It has been a while since my last posting, and it’s been a busy time in the world of dogs.
Westminster has just wrapped up and the CKC communications team worked hard to expand our coverage of Canadian participants. Our social media specialist had a media pass that provided him with access to the action, which had him madly posting on Facebook during the event, while specialists performed research backup at the office.
The culmination of the 2017 show points allows us to start introducing the Top Dogs in our various disciplines over the next few weeks, then we head straight into our media blitz for the most popular breeds in Canada in 2017.
While all this going on, the grass roots activities that make the dog fancy what it is continues. Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a grooming workshop put on by the Border Terrier Club of Ontario. I arbitrarily chose the word “workshop” when I could have called it a meeting, lesson, exchange or social. While I don’t have a Border Terrier, I brought along my Cardigan Welsh Corgi companion and nobody batted an eye, including the 15 or so Border Terriers in attendance.
I was there to support a friend who is a new Border Terrier puppy owner who’s eager to learn how to hand strip his new puppy. It was such a pleasure to watch a uniquely “world of dogs” type scene unfold. Coincidentally, the breeder of my friend’s puppy was in attendance and she immediately greeted her puppy buyer and took an interest in assessing the development of the dog. My friend was quickly identified as a new owner and one of the club executives smoothly moved in and got him set up and started with some practical lessons and mentorship.
There was some friendly banter with other name-tagged attendees, including sharing of tips and news of the day. To break up the hand stripping frenzy and give people and dogs a bit of a break, the club made some announcements of coming events with several pleas for volunteers. It was great to hear their plans for upcoming events for some of the less familiar disciplines, such as earth dog and nose work (aka scent detection).
My friend ended the event with some professional grooming work on his dog, a new confidence on how to do it himself, a catch up with the breeder, and dates for events to help find an outlet for his dog’s abundance of energy and enthusiasm. To top it all off, he even filled out a club membership application.
Going full circle to the beginning of this post, I would have no doubt that some of the dogs and people at that event had what it takes to make it to Westminster or onto the CKC Top Dog list. But on that date it didn’t matter. Everyone in attendance enthusiastically shared a common interest and passion for their dogs and their fellow participants. Good on them.