First Win

  After going back and forth on how many puppies to take to the match, who it was going to be, the decision was pretty easy.  I couldn't show the puppies in Sweeps with their ears glued, or with braces, although I could in the regular match class as they were being entered "For Exhibit Only".  Ref's glue came loose on Friday and his ears were in good position so I decided only one puppy was going to the match.  Plus, after their vet visit on Friday, I had four slobbery, car sick puppies and didn't want to have to deal with four baths on Friday, then four spot clean ups at the match site.
  I took Jackson to the match, too, just to give him some exposure to a show site and noise.  There wasn't a lot of activity as the entry was quite small, probably due to the bit of snow we had this morning.  Jackson was very good, interested in the goings on and was quite relaxed.
  Ref settled in pretty quickly, too.  He showed pretty much as I expected, holding still for part of the exam, generally moving forward when I wanted him to.  He did stop a couple of times to scratch at his collar--it suddenly bothered him that he was wearing one.  Liz Manuel of Raebeth Collies was the Sweeps judge and she liked his chest and his expression.  Ref was Best in Sweeps!  He was also Ellen's pick for best smooth in the regular match class.  Not a hard decision, Ref was the only smooth collie at the match!
  For his efforts, Ref won some treats and two toys.  The treats were shared with Jackson, who also got some ring experience, even though he wasn't entered in the match.  Jackson wasn't intimidated by the ring mats or running a ring pattern.  He is a bit underweight though, and needs more development in his back legs to have proper movement and be a strong contender in competition.  I have entered him in his first shows this coming week.  I can get some weight on him pretty quickly, but with winter re-appearing, will probably not be able to get much conditioning done, if any.  Oh well, it will be good experience for Jackson just to go to the shows.