Ever been to a dog show hungover? I don’t recommend it. But such was my fate after my fellow Dogster staffers and I decided to turn our date with the Golden Gate Kennel Club Dog Show into a wine and margaritas girls’ night/slumber party.
It’s amazing how you can work with people five days a week and yet have enough to chat about into the wee hours of the morn. I was impressed that we were able to peel ourselves out of bed at 8:30 a.m. and make it to the aforementioned dog show by 10 sharp. I must also say I’m impressed with the way my colleagues look like they actually got some sleep in the photos below.
Our day began with a solid dose of caffeine, and then we were off to the Cow Palace for the last leg of the two-day affair. My dog was mad he wasn’t invited to the pooch party, but they were limiting canine presence to the show entrants.
A few months ago, Dogster’s Community Manager, Lori, lost her beloved Basset Hound, Lucy, and we made a beeline for the Basset booth as soon as we arrived to make sure she got a healthy dose of droopy-eyed love.
Note: The show Bassets are wearing snoods in the above photo to keep their ears from dragging on the ground.
We’d never met English Setters before, but are pleased to report that their sweet faces are matched by equally sweet personalities.
At these shows, “breed benches,” or the display/rest areas the breeds hang out at between showings are a competition in themselves. And we were shocked and appalled that the Chihuahua bench didn’t get first place when their owners went all-out, turning the Chi crates into a series of miniature home scenes. Here’s a clip so you can better see what we mean:
See? They were robbed!
We consoled ourselves by hugging as many adorable dogs as we could get our mitts on. Starting with this Rottie.
And this Saint. (Pictured next to Anna, our social media whizkid.)
Then we headed backstage to see the grooming area.
We watched one handler wrestling with the endless fluff of his Pekingese. My cohorts laughed a bit too loudly at this little dog’s face, but can you blame them?
We noticed that every pet product you could imagine was available for purchase in the face of a last-minute grooming emergency.
You would not believe how much hairspray it took to get this Pom‘s tail to stay put.
Another look at the snood phenomenon.
The Weims looked surprisingly happy to have a dogpile going on at their booth (though we thought they looked a little cramped).
Of course, I forced everybody to watch the Italian Greyhounds when they had their turn in the ring. A gorgeous fawn IG won a ribbon. I wanted to take every last one home.
We found that there are breed-specific editions to a good number of board games. (Is this odd to anybody else?)
The Irish Wolfhounds traveled through the halls like a troop of gentle giants.
Here’s another look at Lori in Basset Hound heaven.
Many, many, many cars in the lot had breed stickers and/or decals on them.
And many breed-specific collectables made walking the halls a visual overload.
We left a few hours later bone tired and ready for a good long nap (or some hair of the dog that bit us the night before). We’ll leave you with this parting shot — that’s a St. Bernard paw.
So, how was your weekend?
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