• As @Tanza mentioned in her new show thread, Logan and I went to our second show together this past weekend. Highlights of the weekend included seeing Pat again and getting to meet more veteran breeders. This show was in Vallejo, CA and is called Woofstock! I'm really liking the theme shows. This show seems to be somewhat famous out west here. A lot of people dressed up including yours truly. Logan and I didn't get anything on Thursday or Friday. Saturday was entirely my fault. If there was anything that could be screwed up by a human in the ring... I screwed them up. I'm betting I may have invented a few new one's too. The good news is that we pulled ourselves together on Sunday and earned a Select Dog award ribbon, which turned out to be a 5 point Major! I swear it felt like a forth quarter hail Mary. Logan did really well. So far, and by a long shot, this was definitely my favorite win with him so far. We really worked hard for this one. I also think that he and I may have finally connected as a team on Sunday. For your enjoyment...

    Woofstock.jpg


  • Like a timewarp! Great costume! I'm glad you and Logan are bonding over this. πŸ™‚


  • @jengosmonkey Oh I do wish I could be at your shows - The photo of the hair tells a multitude of stories and so many tiny things you could correct and do Logan even more justice than you are at the moment !

    Don't try to hold him with your hand under his chest. Get the show lead/collar in the right place (high up under the cheek bones) and hold it in your teeth or around your neck, then grasp the front legs and stack them perpendicular and parallel. Once the front is good, you turn your attention to the back end. Fingers between the back legs, lift ever so slightly, a quick flick of the wrist and down and lo and behold, the back is also good. Hocks perpendicular under the shelf. The dog looks square as called for in the Standard. At need, a quick tap under the tum straightens the topline and there you have it !

    But I am sure you know what you need to get right and as long as you and Logan are enjoying yourselves that is honestly all that matters !

    Conutined good luck -


  • @zande said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    @jengosmonkey Oh I do wish I could be at your shows - The photo of the hair tells a multitude of stories and so many tiny things you could correct and do Logan even more justice than you are at the moment !

    Don't try to hold him with your hand under his chest. Get the show lead/collar in the right place (high up under the cheek bones) and hold it in your teeth or around your neck, then grasp the front legs and stack them perpendicular and parallel. Once the front is good, you turn your attention to the back end. Fingers between the back legs, lift ever so slightly, a quick flick of the wrist and down and lo and behold, the back is also good. Hocks perpendicular under the shelf. The dog looks square as called for in the Standard. At need, a quick tap under the tum straightens the topline and there you have it !

    But I am sure you know what you need to get right and as long as you and Logan are enjoying yourselves that is honestly all that matters !

    Conutined good luck -

    @Zande I wish you could be at our shows, or that I could be at yours too! Meeting @tanza here, then getting to know her in person has been a fun part of my Basenji journey. Maybe someday!

    Your feedback is great! Thanks a bunch. This past weekend was fun, stressful, and a learning experience all rolled in to an unanticipated path I'd not expected to be on.

    The picture was from Saturday. The day I royally messed up in the ring. I remember walking out of the ring at the end of an absolutely pathetic display of ring craft... Stella was there waiting. I think she could see how crushed I was. She just said "Come here." and gave me a big ol' hug, which really meant a lot. I really felt like I'd let her down. She said "We'll talk about it later", which was fine by me. I just wanted to forget about it. Of course I couldn't. I kept going over how badly I'd done. I mean... I messed up EVERYTHING! I felt completely overwhelmed in the ring that day.

    Sunday I just decided to change up how I'd approached the entire weekend. What I'd been doing and how I'd been doing it wasn't working... at all. I ditched the jacket, which kept getting in my way Thursday and Friday, kept Logan out of the crate much longer before ring time to keep him happier, found a place for us to stand in the sun while waiting to keep him warmer than I did on Saturday, stopped thinking about every step I needed to execute in the ring and decided to just do it, and I shifted my focus from me to Logan once in ring. The last part made a biggest difference. It finally dawned on me that Logan and I are team, and that I hadn't been a very good team mate to him. I'd been too focused on me doing things right rather than focusing my attention on helping him look his best. Stella had given me great feedback on Saturday night once I'd settled down. She's a really good coach. We went over pictures and she pointed out several things I could improve on. My goal on Sunday was to bring home a point and make Stella proud of us. It was my last chance in the ring. No more do overs. I will say that that was the first time that I've felt that Logan and I were finally having fun in the ring together. He definitely was. I could see it and that made me happy.


