Just some more pics of stacking practice with Griffin.  I can’t seem to get a good photo of him stacking, but it’s not easy trying to stack him and take the photo myself.

When I look back at older photos though he does look much better than he did when we first started out.  He’s maturing quite nicely and I’m pretty happy with him.  He is 17 months old now.

We have a show this weekend but I don’t expect much from this show, I believe there are quite a few going to it.  But it’s all practice and it’s all fun and that’s the main thing.  He has certainly improved quite a bit over the last few months and stacks much better and gaits quite well now too.  This will be his last show in ‘Junior’ age group, he will move up to ‘Intermediate’ next month.

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In Shock With Griffins Best of Breed Win

After two months away from the show ring Griffin had his first show back on Saturday the 7th January.  I was a little nervous going into this show because I had done no training with him whatsoever during those two months.  But I tried to think along the lines that it really doesn’t matter if he doesn’t do any good because it’s his first show back.

When I arrived at the show and looked at the catalogue I saw that there were 5 Ridgebacks, 2 dogs and 3 bitches and the other dog was one that always beat Griffin, so I knew we wouldn’t do very well.

I think that because I went into the ring resigned to the fact that we would lose and not worrying about it too much being our first show back for the year, I was more relaxed and not worrying so much.

You can imagine my surprise when I was running around the ring following behind the other Ridgeback and the judge pointed to me and gave Griffin Challenge dog.  I was in complete shock, I really didn’t expect that at all.

Then came the next surprise when we went back into the ring to run off against the Challenge bitch and once again I ran around that ring expecting the bitch to get the Best of Breed and not at all expecting the judge to once again point to me.

So our first show back and Griffin got Best of Breed, giving him another 10 points toward his championship title.

This is the first time that Griffin has ever beaten another dog.  He has beaten bitches before but never another dog, so I am absolutely ecstatic that he won – so very proud of my boy!

We went back on Sunday and I think I was a little more nervous on the Sunday, feeling that there was more pressure now that he’d had a good win.  Griffin was terrible on Sunday too, he kept jumping up on me before we went into the ring and wouldn’t behave.  He wouldn’t stack well and when the judge came over to him he leaned right back, so needless to say he didn’t win on Sunday, but that’s ok, I am so happy with his win on Saturday that I will be happy for a while.

I remind myself that most dogs will have more losses than wins and to really enjoy those wins when they come.

It’s been a while since I updated this site so here it is.

Griffin and I are both slowly improving with our showing.  We are both starting to gain some confidence and not be as nervous in the ring.  We are still a little nervous but we are getting much better.

Griffin has gained points toward his title with a few Best of Breeds and one Challenge Dog result. He is now on 50 points so he is exactly half way to achieving his Australian Champion Title.

In October we had a weekend away at Port Pirie.  Griffin didn’t do all that well for the first two shows but at the last show for the weekend he got Best of Breed and then went on to get Runner Up Best in Group and Best Junior In Group.  That is his best result ever and I was incredibly happy with that result.  I know I went into the ring that day feeling quite relaxed and it certainly rubbed off on him as he showed really well.

Here are a couple more photos, these photos were taken a couple of weeks ago at a show at SACA (South Australian Canine Association).

The afternoon show wasn’t much better and he was up against two dogs and one bitch and once again pretty much came last.  Looking at some photos of him gaiting around the ring, he really is terrible when gaiting.  He holds his head down and his ears back because he is nervous and not happy out there.  He just doesn’t have any confidence out there at all.  I don’t know if that’s something I can work on with him or not but I will try.

Sunday was a little better.  Griffin actually got Best of Breed and so got his first points toward his championship title.  However, no other Ridgebacks turned up   But we’ll take the win anyway!

At least he is good enough to be given the BOB and not be excused so that counts for something.  We went in for the ‘in hound group’ judging and although he didn’t win (and I didn’t expect he would) he did quite well.  He stood fairly well and my friend Kathryn said he gaited quite well.  The judged asked some dogs to do a triangle but she didn’t ask for all of them to do it, only the one’s she was considering.  Griffin was asked to do the triangle so at least he was good enough to be in her consideration group, so I’m pretty happy with that.

Griffin's Best of Breed Certificate

Kathryn and her Great Dane did really well too with Bawden getting a Best of Breed over a titled dog, so he also got his first points towards his title.

Overall, I guess it was a good weekend.  We have four shows over three days this weekend, so will be an exhausting weekend.  I will need to get some practice in with Griffin before then.

