The Dog Show

I got up at 6:20AM, feeling excited. I packed all our stuff the night before, so I just needed to do my hair and makeup, brush Kimmy's coat, wipe her eyes, eat breakfast (Kimmy got nothing to eat in the morning on the breeder's advice). She definitely knew something was up ;)

At 7:30 AM, we were ready to hit the road. On the way, I mentally checked if I had everything, and realized I forgot to take Kimmy's water bowl. I didn't worry too much about it because I was sure there will be a place to buy one. Dog shows usually have many stalls with doggy paraphernalia for sale.

Saturday morning is very calm as far as traffic goes, so we arrived in the capital in record time (and I didn't even speed!). At 8:15 AM I parked in front of the Expo fairgrounds. There was no mistaking that a dog event was taking place. Wherever I looked, I saw various breeds of dogs in the parking lot, peeing and pooping on every possible grassy spot.

It rained mildly, which was annoying, because we had to wait outside in a huge crowd at the entrance for contestants. This was where they check the vaccination card and registration papers, and admit exhibitors inside.



Obviously, people don't know how to form a line, because it was uncontrolled chaos, everybody just pushing in one direction, regardless of who came first. I hate disorganization! Oh well, I had to bite my teeth and let the crowd swallow me. There were dogs everywhere, of course, many of them barking and barking. Some on a leash, some in a crate. I had Kimmy on a leash, and a sportsbag in the other hand, squeezed between two trollies loaded with dog crates. I was feeling a bit claustrophobic, and worried about Kimmy, but she was remarkably calm, despite being surrounded by a sea of unknown dogs. She just clung to me and was a good girl.

There was a German speaking woman in front of me, who obviously was "taking a spot" for another man, who was with her, but came a bit later, he tried to push through the crowd to her and now it was just me and Kimmy who was in his way. As I was wedged between those trollies, I had nowhere to go, so I stood in place, and he tried to push through me. I said "Excuse me!" when he yet again rammed in me with his portable crate. The woman in front watched it and told him in German: "That stupid woman with Doberman!"

I looked at her and said, also in German: "Do you have a problem with me?"

She just rolled her eyes and sighed. But at least the guy stopped bugging me. Soon it was my turn at the entrance, I showed Kimmy's vaccination card and registry info, and we were let inside the hall.

At the stall right next to it, I got the show catalog, and was told that Dobermans are shown in the 3rd pavillion. So I went on, found an empty cage to make our "camp", in a reasonably quiet corner. I put one blanket on the floor and another one over the cage, so that Kimmy would feel a bit secluded. I locked her in (even brought my own lock, hee hee - can't risk having her stolen!), and went to search for the restrooms.



There was a "dog toilet" area just outside a back entrance, the problem was that
1. there were almost 5 thousand dogs for a small stretch of ground (within a couple of hours the area was filled with dog poop, the stench turned my stomach)
2. it was asphalt, no grass or sand or gravel

Kimmy is not used to "go" on such substrate - so it was clear to me that she would rather hold it than go there. I was right, I took her there several times and she never peed.

I then went to scour the stalls to buy a small stainless steel water bowl, so Kimmy could get her water to drink. I also bought her a couple of new toys to chew and play with.

It was 9:30 AM by now, so I called Gerry on the cell phone to let him know we were in and settled. He said he would come with Benny around 1 PM.

I went to Ring number 1 where Dobermans were going to be judged, and got a placard with our number - 69. I thought it would be a sticker and I could simply stick it on my shirt, but it was just a card, and I had no safety pin or anything to attach it to my clothing. Eeek! So off to the stall I went again in search of something to use. I got a safety pin with a clip for 1.50 EUR (!!!)

At 10 AM, the judging started. I left Kimmy in the cage and went to look. First were brown male Dobies on. I looked around me to see all the other Dobermans and with surprise I realized most of them were docked and cropped. They should not be admitted in the ring per law??? I asked the judge's helper casually, if this was really the case, and she said that the show rules allow docked/cropped dogs to enter if the docking/cropping was done from medical reasons. In practice this means, when the owners enter their dogs in the show, they need to ask for an exception from the rules, and submit a written note from the vet, that the docking/cropping was medically necessary.

I would really like to know how is it possible that out of 89 Dobermans that were shown today, at least 90% had docked tail and 75% had also cropped ears, and they all had it done for medical reasons? Yeah, riiight...

There was exactly 1 male Doberman, out of 51, who had both tail and ears intact. There were several females with floppy ears, but none with a natural tail. Oh wait, there was one - Kimmy!

I watched the judging of males with interest. In the youth class, there was a beautiful black/rust male from the UK. Docked tail but natural ears. All the other dogs in his class were cropped and docked. He had a lovely gait and posture. His owner/handler was hopeful for a trophy. It came as an unpleasant surprise when her dog was placed last by the judge.

She went back to the judge to ask why. When she came back, I overheard her (okay, I listened in) tell her friends (family???) that the judge said she put him last due to the floppy ears. The British group were pissed off, one of them had another dog entered in a female class, and she exclaimed "I won't bother even showing her, she has natural ears and this judge prefers the traditional look, it's no sense..."

I then paid attention to the judging even more and realized that the judge always gave preference to the cropped/docked Dobes over natural ones. Hmmm...

