Monday, October 6, 2014

Airedales at the Montgomery County Kennel Club - Terrier Show

Our second Airedale, Bridgit, was a rescue dog. We got her from Airedale Rescue when she was about two years old and she brightened our lives for the next eight years. Airedale Rescue has groups all over the world and is probably one of the best organized Rescue groups. Marianne has been involved with the group for many years, particularly with the annual quilt raffle which is drawn each year at the Terrier Show.

The event is held at Montgomery County Community College in Blue Bell, PA. They have a campus with extensive grounds which are beautifully kept. When we arrived about 9:30, the front parking lot was almost full and a kind gentleman gave us a ride on a golf buggy down to the area where all the action was taking place.


The purpose of this blog is mostly to give people who bought raffle tickets a chance to see what it all looks like.


Not all of the photos are flattering. There are so many people milling about, it's difficult to take a photo without a human appearing. If you are upset by any of of these photos which will be seen by people world wide, let me know in the comments section and I will remove them.

If you have information about the dogs, add comments.


The main quilt. The Airedales are wearing hats. You can click on the photo to enlarge it and more about the quilt can be found here.


One of the bonus quilts made by Carolyn Finlayson and Sharon DeBoer.


More bonus quilts. Marianne created the quilt on the right and Candy made the lower left quilt. Linda Bell made the quilt on the top left. The wind was so strong that Lori was having some trouble keeping everything ship-shape but everything seemed to stay in place where it needed to be.



Airedales in primped condition, waiting to be judged.


Un-primped, no judging required.




The judging ring. The judge is the woman with the grey hair. Most of the dog owners were well dressed. To be honest, it's not a hobby I would want to get into, but I can understand the appeal.


Like most dogs, Airedales love to chew. 




Two puppies. It's good to bring your dog to these events because they get used to other dogs.


Airedale Rescue had three tents that were doing good business. One of the people who manned this tent was Candy who also maintained the web pages for the quilt raffle.


This is a picture of the first rescue quilt. More about it here.


Another Airedale Rescue tent that was getting set up.



Pinky owns Candy, but she had to sit in her cage.


The judging continued.


Our Airedales usually looked like this, quite woolly. Airedale hair needs to be stripped, not shaved or cut, so it is quite a process.


Presumably, the centerpiece is the prize for the dog that can jump the highest to get at the water bowl on top.





Of course, while an Airedale is the largest terrier, there are many other kinds of smaller terrier.


One of the huge tents where owners primped their dogs prior to showing them.



"I'm downright miserable in this cage". You can see it in the eyes. Most of the dogs seemed to be enjoying themselves.




I suspect the winners get their official photos taken here. Then the owner gets a ride on the Segway in the background.


There were quite a few tents where stuff was for sale.


I'm not particularly knowledgeable about other terrier breeds so let's just say these were small ones.


Another huge tent.


Porta-potties. 


I suspect there would have been bathrooms in the college building in the background where lunch was available. In the foreground are generators for the primping equipment.


Other breeds had tents, but Airedale Rescue was the only breed to have tents dedicated to the Airedales that have been rescued.



I did not know that Airedale Rescue had an official car.


This is an enormous event and there were parking lots filled with these campers. People who show their dogs a lot are very serious about it.


Somehow I can't imagine a fully grown Airedale doing this but it would have fun trying.


More tents with items for sale.


These were nice looking dogs.


Resting, but paying close attention.


The judging continued. It seems to be quite a lengthy process, taking much more time than what you see on TV when they show Crufts or the Westminster dog judging. The audience members were paying close attention. I couldn't tell what made a champion dog. They all look good to me.




There is nothing like giving your dog a friendly pat. 


Now that is a tail. It used to be that Airedale tails were chopped off at birth but fortunately that practice is now going away. You don't need to see a tail wag to know that an Airedale is happy.


Well, hello.



That woman with the tan dress forgot the proper colour for this breed.



Primping paraphernalia.


This link shows a West Highland Terrier.


I presume this is not a Westy.


Yet another huge tent. Large tents like this are often used at college graduations, particularly for large colleges.





Flat out.



Kerry Blues. It's worth reading the Temperament section of their Wiki article.


The judging seemed endless.


We had a good conversation about Australia with the owner of Phoebe who is eleven years old. As an older dog, she was quite happy to lay on your feet. We recommended staying at Wombat Bend near Melbourne which is a B&B with Airedales. Read about it here and here. By the way, Sue, one of the owners of Wombat Bend, won the quilt a couple of years ago.


All I can say is that if I was that dog at the back, I would be worried.

We left shortly before lunchtime. This was the first cold day of Autumn with temperatures in the low 50's. A strong wind made it feel much colder.

The raffle raised $16,522. It takes a lot of money to get a rescue Airedale ready for its new owners, particularly vet fees. For all of you who bought tickets or helped with the raffle in any way, the Airedales thank you.


Finally, an old photo of Bridgit and Robin.



20 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Hey, Ray! This is Lori Taylor. That white 4Runner that you surmised must be the Airedale Rescue "official" car is mine and no, Airedale Rescue does not have an "official" car or if they DO, *I* do not own it!! Last year, based on all my prior years of Montgomery show experience setting up the quilt booth, I decided to create a couple large magnetic signs to affix to my vehicle. I did this because of the very strict "security" and "show police" who I had encountered in prior years and the difficulty in gaining access to the "Airedale Rescue booths area" near the Airedale ring, to unload all my quilt booth equipment and supplies on Saturday afternoon and again early on Sunday morning. The "National Airedale Rescue" signs affixed to the outside of my vehicle allow the "security" and "show police" to immediately determine that I have legitimate business in the restricted area and affords me a more expeditious way to get where I need to go, when I need get there, and allow my vehicle to be parked where it needs to be when I'm unloading and loading at the show.

