It’s been a couple of years since we made the trip to Orlando for the largest dog show in the country. It’s a great show to see all the stars of the dog show world, canine and human.

Similar to Nationals, we take a dog there with cautious anticipation.  Hoping for our dog to show well, maybe pick up a ribbon or two and represent us well.  That’s all we ask.  We have yet to be disappointed.

This year was Oliver’s AKC Nationals debut.  He is only 13 months and still very much a baby. Baby hair and a baby brain.  But he’s a pretty tough little guy.

First day out Oliver was experiencing the biggest and busiest venue ever.  He was not totally comfortable with everything but managed to show well and we were happy when he was awarded Reserve Winners dog behind a very nice dog.

Day two was much the same.  Oliver was a bit more comfortable, showed a bit better and again awarded Reserve Winners Dog.

Day three he started coming into his own.  He was more comfortable, showed better and was awarded Winners Dog for 2 points. Yippee!

Day four was the Puppy and Junior Stakes.  A competition for puppies and juveniles.  Oliver was victorious that day and won Best of Breed Puppy going over a nice Champion. Sweet!

Day five (the main event).  More Bichons showed up for the big day.   Oliver was on his game that day.  I could not asked him to show any better than he did.  He was awarded Winners Dog and Best of Winners for a 3 point major!!!  We were over the moon!

The Best of Breed lineup was beautiful.  It’s wonderful to see so many quality dogs there and Oliver fit right in.

We are hoping that this is just the start of something big.

Here is a little montage of our experience.  The following images were captured by Dina Taylor (with the exception of one).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well that’s it in a nutshell.  We could not be more happy with this little guy.  Looking forward to 2018.

Sidebar: Dina was looking to see an alligator while we were in Florida.  There were none sited at the Convention Center or the Grand Hyatt where we stayed.  But while on our way to the airport she spotted this beauty at a shopping mall.