Somehow little Nali survived her first year. In many ways, it is quite surprising (a lot of plastic has been chewed up, swallowed, and come back out the other end). But we all made it through her crazy puppy stage, and she has turned into a well-rounded dog (well mostly).
The AKC Eukanuba National Championship (AENC) week of showing was phenomenal! It's a show I go to every year as a spectator, but this year was the first where I got to actually compete. It was a blast! Little Nali pulled in her first victories as well (no points yet, though). She won best puppy for her age class (which was 9 to 12 months) 3 out of the 5 days we showed. She then lost to the big pretty adult dogs when we got to the winner's bitch competitions, but they were gorgeous and that was to be expected. Nonetheless, we brought home the first ribbons that she actually earned! If you want to see her working it in the ring, check out the video at the bottom of this post! |
So now Nali is an adult. She hovers around 50 pounds in weight and is just under 22 inches at the shoulders, so she fits snugly right at the top of the standard for Sibe females. Just this week she blew out all of her coat for the first time. I brushed her outside and it looked like it had snowed in our yard. I can only hope some birds will catch on and borrow some of that white fluff for their nests.
Since she is old enough to compete in the adult classes now, we are taking a break from showing. Nali is classified as an adult, but she definitely doesn't look it! She's still quite lanky and wouldn't be very competitive with girls that are a couple of years old and have nice full fluffy coats. So Nali and I are going to wait about a year or so on showing so she can get nice and fluffy, even out her topline, and add some general thickness to her body.
So in the meantime, we're doing obedience! She's learned the heel position (kind of...) and is training in formal obedience with her childhood friend, Chester (my parent's dog). Chester hates her guts, since he vividly remembers how crazy she was (and still is...), but he is happy to attend classes with her and show her up with his border collie smartness. Thankfully for Nali, obedience is not our end goal. I just want to get her a solid foundation before moving on to agility. I think she could really excel at agility as she frequently jumps clear over the couch in the living room for no good reason. She's also not afraid of tunnels or walking up on top of high stuff, and she's very good at sprinting around at full speed (far too good). Next update maybe I will have agility pictures or video for you as a nice break from all of the formal conformation stuff! Wish us luck!
So in the meantime, we're doing obedience! She's learned the heel position (kind of...) and is training in formal obedience with her childhood friend, Chester (my parent's dog). Chester hates her guts, since he vividly remembers how crazy she was (and still is...), but he is happy to attend classes with her and show her up with his border collie smartness. Thankfully for Nali, obedience is not our end goal. I just want to get her a solid foundation before moving on to agility. I think she could really excel at agility as she frequently jumps clear over the couch in the living room for no good reason. She's also not afraid of tunnels or walking up on top of high stuff, and she's very good at sprinting around at full speed (far too good). Next update maybe I will have agility pictures or video for you as a nice break from all of the formal conformation stuff! Wish us luck!