Ft. Wayne Dog Show 2015

Every year we enjoy going to the Old Fort Cluster Dog Show in Ft. Wayne.  We spend the morning charting out which dogs we want to see, then taking note of which ring they will be at and what time.  It's a fun time and the best part, we only have to pay for parking at the coliseum.  Admission is always free!!  

I enjoy listening to the children talk about the different dogs they are seeing.  Josiah is big into dog breeds. I like passing one and asking him what kind it was.  He is generally right on his breed and takes great joy in knowing exactly what all the dogs are.  They recently got some breed books at the library to brush up on their skills before we went.  :)  

We enjoyed watching breeds in the ring, walking around watching them get groomed, and then talking with owners.  We went especially to see some Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs which is what we would like to get.  There was only 1 showing and he was a beauty!  His owner was very friendly and talked for quite awhile with us.  He knew the lady we've been emailing with on gettinga puppy, so that was nice and he invited us to some of their club events.  We do enjoy the club events.  Looks like we'll be going to a weight pull in December.  We love watching those.  Some day, maybe we'll have a dog to enter in the pull.  :)

 This is Otis, the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog that was as sweet as could be. 

 One of our favorites to watch are the mastiffs.  There is something about their biggness that just captures all of our attention.

 The person who showed this dog was a young boy.  We saw him last year showing too.  We noticed that Josiah had disappeared for a moment, but we weren't too worried.  We knew he was probably just walking around looking at the dogs he wanted to see.  Well, he was taking pictures and went to see this boy show.  I think deep down he wishes he had the courage to do this, but just lacks some self confidence to really do it.  We are working on it and encouraging him in it.  It would be so good for him, and I think he would have such a good time doing it!  He does love dogs!

It's always a fun, family tradition to go.  We enjoy seeing the different personalities in the dog breeds, naming the breeds as we see them, and picking who we think we will win and watching to see if we are right.  Sometimes we are sometimes we aren't.  This year, the easiest pick was in the St. Bernards.  There was a beautiful one there!  He won hands down in all of our books!  Maybe some day, we'll have someone showing in the ring.  That would be exciting!  Until then, we'll just keep making it our family tradition to go watch and share in the joys with the children of seeing all the dogs.  Good times!