The Dog Blog (I)

We got up early yesterday morning and headed to the St. Jacob's Farmer's Market, which is only about three kilometers from our house. I've been up there a few times before, but never had as good a time.
The produce prices have to be seen to be believed. The meat, not so much...but at least you know you're getting superior quality. But what really caught and held my eye was the wide array of artsy-craftsy stuff: handmade quilts, beadwork, stone carvings...really cool.

Then off to the Kitchener Kennel Club's dog show, obedience and agility trials.

I have the same attitude towards dog shows that I do towards beauty pageants, their human equivalent: boredom and scorn. The idea of pompous judges determining the relative worth of a dog (or a woman) based upon some artificially derived set of criteria offends me on a fundamental level. I have owned both purebred dogs of distinguished pedigree and dogs so muttified that their breed was impossible to ascertain; neither sort of dog made for a better or a worse pet. (Likewise, as I have often said, likely beauty pageant winners tend to be some combination of snots, bitches, or airheads, and only rarely, in my experience, turn out to be people you'd actually care to count as friends.)

But the obedience trials are interesting, and I find agility fascinating. Agility, in case you've never seen it, is something like an elaborate dressage course for dogs. You run your dog at high speed over, around, and through a number of obstacles, such as

• jumps
• tunnels
• balance beams
• see-saws (where their paws must touch a painted section at the end)
• weave poles (which are just what they sound like, a series of poles set closely together that the dog must weave its way through)
• a raised platform where the dog must freeze of its own accord, sit or lay down, and stay for a count of five before continuing

All these are arranged in a fairly compact area. It can be difficult to recall where exactly you're supposed to lead your dog to next, and if it's hard for the human handler, think how hard it must be for the dog! Points are based on the time it takes to complete the course, and deductions are made for missing or hesitating at any obstacle. Most of the dogs you see at agility trials seem to completely adore running the courses.

We paid our $5.00 each and toured around the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium. There were plenty of dogs on display, of nearly every breed imaginable. Nearly every breed: there were no Greater Swiss Mountain dogs, to the dismay of our friend Sue, who owns one of apparently five in Canada. What we couldn't find, either in the arenas or on the handout we were given, was any mention of obedience or agility trials.

So I went out to the box office to try and track them down. They had no idea what I was talking about, despite the big sign outside advertising agility and obedience trials. Sigh. They advised me to talk to somebody affiliated with the show. Back into the arena I went, right down to rink level, and joined a group of people and their dogs. Fighting down a totally irrational case of nerves--I really felt like I was somewhere I wasn't supposed to be--I asked the show secretary where and when the obedience and agility trials were. "They started at 9:00," he said, "and they're in the stadium."

The stadium? I thought I was in the stadium. Never mind, if I ask, I'll look even more stupid then I do already. "Thank you", I said, and retreated in confusion.

Back out to the box office. "Uh, where's the stadium?" I asked, bracing myself for the inevitable Hey, look, it's Retard McDumbo, the guy who can't even find something as big as a stadium.
"It's out those doors. Just go left until you get to the end of the Aud and you'll see it."
And out we went, following the directions until we came to a...track field. With bleachers, sure, but doesn't a stadium have to have a roof? I guess not...lo and behold, the obedience trials were to the left and the agility trials were to the right and I couldn't find a single person that wasn't registered in either. That included somebody to check and see if we'd paid our admission. So we paid ten dollars for the priveledge of finding out we didn't need to pay a cent.

Breadner luck, I tell you.

There were easily a couple of thousand people in this complex and nearly every one of them was back in what I had thought was the stadium, watching dogs frouf their way around the ring. Out here, the wind was roaring in a most un-May way and dogs were gleefully running around, over, and through things for the enjoyment of...nobody at all.

We could have stayed longer, I guess, but it was actually rather depressing, being all alone, standing on the edge of the trial area (the bleachers were at least a hundred feet back). We watched a few dogs navigate the agility course, and a few more go through the obedience trials (which brought back some memories: I handled our dog to victory in the London trial one year). Then we left for home.

The sight and smell of all those dogs got me thinking about the dogs that have touched my life. I'm in the process of gathering pictures of them: when those are all in, I'll be back with Part II.