It was Joe’s [Celebrations Mitey Joe Yung] third time in the ring and his first time at an outdoor show. He’s only 7 months old, but he was having the time of his life at the Bryn Mawr Kennel Club show earlier this month in Ludwig’s Corner, Pa.!  So many new people and dogs to meet and lots of new scents in the grass!  I love watching puppies that are new to the dog show ring.  They aren’t quite sure what they’re supposed to be doing, but they are trying their best and having fun at the same time.  Those are the dogs that I love to cheer for the most.  Joe won my heart the second I met him!  Below is another image of this adorable Pekingese puppy.  How can you not fall in love with that face?!

Do you know this breed that looks like it has a Beatles hair cut?  It’s a Portugese Water Dog – yep, the same breed that the Obama family calls their own.  Their coat comes in two varieties – curly or wavy.  This is the wavy variety.  When they say this is a water dog, they mean it!  Their coat is waterproof and they have the ability and stamina to swim and dive all day long.  They are members of the Working Group and they were bred to assist fisherman by retrieving nets, diving for fish, carrying messages between boats and protecting the boats and fishermen. But, gosh, how does this dog see??!!!

Here’s a photo of the Australian Terrier – mentioned in yesterday’s blog post as being one of two breeds in the origin of the Silky Terrier.  The Australian Terrier is a member of the Terrier Group, not the Toy Group like the Yorkie and Silky.  The Australian Terrier was developed in the 1800’s to assist workers in the Australian Outback by controling rodents and snakes.  Now that’s one tough little dog!  Their coat can be blue and tan, solid sandy or solid red in color.  This photo is from the Lebanon County Kennel Club show in Harrisburg, Pa. back in April.

A couple of days ago I posted an image of a gorgeous Yorkshire Terrier [click here to see that post].  Some might think that the dog in today’s post is the same breed with a different hairdo, but in fact, this is a Silky Terrier, not a Yorkie.  The Silky Terrier is larger than the Yorkie and is more closely related to an Australian Terrier.  The Silky originated in Australia when Yorkies from England were bred with Australian Terriers to improve coat color in the Australian Terriers.  I’ll see if I can find a nice Aussie photo to post tomorrow so you can compare all 3 breeds!