Experiences

Couldn't remember if I had used this photo before and didn't have a new one to use.  This is Fern and me, taken about a month ago by our friend Kathleen, sitting in the chair that Fern's mother Pauli won when she went Best In Show a couple of years ago.  Her face is cuter now, as her eyerims have thickened, and she looks less sweet and a lot more mischievous!

We're leaving for the shows later this afternoon, and Argus will get his pre-dogshow bath.  Hope I don't find little bite marks all over him, as I watch Fern swing from his ears.  Although she pesters Coral & Watson, she understands that they don't put up with puppy nips.  Argus & Josie have not yet come down on Fern, and are endlessly patient with her.

Fern goes along to the shows this weekend so she'll learn about long car trips, sleeping in her crate in a motel, walking down long hallways and through lobbies, and perhaps ride in an elevator, all important things for a puppy who will presumably be a show dog someday.  She'll walk around the show site parking areas too, listen to generators, motor homes, barking dogs, and blow dryers.  We may smuggle her into the show building too, especially if it's going to be really hot.   She'll meet lots of friendly strangers, as everyone wants to play with puppies, and perhaps we'll find some pups her age that she can play with.  It's important that Fern's first dog show experience is a fun one, so that when she is old enough to show she will be comfortable with all the noise and confusion that is part of dog shows.