This past March, I had the very enjoyable and unique experience of competing in the International Junior Handling Finals in Birmingham, England. The venue of Crufts is easily triple the size of the largest dog show venue in America. Quite simply, it is huge. After spending four days exploring downtown London, my grandmother and I made our way to Birmingham to check out the dog show and attend the junior’s banquet on Friday night. I spent most of the day looking around the show and looking around the hundreds of vendors. The junior’s banquet was really fun, and it was so interesting to discuss the differences and similarities of dog shows and juniors with kids from around the world. We all exchanged little gifts that we brought representing our nation, the Belgian chocolates were my favorite! There were 37 other juniors, so I came home with a whole lot of loot. The next day all of the juniors participated in a rehearsal of the juniors “Parade” that would take place on Sunday night. The announcer called us in one by one, being brought in under a spotlight. It was unreal to hear him announce the United States of America, and know that I was the one representing the whole country!

The next morning the International Junior Handling Finals commenced at 9 am. Each handler chose a breed of their choice, and we were assigned a dog owned by someone at the show. I ended up with a lively little Beagle named Corky. He was a total rock star show dog, I really couldn’t have asked for better. Corky and I had fun running around the ring, and then it was time for the dog switch. For the dog change, I was given a Standard Poodle named Guy. Guy hadn’t been shown in 5 years and was now an agility dog, so he was a bit naughty when it came time to play show dog. Despite this, we did our best and had a good time. Since I started out with a smaller dog, for the dog change I had a larger breed. In just over two hours the judge had decided who his favorite 8 were. The final 8 would be those considered for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placements. Every junior still participated in the parade later that night. While Corky and I did not make the final 8, we had a great time! It was an experience I will never forget, and one that would not have been possible without the support of the fancy for helping me get there.