What a great weekend we had at the Ellesmere A & P Society All Breeds shows where our girls dominated and for the second time this year, a judge thanked us for entering the show with such sweet-natured dogs.
Way back in the days before COVID, the Ellesmere shows used to be held in rural Leeston in what was essentially a mowed down sheep paddock. We have such fond memories of the Ellesmere shows. It was the first show Nikita won a Group award and it was also, in the aforementioned mowed-down sheep paddock that Narci, just before the Group line-up, discovered a pile of sheep-poo amid the freshly mown grass and had an absolute blast rolling in the muck until he turned green and smelled like sheep manure.
Tracey nearly cried at the state of her prized Best of Breed winner while everyone around us was rolling about laughing. Thankfully a couple of groomer friends came to the rescue (once they stopped laughing) and Narci entered the ring on-time, smelling like baby-powder and only faintly shaded green.
These days, the Ellesmere shows are held at the far more civilised Canterbury Kennel Association grounds at McLeans Island, so our days of frolicking in sheep poo are behind us. The winning, however, we are glad to report, is still there.
It was a fairly big field by NZ standards on Day 1. Under NZ Judge Mark Lawrence, Ben took Reserve Dog, Tinky took Best Intermediate of Breed and Ava, took Best of Breed, Best Bitch and Best NZ Bred of Breed.
Alice took Best Neuter of Breed and the Best Neuter Bitch CC.
Ava has totally had the "Nanas" lately (probably because Nana gives her way more treats that Mum), so Jenny has been showing her while Tracey concentrates on showing Stella (Star) how to have a good time in the ring. Despite bursting out of the blocks with a Best Baby Puppy in Show in Buller on her first day in the ring, it takes time, patience and careful nurturing to ensure a pup with potential turns into a happy show dog as an adult. Stella did very well taking 2nd place in the Baby Puppy class against two much bigger pups.
In case you're wondering why we changed her name from Star to Stella, well, stellar is Latin for star and a two syllable name is somehow easier to repeat in a silly high voice when you're trying to coax a puppy along to walk on a lead, when there are so many awesome things on the ground that need to be investigated!
She is such a sweet dog, and utterly fearless in the ring (and out of it). She loves judges, too, who she apparently sees as simply one more person who wants to cuddle her. Her innate curiosity is what we need to work on now. She is so interested in the world around her and so unafraid of it, she is very easily distracted by fun things and it will take some time to learn that there is a time for chasing leaves and sniffing all those awesome aromas on the ground and a time to look up, go for a walk, get treats and have that nice person by the table give you a cuddle.
Day 2, under Australian judge, Lynne Harwood, saw us back in the ring, this time in the rain. Ben took the Best Dog CC and Stella took 2nd place in the Baby Puppy class.
Ava, again took Best of Breed, Best Bitch and Best NZ Bred of Breed and then went on to take the Best NZ Bred of Group!
Tinky was the dark horse in this show, and thrilled us all (and especially her owner, Debra) by taking the Reserve Best Bitch and then Best Reserve of Breed against Ben, as well as Best Intermediate of Breed.
Not to be outdone, Alice took the Reserve Best Neuter of Group!
So, once again, we took all but one of the CC's on offer - 2 shows, a Best NZ Bred of Group, 2 Best of Breeds, 1 Reserve of Breed, 2 Best Intermediate of Breeds, 1 Best Junior of Breed, 2 Best NZ Bred of Breeds, 2 Best Neuter/Spay of Breed and a Reserve Best Neuter/Spay of Group.
And we really were thanked, unbidden, by one of the judges for entering such beautifully temperamented Chihuahuas. This is the second show this year where a judge has said this to us (we thought the first time was a fluke - didn't realise it was the start of a trend!). Given the effort we go to (including taking part in Unversity studies) to ensure our pups have the best temperaments we can give them, it is truly gratifying to see our hard work starting to show quantifiable results.
Thanks to the Ellesmere Committee for some great shows. They continue to be among our favourite. Even sans the sheep poo.
