Dog Days of Spring

What do you do when it is 90 degrees? Go to the Shetland Sheepdog Specialty at the beautiful Argus Ranch where all the contestants are wearing a heavy fur coat.
In one of my previous lives I showed dogs. Mostly in obedience but I have shown a bit in Sheltie conformation classes. I also raised, trained and socialized Sheltie pups for a few of my friends. That was really fun. Because Sheltie pups are very cute and smart. My vet described them as "mature" pups. This is one of the mature pups I saw today.

It was one of these pups that I went to see in his obedience classes today when my friend invited me to tag along...for old time sake. He came to me as a show prospect several years ago so I gave him to the daughter of this friend of mine who was involved in 4H and agility. She wanted to socialize him and train him. And if you have ever been involved in 4H you know what a good life a kid's 4H dog can have.
Well he never did make a conformation dog....due to one crucial missing part. That turned out to be a good thing. He has achieved the highest levels in agility, his first love, and obedience which he loves too...just not quite as much as flying over jumps and running through tunnels. Most of all he excelled at being a girl's 4H dog. But like most girls, she grew up and moved away to college. This little working dog still needed a job so her mother took over his training and showing and they are well on their way to an Obedience Trail Championship. Which in layman terms means, a whole lot a work!

Today was another great day for this little dog, in their Utility class (whole lot of work, again) they received a 198 out of 200, which is very hard to do. And in the Open B class (a lot of work...not quite as much as Utility but a lot more than most people would do) they got a second place...I forgot the score on that one. They also got a huge rosette for being Highest Combined score.
Let me tell you it is much more fun when you come home a winner..no matter what anyone says.