Leave of Absence...

[tx_cowgirl]

Well unfortunately, DTA will not be graced with my presence for a while....lol. Now, I'm sure a lot of you(if not most of you) don't really know much about livestock shows...so, let me explain a little. Stock shows are basically the exhibition of an animal in which they are judged on their "market readiness," or their potential to be a good market animal. Easy, now, don't start bashing me for showing an animal for market. Relax. I'm not even going to go into explaining all of that, but just trust me, my animals are extremely well taken care of and....yeah well, like I said, not explaining. Anywho...
So, "stock show season" starts in January. In most places there is a local show, which is your town, then a county show(for your county of course), and then what we call "major shows." These shows are in major cities where people from all over the state can bring their animal to the show. It's a very big deal.
I could go into describing all the things that I have to do to prepare my animals, but....geez, the list is so long. To make it short, it's a whole lot of work and it's VERY time consuming. On top of stock showing, I have a lot of other stuff going on, so basically 7 AM to 11 PM or so is busy, busy, busy. Needless to say, this leaves little time for DTA... I will have a week off of stock show stuff in a few weeks, and then a few weeks after that I should have more time on my hands. ^^ So, I won't be around here much for a while, but I'll get on when I can.
I hope I don't miss anything too interesting! Lol. Have fun, and hope I get to talk to everyone again soon. :dogsmile: Good luck to everyone with your dogs!

 

[Jean Cote]

Hey that is no problem at all Tx_Cowgirl!!! I wish you all the best of luck at your shows and I hope you win and have tons of fun! :dogsmile:

We’ll miss you while you are gone, but you gotta promise to come back!! :dogwub:

 

[marieke]

Have fun at the stock shows!

 

[CollieMan]

I love stock shows. We went to a great one last year, and we were allowed to take Ellie along too. What better way to get her used to different animals.

Good luck with your shows.

 

[tx_cowgirl]

Thanks everyone! ^^ And of course, I promise I'll come back. :doghappy: Yes, it is a great way to get your dogs used to different sights and sounds and animals. Great way to work on controlling my dogs' prey drive, as Zeke came from working stock and really loves to work livestock. Anywho, thanks again guys!

 

[l_l_a]

Tx_cowgirl, have fun at the stock shows!! will be welcoming you back!

By the way, here in Denver there is the National Western Stock Show going on right now. (there is a huge indoor/outdoor arena named for that too which is where the show is held, and where at other times of the year other exhibitions are held.) The stock show started last week and is running til the last week in January. it's a huge event - a lot of the general public attends not just "stock people" because they have tons of stuff there and tons of vendors that appeal even to people like me who know nothing about stock! For example there are several dog shows and exhibitions, which is the main reason my husband and I go to the National Western Stock Show each year, which is to see the dogs!

Today we went and watched the dog pull contest. Amazing how some dogs that are barely 30 pounds, can pull loads of 500 pounds or more with ease!

I will probably go to the stock show again at least one more time within the next week or two, they have agility and flyball exhibitions, and also another one called "Superdogs" which is tricks and other entertainment! I don't think there are herding (with dogs) exhibitions though, I wonder why. I would love to see that.