January 24, 2012

Hello again everyone!


Like I promised, I bring you a whole blog post about nothing but dogs. Dogs, dogs, and more dogs. Dogs which I have never seen before in real life. Dogs which don't even look like dogs. Dogs big and small, wide and thin. Dogs famous in these ends of the world. Just dogs.


So, as you may have remembered, this Saturday and Sunday were Luca's (families Australian Shepherd) big days. He was to be shown Saturday morning at 10:30 against other dogs of his breed. Unfortunately, he did not win a thing or even qualify for the second round. However, his breeder won the best breeder award of her dogs and went on qualifying with some of her Australian Shepherds. To make this story short, Luca spent the whole day in his cage, a failure of his breed (apparently missing some teeth!) while my host sister and I walked around and watched the dog show.


It was great to see all of this in person for I have only seen it on TV before. Some of the dog breeds I have never seen before in my life and some I had only seen in books and magazines. The amount of dogs at this show was staggering. For each dog show group (by breed) there were as little as two competitors to as many as 52! And that wasn't even including the puppies who show as well! No wonder it takes two full days to complete the show. 


Anyways, as I said earlier, Luca lost and was put in his cage (Don't worry, Luca hates the shows anyways. He just sleeps showing little to no interest in anything around him.) while my host sister and I walked around the huge dog show arena. 


It is best to just show you all of this though. Enjoy!

 We're here! Already the arena is full of people and their canines ready for competition.

 People and dogs mixed together, scrambling for space to train their dog before the show.

And so it begins. If you look closely in the far back there is a line of dogs being shown. And an audience of many watching.

 Since it was morning Luca was one of the first breeds to show. Here he is, calmly watching his shower's hand and waiting for it to end so he can sleep in his cage again.

Luca running around the area as the judge watches is anatomical movements. 












But, alas, Luca didn't do very well at all. Placing last out of all dogs he competed against. Therefore, here begins the photos of all the dogs I had seen. I would like to label them all by breed, but it would prove way too difficult given the amount of dogs at the show. And, as a recent quick thought, I will categorize them by actions. Whether it be grooming, show, standing and waiting, and maybe even, "Oh my gosh is that even a dog?".

Grooming

 Aw isn't he so cute!? Just a big ball of fur.

 More balls of fur. Obviously requiring more grooming than the rest of the dogs.

 Alright, now this qualifies for the sections "Oh my gosh is that even a dog?", but they are being groomed as you see. What is that you ask? I don't know to be honest, some alien created space dog with a giant brain and missing fur patches. No just kidding its a "Bedlington Terrier", I found the name under an article claiming it is the world's eighth weirdest dog breed. Ironic.

 This also looks strange but not as strange as the later. I don't know what this is either, but apparently I can't find it by googling "werid dog breeds".

 He doesn't look like he is enjoying that.

Haha I love this picture! Can you see the annoyance on this dogs face from being surrounded by three, clearly gossip-addicted women bearing hair brushes as weapons? 

I wouldn't mind owning this dog. So cute!

Show

Like father like son, but for dogs.
Can you see the resemblance?!

Running, running, standing, then running, running, running now stop! That's what its like in the show area.

Now that is a pretty dog!

 Little puppies competing for best puppy of their breed.

 Big German Shepherd breeds in show.

 For some reason this dog looks like he knows more than he should. Or just really smart. Some kind of German Shepherd with a mix of something.

Standing so proper. Wonder if she won? If I was the judge I'm sure she would win... along with all the others! They all look the same to me!

 Haha oh so cute! Something like a stuffed animal it would appear to be. Or a poodle...

Fat, stout, and broad, must be a bull dog.

 1, 2, 3 cute little Australian Shepherd puppies!

Five, umm... rat dogs as I like to call them; awaiting the judges call.

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a dog,
Fuzzy Wuzzy had lots of hair,
Fussy Wuzzy was very fuzzy, wasn't he?

Pretty Spaniel!

Standing and Waiting

 Cute dog but much too thick fur! High maintenance is calling!

 Husky excited and ready to show! The complete opposite of Luca.

 Another Fuzzy Wuzzy! Interesting breed don't you think? It's like a German Shepherd/Fuzzy Wuzzy mix.

 I got full attention on this shot. Cute dog.

 A giant Fuzzy Wuzzy!

 Hmm... some kind of dog.

Another rat dog with less fur!

 The ultimate Fuzzy Wuzzy! Pure Fuzz and Wuzz...

 Rawr! Or, I mean, ROOF BARK BARK! Very intimidating little guy.

I've always loved these Pomeranian-like dogs. So beautiful!

 Border Collie! There were many at the competition, but none that come near to the beauty and intelligence of my dear Boe, of course.

 This looks a little like our old dog Freckles! R.I.P.

 Another fuzzy wuzzy mop dog, just because they make me smile!

"Oh my gosh is that a dog?"

The moment you've all been waiting for. Dogs, which don't look like dogs, but are dogs. Did that make sense? 

First we have this... dog. Which looks like a "giant walking white wig". Well at least it won something apparently!

 Another Fuzzy Wuzzy, but with human-like qualities; i.e. little boots and pretty hair-do!

 I'm not sure if this qualifies as a dog, or as a giant wolf. Either or, its back came up to my waist, and its head reached my shoulder. Now you have a good visual for "Hound of the Baskervilles" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (read that book by the way its great).

 Eeeek! Another rat dog, but with more fur. I don't know this dog creeps me out just a bit.

 More giant wolf dogs. Good thing they're well-behaved.

 Just so you don't forget the magnitude of weirdness this dog possesses, here it is again!

 Hahaha! This is not so weird, but cute. Little rat-dog and big rat-dog.

 If aliens weren't at work at this dog show, then robots where. Here we see a Robot Bernese Mountain Dog at it's finest.

Apparently a poodle, but I personally can't categorize it as a dog.

Well there you have it! My first dog show, complete with free sample dog food and soiled shoes (You can imagine what happens when hundreds of excited dogs get together. Some can't make it outside, lovely isn't it?). Regardless of the stench, it was a great experience seeing all these different dogs and watching a dog show in real life instead of on TV. However, I will stick to watching them on TV, the smell was awfully strong...

Hope you enjoyed this! And don't be offended by my preference in dogs, I love them all. It's  just that some are too strange for my tastes, as you might very well agree. Hope all is well back in Michigan! I've heard there have been many snow days this month! Must be nice, here in Finland the only thing that cancels school is frozen pipes, and the odds are slim that that will happen, especially with the crazy "global warming-like" winter we have had.

I will post another blog soon of course. Maybe about ice skating and sledding here in Turku with Emma. Until then, give your dogs and pets some lovin' for me! I miss mine very much!

Love,

Karlee