Post-Show Blues (and not of the merle variety)

Two dog shows this past weekend, and not much good news to report. Ian needed only two points to finish, but he went Reserve both days. If I had a dime for every purple-and-white ribbon I've collected...

And, Miss Elli made her debut in the show ring on Saturday, in Sweeps and Puppy 6-9. I told Lori before we went into the ring that Elli would be going 4th in her class of 4. Lori assured me that, in fact, her puppy bitch would be going 4th. As it turns out, we were both right: Elli went 4th to Lori's 3rd in Sweeps, and 3rd to Lori's 4th in the regular class. The Sweeps judge pointed out that Elli needs more substance. Gee, ya think?

I won't call it a total loss, though; Elli stacked herself nicely and held the pose much better than I expected. She didn't behave quite as well gaiting (or gamboling, as the case may be) around the ring, but for her first time out she didn't do half bad. Another breeder pointed out that she has enough attitude for 20 corgis. If only she'd grow into it...

Elli's littermate, on the other hand, went Best of Breed over Specials on Saturday, and Reserve on Sunday out of the 6-9 class. Congrats to Debbie and Jessie on Ah-Leah's win! (And yep, I took the wrong puppy.) I will console myself with the fact that I honestly thought that Ah-Leah was the better of the two girls, despite assertions that Elli was the better pup. The moral(s) of the story: 1. Do not be color-blind. I wanted a black so I could breed for blues and didn't want to take an extra generation to do it by choosing the brindle puppy, so I went against my gut and chose Elli. 2. Listen to your gut. It apparently knows what it's talking about. (Unless you've just had Mexican food; then it's got OTHER things on its mind and while, very chatty, it is NOT evaluating puppies.)

Alas, all is not lost, though. Of the two girls, Elli has the far better temperament for agility and obedience competition. I can't wait until she's old enough to start training in agility. She's super-fast and can turn on a dime -- she's going to FLY around the course. And hey, she makes me laugh every single day. Can you really ask for more than that?