Should I Stay or Should I Show?

When we brought Schultz home we had made a commitment to the Breeders family that we would do everything that Tyson requested we do. It was a promise I vowed I would do and I would do it with honor. I had promised that I would show Schultz and Geoff promised that he would be involved with Hunt Test and "hunting" [obviously].

I had never shown a dog in my life. I knew nothing about Dog Shows, the people, nothing. To say the least, I was terrified of the unknown and I was terrified to break my commitments. In my book. A promise is a promise.

I signed Schultz and I up for a handling class as this was the first step in the process. We had 3 months or so before our first official show and I was looking forward to learning and understanding what this was all about. My first class went just like this:

Teacher - [well known in the dog world of GSP's showed Schultzy's mom] You and this dog have no right being in the show ring.

Admittedly I did feel that she had some merit to that comment as I was completely clueless as to what was going on. But I would go home and practice EVERY day with Schultz. We would stack and Geoff would check him over. I would run my circles in the front yard present him run back and around again into a stack. And every class would end with a snide comment about how horrible I was doing or how terrible he was showing or how disgusted she was with my efforts. And every single week I would go home and try, TRY to do better.

Our first show was The Boston Christmas Show. The anxiety I had about this weekend cannot be put into words. But by God we certainly looked the part didn't we??

me and schultz boston 1996

And then something terrible happened. "THE JUDGE" aka COW looked me directly in the eye and said the following: You have no right to be showing this dog. You don't belong in the show ring.

I wish this were a lie. I wanted to die, cry, be any place but in this ring in a wool suit with nylons. Hence this face while still in the ring.......

Oh yeah borderline blubber fest captured in action. I cried the entire way home and BEGGED Geoff to not show Schultz anymore. He managed to talk me out of it.

The positive note of that weekend: This is the first time I ever met Leslie Ruddock. In the nicest way I know how to say it. This woman is hard core. She told me not to worry about it and keep going. She always said that to me. But there is a lot that she doesn't know. I took Geoff's kind words of encouragement and Leslie's and I kept practicing. I kept going to shows. I focused all my attention on Schultz and did my best to ignore people around me. It was really hard. It was hard to have people stand next to me pretending that they were not talking to me and tell me I didn't belong. It was devastating to find out the terrible things that people would say about me behind my back. I always thought the points went to the DOG. I don't see CH. In front of any human I know. And for a long time it showed in my performance. I had let them get the best of me.

i don't even know what i'm doing in this picture but i'm certainly not engaged.

But I was showing with this lady......

Les with I think Sexy Rexy.

Les looking all bad ass!!

It wasn't all a loss. Schultz and I had our good moments in the Ring. Our first big win was in Maine. This was the day the Judge gave Schultz a butterscotch candy and his eyes crossed. Then an airplane went over head and Schultz was completely mesmerized by it. The judge was highly amused. I wanted to die because I was in front of the BAG that "trained" me how to show dogs. 

Our first big win and Schultz's first Major.

Our second big win. I didn't want to go to this show. I figured if I dressed horribly nobody would notice.

God he was so beautiful. This was his last big win.

We spent close to a year with nothing. Until we went to a show in Springfield and three other dogs that looked EXACTLY like Schultz got put up and we were dead last. I called it quits that day. I've done a lot with my life and my life with dogs since then. I'm proud of what I've accomplished with them even if it isn't recognized by the AKC. There are a lot of mean unhappy people in that world that wanted nothing but the worst for me. They created damage that as far as I'm concerned can never be repaired. Regrets? Maybe. For not defending myself and allowing that community of people to shit on me at will. So, If you ask me or "Tell ME" that I have to show a dog. You've got some hard selling to convince me why I would ever put myself or my dog through that again.

Some other random photos:

"always keep your eye on the judge holly" we won this day too.

this is what "bracing" looks like [this is also what a fanny pack looks like with a skort]