By then it was noon and I took Kimmy for another walk round the stalls, we went over to look at boxers, I saw that most of them were docked and cropped as well. I saw a young female boxer with docked tail and natural ears, who reminded me of my friend Tina's boxer girl Chyenne... ;)

I also went to look at Jack Russel Terriers. They were so cute, expecially the puppy class. Awwww :)

As it was slowly approaching 1 PM, it was almost our turn in the ring. I took Kimmy and we stood beside the ring together, watching the open class black/rust males. I was sad to see several of the handlers treat their dogs very roughly. When the dog didn't trot nicely in the ring, they would jerk forcefully at their prong collars (ouch!) and hiss or shout at their "best friend". It made me feel sorry for the dog. Not that in other breeds it was different. I saw a bulldog handler yank her dog on his choke collar so high up, he was barely touching the floor with his hind paws, all the while she was screaming at him, her nose just millimetres from the poor dog's face.

Come on, people, this is supposed to be fun! For you and your dogs! If you flip out like this because your dog didn't trot perfectly or looked away during judging, then maybe, just maybe, this isn't the hobby for you.

How scary and nervewracking it must be for all those dogs, anyway. It's not a life and death situation, it's just a dog show.

I must say, Kimmy totally amazed me. She has never been in such a crowd before, especially not amongst all kinds of different dogs and weird smells and loud noise and cigarette smoke. I was worried she will freak out and have a meltdown, but nope, she totally went with the flow and although the phrase "calm Doberman" is basically an oxymoron, yeah, she was a calm Doberman!

She just looked around, didn't bark (and trust me, there were dogs who barked their heads off for hours on end), she followed commands and generally was a very pleasant animal being :)



The class right before us was the "female baby class". There were only 2 bitches entered. Both were just 2 weeks younger than Kimmy, but she was quite obviously larger. She played a little with one of them beside the ring. I watched with interest how the judge approached the puppies. One of them let her examine her, the other was very, very shy. Every time the judge raised her hand to touch the pup, she backed away scared and shaking. After third try, the judge shrugged her shoulders, and told the handler that unfortunately, her pup has to be disqualified. Ouch!



Then it was the female puppy class! Our turn! I was no longer nervous, just excited and curious how it will go. With Kimmy, there were 2 other bitches in this class, both 7 months old. Both with floppy ears and docked tails.



I stepped inside the ring with Kimmy, and presented her to the judge. Kimmy was calm and eyed the judge with interest. The judge wanted to examine the teeth. As the breeder showed me, I put Kimmy into position - she sat, I stood right behind her, with my legs on her sides, held the collar, and the judge took Kimmy's muzzle in her hands, lifted her lips on the sides, checked the front teeth, and Kimmy never even flinched. Perfect! :)



Then I was asked to go "down and back". I took Kimmy's leash and we trotted through the ring. Then the judge asked me to do a circle. So I trotted with Kimmy by my side along the ring, she was brilliant, totally focused on me and clearly, she was having fun. You could see it on her tail ;)



Then we stood back and the other two pups did the same. Then, before I could even start worrying, the judge pointed at the pup on our left and said "First place", then on the other pup "Second place" and finally she pointed at me and said "Third place".

And that was it!

Sooo, the good news is... we placed third... the "bad" news... out of three - muhaha ;)

Honestly, I wasn't disappointed at all. I counted with Kimmy being last because of the judge's preferences, and most of all, it doesn't matter what place we got, Kimmy was wonderful and amazing and so well behaved, that I am immensely proud of her. She did great! :)

Just moments after we exited the show ring, I hear someone say Hello in Luxembourgish. Unfortunately, it was not Gerry (who missed our grand entrance because he spent 20 minutes searching for a spot to park), but the dog trainer that we abandoned a couple of months ago in favour of another, more "dog friendly" trainer.

This guy was way too harsh on both Kimmy and me, and after he yelled at me "You're screwing the dog for life!" at the last lesson, I never went back.

Anyway, so I was not particularly happy to see him because I knew he would ask me why I no longer attend his classes and because I knew I am too much of a wimp to say "Because you suck".

So he was all pleased to see me, asked me how it went in the ring, and how shocked he is to see so many docked/cropped Dobies here, and then came the question I dreaded: "Why aren't you coming to the classes anymore?"

I looked somewhere over his shoulder and said that first I was sick and then I was kinda busy and I steered the conversation somewhere else. He started telling me about a puppy he's getting (a brown Doberman female from Brussels), and then he looked at Kimmy (who was the whole time sitting quietly at my feet), and petted her and said:

"Wow, she is so well behaved! I am amazed. What a good dog!"

And I thought to myself "Yeah, and I no longer attend your classes ... see any connection here?"

but out loud I just said that yes, she is a wonderful doggy. He asked "Is she so well behaved at home, too?"

I said yes, pretty much :)

We still chatted a little and then I excused myself and went to the entrance to meet Gerry and Benny who have just arrived.

I told them all about the show and Kimmy was sooo happy to see the rest of her "pack". She is happiest when we are all together!

Then when all the judging was over, I went to the judge's helper to get Kimmy's diploma, and it was time to pack up and drive home. We obviously didn't qualify for "Best In Show", so there was no reason to stay until the end.



We stopped at Pizza Hut because we were starving, and then finally arrived home, tired but happy.

All in all, I am very satisfied with our "virgin performance"! :)