Parker wins an Award of Merit at Westminster Kennel Club!

The Garden .... wow!  New York City in Madison Square Garden .... wow!

OK, first of all, I know this post is out of order - the important day was over a week ago - Feb 16, 2010.  But, that's OK, I'm still getting used to this blog thing :-)

It was a pretty amazing place and a really amazing win!  Michael and I are thrilled!  Wood and Jenny Wornall and Andrew Peel (and Caitlyn!) really did a superb job!  In amongst the tens of thousands of people walking around (or more??), and rows of people deep outside of the (relatively small) ring, they prepared and presented Parker as if there was no one around - it was if it was just Woody, Parker, the judge and the dogs that the judge asked Woody to spar Parker with.  It was breath taking to watch them together.  I'm happy with the result - but after watching that performance, and seeing the absolutely beautiful condition that Parker was in ... he could have walked out of there without anything and I know that he was in the best condition possible, presented impecably and while I know I'm biased, I'm truly happy that he's the dog in that ring that I own and love.

Well - to the judging.  It really was a tough breed ring this year.  Certainly not a 'shoe-in' for any of the dogs there.  There were 8 welsh entered and 7 showed up (click here to see the entries).  Three were National Specialty Winners (including Parker) - 2 from our primary specialty at Montgomery from the last couple of years.  Parker's sire, a BIS dog was there, along with another couple of Group Winning Welsh (in addition to Parker and Spyder).  And the other dogs entered were also in superb condition, presented beautifully and were well seasoned show dogs.  So, for the BOB and only 1 Award of Merit available - a very exciting (and nerve wracking) competition was held!  Michael and I had really good seats that were in the stands and fairly close to the rings.

It was really nice to see the judge spar the dogs.  This isn't something that is done very much in Canada, but when it is done well with people that understand their dogs, it really does help make for a show and to show off the beautiful dogs (looking at each other).  A couple of the dogs, to my surprise, were not very happy about being that close to another dog (but, with all of the stress in the air, I'm sure that the dogs picked up on that).  Parker was very controlled and focussed when he was sparred with both his sire and his half-brother.  He really did look great!  And, I was really excited about seeing him and his close relatives spar together - it was nice to see how they are similar ... and different.

Eventually the judge pointed to Parker's 1/2 brother for the BOB award (a dog they call Josh) ... then one of the 2 bitches entered was given the BOS award ... and then PARKER WAS AWARDED THE ONE AWARD OF MERIT!  WOO HOO!  

Beth Hilborn got a couple of nice pictures of Parker, which I have included.  The top picture is a profile of him (Ch. Darwyn's Webslinger) and the bottom one here is him (on the right) sparring with his sire (Ch. Bayleigh Shaireabs Superhero - Spyder, on the left).

Congratulations to all that attended!
The dogs looked spectacular and were presented very well! 

Michael and I are already looking forward to attending next year!  We just have to figure out which musicals to attend - the 2 that we attended this year were amazing (Avenue Q and Wicked) ... we just hope we can find a couple that are just as good!