In the Junior of Breed category there were three dogs and Griffin came third.  My husband said ‘so he came last’ and I said NO he came THIRD! 

Oh well, these things happen.

Shelridge Indiana Jones came first and Shakuru Do U C Wat I C came second – both lovely dogs.

We did get a ribbon and a certificate for coming third so that’s cool!

We’ve been doing a bit of training since then and I think have improved a little.  This guy at show training has been helping me out and giving me some advice which has been really good.  Just little tips about how to hold the lead and where to position the chain and it has made a big difference, Griffin looks so much better when he is gaiting when I’m holding the lead this new way.

We have 3 shows this weekend and although I don’t expect that we’ll win anything, we’ll still go and have fun!  It’s all about having fun!

Griffin did ok – average I guess.  I was in a crappy mood, not sure why, but he was really frustrating me.  He just wasn’t holding his head high and kept moving his legs – frustrating!

He got Junior of Breed and then when it came to show for Junior of Group the judge assistant didn’t call our number out.  I had no idea what was happening and thought perhaps it wasn’t Junior yet since we weren’t called out, but it turned out it was Junior.   So I spoke to the judge assistant afterward and he looked at his records and apologized because he had forgotten to write in Griffins number.  I know he wouldn’t have won it, but I was still disappointed that we didn’t even get to go out.

But these things happen, at least now I know in future if our number doesn’t get called out to go and query it straight away.

The next show we are entered in is the Adelaide Royal Show and that’s a bit scary so we better get in lots of practice between now and then.

Here are some photos of Griffin and a couple of Kathryn’s Great Dane Bawden.

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Bawden is 5 months old and huge, but he is so gentle and lovely.  He doesn’t ‘pull’ anywhere near as much as Griffin does and Grif is almost 12 months old.

Bawden got Baby Puppy in Breed and he was a very good boy.

I have Griffin entered into a show next weekend and then he is entered on the 5th September at the Royal Show.  I’m looking forward to the Royal Show being such a big one, but quite nervous about it too.

This is Kathryn and her Great Dane – Bawden.

You can see his profile on DogzOnline HERE

I also set up a profile for Griffin HERE

I haven’t taken any pics for a while so I’ll have to get some at the next show.  I have a heap of shows coming up in October, so fingers crossed Griffin will do well in at least one of them

Griffins results were:

2nd July

JOB – Junior of Breed

3rd July

JOB – Junior of Breed

Am I happy with those results????  Well, I’m happy that I can say he got junior of breed, but really, he was the only dog in that category so he couldn’t NOT get it!  Could he have won JOB if there had been another dog?  Probably not!  I was too stressed and he was very  nervous and stressed to.

I was tempted to let Kathryn handle him because I knew I was just too stressed and that would rub off on Griffin.  Kathryn took Grif to practice with him and she said the whole time he just kept looking back to see where I was and he was really stressed.  When she brought him back he jumped all over me and then sat next to me and he was shaking.  So it really stressed him to go with Kathryn, even though he knows her.  I think he’s a bit obsessed with me, he can’t handle it if I leave.  So I took him in the ring and then Kathryn took him in to do the ‘in group’ category.

We need lots more practice and I need to de-stress and I need to make it more fun and less stressful for Griffin.  He is very anxious out there and nervous, so I really need to take him out more around other people, dogs and noise and try to get him use to being out in strange places and not be anxious.

I also need to get up extra early on the morning of a show and take Griffin for a big walk to burn off some energy.  He still tries to get to other dogs all the time and acts stupid, which just stresses me more.

I also need to get him a crate to keep him in while he’s not out in the show ring.  Having him just tied up or holding his lead is just not good, he doesn’t settle and constantly pulls and tries to get to other dogs.

Our next show isn’t until 14th August, so I will have to work hard between now and then and get lots of practice in and try to desensitize Griffin to being out and about in public

Kathryn has now got a little (actually not so little) Great Dane puppy called Bawden.  He is just gorgeous and he did really well out in the ring – except when he was trying to eat Kathryns pants

No pics this time, maybe next time

Grif didn’t place anywhere, but that’s ok. My son took some photos and when I looked at them they really were bad, he didn’t gait well, he didn’t hold his head high enough and I was quite nervous too. That’s ok though as it is only our second show and both Griffin and I are very new to the show world so for now, we are putting it all down to experience

I have show training tonight and we have another show this weekend at Monarto. The more showing that we do, hopefully I will be less nervous over time and become more confident and perhaps Griffin will too!

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I think he is just over 4 months old in this video