Dog Show.

For the first time in my life, I have a dog that’s AKC. Time to start competing. (I have my reasons.) He’s still so much a puppy, but growing so quickly!

I'm just going to throw this out there: The dog the AKC used for their website is basically my Labrador. White, with darker ears:

I have no idea where to start. Talked to opposing counsel on one of our cases who was requesting a trial continuance because her Border Collie keeps winning. She pointed me towards the “Jack Bradshaw” website, mentioned “conformation classes,” and described a new AKC 4-6 month puppy “competition” that doesn’t count but gets dogs and handlers familiar with what to expect. Okay, now I’m on a mission... I don’t think my boy is registered with AKC yet, so that’s step 1:

https://www.akc.org/register/

I’m so glad I scan everything. I needed his AKC number to register, and found it at the very top of the registration form his breeder gave me:

But at least finding the paperwork was as simple as ⌘-Space to pull up Spotlight. Getting him registered was easy enough, and now his name is fixed (I dropped “Maximus,” it was a bit much; his dad sire is Hatz-Off’s Harley Mac, and his mom dam is Riley Sunshine Christmas Candy) and I’ve got a PDF of his certificate.

Now, where to begin vis-a-vis competing?

Here’s that 4-6 month puppy competition I heard about: https://www.akc.org/sports/conformation/4-6-month-puppy/ She’d mentioned something in December in Costa Mesa, which I was able to find using this search: https://webapps.akc.org/event-search/#/search (4-6 Month Beginner Puppy Competition - 2019235603)

Edit: This document helps explain the entry form ...