Now that Axel has finished his AKC Championship, I am hoping to get him out to some sieger (German-style conformation) shows this year. One of these days I will get around to writing more about this type of show. I have enjoyed them as a participant, as a spectator, and even as a critique typist, and wish there were more opportunities to attend this type of show in my area.
I won’t lie and say that they are devoid of politics and dog snobbery, but they generally have a more casual atmosphere than a typical AKC conformation show, and you will probably have more of an opportunity to learn about the breed because each dog is individually critiqued from nose to tail for all to hear. In the shows I have been to, many of the judges also take a minute at the end of the class to explain their placements, something I don’t think I’ve ever personally seen at an AKC show.
But for now, the main thing to remember is that food cannot be used to bait the dog in the ring. You may, however, use a toy. And that is where the manatees come in. That was your next question, wasn’t it?
Since Axel finished his AKC championship at the Manatee Kennel Club’s show, I thought it would be cute to have a manatee as his bait toy for sieger shows. Don’t judge me. Since I did not see any manatee toys at our local pet supply stores, I went online to look for manatee toys for either dogs or children. The Wishpets manatee mom and baby looked extremely cute in the picture, so I ordered one. It cost a total of about $20, including shipping. Here it is:
Axel cannot have this. It is way too cute and I just do not know what I would do to him if he were to rip the baby off the mom’s flipper and consume it. When I get around to framing his new champion photo, manatee mom and baby will go into the curio cabinet along with the photo and ribbons from the show. They will not go into Axel’s mouth. Sorry, buddy.
I was also shocked to see that this might have been some kind of limited edition single-parent manatee family. It doesn’t seem to be available any longer at the online store where I purchased it, and another one lists it at $78. Whoa.
The search for a slightly less cute and somewhat sturdier manatee continues. I hope to find one before he actually enters a sieger show!
(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 20 of 28)
Yay, you get to strut your stuff in the Gebrauchshund class 😉 I don’t think I went to too many shows where you weren’t typing away 🙂
Heh, I think it’s been almost 4 years since the last show I typed for! Axe won’t be able to go in Gebrauchshund yet, no SchH title. Champion class for USRC, Sieger class for AIRK, Working or Champion class for ARC. Not too confusing, huh? LOL
Oh. My bad. I was thinking Gebrauchshund was the Ch. class for ARV. It’s been 4 years since you last typed and almost that long since I’ve been in dogs! Everything is confusing at this point 🙂