Well I went to a dog show today with a friend and her fiance. It was in Lexington, about an hour away from my house. I found out at 7:15 in the morning, while it was pouring down rain, that this was going to be an outside show. I HATE outdoor shows with a passion. The last one my mom and I were at, it was also pouring down rain, cold and muddy. Very similar to today's situation only that one was worse. So once again, in my long skirt and sandals, I load Daisy, Rosie, and Ziggy into the back of their SUV and we head out. I sleep most of the way down. Something about 3 and a half hours of sleep just didn't do it for me... We got there and thankfully, the rain had stopped. We unload the dogs and take out the special trolly that my mom and I use for dog shows. It has 4 separate "cages" with a grooming table on top, the whole thing is on wheels so its very conveniant. Well, we were in ring 3 which is right in the middle of all the others. Since it was outside they have the main walkway that goes between the two sides of rings covered with this big tent thing. Most of the rings were out in the open but at least the waiting area was covered.
So the 3 of us head over towards our ring and seek shelter under the tent. Then we see a sign that says no crates can be brought in. Usually that is just so people don't leave their dogs unattended. I hate people that do that, their show ends so they just leave their dog in its crate by the ring and walk away. Then that stupid dog barks and whines bloody murder, distracting all the other dogs in the ring. So, I figured we weren't going to be long and we were right there so I said to just bring it in, we'd deal with the people later. I had to go pick up the arm bands and write which one belonged with which dog. When I came back, Melessa told me that the chief fire guy or whomever told her that it was like a fire hazard or something. I thought that was strange since we're in the great outdoors with every place to run to, but it was still a hazard...whatever. So, we had to attempt to wheel the trolly back out through all the mud and grass. We left it by the Eukanuba people who had a tent set up. I attempted to do some last minute grooming on the dogs though why Im not sure. It was so wet that their faces were wet and legs were wet so they weren't exactly in their prime element. I did what I could tho and we walked the dogs back to the ring. Then the true nightmare began. With only 3 people handling 4 dogs, its a pain in the ass. With the trolly, you open one cage, put in the current dog and take the next one out. Its a very smooth process and very quick because its organized. Leashes are already on and each dog has their specific box so theres no trying to find a single one amongst the masses. Yeah, we didn't get that this time. Instead, poor Tim (the fiance) had to deal with 2 dogs at once while we showed the other two in the ring. Then trying to switch armbands from dog to dog is a pain. I show 3 of them so I have 3 armbands on at once and I have to try and keep flipping the right one up. We'd finish one, Id have to leave the ring, attempt to hand Tim one dog while taking another at the same time. Hand him the ribbons, switch my armband, get the leash untangled, and walk back into the ring, all in a timely manner, aka: just over a minute. It was embarrassing with all these people sitting around, watching us carry on in a frenzy. The judge was very nice though and seemed to understand our frustration. We were hoping Daisy would get her last 2 points to make her a champion but, surprisingly, Rosie beat her. That gives her 2 points and hopefully Daisy will finish tomorrow...we'll see!
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