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  3. Hi Lori,

    I would be happy to remove the photo if you wish. I thought your comment was very interesting and I can understand your need to park close to the tent site. It was an ingenious solution.

    ray

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  4. Great photos, Ray!!! Thanks so much for taking them all and for showing some of the other breeds as well. There are some Wheaten terriers in there and a number of others - always fun to see the Cairns and a Kerry and some Miniature Schnauzers and some Scotties. And just a little fyi, the dogs are being groomed, not primped. The male dogs especially would probably faint to hear they'd been primped. LOL The judging can go on for quite a long time as it's divided up into various classes. First the judge goes over all the females, then all the males, then moves on to choose the best of all the entries. So, depending on how many entries there are, it can be many hours before the judge gets to each one and makes that final choice. Lots of fun - lots of excitement.

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    1. Ooops - I typed that backwards. SO very sorry. They judge all the females first and then move on to the boys. Ladies first, you know.

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    2. OK, I admit it - I'm an idiot. I had it right the first time around: girls before boys. Dog shows can make your brain malfunction by the end of all that fun.

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  5. What a wonderful post! We feel like we were right alongside you at Montgomery, Ray! Awesome job! Thank you for this!

    Sue Senerchia - the red hatter blog on the HATtitude quilt ☺

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  6. One day I will be able to attend this show. How marvelous. Heavenaire on Earth!
    Bucket List.

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  7. Lovely blog! and thank you for mentioning the Airedale Quilting bee and the money that is raised for Airedale Rescue~we couldn't do it without them!
    Becky Preston, National Chair, Airedale Rescue

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  8. Ray, thank you so much for your wonderful blog! You should be the official reporter for the event every year! We seem to have the exact same sense of humor and I am still smiling about that poor lady in the tan dress! Well done! Thank you too for sharing your wonderful wife with the quilting bee. We appreciate you both so much! Keep up the good work! Love, Rebecca

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  9. Thanks so much for taking us to Montgomery this way, Ray! I loved this blog! Evie

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  10. Thank you Ray! I have always wanted to go to Montgomery but ... well, there's always next year. With your comments and pictures, I felt I was walking around the grounds with you and Marianne.

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  11. Thanks Ray for sharing your photos and humorous commentary.

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  12. Thank you for sharing the photos and your hilarious comments. Fun to see all the primping Airedales (and the non-primping too)! If I can't be there, your blog is the next best thing. Hope you'll report again next year!

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  13. So much fun-thanks for sharing! There is nothing like Montgomery....

    Elizabeth

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  14. Thank You Ray. I have been to Montgomery many times, but live too far away now. You did a fantastic job of showing everything as it is. I miss going but this ws great. I shared your thoughts when I saw the Airedale Rescue vehicle. But I laughed even harder when I found out it was Lori's who is a good friend of mine. But she is right, without looking official she would have had to argue with every traffic offical. Good idea Lori!

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  15. Thank you for the pictures. I loved them (and the comments!) I hope to go to Montgomery some day, and your blog makes me want it even more. My last 2 Airedales were also rescues, and I keep buying those quilt tickets to help out --- and, of course, hoping to win. :-)

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  16. Hi dear Ray,

    Unfortunately I do not know your last name, and so I can't use an appropriate form of Mr. "Last Name" as I would normally do. So, sorry for that.

    Anyway, I just wanted to say that your blog is much appreciated and very enjoyable. My wife and I are really excited to see how scurpulous and accurate you are in making photos of places you go to. What I mean is that you don't only take pictures of a building, a tree and maybe something else. But you are attentive to such details as pavement, the type of fabrics on this or that, and other small details that make your blog especially interesting.

    And considering that there was no posts lately I was wondering if you are planning on doing any soon? And the second question is: are you planning on travelling again any time soon, where?

    Once again, thanks for sharing all these stories and pictures! If you are anywhere on social networks, it would be great to see you there. If not, what are those networks anyway?! :-)

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  17. If I do something or go somewhere interesting then I create a blog. I have found that blogging is a great way to look more closely at something and solidify my memory of it. I try to create a story that will give a viewer a sense of what it is like to actually be there. When I travel, I usually don't go out at night so blogging is a great way to fill in the evening hours.

    Try it yourself. It's not difficult.

    I am considering two possible trips next year. Turkey by myself or Capetown to Cairo with the bloke who I shared a compartment with on the Trans Mongolian. Probably in April / May.

    And we have house exchanges lined up in Germany and France for July / August.

    I am trying to become an old fuddy-duddy and so I don't use social networks much. It's hard enough keeping up with the email etc.

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  18. Sounds like you are having big plans there! Is it safe to have house exchanges? Ever did that before?

    Also, I see that you have a lot of blogs from Australia. It looks like you go there once a year at least. How come you get to visit it so often?

    Thank you for the tip - I will definitely try it! I also find it a great way to keep memories that tend to disappear with time. Always great to come back to them and remember some small details.

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