The seasonal shift is underway

So, what do a pair of mushers do when the season finally melts away? Why, they go to a dog show in the morning and then have their musher friends over for dinner so they can talk about dogs. We manage.

The Coniston dog show was on this weekend and although I am not a really a fan of dog shows per se, I will go to gawk at the parallel universe. I say parallel universe because although dogs figure largely in the lives of these people, these lives are so far removed from ours. I have a whole tirade about dog shows and the Canadian and American Kennel Clubs and how their are ruining certain dog breeds by what they are selecting as Best in Class and Best in Show, but I'll not say more for now, except: you would be hard pressed to see a dog with any appreciable muscling on it at (this particular) dog show. Oh! to have the decadent life of a show dog. The primping and preening rivals the backstage of the Paris runways, I bet. We have a friend who raises Siberian Huskies for show and sale and he was supposed to be at the show but we missed the Working Group as the judging was held on Friday. I understand that there were only two Siberian kennels there, anyway, so I guess his chances of winning Best in Class were good; 50/50 odds aren't bad.

Jenn, Hunter and I wandered around the floor (it was held in the Coniston Arean) to get a better look at some of the dogs. A few folks were kind enough to let us take pictures of their dogs and others were too serious to stop to chat. We didn't stay for very long; there is only so much dog-and-handler prancing I can take. What a funny world.

Before anyone gets the wrong impression, I'm not trying to bad mouth the show circut. My issues lie with the Kennel Clubs and their setting of 'breed standards' but the show kennels themselves display a lot of committment to their dogs; I mean, some people drove for hours to sit in a dimly lit arena bathing, blow-drying and brushing their dogs. I don't do that at home.

Here are some of the dogs we saw at the show:

Hunter waiting patiently in the truck while a librarian that rivals a slug in speed 'helps' me find a book.

We had James and his girlfriend over for dinner. James had been Lou Serre's handler this winter and I met him while working on the race. He is an American who has wanted to move to Canada for quite a while and after meeting Monique, his girlfriend, this winter he has finally started to climb the mountain of paperwork involved in immigrating.

Monique and James brought Emily, Moniques three year old daughter to dinner. Hunter was excited all day at the prospect of having a new friend to play with. The two of them were immediate friends and happily played away together until 23h00 when James and Monique decided it was time to go.

James and Monique

Hunter and Emily around the fruit tray

Hunter and Emily, in serious pre-dinner conversation

Playing with bubbles

Until the frost comes out of the ground and we get our projects in line, I think our lives will be a bit on the boring side. Jenn is looking at different breeders of goats, however; who knows, maybe we'll have another kid around here soon.