That about sums up today’s dog show. Ringo has been a bit on the feisty side this week, and I had my concerns, especially as he did turn out to be very lively as we got to the show. However, he settled down after a while, and I actually thought it might work out okay.
Hah.
The judge took a little too long checking his head (she didn’t even get around to the teeth) and he got very agitated about someone being that close to him and him being prevented from jumping all over her and giving her a proper boxer-greeting. She then suggested I run with him before the teeth check. So I did.
Or tried, rather. He was a horror. He launched himself at me, growling and clamping onto my arm. Mind you, this is not aggression, as such. More like a tantrum. He gets super-agitated when he isn’t allowed to say hello to someone and his frustration usually ends up being channelled into rough, rough play with the person stopping him.
It got so bad that Elio had to come in and spray him with the water bottle. After one full shower and one threatening move with the bottle, he ran okay. But then the judge wanted to check his teeth again, and said that I could pass on it if I’d like (most likely, he’d then get a 2 or a 3 for quality, or even a KEP which means he didn’t behave well enough to be judged at all) but if i tried it and he tried to bite her, she’d have to report him for aggressive behaviour.
I decided to try it, because he only acts like this when you stop him from doing something he wants. I figured he’d try again to say hello to her in an overly lively fashion, but if so I could stop it then. He did fuss a bit at first (basically, tried to pull out from between my legs where I was holding him to say hello to her, but then he stayed still and let her look at his teeth. He doesn’t mind having his mouth opened at all. He just hates being kept from saying hello to someone.
But still, that was pretty awful, and I am not sure how we’re going to address this problem. It has been better for a while, so I guess this may be another hormonal phase, but we clearly need to find some vic—err, volunteers, who we can work on calmer greeting ceremonies with. It has to be people who know dogs well, though.
Oh, yeah, the result. Well, he got a 1 for quality, and as the single junior male won his class, but no HP or CK. I had had my hopes up as this judge really liked his mother and some other relatives of his, but we’ll never know if she might have liked him too, had it not been for his behaviour. Critique was okay, and I believe I’ve heard that she’s pretty picky, even on dogs she does like:
Powerful, masculine head, could have a more elegant muzzle, short muzzle. Dark eyes, well-carried ears, good neck and topline. Well-developed for his age. Suitable bone-structure, good feet. Somewhat straight upper arm, slightly too little angulation in front, good in back. Movement hard to judge because he was fighting with his owner, but a good length of stride.