Road to the ‘Ship: Eevee’s Show Dog Journey, Part 1

After months in the making and many false starts, the story of how Eevee became a Champion show dog is here. If you haven’t read my post on how dog shows work, now is a good time to hop over to that post and familiarize yourself with some of the terms. Obviously, this is a multi-part story.

Part One of Eevee’s Story: Learning the Ropes

In the Beginning, there was Casey

I haven’t mentioned her much here, but Casey is an important part of my backstory. She’s my origin story, if you will, and my introduction to the world of purebred dogs.

I think most kids grow up dreaming of a dog of their own. After a long string of stray dogs that never lasted long, I begged my parents for a purebred puppy. I was seven years old (1997). They told me to do my research and choose a breed. So I did, and I chose a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.

You might be wondering how a seven-year-old from rural Arkansas even knew that Pembroke Welsh Corgis existed. Well, Animal Planet was my favorite TV channel as a kid. They ran a show back then that featured different dog breeds each week. In amongst all of the episodes of the Crocodile Hunter, there was a show about Pembroke Welsh Corgis (PWC). It was love at first sight, and I was determined to have a Corgi of my own. To prove myself to my parents, I consumed everything I could about PWCs. I even memorized the breed standard.

Commence the Search

My parents knew finding a PWC was going to be hard. They also weren’t jumping for joy to add yet another animal to our family. Because, you know… dairy farm and whatnot. Nevertheless, they told me to save up and buy the dog myself. Y’all, I was SEVEN. Did that deter me? Absolutely not.

People often describe me as “tenacious” and I think that word applies to my quest for a PWC. I scrimped, saved, and scoured the classifieds nearly every Sunday for five years. Yes, FIVE. Let’s just say that seven to twelve-year-old me wasn’t the best at saving and it’s not like I was getting a steady allowance at first.

Unsurprisingly, rural Arkansas wasn’t swimming in PWCs. Labs? Sure (duck hunting capitol of the world). Border Collies? Grew up with them. Beagles aplenty. But Pembroke Welsh Corgis? Zero. Zilch. Nada.

I had benefactors though. It pays – literally – to be the grandchild that has the most in common with her grandfathers. They were both dog men, having run foxhounds back when fox hunting was a thing.

My Papa (pronounced as “PawPaw”) owned Border Collies and Australian Cattle Dogs, Beagles, Coonhounds, and even a Rhodesian Ridgeback at one point in time. My Grandpa owned many different breeds over the years, but the dogs I remember are a yellow Lab named Ben and a Border Collie named Topsy. When the granddaughter of these two dog men wanted a purebred dog of her own, they were more than happy to finance it.

Thanks to them, I saved up a couple hundred bucks between 1997 and 2002.

Gotta Love the Classifieds

One fateful day in the summer of 2002, during my Sunday ritual of scanning through the classifieds, I found an ad for Pembroke Welsh Corgis for $300 in Salem, Arkansas (the north one, not the south one). I excitedly ran to tell my parents that there was FINALLY a Corgi in Arkansas! During the past five years, there was only one other corgi litter in the paper.

I didn’t quite have $300, but to my surprise, my parents said yes. We called the breeder and she had one puppy left.

However, I was freaking out about not having enough money. We couldn’t offer her less than $300… could we? (That answer is no.) Unbeknownst to me, my dad called Papa and we stopped by on the way to get the extra cash I needed. I’m pretty sure that I nearly burst into tears.

Last, but Definitely not Least

That day is mostly a blur, but I have some very clear memories of arriving at the breeder’s house and seeing my Casey for the first time. She was a tiny ball of fluff and attitude. Casey was a beautiful red and white girl with a blaze down her muzzle. She was ten weeks old by the time we called and the breeder was teetering on the edge of keeping her. I’m so glad she didn’t.

How Casey was the last one is beyond me. She took to me almost immediately and she was everything I dreamed. She was a perfect example of predictability and breed type. To this day, Maegan’s Casey Belle (twelve-year-olds aren’t great at registered names) was the smartest dog I’ve ever owned. Casey was sassy, loyal, and loving. Her natural herding instinct was amazing. I am fairly convinced that she was Champion material, like her sire.

Show Dog Dreams

Casey instilled a love of purebred dogs in me from that tender age of 12. She’s the reason I started watching Westminster every year and always rooting for the PWC. Because of her, I daydreamed about one day having a show dog of my own and I still daydream about going to Westminster. Maybe someday I can go with Eevee and/or [hopefully] one of her daughters.

2018, B.E. (Before Eevee)

Fast forward to 2018, and I’m home from my first Golden Retriever National Specialty. Sitting ringside all week after Rocket and I were done competing in Rally and Obedience, I learned so much. The hypothetical graph of my knowledge of Golden structure and movement showed a big spike that week. I absolutely LOVED watching everyone show their dogs. From puppy sweepstakes to the classes to Best of Breed. It was an amazing experience and it left a hole in my heart.

