Grande Prairie was Grand!

Grande Prairie had a trial hosted by Holly Crichton in conjunction with the Peace Country Classic Agri Show. I left from home with a few dogs, picked up Abe Marshall and his two dogs, Corey Perry and his three dogs, and Carl Sneddon and his two dogs- at final count I think (I tend not to count anymore) of 12 dogs. I am sure we looked like a clown car with all of us packed in like sardines. We took our travelling road show and got to Grande Praire in the early afternoon, and did our runs. There was a good crowd, and the trial went smoothly. Driving back we can say we had two winners in the entourage - I and Gin won the open, and Abe and Cap won the nursery. Our heads did not grow that much, so we were still able to all fit into the Jeep.

When your travelling with people, you do alot of talking, and seeing that we had 5 hours with one another, lots of subjects were discussed - oh - alright - mostly the subjects that were covered related to black and white dogs. I think what I came away with is that
a. people trial for different reasons
b. people have different ideas of what makes a good dog
c. many have different ideas how to train a dog, and every dog trains differently
d. a dog that suits one person may not necessarily suit another person- nor should they
e. you have to like what you are running, or you won't enjoy trialing
f. all dogs won't necessarily make trial dogs, but that won't mean they aren't worthy dogs
g. it doesn't really matter what the other person thinks of your dog - as long as you are true to yourself, you can be true to your dog
and the final thing I learned on this trip....
never tie your young dogs with cheap leashes or they may join you in the arena when you are running your other young dog.