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Best In Show

While I am busy putting together a post about dog paws, I will entertain you with a story that I wrote in March of this year regarding my experience in the Best In Show ring. Enjoy!

I was inspired by the laughing of my sister Rochelle to write down this memory of my Best in Show ring experience at the last dog show I was at. No, we didn't win, but a grin from one of you might be worth the headache I was experiencing!!

Sniper and I happily got a group one - woohoo! I was VERY excited to take him into the ring and maybe snag one of those Best In Show ribbons. However, things took a turn for the worst when I got sandwiched in between a woman with a Shiba Inu who had no idea how to bait or even work with her dog, and a very large woman in a flowing skirt who had a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (or however you spell it - small, fuzzy dog whose eyeballs look like they are going to come out of its head).

Shiba Inu woman was showing a dog that could really care less where it was. However, she kept thinking that she could get SOME expression out of it by, in the world's most headache inducing high pitched voice, saying "cookie! cookie! cookie! cookie!" ad naseum while leaning over her dog and being right in the dog's face. No wonder the dog kept looking away! If I had been that animal, I probably would have bit her nose off.

Now, I hadn't eaten yet, and I was having a nicotine fit right during that time, so you can imagine how I was feeling about the Cookie Monster. Now enter the Renaissance Lady...

Renaissance Lady had on one of those long, flowing skirts that they tell you not to wear in the show ring due to the possibility of accidents with the wind, and when you walk, they tend to flip up and hit your dog in the face. Evidently this dog had been smacked by a skirt plenty of times, because he seemed disaffected by it (OKAY - those CKCS dogs don't seem affected by much - they are just kind of "there" most of the time).

However, she didn't seem to realize how big she and her ugly skirt actually were, because she kept turning around and hitting Sniper in the butt with her skirt. Sniper, being the good sport that he is, just tucked his tail and moved a little forward, which in turn caused Renaissance Lady to move up some more. When I realized what was happening, I turned so that my back was to this woman, and Sniper was facing the opposite direction. He was a much happier pup, and I had a better view of the possibility of the Cookie Monster getting bit by her dog.

And then - SHE ACTUALLY BUMPED INTO ME. Now, I am not tiny myself, and I was wearing lime green, so it wasn't like I was blending into the background. And then she had the audacity to give ME a dirty look. Well, that's all it took for me to move a tad, and then when she bumped me YET AGAIN, put my foot back and place the heel of my shoe onto her toes and shift all of my weight onto it. She moved, and I smiled to myself. Point made, however she didn't take it. *sigh*

So, Sniper and I spent the whole time in the ring facing the opposite direction, me taking the bumps of this woman who evidently had no problems crowding a terrier (had it been Lola, she and/or her dog might have gotten bit!) and that dang Shiba never did bite the Cookie Monster. I got out of the ring, Sniper and I got a hamburger, and I got my cigarette, and we were ready for Show 2. :-)

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