However much I loved Rocket, he could never be a show dog. He was cryptorchid and therefore neutered at 15 months.

The Plotting Thickens

Just prior to the 2018 National, my husband and I moved from Houston to Columbus, Ohio. We finally owned a house with a decent sized yard and Marissa was waiting for us to pull the trigger on a second puppy. We sent her a deposit for a second puppy when Rocket was like six months old.

A few months after the National, she did a breeding that she was extra excited about. So much so that she straight up said “you’re getting one of these puppies.” Technically, my husband was not on board for the second dog. Yet…

For almost three years, I pleaded my case for getting a second dog. And for almost three years, my husband said “not yet”. So what do you do when you really feel strongly about something? You write a letter. I don’t remember how many pages it was, but it was long. I put it in a nice, big envelope so the pages wouldn’t get wrinkled and gave it to my husband. Besides, I’m tenacious, remember?

January Birthdays, Amirite?

A few weeks passed and it was my birthday. I thought about that special litter almost constantly. It was nearly time for Marissa to confirm pregnancy via ultrasound. Usually, my sweet husband gets me a really good gift for my birthday. It’s in January right after Christmas (IYKYK). But that year he gave me a card and our customary steak dinner and that was it. Ok then…

The next day he asked if I looked through the entire card. “No.” I said.

“Open it up and really look through it.”

”Ok.”

I opened the card and read the small lettering on the back side, down at the bottom.

It said “P.S. We can get another dog.”

HAPPY FLUFFING BIRTHDAY TO ME!!! BEST BIRTHDAY PRESENT EVER!

Also, he never opened my letter. His only condition for getting the puppy was that he got to pick the name. Best deal I’ve ever made.

2019, The Year of the Show Dog

Barely containing my excitement, I texted Marissa and told her the news. She confirmed pregnancy about a week and a half later. Marissa told me repeatedly during the three years between Rocket and Eevee that I needed a puppy out of her bitch named Eve and it was FINALLY time. She bred Eve to a dog named Berkley, effectively combining two great lines of dogs. I waited on the edge of my seat for news of the babies’ arrival.

And on February 17, 2019, my Eevee was born. She was one of only three puppies in the litter: two girls and a boy. All three went to homes that waited for an Eve puppy for a long time. Marissa and I agreed on a girl this time.

Waiting for these babies to get old enough to come home was like watching paint dry. Time slowed down after they were born. They were so precious and so special.

Trust Your Breeder

During the next eight weeks, Marissa had to decide who was getting which puppy. I wanted the puppy that had the best aptitude for Obedience. Rocket’s Rally Journey got me hooked on dog sports and I really wanted to dive into Obedience with a more focused dog. So, I asked for the puppy with the best aptitude for Obedience and if she happened to be destined for the show ring, then awesome! Getting a show dog was not my priority at that time.

It didn’t take eight weeks for her to know which puppy was mine. At five weeks old, Eevee was already offering confident eye contact and focus. By seven weeks, her energy, intelligence, and sass was apparent.

Some people say that you can’t tell how a dog will turn out when they’re that young, and that’s true to an extent, but some things don’t really change. Eevee didn’t.

Eevee was destined to be mine. Trust your breeder when they select your puppy.

SHE. WAS. RIGHT.

Being a Show Dog was Her Destiny

The day before the puppies turned eight weeks old, I loaded up my stuff and drove home. My parents and I drove to go get my girl. Sound familiar? (Although, the financing for this puppy did not come from my grandparents.)

It was love at first sight. Y’all, she was gorgeous. As soon as I saw her, I knew that 1) she was my soul mate in dog form and 2) she was destined for the show ring. She ran right up to me and wagged her whole body. Then ran off to investigate something. There was not a shy or timid bone in her body.

Seventeen years after getting my first purebred dog, I got my first show dog. I only hoped that I was worthy of her. You know, since I had never shown a dog before…

Learning How to be a Show Dog (and Handler)

“What in the world was I thinking signing up to show this dog?”

That was my thought in our first conformation class. Holy cow, there were so many unwritten rules: ring procedure, etiquette, how to hold the collar. I was on overload. When it was my turn to have Eevee examined by the “judge” (teacher), the first thing she said was “Your collar is on backwards.” Umm… There’s a right way to put on a chain collar? Whoops…

Thankfully class was better after that. But I literally knew nothing. I watched many dog shows over the years, but watching and doing are two wildly different things. Showing the bite to the judge looks so simple on TV, but to a puppy that has never done that before, it’s a like a claw coming down on their nose out of nowhere. In two or three classes, I went from zero handling knowledge to at least enough to get me through a Beginner Puppy (BPUP) show without looking like a complete idiot.

