I went - without Charlie - to the Santa Clara Valley Kennel Club Dog Show to check out the Akita Specialties portion of the show. My impressions included:
- Wow, what great-looking dogs.
- Wow, what well-behaved dogs. They seem to have such great temperaments, and to have been trained really well. They basically ignore all the other dogs around them, and are eager to please their handlers in and out of the ring.
- Which leads me to… What the heck is that stuff that all the handlers seem to have in their hands, which they use to keep the attention and focus of the dogs? Some kind of doggie crack, that the dogs get just a whiff of in order to keep their chins up, and their focus straight ahead on their handler…
- And what is with handler fashion? If you are a guy, it’s a conservative suit. If a woman, a below-the-knee skirt suit. And for both, practical, comfortable, rubber-soled shoes, for all the running around they do in the ring with the dogs. But why so dreary? I suppose I understand that you don’t want to draw attention away from your dog…
How does Charlie stack up (beyond the fact that he no longer has his balls, and therefore cannot be shown)? As I already knew, he’s too skinny, his ears are too big, and his head (headpiece, in the parlance) not broad and triangular enough.
See for yourself:
