It was a big couple of days at The Aerie this past weekend as our eight-month-old puppy Penny made her debut in the show ring.
I know – many of you are saying, “Dog show?!!? You guys are dog show people?!?!?” Well, we’re really not. But the breeders that we got Penny from are local, and it helps them to have more dogs in the ring, so we were happy to do it and have a little goofy adventure. We tried to get Penny mentally ready by having her play with her Busy Bee – I’m not so sure she got the hint.
The show was right nearby in Del Mar for two days (Saturday & Sunday). Penny, of course, had no idea what all these dogs were doing in the same place. It must have seemed like the biggest dog park in the world. Of course, dog park behavior is NOT appreciated at the show, so she was on a pretty short leash.
One thing she got to do was meet (and play with a little) her brother, Tucker, who was also there for the first time.
For a first timer, Penny did pretty well (the breeders did all the handling) – though she didn’t seem too thrilled to have to stand stock still while some strange man felt her up (can’t say that I blame her).
And for her efforts she won Best In Class* on both days! And on Sunday, a very kindly judge took a shine to her and also awarded her a Best Reserve ribbon (which is sort of like a group 1st Runner up).
After all that pomp and circumstance and standing still and controlled trotting, we did go let out all the pent-up excitement at dog beach – which I have to say was probably her favorite part of the weekend.
After that, someone was pretty pooped, but also got plenty of love and treats for the rest of the day on Sunday. Good job, Penny!
*Let’s not mention around her that she was the only dog in her class (females, 6-9 months), ok?
Stevil 
Nice… congrats Penny! Bucky starts school tonight… hopefully he will be up to speed soon!
Congratulations to Penny! What fun!
Way to go Penny. I have to say I would have liked the visit to the beach best, too.
Hooray Penny!!! :D
Go Penny!!
lol, she's so cute! yay Penny! Congrats.
Yay! Goooo Penny! :)
Yay Penny! Have you ever seen the movie, Best in Show?
Awesome! Good job Penny!And yeah, at first I thought, DOG SHOW? REALLY? But, it made sense once you mentioned the Breeders did all the handling :)
[this is super-good] That's so cool!!
Bookish — we LOVE Best In Show — maybe a little too much — and is why her first toy as a puppy was Busy Bee — and it's the only one she hasn't eviscerated yet!
Congratulations! We used to show dogs when I was a teenager. In fact, my Pekingese Ralph sired more champions than any other Peke up to that point. I hope Penny helped to tip the scales so that the points awarded were "majors" rather than "minors." Sometimes those major points are pretty hard to get with breeds less popular than Labradors and poodles. I glad Penny did so well. Judges are pretty understanding about "non-show-like behaviors" with the puppy classes.
Congrats to Penny's proud poppa.
Congratulations to adorable Penny and her proud parents!
Thanks PLL — with the limited popularity of pointers, I think we were able to tip the scale into minor! This show was funny — must have been a hub for Great Danes — they were everywhere!
Some shows have breed "specialties." They are shows specifically designed so that less popular breeds can get those elusive major points. That might be why there were so many Danes.