July 2006 - River City Dog Show

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Dear Diary

The much anticipated River City circuit of dog shows finally came and went at the end of July.  Me, Shine and Vic headed down to San Antonio for a 5 day circuit of shows held at the convention center.  We headed down on Tuesday afternoon after getting Shine all fluffed and puffed.  First we stopped at our hotel...we stayed the first three nights at a La Quinta about 8 miles from downtown.  We checked in and headed to the convention center to unload our stuff.  As typical for larger shows, the venue is opened  up the day before so that exhibitors can unload all their supplies and dogs and get their spaces all set up.  We shared a space with Steve and another acquaintance.  A few familiar faces met us....recognize this guy?  That is Andrew from grooming school.  He has grown a lot of hair since then!  He was only along for the ride this time, as was Hope , Steve's other poodle.  They weren't showing...just hanging out.  Most professional handlers travel with multiple dogs to these shows and the dogs stay at the venue over night in their kennels...so everywhere there are grooming spaces where people have set up with their tables and kennels and equipment.  Of course, we didn't leave Shine overnight.  She came back with us to our hotel.  There were actually six shows...one every day Wednesday - Sunday, and another "specialty show" on Friday night.   Shine did really well, winning a ribbon each competition with 3 third place wins and 3 second place wins.  The first couple of days were not that great for me in the ring, but by Friday I had been given many helpful tips from Steve and I felt really good about our performances Saturday and Sunday. It was a lot of fun and Shine looked great.

Another cool experience for us was the presence of a poodle that is known as a "special".   A special is a dog that has already achieved his/her championship and is being further campaigned for notoriety and perhaps to vie for an invitation to Westminster or other Tournament of Champions.  A Special is a dog that will typically waltz in and win every time, go to the group ring and then to Best In Show.  This is exactly what Remy did .  She is from North Carolina and her father is Shine's grandfather.  Her handler, Chris, was very nice and he asked Victoria to help him out every day with holding his toy poodles ringside or watching them on the tables while Remy was in the ring, or watching over Remy while Chris was off with the toy poodles.   All in all, she was spectacular to watch as she won each day and each night.  It was kind of like working for a famous person. 

Vic was very helpful during the entire trip...I couldn't have done it without her...she was always helping with whatever I needed and keeping me on time. 

Sunday was the day I had been waiting for a long time...the day to put Shine in her adult trim.  Once a poodle is a year old, they  can no longer be shown in the "puppy" trim and are put into the Continental pattern.  Shine isn't a year old yet, but will be before her next show so I had the master Steve work his magic on her.  She is beautiful!  Well, it is late and I have to sign off now so I will post the pics for you to enjoy!  Picture Gallery