We left Wednesday for Atlanta and the four dog shows that were held at the Atlanta Expo South. It was cold and wet when we left which killed my knees. I’m glad we didn’t have to show Wednesday as I would not have been able to move!

This is a humongous show. In Whippets alone, there were 150+ dogs entered and there were all the other breeds that AKC recognizes represented. Whippets were among about 30 breeds that had specialties or supported entries represented. I heard there were 130 Great Danes and 180 Boxers — this was probably a 5000 dog show (that’s really big for US shows which has many small shows unlike England where they have a few enormous shows during a year).

Thursday saw Ken and Tigger making the cut in a rather large Open dog class. That was an auspicious beginning, but the judges were varied and we didn’t hold out a lot of hope for Saturday’s judge who is Australian and we thought would prefer a different style to Tigger.

Friday saw a disappointing finish for Tigger was totally ignored by this judge. But the day was saved by my friend Janet who had her two Whippets entered in Rally Obedience. When we finished up with breed judging, I went over to the Rally rings to watch her with Star and Tara. Tara is officially known as Kemar’s No Place Like Home, CGC, SC, RN, JC, CR and she’s a litter sister to Butterfly and Reba’s daughter. Tara is one gorgeous girl and smart  and fast! This was her second time in Rally Advanced. Her first attempt was met with a non-qualifying score as she missed an obstacle, but Friday she shined like the diamond she is! She was first place in her class and had the highest overall score of any of the contenders. I was so proud of Janet and Tara! It almost didn’t happen, though as Janet lost one of her contact lenses right before she was to go in the ring! Thankfully we found it and they made it to the ring just in time!

Saturday we saw our best finish of the weekend with a second place in a class of 17. This was the Australian judge whom I thought would not prefer Tigger. She kept going back and forth between him and the dog she eventually placed first, so it was a difficult choice for her. Since that was the American Whippet Club’s Southern Specialty show, we’ll get to read her critique of Tigger in the next Whippet News.

Today was the final day of the weekend’s judging and again Ken and Tigger made the cut, but didn’t come up in the ribbons. It was another class of 11 today, so ending up 5th in that isn’t so terrible.

All in all, it was a great weekend. We got to visit with friends, see some gorgeous Whippets and do a little bit of shopping. Once the weather dried out and warmed up a bit, my knees eased off and felt as good as they ever do lately.

It’s back to work and all the normal stuff tomorrow but tonight I get to catch up with you my dear and faithful readers.

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