19 July 2011

The Castlewellan Show 2011

Pip and myself went to the Castlewellan Show on Saturday. It was Pip's first major outing (I don't call the odd trip to town/the beach major). On the way in, she was terrified of the traffic on the busy main road, so I had to carry her a bit of the way. She kept trying to jump onto the wall beside the footpath, but she couldn't quite jump that high. I suppose she would have felt safer if she was up high.

For most of the day, her tail was between her legs. She has always been a very nervous dog - a new cardboard box in the yard could be very scary, or even someone opening a window. But as the day wore on, I noticed Pip's confidence grow and grow...

For the thrid year running, the Castlewellan Show's day was wet. In 2009, the ground was so saturated that people wore wellies. Last year, there were some heavy showers. And this year was no different.

Pip wasn't impressed.

The rain was already pouring down by the time we had payed our entrane fee, and Pip experianced her first horse sighting. She looked at the horse as it trotted around the practise area, but didn't bark - that was a plus!

The horses in their trailers didn't scare her that much either.


There were donkeys there, too.

Pip was really interested in the miniture horses being judged.

This Alpaca (I think) didn't like Pip.

With all of the animals seen, we went along to the dog agaility. Pip was realy confident with herself now, but then she heard the sound of a dog going through a tunnel, and was scared again. While we watched, Pip lay down and watched. Eventually, after a lot of hugs, she became used to the noise and began to enjoy herself.

This Bearded Collie was very good!

And so was Pip. Time to go home.

The traffic on the way back to the Land Rover scared her again, so she lept onto the wall. I took a photo...

...and lifted her down. Only for her to jump up again! So she walked along the wall while I stayed on the footpath, like a child walking along a wall at the beach.

And I'm not even going to get started on how Pip almost destroyed a PDSA stall...

10 comments:

  1. So glad to hear that her confidence grew as the day went by!! That's always such a plus, isn't it?

    I think the pretty girl enjoyed herself! I love her smile in the last photo!

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  2. Awww, Pip! It sounds like she did really well, though! Love the photos! :)

    Woofs & hugs,

    ~Bailey (Yep, I'm a girl!)

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  3. Oh, Pip. Don't worry the more outings you go on the more you will enjoy them!

    Mack & Murph

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  4. What fun! The Bear gets car sick so we haven't taken him anywhere yet but to the vet. The vet said we could give him dramamine. We are going to try a trip to the beach soon!

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  5. Looks like a great outing. :)

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  6. "Pip almost destroyed a PDSA stall."
    o.0 freaked out?

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  7. Exposure to different sounds and sights is so important in developing a pup's confidence. Sounds like you are doing all the right things. We think we would like to walk on a wall too:)

    Woos ~ Phantom, Thunder, and Ciara

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  8. Amazing picture of the bearded collie :-) Glad Pip did better as the day went on. She's such a pretty girl!!

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  9. My toy poodle always wants to walk along the wall too..I'm always afraid she might fall off!! What a great experience for your Pip, lots of new sights and smells to learn about!!
    My BC Pippin was raised on a farm with all kinds of critters, it's people that scare him :)

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  10. She's so cute on the wall! (And I love the picture of the donkey.)

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