My SO and I attended a localish dog show yesterday, as well as to meet a flat-coated breeder we've been in talks with (plus her three GORGEOUS flat-coated retriever girls). I'm in love, seriously in love with the breed. She let us dog-sit with them while she judged in the afternoon. One of her girls, a liver, was so laid back and mellow (but has a table fetish that needs to be watched haha...she associates tables with grooming *which she loves* and with people telling her how beautiful she is). The liver was 5 years old. Her eldest black coated, was 11, the mother of the other two, and a sweetie pie and a half. Plus still bouncing around (giving much credence to the breed being "the peter pan of the dog world") Her "middle girl" (2 years old) was a goof ball and SUCH a momma's girl. A love and a half as well. My SO and I were very sticky after the shower of flat-coat kisses we got all day
Neither one of us were complaining about that!
Anyway, on to the POINT of this post. Here in VT its VERY hard to find a CGC testing area, due to a lack of people who do the testing and the rural nature of the state. But, at this show, there was one, and Suzanne (the breeder we met) took advantage to get her two younger girls tested. Suzanne has ongoing back issues, that have prevented her from really working her dogs like she wished she could...so since she was up and about and feeling good she went head first into the testing (mind you her flat-coats have been cooped up all day and by late afternoon were quite riled up with energy lol). There were a few other dogs there to be tested so I got volunteered to help out with the part of the test that calls for leaving the dog in the care of a stranger (not the breeders dogs because by then we had been with them all day) but this women who owned two absolutely adorable Lowchens (sp?). It was a lot of fun to watch the testing, since any dog I own will at least have their CGC. My SO had a blast. Initially I was worried that the flat-coated retriever would be too much dog for him (they are VERY VERY affectionate and kinda in your face bouncy type dogs for the most part), but he loved them and was overwhelmed at the dog show with all different types of breeds. Suzanne's dogs both passed, although her two year old looked at her like she had 5 heads when she asked for a down...it was quite entertaining (even for Suzanne). She did eventually down lol...and for the recall part she left her in a sit lol (it seriously took a while to get a down).
Speaking of which I had the privilage to see in person, not 1 but FIVE Leonbergers there! HOLY COW. HUGE HUGE dogs. They were well trained and socialized and were absolutely sweet and goofy. The biggest was around 185 lbs, and thank goodness he was a gentle giant because I was really blown away and acutally a little nervous hehe.
Other bonuses were seeing just some really great examples of breeds that have been given a bad rap or poor breeding (b/c they want to buff them up more)...such as the Rottweiler. My SO has NEVER seen a Rottie that wasn't massive and mean. There was one there, only 9 months old so he still had some filling out to do, who was such (as his owner put it lol) "an attention whore". She let us love him up some while she put down her stuff. My SO didn't realize that this breed could actually be so friendly.
Aside from my heart being forever stoled by Flat-coated retrievers, there was this flipping adorable Bernese Mountain dog pup who stole EVERYONE'S heart there. He wasn't being shown just there for socialization and his owner was working there.....but what a mush. Before Suzanne got there I spent about 15 minutes with him just smooching on him (with full owner permission hehe). He's such a gentle dog, just wanting to be held and smooched. When I got up to leave (had to pee how dare I) he hooked his paw on my arm and gave me a kiss on my cheek and snuggled in closer to me....yeah I nearly cried lol. His owner was just so proud of him for being such a good calm puppy (which I guess in talking with her he usually is...and b/c of such she wants to get him trained in therapy...I think he's a natural).
We had a blast and Suzanne will be in touch with us to pass along more show info, including one up in Canada which is only about a 2-3 hour drive for us (well the border is only 60 miles away, but the show is a bit further). There's also another show I believe in VT coming up in July she mentioned, so I'm hoping to swing that (might not though as I will be interning over the summer).
In meeting Suzanne in person, I really feel good about her. Even if she doesn't breed her girls (which she is likely not to b/c of her health issues) I would trust her implicently to refer us to another flat-coated retriever person. She is just incrediably friendly, knowledgable and LOVES questions. She was taken aback that I was even researching foods now lol and was happy that I was familiar with some good ones (she feeds her dogs Innova). I was just so happy she allowed us to dog sit during her judging to give us a chance to interact with at least two of her dogs (her eldest was crated as she does have some attitude about other dogs so I wasn't fully comfortable handling her since I'm simply not familiar with her). Her eldest issues have to surround dogs who just get in her face rudely (and she is not aggressive just lets other dogs know they are being rude, with a warning growl). Suzanne said we'd be fine, but understood in the crowded atmosphere I just wasn't comfortable in my own ability to make certain dogs who did approach did so politely
We did have the chance to have all three off leash at one point outside...and what a blast. The first thing Gilly (her middle girl) did was dive bomb into a snow bank to have a good roll. Their antics had me and my SO in stitches they were ALL acting like puppies!
Later, after the show, we got to talk more over a beer together lol (she showed us a great local arty spot to get a beer, a cappachino, expresso or whatever your in the mood for seriously)...and it was awesome to pick her brain and here her stories and have a Q & A session. My heart is sold on this breed (as is my SO) and it's going to be a long wait for our living arrangements to permit a dog (we start house hunting in May).