Ripley Show Thread

I know I'm a blink away from someone handing me a dog because they need the extra person.
I wound up taking a friends Corgi into the ring a while back for best of breed and boy was that a different experience when I could just walk to pace her around the ring. LOL
 
Friday was a good day in UKC for team Ripley! They earned a Group 2 and 3 in a I think our largest Guardian Group so far at the All American Bulldog Club show in Shipshewana, IN!

Ripley also earned a new title, SPOT-ON (Socialized Pet Obedience Test - Outstanding Neighbor, equivalent to CGC) and she performed "Outstanding", the highest rating, at every station in the test!

I had plans to do precision coursing to finish up a title there after we tried it for the first time at Premier but Ripley had other plans and decided to not be done with her heat lol. She is done today, of course! It was a hot long day anyways and they played in AKC on Sat/Sun. No love there but Derek was the only owner handler out of 30 dobermans...

They got lots of compliments and we met up with our breeder's friend to get an hour of on the spot handling lessons which was incredibly invaluable. Lots of nitty gritty tips of how to stand and present yourself for each part of the process of your 3-5 min of shine. She said we have Ripley well trained! Now it's just down to Derek perfecting himself; theres way more to it than just looking nice and having your dog perform well. Like stand here with your back straight, or here with elbow bent at 90 degree, put your feet together, or grab Ripley's rear leg from underneath with palm out not over and palm in. 😱 It's a craft! I get it. It looks very nice and draws the judges eye to you saying, "look at my dog, isn't she beautiful???" Apparently, since Derek is a guy, and a tall guy, it already draws attention which they can use to their advantage but they have to make sure they look nice as a total package so that's what they are working on!

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Give me the snax!
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This was a few days before the shows. They have been doing sessions every night with her, teaching her to stand up and into her collar. Still a work in progress as she learns to build those muscles and muscle memory and to lean into the collar (she wants to give to pressure because of heeling training 👀) but already so much better in just a week.
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I'll keep sharing the journey if people enjoy it... Cause this thread certainly is not all about winning either. Lots of failing and stumbling along the way, learning to be humble, and feeling way out of our league. But gradually, with hard work, getting there, seeing the small victories and just having fun trying something completely foreign with the best girl!
Team Ripley is just charging forward! The fine tuning of showing seems a bit like trying to learn dance steps. It is confusing and difficult until your body "gets it". And that is for both the handler and the dog. :congrats: on going so well and still finding it fun!
 
I'll keep sharing the journey if people enjoy it... Cause this thread certainly is not all about winning either. Lots of failing and stumbling along the way, learning to be humble, and feeling way out of our league. But gradually, with hard work, getting there, seeing the small victories and just having fun trying something completely foreign with the best girl!
Yes, keep this journey of Team Ripley going! All of this ^^^ is so important & true. I just got back from a long weekend at a working dog seminar and we are exhausted. All these baby steps add up! You guys are looking great!!!
 
Acknowledging a special moment yesterday at the Hoosier Summer Classic AKC show in South Bend, IN. The first of a bright future; Derek and Ripley placed 1st in their 12-18mos class, a small goal they've been aiming for and they did it at their 4th show! The nerves have been hard to shake so this is a big accomplishment for them! They are starting to look really nice out there. So proud of them for leaving every show, taking what they learned to practice at home, only to improve at the next. But, the best and most important part is they are making sure to have fun together! 🥰

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I can't tell you how happy this makes me! You guys have worked so hard (and played enough to make it fun) - your blue ribbons are well deserved. Virtual hugs to Ripley and you & Derek!
 
It's been an exciting weekend for us !!! Ripley earned a GROUP 1, a GROUP 4 and a BEST IN SHOW yesterday at the Lake Shore Siberian Husky Club in Laporte, IN!

We are incredibly grateful to Judge Nancy Gallant for awarding Ripley the honor of her very first Best in Show at 14 months old. A memory we will never forget!! Thanks to the club for putting on a great well run show.

Major credit goes to her breeder Melissa at Melrae Dobermans for creating her, fully entrusting us with her, encouraging us to take her out there as newbies to the show world, and always being there for us! So thankful to have her as our breeder for our first Doberman. I can never thank her enough and always highly recommend her!

Thank you everyone for cheering us on along the journey! She now gets to put an additional fancy abbreviation on her name!

UKC BIS CH Melrae's Houston We Have A Problem RN CGC SPOT-ON TKA RATI

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The best of the best... Each of these dogs had to beat out all the breeds in their group. Lovely representations of their breed!!
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It was a GORGEOUS day! In the 70s with a breeze so we crated out of the car and relaxed waiting for group and best in show.
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They were really on their A game. He's been working on presentation and it shows! Guardian group was full of top ten guardian dogs in the country. A tough but worthy group to go against!
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I promised hubby if he ever won BIS I would buy him a really nice Lego set of his choice (he's a big kid at heart and those are $$$!) and I told Ripley yesterday if she got a Group 1 that she would get to pick out a stuffy to suckle on since she's been banned from those lately because she has been in a destroy kinda mood 😅. She was SO happy!

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That is soo awesome!! Ripley really looks great. What do you feed her and how much? What about treats? Just curious and wondering how much I should cut Skynyrd back! Lol. Your husbands outfit is very sharp and looks great
 
What do you feed her and how much? What about treats? Just curious and wondering how much I should cut Skynyrd back! Lol.
She eats Wellness Complete Health (that is grain inclusive, they have a grain free but we don't feed that) with Nature's Farmacy Complete supplements that has probiotics, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, glucosamine etc. She was on their Cran Tri C supplement for her knuckling as a puppy and I was really happy with that so I looked for something to add daily that would cover anything her food might be missing.

Amount of food is subjective! She gets 3.5 cups a day. Sometimes less, sometimes more depending on how much energy she expends and how much extra food is coming in that isn't her kibble! Shes trained pretty much daily so she gets a lot of extra calories that way and then licki mats... She probably could lose a pound or two but then convert it right into muscle but I've been slowly easing into conditioning with her as she is still young. Exercise right now is daily free running, some uphill fetching here or there, weekly ground pole/cavaletti work, and weekly swimming.

I thought she would be tired after the show since she usually is; after all she's in the ring twice for her class/breed. Then again for group. Each with running around the ring 3x. And there were two shows back to back she had to do that for. She was tired...but then she was ready to go again an hour later and had the most insane amount of energy I've ever seen out of her. She was running full speed up and down the pasture for about 20 min with that crazy mouth open face. :woot2: I think the lure coursing we did with her last week only built up her stamina even more... :wideyed:
 
I thought she would be tired after the show since she usually is;
Isn't it the worst! :pullhair:
She was tired...but then she was ready to go again an hour later and had the most insane amount of energy I've ever seen out of her.
Isn't it the worst!😫
She was running full speed up and down the pasture for about 20 min with that crazy mouth open face. :woot2:
Love that face! 😍

I think the lure coursing we did with her last week only built up her stamina even more...
Isn't it the worst?! :facepalm:
 
Wow absolutely amazing!! Look at her- its crazy dobermans are just beautiful compared to other breeds. Looking at that line up (not sure if thats the right terminology), she just sticks out!
 

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