Speciality Show Part 1– Conformation
Thunder and Storm took a trip to the American Chesapeake Club’s National Specialty Show in Ohio this past weekend.
It was great to see all of the Chessies at the show. The Best of Breed portion had 70 Chessies entered plus all of the undefeated Non-Regular Class dogs/bitches which moved up to BOB and Winner’s Dog and Winner’s Bitch. A lot of Chessies in one ring! All the dogs competing for BOB entered the ring together and then were broken into 3 groups of dogs and 2 groups of bitches, one group being judged at a time. The judge kept some out of each group and dismissed the rest until finally the Best of Breed was chosen. Lots of fun to watch. Congratulations to the winner!
But before the BOB judging there was Puppy Sweepstakes and Veteran Sweepstakes and all of the
Regular and Non-Regular Class judging. Thunder was entered in the “Hunting Dog” class. He was up against some great dogs and didn’t take home a ribbon, but he had a load of fun! He had so much fun that he wanted to jump and play around the ring. He seemed to think the applause at the show meant “time for fun”. 🙂 During the Specialty Show they were holding Therapy Dog International certification tests (this is the next step after Thunder’s Canine Good Citizenship Certification which he earned in April). Thunder easily passed his test and now he a registered therapy dog and can visit places which invite therapy dogs, such as nursing homes and hospitals. Yay Thunder!
Next was Storm’s turn. She was a bit intimidated at first by the size of the show and the huge ring. She hasn’t been shown that much so this show, with all of the Chessies, must have looked a bit overwhelming to her. However once in the ring, she was all business and did quite well, but no ribbon. Even though they didn’t receive ribbons, I was proud of both of my doggies.
Thunder’s mother and his puppies were also entered in the show and they did really well and took home some ribbons and trophies.
(Click the Full Screen icon to see any video in full screen.)
Thunder’s mother, Dakota, took “Best Veteran Bitch”. You can see from the video, she in wonderful condition even if she is now considered a “veteran”. 🙂
Thunder’s puppy Smokey was awarded First in her class (9-12 month bitches) in the Puppy Sweepstakes. She did a great job and really moved nicely.
Also, Smokey and her mother Tule took a placement in Brace. Brace is defined as two dogs of the same recognized breed or variety that are similar in appearance, performing in unison, and presented by a maximum of two handlers. Both dogs competing in brace competition must have at least one common owner. Here is some video of the two of them. Their breeder/owner/handler did a fabulous job making sure the puppy moved nicely with her mother who is more experienced in the show ring.
I was also able to take some video of Radar, the male pup out of Thunder and Tule. He was such a good boy in the ring, but like his father, he did not receive a ribbon at the show.
Congratulations to all of the Winners at the ACC Speciality! Next Entry will be about Storm’s WD test and Thunder’s WDX test that took place on Sunday.