Kotkan Ruusu 16.6.2013

Kotkan Ruusu Arto Tolsan areenalla. 

Mamman sylissä oli mukava matkustaa.
What a lap dog! 

5 am is a bit too early for Luumu (too).
Normally he wakes up at 9.

A thought crossed my mind on Sunday morning at 5: You must be a bit insane to wake up at that hour only in order to drive three hours to show a dog in a dog show. But they do say that it is not a true hobby if it doesn't take all of your money and time, right? So we woke up at five, drove three hours from Piikkiö to Kotka (or I got to sit and keep an eye on the map - and still we got a bit lost - how's that even possible?!) and participated in Kotkan Ruusu, international all breeds' dog show organized at Arto Tolsa Areena. We arrived there perfectly in time, so that there was enough parking space and also space to build up Luumu's brand-new crate. 

Luumu previously had a metal crate, but the big boy grew a bit too big for the crate!
Now we had to exercise how to behave in a crate made of cloth...
Sounds like a poor combination for a staffy, but after a couple of "don't scratch the crate" shouts,
Luumu understood the idea of being in the new crate. To relax there, not to break out of there.

Happy tourists in Kotka.

Luumu is approximately 16 months old now, and he could participate in either Junior Class (9-18 months) or Intermediate Class (15-24 months). I had enrolled him into the Junior Class, because to me, he is still all legs. The mass (muscles, I'd say!) grows on slowly, and I allow Luumu to take advantage of this time. Or is it just me? It's really hard to judge one's own dog. In photos, he's all grown up, but when he is in front of me, what a cute pup.

Our judge was Mr. Michael Clancy from Ireland, and he seemed like a really precise kind of a judge. Or at least when you compare to the judge we had last time in Rauma, who didn't even touch the dogs once... It was yet a really pleasant experience to show Luumu here at Kotka show ring, because Mr. Clancy, even though being an exact judge, made me feel very relaxed. The ambience in the ring was really... effortless. 

Dogs' Junior Class 

Mommy, what do you want me to do? 

Taking Mr. Clancy by the "collar"... ;) 

And by the sleeve. Not really! 

Luumu was a bit confused - why is this stranger touching my head? 

Luumu has a deep chest for a Stafford (at least in my opinion),
but the judge didn't say anything about that. 

Luumu moved slightly better than last time in Rauma,
but still I think we have got a problem... 

The problem at the moment seems to be that Luumu concentrates too strongly
on the meatball in my right hand.
When running, I should try to take the meatball only after we have stopped...
Next time, we'll see how that'll work out for us. 

The freakin' meatball, give it to me already! 

Look at those muscles. Maybe I should add some fat into his diet, anyway...
But he really is a picky eater, and we do exercise pretty heavily every day! 

I couldn't be any prouder of Luumu.
The apple of my eye, the sunlight of my days. 

Four best Junior Class males 

All legs? Doesn't look like that in this pic.

If I could train Luumu to move better, I think there would be no stopping us after that!
:DDD 

Luumu was judged as excellent, and he was placed second in the dogs' junior class. Here is what Mr. Clancy thought of Luumu:

Typical, nice outline. Nice head. 

Good front and topline. Moved OK.

In addition to his second placement, Luumu was Certificate Quality (SA) and got to compete in the Best Male ring. But for that, we needed to wait a bit, because there were so many staffies in the show (52 enrolled in total). In the mean time, Luumu got some more crate training (in his brand-new matchy-matchy cooling coat) as we did some shopping :)

Some floating fetch toys to take home with 

The surroundings of the arena were excellent to take the dog out for a wee.
Just beyond the stairs, there was a nice forest to walk the dog.

In the follow-up ring (best male), Luumu stood really well, but was not placed any further. Thanks for all the great photos to my mom and for the video footage to Jape! The video (including both Junior Class and Best Male Placements) can be seen here.

Best male placements 

No placement this time, maybe next time?

The actual reason why we ended up in Kotkan Ruusu, was that I really meant to visit my friend Johanna who lives in Kotka. But as I got my mom and Jape for company (which was really really really nice!), we ended up meeting with Johanna in the show, instead. Shame that there was only one Brazilian Terrier enrolled in the show, as that might be Johanna's next dog ;) Looking forward to hearing future baby plans!

The Sunday was rainy in most parts of Finland, but not Kotka! After the show, we spent the entire day seeing the sights of Kotka (mostly dog-friendly sights, like parks, which Kotka was full of!). 

After the show, Luumu was rewarded with a bone. 

Yrttipuutarha Redutti

Keskuskadun lehmusesplanadilla 

Kebab oli joidenkin osalta melkoinen pettymys...
"Mieto" kastike oli niin mietoa, ettei koko päivänä maistanut enää mitään!
Mamma sanoi, että oli viimeinen kerta, kun syö kebabia...

Sibeliuspuistossa istuskelemassa 

Kielenhuoltaja havaitsee kyltissä lievän epäkohdan. 

Missä se Sapokan vesipuisto onkaan..?
Luumu keskustelee kauempana lekottelevan bullterrierin kanssa katseen välityksellä. 

Sapokan vesipuisto on todella hieno! 

(C) Sinikka Saari 

Jape & Luumu waited for us as we climbed the rock all the way up.
Well, there were stairs, but anyway. 

Haukkavuoren näkötornilla

Luumu experienced some art by the observation tower.

The path from the observation tower back to the car was... interesting. 

Katariinan Meripuistossa. 

With a bit pulling dog on the leash, this was not an easy task! 

Luumu is still afraid of some bridges.
This was a see-through bridge, so at least double the scary!
But the other way around it was not so bad, after all...

And was it worth it, crossing the bridge?
Luumu would probably say that it wasn't.

Oodi merelle.

Luumun oli vähän vaikea ymmärtää mietiskelylabyrintin tarkoitusta.

Paluumatkalla pysähdyttiin Strömforsin Ruukkiin.

...jossa meidät yllätti rankkasade! (Luumu huilii autossa)

Luumu picked an awfully strange place to sleep on the way back home.

Thank you, lovely Kotka, for offering us a fantastic summer experience as (dog show) tourists! This was the second time for me to visit Kotka, and it is even prettier I remembered - with all the parks that are so well looked after, Kotka is really a perfect city to spend the day with a dog.