OK, the interests mentioned in my title maybe interesting to just me, but boy was it a day!
It started out a bit "off" since we had to spring our clocks ahead an hour last night. That meant a nice lazy morning just hanging with the dogs, going out to breakfast with my husband and enjoying the beautiful snow that had fallen while we slept.
Next, we were off to Home Depot to return quite a bit of extra wood & supplies from our current project (a mud room, which is really going to be a very large 23x8' dog & hobby room for me). Of course we needed to buy different items for the next phase of the project which is installing the fully insulated & raised floors where the dog beds & crates will be located (it looks amazing!).
What made this trip & the day special was the snow storm we got to enjoy for a few hours. It was like Christmas! The type of snow that makes you want to bring out your sled or skis, curl up next to a warm fire and just watch the huge flakes fall. The dogs had a wonderful time playing out in back - their Aunti Becky came over and let them out while we were on our way back so they had lots of play time, even while we shopped at HD.
Once the floor project was started, I came in to do the exciting chores like cleaning the bathrooms, dusting & more...I'll admit, there had to have been an inch of dust and dog hair in the place, but this is my first weekend home in quite awhile and it will be my last for a bit as well.
Ru was off at the Seattle K.C. show this weekend showing in Conformation by her Auntie Angel. Angel mentioned how stressful the show can be and it comes out in people's actions. Ru was in heat and even though bitches in season are allowed to participate in Conformation, poor Angel got the brunt of it from some overly stressed and unrealistic folks. Angel's got a way of taking odd situations, keeping them realistic and simply laugh at the ridiculous nonsense around the show ring - I wish I had her knack! At any rate, that's EXACTLY why I chose not to go to this show - the nonsense.
My observation of Conformation shows has been both good and bad. Unfortunately, when it's bad, it's been REALLY bad! There are quite a few nice people in Conformation and being an optimist, I can't help but believe most are like that. Unfortunately, as is true with most situations, the one's who aren't so positive or nice really have a way of sticking in your mind and tend to elicit very strong negative opinions.
I can understand why movies such as Best In Show where made and why quite a few non-conformation folks, including the general public, have a negative opinion on the world of Dog Shows. From their point of view, we are odd ducks (me included!). Odd ducks are great, but when those ducks act like an elitists, it turns off those who aren't tough minded, confident in the dog field (btw - that's everyone with less than a decade of experience) & thick skinned.
Any way, my point is that I can't help but think that at times, the AKC is bringing on our own negative publicity by our ridiculous actions.
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