Rock Star Treatment In The Dog World - Part 2

Sunday was Hank's day, and the real reason why Jen and I came to Long Beach - to take Mildred Corner's dream as far as we could, just as Mildred would have done herself if she would have been here with us. As many of you know, Mildred's life was cut tragically short by small cell lung cancer. It was Jen's and Lorie Barns (Mildred's close friend and handler of many of her championship Collies) desire to continue her work, especially with the two puppies she wanted to keep and show from the first litter of her own breeding stock. Lorie worked very hard over the last year and a half with both Hank (AKC registered as "GrCH, CH 5 C's Dreams Come True"), and Ivy (AKC registered as "CH 5'C's Precious Memories").

Lorie and her family showed up with Hank a bit before 8 and her and Jen worked to get Hank ready for the Best Of Variety show - the first contest to pick the best of this breeds variety - in his case, the Smooth Collie. There will be pictures posted later on Jen's facebook page, as well as the Mid Michigan Collies facebook page. There wasn't much to do - just some simple combing, a fluff of the hair around the neck area, and out to ring 9 we all went.

Hank - rated as number 17 in the nation at the end of qualifying - went up against 7 other smooth Collies (there were supposed to be a total of 10 - two contestants were no-shows), including a stunning Blue Merle female who was taking Best Of Variety in the two shows prior to Eukanuba. Hank and Lorie did very well, but it was very evident that the female was the better animal today, and she advanced to the Best Of Group contest. Hank, Lorie and Jen took some photos, including a couple while Jen held a picture of Mildred - at no time did ay of us lose focus as to why we were here, and while it would have been nice to win or even be noticed, the mission that started so many months ago was now complete. And as we have been reminded, Hank is a very young dog. He will continue to grow and fill out, and there is always the opportunity that he will obtain enough points to return next year. We are all proud of Hank, Lorie and everyone who helped them get to this wondrous event, and I would personally like to thank Lorie for her hard work and sacrifice.

So after a few tears and many hugs, it was time to decompress from the "show" portion of our trip. It was now our chance to enjoy the rest of the events there. There was a "Dock Dogs" demonstration event (where dogs jump off of a dock into a pool of water), where both amateur and professional dogs and handlers showed off this very fun sport. We also visited the agility rings, where dogs of all sizes competed in what I think is a very cool sport - running, jumping, climbing, tunneling, all very much like a steeplechase but with the dogs handler simply pointing the way towards the next obstacle. We also visited the obedience ring, and watched a young lady and her black lab perform a stunning display of obedience work.

One very cool section of this event was a "Meet The Breeds" section, where over 100 breeds of dogs are displayed and available to people to pet and ask questions of owners and officianados alike. We got to touch - and be kissed by - many different breeds of dogs. Jen and I were attracted to the bigger breeds though, as we simply like bigger animals.

After a while though, we were exhausted. The stress of the weekend and the awesome opportunity to blog just feet away from the contestants was a bit draining, so while we had the chance we took a couple hours to rest back at our hotel before heading to the main arena for the balance of the group contests, the winner of the Eukanuba World Challenge, and finally the Best In Show - the top dog of the entire event.

There is so much more to tell, and both Jen and I will tonight and into the coming week.

Stay tuned. :)