We love our annual Waitangi Weekend trek down to Gore and this year was no excpetion. It's a fabulous little show run by a great committee and always has some seriously good international judges. Because of the distance, it's the sort of show where the only the really serious breeders seem to want to make the trek, which means the competition is elite and fierce in all groups and any win is something to be celebrated.
We spent a lot of time before trip, trying to decide who would be actually travelling, as we have a new litter on the ground, but we are fortunate that Britanny's babies are thriving so we were able to leave our 2 week old babies in Dace's exceptionally capable hands and head off to Gore without having to worry abut them while we were gone.
The Long Coats still managed to be the 2nd largest breed entry in the Toy Group, (after the Cavs - who are always the largest breed in the Toy Group in the South Island) which we were especially grateful for. The cost of living crisis the whole world is complaining about is biting into entries everywhere, which are more expensive than they have ever been. The Nelson shows a couple a weeks ago only had 3 Long Coats and no Smooths, and even Ashburton next weekend, with double the total entries in the show and only an hour away from Christchurch, has only 1 more Long and 1 more Smooth than Gore had. It's quite depressing, really.
The breed entries in no way affected the quality, though, Alhough many other breeds in our group had only one entry, the lineup consisted of a Grand Champion Affie chasing his Supreme title, a gorgeous Pug imported from Taiwan, an Age in Show winning Chinese Crested and a stunning Papillon imported from Australia, just to name a few.
One thing we discovered on the trip down, is that Ava doesn't share our taste in music. Specifically, the Wicked soundtrack. We were bopping along to the music as we drove and then the song "One Fine Day" came on. When Kristen Chenoweth hit that high B, Ava lost the plot. She woke up, and started barking and whining and wouldn't stop until we changed the track. Once "Defying Gravity" started playing she was fine, Went back to sleep in her crate like nothing happened. We tested it out out a bit later and it really did trigger her. She didn't mind Ariana Grande's even higher notes. Must just be something about the tone of Kristen Chenoweth's voice that set her off.
Ava really is a bit special. :)
Anyway, as usual, Gore weather managed to be everything, everywhere, all at once. Saturday was a scorcher, while Sunday was cold and raining. Gotta love that Deep South weather.
Show 1 under Phred Wong from Thailand (who has owned Chihuahuas although not bred them, he informed us at dinner on Sunday evening), Ava took Best Bitch, Best Open and Best of Breed. Ben took Best Dog and Reserve Best of Breed and Best NZ Bred of Breed while Narci took Reserve Dog and Open Dog of Breed.
In the Smooth Coats, Scotty took Best Dog, Best Puppy of Breed and Best of Breed. Ava and Ben were both knocked out in Group by the Affie and the Cav and Scotty was pipped at the post by a beautiful Pug that had travelled all the way from Nelson.
In Show 2, under James Camac from Australia, Ben took Best of Breed, Best NZ Bred of Breed, Narci took Reserve Best of Breed and Best Open of Breed, while Ava took Best Bitch and Best Open Bitch.
In the Smooth Coats, Scotty again took Best Dog, Best Puppy of Breed and Best of Breed. Narci and Ben were both knocked out in Group by the Group winners but Scotty managed to take the Puppy of Group, which was such a surprise and a fabulous compliment to our breeding given such a tough lineup.
Day 2 dawned gloomy wet and cold, the complete opposite of the previous day. On Saturday they were tabling the dogs under a gazebo to keep the sun off the dogs, Sunday they did it to keep the rain off them!
Under Taiwanese judge, Mr C Lui, Ben took Best of Breed, Best NZ Bred of Breed again, Ava took Reserve Best of Breed and Best Open of Breed and Best Bitch, while Narci took Reserve Dog and and Best Open Dog.
In the Smooth Coats, Scotty took Best Dog, Best Puppy of Breed and Best of Breed. Ava and Ben were both knocked out in Group by the Group winners, and this time Scotty lost out to the Pekinese, who, like Scotty, has also already taken a Best Baby Puppy in Show. We are not kidding when we said the Puppy Class in this show was lit.
It was great seeing the Group go to a different dog each time. Nobody dominated the puppy class, but they sure had to work for their wins.
And speaking of wins, a special shout-out to Jorga Dixon and her Fox Terrier, Marshall (or Tato for those who know him well) bred by Carrie Tolley who finally cracked it and took Best in Show under terrier specialist, James Camac. With 4 Reserve Best in Shows under his belt, he has come so close, so often, it was wonderful to see him finally hit the jackpot. So thrilled for Tato, Jorga and Carrie and so well deserved.
We finished off the weekend with a great dinner at the Croydon Lodge (amazing food!) with the Gore Committee and the judges who were just delightful and a lot of fun to talk to after the show, Phred was on his way to Russia after our show and he regaled us with plenty of fascinating anecdotes from his travels around the world as a Judge.
We avoided the long weekend traffic with a leisurely drive home on Monday, making a small detour to buy Tracey a new XBox because why not?
Thanks to the Gore committee for another weekend of great shows and yes, we've already booked our accommodation for next year :)
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