Silkenfest begins

Today the festivities began.
After taking us for a walk, J moved Ivan in the parking lot so that it was near to the show ring.  She put up the awning & X-pens so that we could lounge in style.  I think we had the best set up.  Another kennel has a Sprinter, but they did not have an awning.  Having Ivan is pretty cool.  We will get spoiled.
J got distracted by the Longdog Leatherworks vendor.  I think Mintz has a pretty snazzy present coming.

The event started with the sweepstakes.  Sky (an Allagante girl) swept the puppy sweeps, and my Dad won the veteran's sweeps.

In the regular show, the companion classes were just after the junior handler classes.  Erika Lipton's dog Siendo's Copan won best male, and I was against another Lipton pet for best female.  I considered air-snapping at the judge when he opened my mouth, poked & prodded me, etc; but I decided to be good . . .  I won!  Amazing how that works.
The ground was saturated from heavy rains last night and when competing against Copan for Best Companion I got distracted by intriguing aromas in the wet grass and (per J) did not move well with my nose skimming the ground.  Oh, well.  Best Opposite Sex Companion has a pretty snazzy ribbon & a toy.

Bados was in the Best American Bred Class.  He seemed to do OK.  No ground sniffing for him, but he only managed 3rd place.  He did get a rosette & toy - but mine is bigger.

Later in the show J was chatting with someone along the sidelines, when they started calling Bados's number again.  She was confused & asked "49?  Really?".  Yes, they said, and she ran to get him.  J & Bados ran around the ring, & the judge picked somebody else for Reserve Winners Dog.
As it turned out, J was correct & should not have been called, but someone who had been in the class had made some snarky comments to her.  J got upset over all this  (she hates when dog folk get catty) - not so much by what was said, but that she let it get to her.
Getting upset about being upset creates a vicious cycle.  We went for a LONG walk to calm down.  This worked until all these nice East Coast Club people kept coming up to make sure she felt OK, & that she did not take it personally.  The support made her feel somewhat vindicated, but that does not always help with that whole vicious cycle - upset about being upset in the 1st place.  More long walks for us dogs.

With all this walking, unfortunately, we missed the rest of the show.  I hear that Tootsie rocked.  BoB!  Go NW Silkens!

After the show, we were all shut up in our rooms while J, Barb, & Lydia set up the silent auction with the help of anyone else who wandered by.  Apparently the auction was an astounding success - like $2500!  I am proud of J & Barb for their hard work, and that I agreed to give up some space in Ivan for J to transport auction items.

Lots of awards were given after their dinner, but I didn't get to see any of this.  Someone else will have to report for me.  J is too tired to give me any details.

On our way out for our night walk, I barked & snarled at a poodle sort of dog, as usual Bados followed my lead.  I am not sure why.  It startled me, but I guess this was an over reaction.  Maybe I was just bored from being in the room for so long.  J was irked at us & more embarrassed because her mom & sister have come to see how we do.

Tomorrow the lure coursing time has been moved up due to the large number of dogs entered & a schedule conflict in the afternoon with a soccer match.  Hopefully all will go smoothly.