I am not entirely coherent at the moment, due to having started the day at 3 am in the morning to attend the Swedish Boxer Championships. It was a 3.5 hour drive there and a 3.5 hour drive back, plus lots of tense waiting around at the show area. So, I am feeling kind of mushy. It was worth the effort, though. It was quite something special to see all those lovely boxers and, of course, to get a chance to meet Ringo’s breeders, his brother (Riddles Rod Stewart), his mother (Riddles Paula Abdul) and his aunt (Riddles Petula Clark).

The actual show went pretty well. For once, Ringo behaved pretty darn well (though the judge didn’t quite think it was enough), though I made some silly mistakes and got some good tips on how to improve things in the future. The competition was very tough, however. There were at least 15 males in the junior class, about twice the size of any other we’ve entered. The breeder helped lower my expectations by saying that it was entirely possible that both Ringo and his brother would get 2’s at this stage, since they need more development. So, when Ringo actually got a 1, I was pretty pleased. He didn’t, however, place among the top 5. Whether he was close or not, I don’t know. The judge didn’t seem to care too much for dogs of his type, though, since his brother only got a 2 (very strange, since they’re really similar). The critique was one of those without anything negative (save for the show training bit) but also without that something extra:

Medium-sized, good bone. Masculine. Correct topline and chest, good angels. Typical head expression, correct muzzle, dark eyes. Moves well but needs more show training.