Born to Win

Weeks ago, at the end of October, Am Ch. Invictus Nightmare Before Xmas JC - that's Zero for those in the know -went down to California to a big dog show in Del Valle. He couldn't be shown in the Bay Area RR Club Specialty show because handler/Mommy Erin was judging that shows sweepstakes (conflict of interest so you can't enter your dogs) but she did enter him in the following two shows.

In dog shows, in case you didn't know, there are regular entries, boosters, supported entries and Specialties. Specialties are a show of their own with their own point rating and are held by a club specific to that grouping(breed, type, group). Boosters and supported entries are held at regular all breed shows but with special prizes for the big wins; a specific club is paying for and offering the special prizes.

In this case the Bay Area RR Club had a supported entry the day after their Specialty and the RR Club of the US had a supported entry the next day. Zero was entered in both of these shows and he came away with some pretty impressive wins.

He took the first Award of Merit at the BARCC supported show which means that he was, in the judge's opinion, the next best RR there after the winning dogs(Breed and Opposite). This is impressive because there were 140 Ridgebacks entered on that one day of showing. So the next day he is in the RRCUS Supported show and wins a second Award of Merit. Awards of Merit are based on the number of dogs entered in the show, each show has different rules about how many AOMs can be awarded but it's usually something like 1 for every 10 specials entered but it depends on the breed.

Anyway, we are so proud of our Zero and in The Ridgeback Register there is an ad bragging about his big wins and I must say it is a spectacular layout. So for the majority who do not get the Register here is the ad for you to admire and the dog we pin our dreams on ... or nightmares ... whichever works!