  • @jengosmonkey - You did great, know that "messing up" is part of the learning process in the ring.... remembering that you are one with the dog and that there is no one else there. Making it fun not only for Logan but for you too... it is a lesson we all learn when being in the ring the first many times. And we all have taking you "under our wing" and that fact that you have even wanted to try is the most important thing. But we learn by our mistakes and I can tell you that when I first started showing I was a MESS! Always remember that when you are tense your dog feels that and becomes tense also.... they read this from you right through the lead. But it all comes with time..... again you have done great in a very, very short time! Very proud of you and Logan!


  • Thank you @tanza. One of my favorite pictures from this weekend is one that my wife took. It includes hippie me, you, Stella and CeCe. Kinda cool being able to hang out with three of THE best west coast breeders. πŸ‘Š 😁 πŸ‘


  • @jengosmonkey can we all see it, Greg?


  • This was a fun moment on Saturday...

    In the Midst of West Coast Royalty  (Medium).jpg


  • @jengosmonkey who's who? (other than you)


  • @jengosmonkey said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    that was the first time that I've felt that Logan and I were finally having fun in the ring together. He definitely was. I could see it and that made me happy.

    That means you are getting there ! After all - it is only one idiot's opinion of your dog / handling on that day and at that time. The BOB will always go home with you - YOU know that ! Teamwork - its great.

    Now you need a puppy from your girl and then you can really create a team and show your socks off. But wear easy clothes. That rig looks as if it would be a vast distraction.


  • @zande said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    That means you are getting there ! After all - it is only one idiot's opinion of your dog / handling on that day and at that time. The BOB will always go home with you - YOU know that ! Teamwork - its great. ... But wear easy clothes. That rig looks as if it would be a vast distraction. ...

    I'm a guy who loves experiences more than stuff, so I dove in to Woofstock with all the hair. Which, while fun outside the ring turned out to be a big mistake inside the ring. I looked a bit different on Sunday when we did MUCH better...

    Woofstock Select (Medium).jpg

    Now you need a puppy from your girl and then you can really create a team and show your socks off. ...

    Hmm... well, I am reading a book I just bought... πŸ˜‰

    Basenji Books (Medium).jpg


  • @jengosmonkey said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    turned out to be a big mistake inside the ring

    .... maybe Logan was reacting differently because of the costume?


  • @elbrant said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    @jengosmonkey said in Logan Has a Trainee...:

    turned out to be a big mistake inside the ring

    .... maybe Logan was reacting differently because of the costume?

    I think that was part of it. It was a specialty. There were a lot of dogs in the ring. I was overwhelmed. I should have been able to handle it, but I didn’t. Root cause was me.


  • @jengosmonkey But you both learned from it and ended up bonding (even more) and having fun. Sounds like a win to me! πŸ™‚


  • @jengosmonkey it usually is the handler. <deep sigh>


  • Logan and I got a letter today from the Gavilan Kennel Club. A welcome surprise. This was from our first show together where we earned his first Grand Championship point. Anyway, after our last show on Sunday we wondered over to check out Fast Cat. A really cool guy, Jeff, who I'd met in Santa Barbara several weeks earlier coached me through the process. My wife showed up, so I set her up on the release end and I went to the finish line. The flag dropped and Logan came racing towards me while chasing the plastic bag attached to the line. The whole thing was over in seconds. But, the good news was that he ran straight, crossed the finish line and came right to me. I thought that was the end of it...

    So, today we received a ribbon and it looks like he won third place in his class! I thought it was pretty dang cool. Our little collections of ribbons continues to grow.

    Fast Cat.jpg


  • WTG Logan!!!! ...and @JENGOSMonkey


  • @jengosmonkey You and Logan sound as if you are really teaming up now - Great news !!!

Suggested Topics