It Takes A Village

This was never more true in my life than it was learning how to show a dog. I am forever grateful for the group of Dog People in Columbus that adopted me into their dog family: Karen, Megan, Lauren and Sally.

These four taught me everything about showing dogs: from grooming a show dog to all the crap that you need to bring to a dog show to telling me when I had my resting bitch face on in the ring. They were there every step of the way and over time, they became some of my dearest friends. We traveled to nearly every show together in the beginning. I literally didn’t go to a show without at least one of them for almost three years.

Baby Show Dog Time!

Puppies are only eligible for BPUP between the ages of four and six months. After they turn six months old, they are eligible for the real thing. The only BPUP show within decent driving distance in that two month window was in Marion, Ohio in July 2019. My conformation class teacher was the ring steward that day. Somehow that was reassuring and nerve wracking at the same time.

After watching some of the other puppy breeds, I realized that BPUP was – really and truly – just for fun. The judge didn’t expect win-the-Sporting-Group-at-Westminster behavior from four to six month-old puppies. And they definitely did NOT behave.

Enter the Joy Thief

Three Golden puppies were entered in the show, and I so wanted to win. The other two puppies were a very light gold (often called “cream”…). One of the other Golden handlers saw me with my medium gold puppy and said in a tone of both exasperation and derision, “you’re going to win because yours is the right color.” Like, no I’m going to win because I have the better dog.

Who says that to someone? Why devalue my potential accomplishment for no reason? I didn’t realize it at the time, but that’s the dark side of conformation. People are super competitive – even in BPUP – and will never be above undermining someone else to make themselves feel better. I call them “Joy Thieves”. They can’t make their own joy, so they steal someone else’s.

Maybe I’m not Totally Inept

Anyway, we showed our puppies and Eevee won. Not because Eevee was the “right color”, but because she was, in fact, the better puppy. For a five-month-old, Eevee was remarkably well put together, even if her legs were a bit long for her body. I was elated! My husband came to the show with his dad and step-mom. Having a cheering section at our very first show was awesome.

Winning Best of Breed Puppy got us a ticket to the puppy Sporting Group. We showed against a super cute Brittany and won again! Next up: Best in Show Puppy. Maybe this conformation stuff wasn’t so scary after all.

We did not win Best Puppy in Show (BPIS). Winning one ribbon was enough for me, and we came home with two! Eevee and I also took our first win pic together and it is comical at best. How to take win pics was something else to learn. Megan helped me set her up for the photo, but alas, my brain didn’t comprehend the part about “don’t look off into space smiling like a kid at Chucky Cheese”.

Time to be a Real Show Dog

Our first real show was two months later. Eevee was seven months old by then and I only wanted us to have a good experience. Winning didn’t even cross my mind. I didn’t groom her to the nines or try to tame the puppy waves going down her back. My goals included: a) not falling down and b) Eevee not jumping on the judge.

We went with Karen, Megan, and Lauren to the show in Lancaster, Ohio. I asked if I should try to fix the wavy hair down her back, and they agreed that having a good time was more important than taming her puppy waves. Basically, it was better for her to not be perfectly groomed and have a good attitude than be on the table for 2 or 3 hours. And bless my heart, look how cute she was!

Interpersonal Relationships are Weird

Amazingly, Eevee won her class! As we waited outside the ring for Winners, someone walked up and gave me a really nice compliment on Eevee and asked where I was set up, mentioning something about helping me tame the puppy hair. When I pointed and she realized who I was with, her demeanor changed immediately. In a nasty tone to me and Lauren, she said, “You should have fixed this” and walked off. “This” meaning Eevee’s top line. I was totally flabbergasted and starting panicking about going in for Winners. Lauren assured me that everything was fine and that we would just fix it tomorrow.

Apparently, there are a lot of weird interpersonal relationships in the Golden show world. I was blissfully unaware of it before then. I knew that it happened in theory, but that was my first dose of reality.

And that was the second time that someone tried to steal my joy. The second time that it had nothing to do with me as a person. Notice a pattern yet?

Lessons Learned

The next day, we fixed the waves on Eevee’s back that made her top line look wonky. And wouldn’t you know, she won her class again and went on to get her first Reserve Winners Bitch! I bet you can guess who she beat the second day.

So, three lessons learned that weekend: 1) Don’t take the Joy Thieves personally. 2) Look past the tone and the attitude at the advice itself. 3) Maybe Karma is real after all.

Winning is such a quick way to go from “holy moly, what did I get myself into?!?” to “So when’s the next show?!”.

Eevee’s story is continued in Part 2.