Dazzle and I had a big weekend and I'm still trying to recover :-) We drove to Detroit for the Cobo Hall dog show, a huge event! Here's what one source had to say about the show:
- The Detroit Kennel Club (DKC) Dog Shows on March 6 & 7, 2010 at Cobo Center in Detroit offer fun for the whole family. The two-day celebration of dogs, allows visitors up-close and personal time with breeders, owners, handlers and over 3,000 dogs from the 161 breeds recognized by the American Kennel Club.
Show highlights include conformation and obedience competitions, Agility, search and rescue dogs, demonstrations, AKC Rally Trials, specialty retail booths and more! The Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows are recognized as one of the largest all-breed benched dog shows in North America.
The DKC shows are a ‘benched show’, which offer visitors the unique opportunity to meet with owners and breeders and learn about breed characteristics, temperament, care, health, grooming, history and other issues for dog owners. When dogs are not in the judging rings, they are required by the rules of the show to be displayed on a bench according to breed, making it easy for a spectator to talk to several breeders of a specific type in the same location. The DKC Dog Shows are one of only six benched American Kennel Club (AKC) shows left in the United States.
.
While at the show, I had him CERF'd, which is an eye exam done by certain vets with special equipment after the dog's eyes are dilated, and he passed. So that's good news! A re-test each year is recommened.
.
Here are some photos:
.
Kids and adults alike really liked the "beautiful shepherd" or "skinny German Shepherd". Several people learned about a breed they had never heard of before. Others wanted to meet him because the K-9 officers that were doing demonstrations had a beautiful BIG Mal (90 lbs of muscle) and they wanted to be able to pet the "police dog".
Dazzle took all the attention in stride
He played with several dogs, including this shepherd mix...
and his girlfriend Kozi. He was so excited to see his girlfriends were at the show when we arrived on Saturday. It was so cute!
This was near the end on Sunday. Dazzle was so tired he just laid down right out in front of the booth with people and dogs streaming by and closed his eyes. His ears were still keeping track of me though :-)
Then he found the tent and used that to get away from the adoring fans so he could take a nap. I had forgotten to bring his soft crate, but there wouldn't have been room in the booth for it anyway.
He slept in the crate the whole way home and after the 5 hour nap, he was ready to play again! I had to pull over part way home to take a nap, but even after that I was just ready for bed by the time I walked in the door. Mike helped me unload the van and I collapsed into bed where I slept for 10 hours!
.
This morning was our last level 2 agility class and he did well. I was hurting from all the time on my feet the previous 2 days so I was glad we didn't have much movement required for us :-) After class, I took him to the park and tossed his ball just because the weather was so nice! Finally in the 60's and sunny. So nice not to have to bundle up against the cold! After running for awhile, Dazzle found a pile of snow that was not yet melted and flopped down to roll and cool off :-) Life is good.
.
