First of all...
Camden is a fully registered member of the AKC. She has had her limited status revoked and this has allowed her to enter some shows. It is allowing me to follow this crazy journey and has also opened up a world of possibilities that I never dreamed of! I'm beyond excited to have so many possibilities in front of us!
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| IT'S OFFICIAL! FULLY REGISTERED MEMBER OF THE AKC! |
Second...
Camden is officially a show dog!! She entered her first show on Thursday, May 16th, 2013. It was a series of four shows over four days in our home town of Scarborough, ME. She did wonderful! I could write a novel about that weekend and how many great memories were made.
I had to work on Thursday and Friday. It was pretty heartbreaking to not be there the first time Camden stepped out into the ring. She was making her debut and I was nervous only a couple miles away at work. Debbie was amazing and really embraced show Camden for me. I was able to drop Camden off before heading into work and Debbie and Melissa did the rest. They had a total of four dogs to groom and show, but they did it all with an optimistic attitude. I owe a huge thanks not only to the both of them, but my amazing father. For without his support and time I would not have seen Camden's first two days of showing at all. He left work and headed straight over to the show. He made it there in time to see Camden enter the ring and video tape all of the action so I could watch it later. Camden came in second in her class, but she did well. She strutted her stuff with the best of them. More importantly, she loved it. I don't think her tail fell even once.
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| Camden's First Ribbon |
Debbie said that Camden was easy to show and it has been said since that Camden shows herself. I would like to say that was all me, but in honesty... it was Camden. From day one of our conformation class until now she has always been easy. Teaching her to stack and stand for examination was a little difficult, but she listens so well that she made even the hard seem easy. I now look back on the first day of our conformation class and smile. The instructor was so pleased with Camden's reaction to a show lead. She put one and never looked back. That's my girl! Always looking forward.
On Friday's show and on Saturday's show Camden also received a second place. Ever day she did well and was having fun. I was thrilled to get the chance to see her on Saturday and my heart just swelled with pride.
On Sunday, the last day of the weekend shows, Camden seemed to really hit her stride. She was stacking and gaiting and really strutting her stuff. She even had fans that came out to watch her! Another thank you to Laura, her husband, and their wonderful daughter Sophia. I was so happy that you all came to watch and cheer Camden on. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
With fans in the stands and my parents there... she did it! She got first place in her class. She went on to the Winners Bitch, but that was taken by Miss Cay (another Seastar dog and a good friend of Camden's). I couldn't have been happier. It was such a great feeling and I was so proud. I still am so proud.
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| Camden's First Blue Ribbon - June 19th, 2013 |
Fun in the Sun
The following weekend we were off to see good friends of our compete in a Dock Dogs event in Foxboro, MA. The Rock N Dock event was amazing. Dogs from all over coming out to compete and support Down Syndrome Awareness. Go Team 21 was there in full force and Camden got to see some of her favorite "pup-letes" compete! To top it all off it was located at Patriot's Place (a favorite place of mine since I am a huge Patriots fan). To be able to watch these fine athletes compete right near where some of my favorite athletes play was awesome!
Not only did we get to enjoy the action on the dock but we also got to watch some action in the ring! Near by in Wrentham, MA was another dog show. This time we weren't entered by some Seastar friends were! Not to mention many other tollers Camden considers her friends. At the show there was a "Doggie Fun Zone" set up and if you have never seen this I suggest you youtube it right away. So cool! Camden almost jumped into the ring and really wanted to go chase the object whizzing around the course!
After the show Camden and I swung by Debbie's house for Melissa's graduation party and got to see their tollers take on the pool. Highlight of my day as well. I just love to see a group of tollers playing. The weekend was a huge success and a nice break from the stresses of the work week.
On to the Field!
After that amazing fun-filled weekend I was looking forward to taking Camden to the Toller Field Fun Day! Located at Nod Brook WMA in Simsbury/Avon CT. It was a weekend filled with Tollers, water, and Camden's new favorite thing... ducks! Jason and Kelli Cyr put on a wonderful fundraiser for the 2013 Toller National Specialty. Jason and their dog London have been making a huge name for tollers in the world of field work. London is a truly amazing dog and you can tell a lot of time and patience has gone into his training. To see him work was worth the trip alone. Camden got to go out in the field and learn about what it takes to be a field dog. She also got introduced to ducks. Jason had made a drying rack for the ducks and Camden went timidly up to the ducks and started sniffing and it was all over. She fell in love. She kept wanting to head back over to them. When it came to her turn she bounded right after the duck and tried to figure out how to grab it. After some playful teasing by Jason she actually picked it up and shook it for good measure. Only once, but that was enough to make my weekend!
Next came the water series... for most of you this means a dog retrieving a duck or dummy out of the water.... and it did mean that eventually, but first came my water series. When we entered the park there were some puddles and a trickle across the road. Nothing major and the tropical storm Andrea had already moved through the area. The skies were blue and the sun was shining. No signs of the massive amounts of rain that had come through over that past few days. The entrance road to the park and our field work had become extremely flooded while I was introducing Camden to ducks. There was no way to get out but to go through the flooding. I had used my father's car, a tiny red Honda Civic, to make the long trek to CT. After much debate, Jason came to the rescue with a tow strap and guts! We hooked up the Civic and Jason told me to hold on and freak out (in so many words) and we were off. I could hear the water hitting underneath and around my car. I was petrified the engine would stall and that the civic would die. Camden was sound asleep in the passenger seat without a care in the world, after all... she wasn't the one in the water. After rounding a corner and coming face to face with cameras and cell phones all in various stages of videotaping or taking pictures my car was pulled safely up on to the dirt road on the other side. People cheered and I breathed a sigh of relief. Toller people do NOT let a little bit of water ruin a good time! It was on to the water series!!
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| Towing the Civic Through the Flooded Entrance Road - NOW ON TO THE REAL WATER SERIES!!! |
Camden didn't do as well with the water series, but I had known she wouldn't. She had yet to really swim and was still pretty unsure of herself around deep water. Also, she doesn't really like dummies. She just wants her ball. This is no doubt something that needs to be worked on, but we have been so busy with showing and life that dummy work has fallen by the wayside. Camden was very intent on watching the ducks and the other dogs do their thing. I hope she picked up a few pointers from the more experienced pups.
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| Relaxing by the Water Series and Taking it all in! |
Overall, we have been having a great time getting to know the world of conformation and field work. Also every Toller person we have met is just wonderful and welcoming. I am so glad to be a part of this world and to get to share that journey with my sidekick!
On to the Future
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| Camden hitting her stride at the dog show on June 18th, 2013 |
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