I watched several events there, including the junior obedience trials and the beginner agility contest (in which the dogs could be on leash).

It was amazing to see how diligently these kids and worked with their dogs and how responsive the big 100 pound dogs could be to a little 67 pound girl with a firm voice. It was just great.

One of my favorite events was a blindfold dog identification contest.

When I that title it in the program, I didn't know what that meant. I thought it would be the dogs who were blindfolded and you would say "find the ball" or "find the cheese" or something and they would identify the object by smell.

That would have been a very impressive contest, no doubt, but that's not what this was.

Actually, it was the KIDS who were blindfolded and volunteers would take purebred dogs up to met them. The kids would have to guess, based on size, shape, fur, etc. what kind of a dog it was.

There were some obvious ones, like a Dachshund, a Chihuahua and an Old English Sheepdog.

However, some of them would have been a real challenge:

A Dalmatian, for example, how do you recognize one of those without it's spots?

A Wirehair German Pointer - you don't see those every day.

I think the toughest one was the Clumber Spaniel - I would never have even heard of that dog if it hadn't won at Westminster 10 years ago, or so. I NEVER see them on the street! Sheesh!

At any rate, it was a lot of fun for my sister and me to join in the guessing game (without even wearing blindfolds) and try to guess each dog's breed first... I think we did pretty well, but there were some stumpers!

I asked everyone which dog was their favorite - my husband chose the Old English Sheep Dog because he really liked the way it's hair was arranged - in a ponytail on the top of it's head! That's the first time I've ever seen the eyes on one of those dogs... they were bright blue! If I was a sheep, I'd definitely be scared!

Which breed is your favorite? Where have you had fun with dogs lately? Let me know and I will see if I can get some more articles going on the topics you suggest!

Have fun at the fair!

Emily

Emily Cressey
POB 55824
Seattle, WA 98155
336-499-1887 Phone

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www.Gifts-For-Dog-Lovers.com

Copyright 2007, Emily Cressey.

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