1 Friday night was Valentine's Day, spent at MaryBeth Frosco and Michael Shannon's house in Madison grooming the dogs for the show the next morning.
2 Caryl Crouse setup at the Hartford Civic Center earlier in the day, then drove down to meet us for grooming and a little training. Caryl and MaryBeth blow out Bentley, Sophie's brother.
3 Next up is Sophie on the grooming table, getting some words of encouragement from her half-sister Elizabeth.
4 Sophie gets quite the spa treatment
5 Saturday ring times were delayed 3-1/2 hours due to the judge's plane not making it in time. Dogs (males) compete before bitches (females), so once things got started, Bentley, Sophie's brother, is first up in the puppy (6-12 months old) dog class.
6 Bentley on the judging table
7 On his first time out, Bentley won best puppy dog and then Winner's Dog to get his first point towards championship!
8 Caryl Crouse takes Sophie for her first time in the ring, competing in the puppy (6-12 months old) bitch (female) class.
9 Sophie's first time on the judging table
10 Sophie does her down-and-back, to win the puppy bitch class.
11 Sophie is then back in to compete against the female that won the bred-by bitch class.
12 Sophie's cheering section- MaryBeth Frosco and Bentley, Deb and Elizabeth (on chair)
13 And Sophie wins her first point, getting Winner's Bitch!
14 Next up on Saturday is the Best of Breed competition. This includes 3 champions on the left side, starting with Travis Brock showing George and Caryl showing Elizabeth. On the right side are MaryBeth and Bentley (Winner's Dog) and Deb and Sophie (Winner's Bitch).
15 Travis Brock and George, who was bred by Caryl.
16 Caryl and Elizabeth, an older half-sister to Sophie
17 MaryBeth, absolutely quakingly nervious because this is her first time ever in a ring after 15 minutes of instruction the previous evening, takes Bentley around
18 And Deb in backup position takes Sophie around
19 Caryl and Elizabeth
20 And it is a grand sweep in breed for Caryl and her progeny! Elizabeth wins Best of Breed, Travis and George win Best of Opposites, and Bentley wins Best of Winners. Alas, Sophie does not place in the Best of Breed competition, but she's already got her points, so it's all good.
