Hunt Country Cluster Dog Show

After a lot of research, we learned about Borzoi at a dog show. Before we had Tatiana, we talked to breeders at the shows to find out more about our favorite pooch. That was a long time ago - long before we moved to DC. Since coming to DC thirteen years ago, we have attended the Middleburg dog shows that were held in October/November. I had my borzoi fix, and the fall setting was gorgeous at the Oatlands Plantation. Unfortunately the shows were moved to other places and we lost track. Last month I looked up the Middleburg Kennel Club hoping to find another outing - and I did. This year there was a five day event scheduled at the Meadows Event Park in Doswell Virginia, about 90 minutes from home. It would take place indoors - which was great considering the unpredictable weather, but not as scenic. Nevertheless we took a day trip last Friday to see some Borzoi! As I couldn’t find a schedule of events beforehand, I wasn’t sure what we would find. It was around lunch time when we arrived and things looked pretty quiet - most of the competition had already occurred in the morning. But we weren’t disappointed. Scarlet the Borzoi won her group, and was waiting to join the hounds. So we spent some time talking to the owner and Scarlet. We hung around for a while - the Vizsla were competing and I sent some photos to our grandson - who just got a Vizsla. All I can say is a lot of the dogs and the owners belong with each other! It’s quite a show to watch them all engage - in so many ways. We always think about Tatiana - she was remarkable. No other dog can possibly measure up! 

The Hunt Country Cluster Dog Show at Historic Long Branch in Millwood Virginia

Rather than take our usual morning walk we had breakfast and were ready to head out the door for a little day trip to Millwood, Virginia. I was looking forward to seeing the Hunt Country Cluster Dog Show at the Long Branch House & Farm. We have attended the Middleburg Dog Show a couple of times in Octobers past at the Oatlands Plantation near Leesburg. The setting and time of year was simply lovely. And I had an opportunity to visit with my favorite Borzoi hounds. I had a gut feeling something might be amiss, and I was right when I checked not only the the weather forecast, but the latest information about the event. The weather update included a flood warning for the area - not unexpected for this entire month with all the rain around here. The Potomac River was over the banks yesterday here in DC. The event status stated the Dog Show was cancelled due to saturated grounds. After all, the show is held outdoors and everything would be very muddy. So we obviously didn’t go and decided to take our morning walk at a later time than usual. So I looked for dogs along our path. They weren’t exactly what I had in mind. I suppose I’m glad I checked before we left because I’m sure we would have both been annoyed if we drove all the way over for nothing. It would have been a pretty ride, but the day would have been over by the time we got back home. Now I’ll have to see if another show is scheduled. It must have been disappointing for all the participants.