My weekend. Part 1

Elroy here. Yo. I had an exhausting weekend. I mean it was all great fun. But by Sunday afternoon, I was beat. I think I need a vacation.

It began with a bath on Saturday morning. Out of the blue. It wasn’t like I rolled in anything, but I found myself after our morning walk, and after breakfast, being called into the garage. I learned from the PONs that when you are called to come into the garage, it is not always because you are going in the car. And you can just TELL when it isn’t going to be joyride. For example, her highness didn’t have a coat on. And she had that “look” that tells you something is about to happen that will not be anywhere near as fun as a joyride. So, like the PONs, I refused to go. Her highness had to get a leash to take me in. Sure enough – the full salon experience. Wash, blow dry, brush and nail trim. The Boss didn’t recognize me when I came out. Nah – I’m just joking with you. I looked exactly the same. Exactly. But I did smell like lavender.

It was AFTER that, that we went in the car. There was clearly some reason for the fresh smelling moi. Dog show. The Halifax Kennel Club show.

Now her highness was late – as usual- so didn’t get my entry for the pageant in on time. So, instead, I was recruited to do a stint with Meet the Breed. It’s a chance for the public to meet and learn about various breeds of dogs. They have a chance to talk with the owners and/or breeders and can see breeds up close and personal.

So ya basically sit on a table, and people come over and say hello. I, personally, like to thank them for coming over by giving them a big kiss. I had four different people who came by and said they remembered yours truly from last year – so they wanted to say hello again. I think I have a fan club. The Boss said the membership in my club is probably about 10. On a good day. He’s so sarcastic.

Anyway, the typical questions by newbie visitors were: (after they ask what the heck I am) 1. Do they have much energy? 2. Do they require much grooming 3. Are they barkers?

Her highness would say we Picards have plenty of energy, but can also easily learn to settle and relax at home. After the first few years.

As for grooming – it was kind of funny because the other dog “on” during the same time slot (we are scheduled for one hour stints) was an Afghan. So on a scale of 0-100 for grooming, I was a 10 and the Afghan was a 90. Or something like that.

I’m not much of a barker. Other Picards might be, but the Boss does enough for two of us, so I let him do the work. So it was a “no” to the barking question – with the caveat being that all dogs are different.

One man wanted to know if he could have some hair from my brush. I was worried he was going to make a voodoo doll or something. What did I do to him? But apparently he has allergies. So he tests a dog’s hair or fur to see how he reacts. He put it in a little zip lock baggie – he obviously came prepared! Smart idea – better to find out beforehand rather than getting a dog and then saying oopsie.

Meanwhile, while I was just shaking paws and kissing babies in true political style, one of my distant relatives was cleaning up the green carpet at Crufts! Yup – a Picard. Picards fall under some category called the AV (Any variety) Imported Breed Register in the Pastoral Group. These are generally rare breeds, who do not yet have huge numbers of dogs in the UK. So as I understand it, they take these dogs and group them together. In the case of the Pastoral group there are at least 6 breeds that fall in the category – Bergamasco, Hungarian Kuvasz, Hungarian Pumi, Swedish Lapphund, White Swiss Shepherd Dog and the Picardy Shepherd (like me). All of these dogs compete in their own little sub group and the winner goes on to the compete with the other best of breed winners (of the less rare breeds) in the Pastoral group. Anyway, there were 35 male dogs across these different breeds competing . And a PICARD, named Nelson got second place among all those boys. That’s a big deal. But what’s an even bigger deal is that we are cousins. Kind of. Well at least distant cousins. Because we both have the same grandfather! His father’s father was a dog named Flox – and my mother’s father was Flox too! If you look at pictures of all of us, you will see the family resemblance. For sure! So congrats to my cousin!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of my weekend in tomorrow’s blog. I had my second herding lesson. Let’s just say, I kind of forgot the rules a bit….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up.