Becoming BY JACQUELYN FOGEL The Adventures of AMontgomery County Week
Montgomery County weekend is always an adventure. If you breed or show a terrier it’s very much a “must-do” event even if your breed does not host its National with one of the four shows. Montgomery County is the largest terrier show in the world, and it attracts visitors from all over this country, and all over the world. Judges who want to be mentored in terriers will make a point of attending these shows because it is the one weekend where you can be assured of an entry in every terrier breed. Exhibitors plan yearly schedules around these shows, and we treat it like a Pilgrimage.
My personal adventure started two weeks before leaving for Pennsylvania, when my show van had to be towed back home from a local show. It was towed right to the mechanics who took two weeks to diagnose the primary problem and, another potential problem. The parts for the potential problem would not arrive until after I needed to leave, so they released the van with a heartfelt, “Good luck!” Four days before I departed for the shows I was asked to do a grooming demonstration at the ICAW (Indiana Council for Animal Welfare) conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana – just 4 hours away. Since my kennel needed to replace all of our kitty condos, and I needed to deliver a cat to a friend who would be at this confer- ence, this was a perfect opportunity. Except for a tire on my SUV acquiring a slow leak, the day in Indiana went perfectly. We contracted with an Amish craftsman to build new condos, my cat got delivered, I got to talk with a lot of Amish and Mennonite breeders about breeding and grooming purebred dogs, and I introduced bedlingtons to a group of people who had never seen the breed before. The tire’s slow leak could be fixed the week I was gone with my show van, so that wouldn’t be a problem, either, I thought. Two days before my planned departure I had to get a bedlington to Chicago for his flight to Korea. My tire had not yet been fixed so I borrowed Darling Husband’s SUV. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until I realized his vehicle did not have an E-Z Pass transpon- der for the toll roads. I realized this at an unstaffed toll booth that required 9 quarters to get off at the airport exit. I pulled over and frantically called Darling Husband to ask where his transponder was, and more important- ly, where did he keep the loose change I knew he always had in his car. His answer was, “Huh?” Thankfully there was not a gate at this exit, so I just boldly drove through without paying. I figured the worst that could happen is Darling Husband would get a ticket mailed to him, and that would be his punishment for
losing his transponder, not keeping change in his car, and causing his wife to devolve into a puddlel of panic. Thankfully all booths on the way back home were staffed and did not require coins. I think it’s time for Illinois to upgrade to those machines that accept credit cards, but that’s another story. Planned departure date was Tuesday, and my friend William Duran was planning to fly into Milwaukee that morning. I had set aside an entire 4-day wardrobe for a cool Fall weekend of shows, but as Tuesday dawned sunny and hot, I realized my wardrobe selections were going to be all wrong. Thankfully I had stopped at a local outlet mall on my way to Chicago the night before, so I had 3 new sleeveless dresses that I just had to match up with jackets. Whew! Another disaster avoided. The van got delivered, Darling Husband picked up William and took him to the kennel to help bathe dogs, I fin- ished packing myself and the van, and we were ready to hit the road. One problem. I had forgotten my tack box in Indiana at the ICAW Conference. The tack box that had ALL of my good shears, and products I would need for the shows in Pennsylvania. It took about 3 hours to track down the bag. I had so hoped it was still in Fort Wayne because that would have been a minor detour, but of course, that isn’t where it was. It was with a wonderful Amish family east of Indianapolis. That would add an additional 6 - 8 hours to the trip, so I asked if they could ship it to my hotel in Pennsylvania, and they agreed, though it would not arrive until Friday. No problem. I threw together a tem- porary bag of supplies, and called my favorite scissor- guy, Jonathan Lytle of JL Sharpening in Fremont, Ohio. Sure, he could bring me a new pair of shears, and would even meet me at the Fremont exit because it was only 5 minutes from his home. All I had to do was call him as I drove through Toledo. We finally left at 4:30 pm. Because William had never been through Chicago before I decided to take the
182 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , N OVEMBER 2017
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