It was early... Very early in the morning on Sunday 24th September 2006, Caluua was only six months and three days old and I was fussing about getting Caluua and Liska settled in the car ready for the two and a half hour journey to The Bretby Conference Centre in Derbyshire, for the Rhodesian Ridgeback Club of Great Britain Championship Show. On route, I went via Markyate and picked up Nancy & Rex... Well you didn’t think I was going to go to our first show without some moral support did you?!
This was going to be a totally new experience for us both as I had never been to a dog show, let alone actually shown a dog before!
When we arrived at nine o'clock in the morning, I set up my fabric Kennel for Liska & Caluua and had a practice run in the ring, before the Dog classes! Then we had to wait until one o'clock in the afternoon before the Bitch classes began!!
We entered our first class (Minor Puppy Bitch), and I made sure I was one of the last to go, so I could watch everyone else before me, and then it was our turn... I don't think I could have been more nervous... My hands were shaking so much that I could hardly hold Caluua's lead! I did my best to stand Caluua nicely while the judge went over her and checked her teeth, then I ran round with her, trying not to let her become too excited, but of course she just thought it was great fun and did have a bit of a jump around!
We then stood in line and watched as the judge awarded 1st place, followed by 2nd place and then 3rd place.... Oh! Thats us!!! I was so proud of Caluua, but my nerves had really got the better or me, I was so hot that I went bright red standing in front the judge while she congratulated us and gave us the bright yellow 3rd place rosette... How embarrassing!
There was no time to rest... We were also entered for the next class (Puppy Bitch) and because the judge had already seen Caluua, I was asked to stand aside while she looked at the other puppy bitches in the class. I was very pleased about this because I was still shaking like crazy, and trying to cool down a bit from the previous class!! When the judge had completed the judging of the others we were all asked to run round together and then to line up so she could place the class.
It was a tense moment as the judge walked up and down, making her decisions, but then she just walked straight over to us and awarded us 1st place! I could not believe it, what a fantastic way to start our showing career with a shiny bright red 1st place rosette!!!
This was going to be a totally new experience for us both as I had never been to a dog show, let alone actually shown a dog before!
When we arrived at nine o'clock in the morning, I set up my fabric Kennel for Liska & Caluua and had a practice run in the ring, before the Dog classes! Then we had to wait until one o'clock in the afternoon before the Bitch classes began!!
We entered our first class (Minor Puppy Bitch), and I made sure I was one of the last to go, so I could watch everyone else before me, and then it was our turn... I don't think I could have been more nervous... My hands were shaking so much that I could hardly hold Caluua's lead! I did my best to stand Caluua nicely while the judge went over her and checked her teeth, then I ran round with her, trying not to let her become too excited, but of course she just thought it was great fun and did have a bit of a jump around!
We then stood in line and watched as the judge awarded 1st place, followed by 2nd place and then 3rd place.... Oh! Thats us!!! I was so proud of Caluua, but my nerves had really got the better or me, I was so hot that I went bright red standing in front the judge while she congratulated us and gave us the bright yellow 3rd place rosette... How embarrassing!
There was no time to rest... We were also entered for the next class (Puppy Bitch) and because the judge had already seen Caluua, I was asked to stand aside while she looked at the other puppy bitches in the class. I was very pleased about this because I was still shaking like crazy, and trying to cool down a bit from the previous class!! When the judge had completed the judging of the others we were all asked to run round together and then to line up so she could place the class.
It was a tense moment as the judge walked up and down, making her decisions, but then she just walked straight over to us and awarded us 1st place! I could not believe it, what a fantastic way to start our showing career with a shiny bright red 1st place rosette!!!
If I thought I was red before, you should have seen me after this class, I think a beetroot would have looked anemic against my face!!!
We were given a voucher to go outside and have our photo taken for the website and a bottle of wine, I felt so proud of Caluua and everyone came and congratulated us, Sue (Caluua’s breeder) was also at the show, and was thrilled for us.
Sue, Jackie and I (Jackie is the owner of Caluua's Dad "Bruk" and also Caluua's sister "Caluula") had one last class, the Prodigy, with Caluua's Mum, and three sisters. We were awarded 2nd place, so not a bad effort for our first attempt... 1st, 2nd and 3rd all in one day!!!
It was such a great day out, we met up with Derek & Jean, who had brought Maestro to enter in the Open Dog and Lillie Mae, just to get her used to the showing scene.
Sue called me a few days later to say how proud she was of Caluua and well done for qualifying... Qualifying for what I asked? Sue laughed and said I had qualified for Crufts! Well that just made my day, I had absolutely no idea... I then called my Mum in Portugal and all my friends and told them all to make sure they were free on the 10th March 2007!!! I'm so excited I cant tell you... Fingers crossed xxx