And She Wins the Group

At the tender age of 15 weeks!

Well, Darby had a very exciting weekend. She went with me to the Wichita shows this weekend. I decided to enter her in the Saturday evening B match just for the experience. Miss Sherri was there with her beautiful Cardigan puppies, and I said Jacque and I would help her show them. I did tell her with a wink, though, that when it came down to the Group, my priorities were with the #1 dog in my "string." HAAA. Darby was the only Swedish Vallhund, and there were 20-something Herding dogs entered in the match.

Darby did OK for her breed judging, and our judge was a sweet Bearded Collie breeder from Colorado. She was gentle with the puppies, and so patient with the babies. She was kind to Darby, and as she handed us the Best of Breed ribbon, she told me she thought my puppy was very pretty.

When we went in for the Group judging, Darby was much more lively with other pups in the ring at the same time. She was animated, and wow did she move. The judge came down the line at the end of judging, and I thought she was going to point to Sherri's pretty Cardigan puppy. But, she kept moving and pointed to Darby for the Group 1. :-) As we left the ring, the judge said that she had not seen too many Vallhunds, but what she knew was that the breed needed a well put together front, and good balance, and the ability to move and cover ground. She said she thought Darby was a really nice baby.

By the time the other groups finished up and we went for Best in Match, Darby was more than tired. I picked her up when there was one dog ahead on the table, and she curled up under my chin and thought we were done. She was very quiet on the table for BIM, but she got animated again when it was time to move. The baby Papillon won Best in Match, and it was really a cute little baby.

I think that Darby has set the bar pretty high for herself. What a good little Muffin. Here are a few pix (thanks, Jacque!). Enjoy. And keep in mind that she's never been stacked before, so I thought she did a heckuva job trying to stand like a show dog!