Dog Show Party Recap

We had a good group at our Dog Show party. Don and Betty (former dog show judge, dog owner and handlers) were there, as were Ed and Cathy, Brittany, Jennifer, Liz, Melinda, Jack, Kyle, Darrell, Carl, Kaitlin and yours truly.

Don and Betty are in their 70's and so humble. They answered every question we asked so patiently. They informed us that one of the new breeds for this year- it is in the mastif family- has a life expectancy of 5 years! When they started showing dogs their were 6 groups of dogs with 131 AKC registered breeds. Today they are 7 groups and over 170 breeds. As different handlers would show their dogs or even different judges would come out, Don or Betty would say "Doesn't Eileen look good this year?" or "We've know him since he was 12."

Kyle and Jack didn't get the memo that Don was a former judge. When the first group came out and Don told us which dog was going to win and that dog won- you could have knocked them over with a feather. To say they were stunned would be an understatement. When the second group came out, Don made his prediction and the judge picked Don's choice as second. Kyle, as only a young man with much bravado can say, said " What happened on that pick, Don?" Don calmly looked at Kyle and said " Stupid Judge" We all died laughing.

Don said that the final group of dogs in the ring for Best of Show was the best group he had ever seen. He calmly picked the Sussex and it won.

I think a good time was had by all.