Major (pt'd) Jack

Jack (Zephyr's Jack Be Nimble) and I traveled to Muncie, IN last weekend for the Ice Tea Cluster. Jack surprised me and greatly exceeded my expectations for him by going WD/BOS both days, which gave him a 3pt major each day. Wow! Jack is from my Striker ex Lark litter, whelped in 2013, the year before personal family issues started taking my time and attention away from Tollers. For Jack, this may have been a good thing. Some Tollers, particularly N/Ns, often mature slowly. At six he appears to have matured quite nicely. He has a lovely head and very clean movement from all sides. Outside of the ring, he's pretty laid back, though he does have one skunk and multiple rabbit kills under his belt so is no slouch when it comes to patrolling his property. His co-owners take great care of him and his housemate Finn (Dux ex Tilia - whelped 2010) and walk them miles and miles every day. Sunday's judge commented on his excellent condition and I gave credit where credit was due.

Sunday's judge also asked me if I was nervous. Apparently, she thought I was shaking a bit when I was first setting Jack up in the ring. I do get nervous sometimes when showing, and I think I was feeling particularly emotional about Jack, having lost his mother this spring. He reminds me of her in many ways, even though he looks quite a bit like his sire Striker. As it's been a few years since I've taken a dog in the ring with the expectation of trying to earn a championship, I was also feeling emotional in general about getting back into the breed ring, and wondering if I was right in thinking he was nice enough to finish. Last weekend's wins helped dispel the notion that he's not, even though I don't anticipate every show will be as successful as last weekend.

Jack enjoying a well-deserved rest at the Red Roof in Anderson, IN.

Jack at Culver's on his way home from the 2019 BYC.