Our First Showdog

So, we wanted a pointer. We found a nice breeder in Massachusetts (Taunton Bay Pointers) and they casually mention that she is show quality.

We really have no idea what this means. We just know that Morgan's pretty, we love her, and Tammy wants to spend as much time with her dog as possible.

So, we do what all new people should do:

• We register her with AKC
• We contact our local all-breed club (there are lists of these on the AKC website)
• We sign up for show handling classes

This goes pretty well, except we don't really understand what "socializing" means. Our dog loves us and our family, and is really not happy with people she DOESN'T know. Fortunately, our handling instructor is a genius. She encourages us. She sends us to obedience classes to build confidence. Our dog begins to learn about the world and about showing. She becomes outgoing and learns how to work on the lead, and how to stand for examination. She learns to let people touch her, hold her head and look at her teeth. She learns to free-stack. She is VERY good at this. She will move all her feet to the right places and put up her cute little ears and look perfect.

By now she is about 18 months old. So, we go to a match. A practice show. She is the only pointer, so she gets a first place and a "Best of Breed" ribbon. Then she wins the sporting group! She beats all the other sporting dogs there. We are on our way, we think!

So we enter some shows. Some of the people are friendly and helpful (Thanks, Pam & John Mohr, for being kind to a newbie!) Some are reserved, and some are just rude. We ignore the rude people and have fun with our dog. We get a lot of reserve wins. We're still awkward and learning.

But finally, at a small show in New Jersey, we win! A whole two points! That's it, we are now officially hooked!