Last weekend marked the second show for Cosmo, which was also our first 2-day show. Fortunately, it was only 45 minutes from home, so no hotel stay was required
Lauren did not want to attend, nor did Blake, so it was just me and Cosmo on our own. I arrived a little early to find our benching area and got set his cage up. Saturday seemed to be rather slow, and the rings in which he was judged were pretty evenly spaced. The first day he was judged by Darrell Newkirk (and again in the same ring by judge trainee Teresa Sweeney, who I hear breeds stunning Maine Coon cats), followed by Kathy Calhoun, then Paul Patton (SP) and Mary Auth (SP). He was pulled for finals by Paul Patton, where Cosmo was awarded 7th place for 14 points (this was a specialty ring, so only shorthair kittens are calculated in the point count). Ms. Sweeney also placed him in 10th for her finals, but there were no points for this as she is a trainee. I think it was a “practice” final, needed for her to become a judge.
Sunday was rather frantic, as there were still 4 kitten rings to be judged, and 5 finals (Newkirk judged SH on Sat., and LH kittens on Sunday, so his kitten finals were on Sunday). A few delays in judging and finals for the kitten class, as there was some overlap in the different rings for the kitten class. One ring clerk got particularly testy when people didn’t show up at his ring on time (due to being in other rings), but also got testy when exhibitors told him that some cats he called were still in another ring. “I KNOW! That’s why I said AS AVAILABLE!!” I was amused, only because his frustration was not directed at me. There is always something amusing at cat shows, like the time an exhibitor at a TICA show got snippy with me for confusing her British *LONGHAIR* for a Persian (to be fair, I could only see it’s rear side, not it’s face. It was a big white puffball).
Cosmo did not place on Sunday, so his point count for this show is 14 (if I calculated correctly). One judge said she could have easily placed 10 more, and included Cosmo in that additional 10 (So, he’s top 20?). His total point count after this show is 51.8. Unfortunately, I probably won’t see his rank for a couple of weeks, as CFA’s recordkeeping is very much behind.
As far as Cosmo’s behavior, he still does not like being at shows, and he especially does not like being in the judge’s cages. For each of the 8 judges, when they tried to put him back in the cage after judging, he either strongly protested being returned to the cage, and in a couple of cases, he actually turned around and grabbed onto the judge for dear life in hopes of avoiding the cage. He climbed right over Mr. Dineson’s shoulder and almost absconded, had it not been for Jim’s quick hands. In the benching cage, he was able to settle down a little bit in the afternoon and take a nap, but he spent most of the day trying to hid under his blanket or under his bed.
To try to get Cosmo used to the cages for future shows, I purchased a used benching cage from the cage service so we can set it up at home and do a little training. The goal is to get him used to it so he can relax a little at the show and not be so scared. Put him in, give him a treat… which reminds me – I need to order some freeze-dried chicken. He loves the stuff, and I am out of the stash that his breeder sent home with me. Also to keep him [somewhat] used to the show hall, I think I am also going to have to show him at a 2-day show in Indianapolis next month.
I have to say that the highlights of the American Gothic show were simply meeting other exhibitors. Jodie Ross was benched next to me and had a beautiful blue-eyed Chocolate Point male Birman that achieved his Grand Championship designation this weekend. I was in each ring with Beth Cassely (sorry for the old link – I did not see that she has a website), whose gorgeous Champagne Mink Tonkinese placed in several rings. Both of these ladies were very kind and helpful to me, not hesitating to answer the many newbie questions that I had. I also met Jo Cornwall of TrueBrit cattery; she is a top breeder of stunning British Shorthair cats and is currently campaigning one for a national title. Of course, Juli Clark was able to make it to this show with her Singapura, Cosmo’s brother Citron (same parents, different litter), and the brothers got a little pissy with each other, exchanging hisses back and forth for the few minutes that Juli and I were able to chat. And just one more act of kindness, the gentleman who sold me the cage also had a vendor booth selling various supplies. When Cosmo just would not settle down, I went over and asked if he had any dehydrated chicken because I left what little bit I had at home. I explained that Cosmo was really nervous and I could not get him to calm down. He dug around and found a little packet and gave it to me at no charge. Such nice people this weekend!