I am so excited to announce that my standard poodle, Sojourner, has completed his AKC championship!

Sojourner attends his first dog show! I don’t think I can come up with the right words to describe what a special weekend Sojourner and I had in Fairbanks, Alaska at his first dog show.

I had a successful weekend at Alaska’s first all-breed dog show of the season!

I have to be honest: I did not expect 2021 to be quite as successful a show season as it ended up being for my “baby” Grace. The fact of the matter is, American Kennel Club dog show season in Alaska is painfully short. It is incredibly difficult for a poodle in Alaska to finish her AKC Championship in a single show season. With only 16 All-Breed dog shows and 1 Non-Sporting Dog Club show between May and the end of July, my goal for the Alaska show season is usually to collect the major wins necessary for a Championship title and then take our time traveling around for single points in and outside of Alaska.

First, the heat! Alaska has experienced record breaking heat all summer long. And if the records were only barely broken. If the heat index had registered only a smidgen above what is normal for Alaska summers… maybe I wouldn’t be so worried. But the records that were broken were not gently tapped with the butt of a butter knife until cracks could be seen. Nope. Instead, these records were smashed. Demolished with a massive hammer that left nothing intact. What old heat index records? There are no old records here!

I’m still coming down from the high that is the Poodle Club of America’s National Specialty. I got to spend a great week with friends and fellow poodle enthusiasts.
I ate a lot of junk food. I stayed up really late. I saw, literally hundreds of gorgeous poodles. And I laughed with my friends until my sides hurt.

Poodles are probably best known for their fancy haircuts and circus antics. But long before Poodles were performing tricks for human entertainment, they were the staple breed for the various water retrieving dog breeds we know today. It is the long history of selectively breeding the Poodle type… from water retriever to trusted human companion… that gives us a dog breed so diverse in natural talents.

Curious how dogs get from Alaska to… well… anywhere else in the world? Click on this blog entry to learn all about air travel with dogs!

It’s winter in Alaska, the long nights and cold climate makes for the perfect time to LEAVE Alaska and head to Washington and Oregon for some AKC dog shows. Read all about Kluane’s first big trip to dog shows outside of Alaska!