good 5 minute wait for the clean up. The mere size of the St. Bernard next to tiny Huggie was an eye full but the size of the poopcident was even three times larger than the Hugster!

Alexis’ nerves got the best of her and she had a bit of difficulty following the directions given by the judge. She proudly accepted her second place ribbon and graciously congratulated her competition and thanked the judge.

We stayed until the end and boy did we all learn  a lot. This was a first for all of us, with none of us adults truly realizing all of the Junior specifics – The unique patterns, the whole “never let anything get between the judge and the dog” thing and the seemingly scarce, courtesy  turn at the end of a triangle pattern.

Orlando Cluster - Here We Come!
Longest Day Thus Far