Erika Stephens
A little over a year ago I stood with Oath at the Michigan Winter Classic 2019 in Novi, Michigan. Oath was five days too young to stand in the ring, not that we were ready for that as a team at that point anyway. We stood back and watched the Beaucerons compete. We met up with Eric and Ragar, and spent the weekend watching a lot of great dogs compete and letting the boys take in the show, flyball competition, and talking a lot about our puppies and the breed. Meeting up with other Beauceron owners Sunday afternoon rounded out the weekend and made it a memory.
A year later Oath and I along with Eric and Ragar were back at Novi, this time walking into the ring alongside Jasmine and Lily. Our Novi memory for 2020 is extra special as Oath finished his AKC Championship showing alongside these very same friends. Every judge we had the pleasure of showing under that weekend was phenomenal. An immense thanks to Mrs. Linda Clark, Mrs. Judith A. Brown, Ms. Gloria Kerr, and Mr. Houston Clark for your time and for excellent experiences in the Breed ring. (Linda Clark is especially nice to show puppies or inexperienced dogs to!) Each day we also cheered on Jasmine and Lily in the group ring. All four days both Owner Handler and the Standard Groups were very competitive and had great numbers, it was exciting and a bit of a nail biter, but there were so many amazing dogs in attendance and they were a joy to watch.
Novi is one of my favorite shows in the region, there’s usually a full spread of dog sports, demonstrations, and well-priced health testing clinics. It’s usually a very busy show, despite being in the dead of Michigan winter. This year they offered dock diving, barn hunt, Canine Good Citizen testing, grooming competitions, My Dog can Do That!, Meet the Breed, and duck herding demonstrations. The Michigan Winter Classic is a great show and trial and there are ample opportunities for meet-ups with the dogs and chances for owners to get together. We hope to grow our show trio in 2021 and see more of our fellow Beaucerons in Novi!
