The 2006 Shawnee Dog Show...

I slept in this morning and it was good.

Since I will be working on Monday, I decided that I would take the afternoon off and do something that I haven't done in a long time.

I went to the dog show that is being held in Shawnee.

It is free to the public and, if you get the chance, you should go too!

Linda in Norman has entered two of her puppies. They are Bouvier des Flandres. So I thought that I would go and watch them all compete.

Dog shows are a lot of fun to me. There are so many different breeds of dogs. Some of which you will never see anywhere else.

Here is a spectator that was sitting next to me while we were watching one of the competitions.

She was from out of town and didn't have too much to say, but she was very nice and friendly all the same.


The exhibitors spend hours upon hours getting their dogs groomed for the show. Once they are ready to be shown, some of the dogs cannot sit down and relax for fear of messing up their hairdos.



There are others that look like they still might need a haircut.

Even so, I promise you that dogs like this Puli take a whole lot of grooming care.

One thing to always remember when visiting a dog show is to always ask permission to pet a dog. And please don't get offended if the exhibitor tells you 'no'.

Show dog fanciers travel from city to city from all parts of the country. It is always amazing to me how a miniature little community springs up overnight and then suddenly disappears on the last day of the event.



Each exhibitor makes a space to work in and a place for their dogs to rest. Most people call it a "set-up". Some of the exhibitors are professional dog handlers who are on the road most of the year. Some of these setups have the appearance of a small and cluttered living room with chairs, tv's, children, and of course, the dogs.



Sometimes things are so crowded, especially at ringside, that some competitors have to bunk together.

There are some show dogs that can "let their hair down" and relax after they have competed.

This is Paris, one of Linda's pups, relaxing in her crate.

But for others, there is a price to pay for beauty.



I hadn't planned on staying at the show for very long and I did get to watch Linda in Norman's puppies compete.

But today they were also entered in an extra event called a sweepstakes.

Linda asked me if I would like to show one of the pups in the sweepstakes. Of course, I wasn't dressed properly as I was in a t-shirt, shorts, and sandles.

Plus, I don't think that I have shown a dog in almost 10 years!

When you show dogs, you wear nice dress clothes. The men wear suits and ties.

But the sweepstakes was for puppy entries only and is a much more casual competition that is held after that day's Best in Show competition.

So I agreed.

The competition started at 6pm.

Well, the dog that I showed won the breed competition. That meant that my dog advanced to the herding group competition.

In group competition, a representative from each breed then competes with other breed winners within their own groups.

Of course, the herding group was the last group to be judged. We had to sit and wait for the other six groups to compete.

Then it was the herding groups turn.

I won a Group I with Linda's puppy!

This means that her puppy and I got to advance to the "Best in Sweeps" competition!

I didn't win the next competition with Linda's pup, but it was still exciting nonetheless.

Nattie won ribbons and stuff at each level of competition. Including envelopes with money in them! (You don't win money in the regular dog show competitions.)



And me...



Well, I got a t-shirt.

later...