78 Saber Tails Winter 2016

Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen Club of America

vendor area is small and the weather outside is harsh.  Manhattan in February can be snowy, 

wet and cold.  In stark contrast, Orlando in December is gorgeous.  The temperature is usually 

in the 70’s by day and not much cooler by night.  It’s usually sunny and perfect.  Orlando is a 

tremendous location for an event such as this.  The Orlando Convention Center is huge. There 

is ample room in the ‘halls’ where the events are held and it is usually 

very easy to move around without being jostled about or needing 

to fight through a crowd to get to your ring on time.  The Orlando 

Convention Center is conveniently located very close (I mean like a 

couple miles away) from Disney World, Epcot Center and Universal 

Studios (to name a few) making this location a highly desirable vaca-

tion destination on its own.  Although I have yet to visit one of the 

theme parks on my annual mecca to Orlando, this would be a per-

fect opportunity for a couple to take in a day at the show and cross 

amusement parks off the list at the same time.  All this is to say…you really should consider 

attending this show in the future whether you show your dogs or not.  

T

he structure of this cluster of dog shows is quite unique.  For our breed, there are six 

shows packed into five days and they are very well attended.  Tuesday, Wednesday and 

Thursday each feature an all-breed competition from a local kennel club but there are simul-

taneously a number of other events taking place.  Friday is reserved for club specialties (both 

breed and group) and the PBGV Club of America has sponsored two specialties on Friday for 

the past several years.  Finally, the National Championships are held on Saturday and Sunday 

with all hound breeds being shown on Saturday.

T

his year, the running of the event was messy compared to usual.  There was a bit of a snafu 

when the sponsorship changed from Eukanuba to Royal Canin and the building we usu-

ally occupy was unavailable when the mistake was discovered.  Consequently, parking and 

dog walking areas were VERY far from the event site.  If you came this year and left with a bad 

taste in your mouth, please give it another try.  The 2017 shows move back across the street 

to the building that has all the normal conveniences.  Given the space and parking challenges 

the show presented this year, my hat goes off to the Kiarry site control crew who dealt with 

everyone as best they could.  At the end of the day, our feet may have been more tired than 

usual, but everyone got where they needed to go and dogs made it to their rings on time.  

We all owe the sponsors of this show a tremendous “Thank You!”  Royal Canin and the others 

do a first class job making this an event to remember!

I

f you do choose to spend some of your vacation at the Orlando dog shows next year, come 

prepared to walk.  Wear comfortable shoes, pace yourself and don’t forget your FitBit or step 

counter.  You might be surprised how much distance you can cover just going back and forth 

to potty the dog!  By the end of the day, we were exhausted.  

O

n Sunday December 11th, I loaded up the car and headed east with two PBGVs.  Monroe 

had just finished her championship so I wasn’t sure I really wanted to show her, but I 

brought her anyway.  She is very young and was a bit intimidated by all the activity and the 

sheer size of the venue.  We showed one day and she clearly was too freaked out to do any 

good.  Instead, we spent a lot of time just walking around meeting other people, other dogs 

and taking it all in.  For a dog as young as she is, that is about as valuable an experience as 

I could give her. Now the next time we go to a big show, she’ll have this experience in her 

background to give her more confidence.  Aslak went with us as well for moral support.  He 

loves to travel and is really good on the road...plus taking him with me meant one less dog for my husband to deal with 

while I was away.  We stayed the night with Cindy and Phil Wilt and then caravaned out to Orlando the next day.

Jan with Maggie

Fred on his way to Best of Win-

ners for a major

Dhana and Tory

Phil and Marty

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