Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd with blue eyes, leaps across the grass mid-stride during a UKC precision coursing run, blue netting behind her.

Tails of Toy Aussies

Peach takes Best of Breed and a Total Dog award at her third UKC show

/

Ashley

/

Peach packed a lot into one Saturday. United Dog Sports of Northern New England held its annual fall show at Raitt Homestead Farm Museum in Eliot, Maine, and Peach spent the day bouncing between the coursing field and the conformation ring. By the end of it she had a Best of Breed win, her first trip to the Herding Group ring, and a UKC Total Dog award. Not bad for a girl who was so stressed in the agility ring back in June that I scratched her last runs.

Precision coursing: one more lap, please

Peach ran four precision coursing runs: two Dash and two Steeplechase. If you read about her Fast CAT runs in June, you can probably guess how this went. She was frothing on the line before every single run. Apparently she lives for the lure.

Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, clears a black hurdle mid-leap with a wide grin and one ear flopping, backlit by the sun.

In June she let me catch her at the finish. On Saturday she had other plans. Instead of coming to me when the run ended, she turned around and took herself back out for another loop of the course, a victory lap nobody asked for and nobody scored. I’m choosing to read it as a five-star review of the sport.

Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, races straight toward the camera across the grass with her ears flying and her mouth wide open.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, comes over a low black hurdle toward the camera with her ears up and tongue out during precision coursing.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, soars over a black hurdle with her front legs tucked and blue coursing netting behind her.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, gallops across open grass toward the camera with one front paw raised, the lure line visible beside her.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, flies over a precision coursing hurdle with both front paws tucked and her blue eyes wide.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, hangs in midair above a black hurdle with her front legs pulled to her chest and one ear flipped up.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, lands after a hurdle and runs straight at the camera with her mouth open, sunlight glowing through her coat.


Conformation: Peach goes to Group

This was only our third UKC show, and Peach is already a different dog in the ring. She shows as a Miniature American Shepherd, same as in AKC, and on Saturday she moved with more confidence and stood noticeably more settled on the table for the judge’s exam. She took Reserve Best Female in the first show. In the second, she beat another dog in the classes for the first time, and I think that new comfort is what earned her the Best of Breed win under judge Julie Hatlas-Pepper.

No love in the herding group this time, and that’s okay. Getting there was the achievement.

Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, lies on a raised dog cot on a gray blanket beside a camp chair and car at the show grounds.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, rests on a cushioned mat inside her travel crate, with a water bucket clipped to the crate wall.
Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, sits in the grass beside a camp chair and grins up at the camera on a thin leash.


A Total Dog

Put the coursing and the conformation together, and Peach earned a Total Dog award. UKC gives it to dogs that qualify in both conformation and a performance event on the same day. It’s meant for the dog that looks the part and can also do the job, which is a pretty fair description of Peach on Saturday. I’m so proud of my little girl!

Peach, a red tri Miniature American Shepherd, sits in the grass in front of an antique tractor wearing a rosette, with her UKC qualifying run and placement ribbons lined up in front of her.

Thank you to Jon Washer for the coursing photos.

In:

, , , ,