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THE JOKER IN THE PACK
Flynn was not my first Irish Setter, but he was my first showdog. Having lots
of 'true Irish spirit' and being quite an excitable dog, I found him rather
difficult to handle, as he was always very quick to take advantage of the
fact, that, not only am I rather small, or vertically challenged, as some
might say, but I didn't know what I was doing either!
We were both trying to learn together - no easy task for someone as small as
myself, with such a high spirited dog. He always seemed to be intent on
living up to his Kennel name of Twoacres Joker, seemingly seeing it as his
sole responsibility to entertain the ringside at every show. What a good job
I have a sense of humour!
On this particular day, we had been showing for about a year and Flynn was
absolutely full of it from the minute he woke up, so I knew I was to have a
difficult day. When we arrived at the Open Show we had entered, it was to
discover that he was the only dog in a class of seven bitches. One of them
was either in season, just finishing, or just coming in, because he went
berserk! Usually, on meeting a bitch, he becomes very excited, bashing with
his paws, sniffing a great deal and wanting to play. But this time, he just
grabbed hold of her and tried to mount her without any preamble! Then he
tried to do the same to every bitch that walked past him. He was almost
beside himself and had never behaved like this before.
Once in the ring, he didn't know where to start, as he realised that he was
surrounded by bitches! I struggled to control him as we waited our turn, but
when it came, trotting down the mat was a nightmare, as we had to move so
close to the bitches and every time he came along side this particular bitch,
he broke his stride, did a little dance and cried loudly. Eventually, after
four or five tries, when I was on the verge of giving up, he managed to
concentrate long enough to succeed and the Judge was patient enough to wait
for him. It was obvious when she went over him, that she liked him, but I
thought, that by all his pratting about, he had thrown it away. To my
delight, the Judge gave him second place and the 'love of his life' came
first.
However, he wasn't content with all that. Once out of the ring, much to my
dismay, we were seated next to the same bitch and he cavorted so much, that
he managed, to somehow, get one leg inside my showbag. As he pulled his leg
back out, he also pulled out a full pot of liver tablets - 250 in all! I had
just removed the lid and it shot through the air, scattering them all over
the floor and into the ring. Needless to say, there was utter chaos. The dogs
in the ring, ready for the next class, were waiting to be given their ring
numbers. As the liver tablets shot through the air, so the dogs shot across
the ring, followed at speed by their owners, all diving frantically for the
liver tablets! Meanwhile, as I struggled to hold Flynn and pick everything
up, my Mother attempted to help me and was promptly bashed in the face by
Flynn's flailing legs, as he jumped up in excitement to say hello. This sent
her new and very expensive spectacles, flying off the end of her nose and
through the air. There then followed, a minor tussle between Flynn and
myself, as I tried desperately to retrieve them before he stood on them! When
she put them back on her face, they were, of course, very cock-eyed and as
she had only collected them from the Optician's a few days previously, both
our names were mud! I was the colour of my jumper - pillar box red - but
Flynn looked extremely pleased with himself, having yet again, caused quite a
stir, but for all the wrong reasons!!
© Michelle Webster 2000
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