Bunyip at dec 2014 WDS

Story: (Murngin's story will be the same, the parts that are different for each dog are in bold - at the bottom of the story!) 

It was dark and dingy, and outside Aurora’s window at the Crishanmew estate heavy clouds rolled past in the sky. She pulled the covers up to her neck and shivered, it was freezing! She really did not want to get out of bed, and looking sideways to see the numbers 4.00 flashing on her alarm clock only made the feeling more intense.

 

Groaning quietly to herself she tucked her head under the blanket and sighed, she had to get up, there were no two ways about it. After a minute or two she agitatedly ripped the covers off herself and hopped out of bed before she could change her mind.  The floor beneath her feet was cold and she practically hopped to her cabin bathroom. It did not take her long to shower up, brush her teeth and get herself ready for their flight. She applied her makeup quickly and threw her hair into a ponytail, quickly tugging on her travelling gear (a set of comfy trousers and a warm hooded top) and stuffed her feet into a pair of thick hiking boots.

 

Throwing open her cabin door she jogged out and over towards the kennel area, where she made a bee-line for the vladhunds. Grabbing up their leads from the supply shed she quickly fetched Bunyip and Murngin and took them back to her cabin. She let them loose inside and closed the door as she left, feeling confident that they would enjoy the relative warmth inside. She then went back to the supply shed and packed up a bag for them, picking out show leads, clips, grooming equipment, bowls and food. She filled a large bag with all of these and then rushed back to the cabin, her breath fogging in the chill winter air.

 

Inside the building the two dogs were running riot, but she didn’t mind. Bunyip had her head in the empty bedside bin, and Murngin was rolling gleefully on her unmade bed. She scruffled both their ears and then hurried to pack a bag for herself. She was only permitted to take a carry on bag, and so she had to be careful what she packed. In the end she could fit only her showing outfit, her toothbrush, a hairbrush and a stick of deodorant. She quickly changed into her showing boots with a sigh, there was no room in the bag so she’d have to wear them to travel.

 

Slinging both bags over her shoulders she gathered up the dogs and left the cabin, making her way to the main building. Standing shivering on the doorstep she ran the bell and waited. Soon she was rewarded by the muffled sound of approaching footsteps on the far side of the door. The mistress of the house instructed her to drive straight to the airport, and that they would meet her there.  She did as she was told and set off, yawning widely, heading for Heathrow airport.

 

She enjoyed the atmosphere of the world dog show, but boy did she hate early mornings!

 

 

 

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Aurora arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare and ended up waiting for the owners of the kennel for around 45 minutes. They were always slow, she was getting used to it. Once they had arrived they had all boarded without any trouble and the plane had set of on time. Luckily for the dogs the flight had been a smooth one and they even landed on time. That was about as close as it got to a perfect overseas journey!

 

They had driven to their hotel in their own miniature convoy, and had arrived just in time to check in. The receptionist had cooed at the dogs and even helped Aurora to get them up to her room. Aurora had thanked her profusely, it was a rarity to find staff in those places who were helpful to the dog owners!

 

That gave them the rest of the day to settle in and prepare for the show the following day. Aurora had no idea what the owners got up to.. Se however, thoroughly enjoyed her room service orders of a strong pot of coffee and a tub of chocolate ice cream. It was never too cold for chocolate ice cream in her opinion.  After finishing her treats she sat back for a moment and vegetated, enjoying a seconds peace before starting to get the dogs ready.

 

Naturally they had both been bathed a couple of days previously, so she did not have to bother with that. Though they did require a lot of grooming, and she was busy removing tangles(especially from Murngin’s low hanging belly!) from them for a good two hours. She then made sure that their feet were clean and their nails neatly trimmed, before finally rubbing a miniscule amount of coconut oil between her palms and rubbing over them both from head to toes.

 

She stood back and admired her handiwork, smiling at the two dopey faces and wagging tails.

 

‘Perfect’ she muttered to herself.  ‘You two scrub up pretty well.’ She gave them both a stroke and then flopped back onto her bed. Patting the duvet beside her to them know they could jump up if they wanted. They needed no second bidding and she quickly found herself at the bottom of a pile of dogs!

 

Before she allowed herself to drift off into sleep she set an alarm for 6am the next morning. No rest for the wicked, she thought as she drifted off into a deep sleep.

 

 

 

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The next morning Aurora was up before her alarm went off. The excitement of knowing the show was that day had her too riled up to sleep in! She hooped out of bed, shoving two heavy sleeping dogs out of the way as raced through her morning routine. She then grabbed the dogs leads and slipped them on; grabbing the show bag before heading down the hall to the bedroom where the owners of the Crishanmew estate were sleeping. She knocked loudly on the door and waited until she heard some movement inside before calling out.

 

‘I’m off down the breakfast room, I’ll meet you there, we have around 15 minute until we need to leave.’

 

There was a brief pause on the far side of the door before the shrill voice of her employer called back ‘now you get yourself fed and get going, we will meet you there. I can’t just be ready in a flash Aurora!’

 

Aurora rolled her eyes and dashed off to get something to eat. They always did this! You’d think with the amount of money they had to spend to enter, get themselves and her and the dog over… that they might be more keen to be there on time! Either way she wouldn’t let it ruin her experience, she loved the dogs and she loved the show. And as she got to the dining room she quickly remembered just how much she loved breakfast in America! There was a mountain of food on a table at the far end of the room, and she tied the dogs to a table leg and then made straight for it! She piled a plate high with pancakes and bacon, slathering the tower in maple syrup.  As an after thought she also snatched up a handful of sausages and put them on the side of her plate. They would do nicely for a bit of variety in her bait bag!

 

She wolfed down her meal and then made her way to the hire car, starting up the engine and immediately putting on the heating. Only then did she put the dogs into the back seat and buckle them in.  It was freezing!

 

She set off without even bothering to check to see what state of readiness her employers were in. Despite the cold weather it did not snow, and she was grateful of that fact. The journey was a fairly long one and used lots of winding country roads. It took nearly two hours for her to arrive, and she was glad she had left as early as she had. Despite the early hour the car park was packed, and there were hundreds of people filing towards the buildings.

 

She dutifully joined the queue and waited in line for around fifteen minutes before she finally reached the head of the line. She smiled at the attendant’s who flanked the doorway and gave them her entry passes. In return they gave her a coupon to pick up a schedule and pointed her towards the appropriate stand. She then queued again for her schedule and rifled through it impatiently to find her bench numbers.

 

Once she had found them she began the painstaking search for the right benches. Luckily the place was as well signposted as always and it did not take her long, which gave her plenty of time to give the dogs one final groom. She threw her show bag onto Murngin’s bench and grabbed out the grooming equipment. First she brushed Bunyip, then Murngin, then packed away her things, grabbed her number cards and made her way to the ringside.

 

It did not take long for her to find the right ring, and there were plenty of other handlers anxiously waiting for the judging to begin. She managed to get a spot near the ring entrance and unfolded her collapsible chair to watch the classes before the vladhunds. Luckily the venue was so huge that there were not many.

Whilst she was sat watching, the owners of the estate appeared behind her, both dressed to impress and looking critical as always.

 

Aurora rolled her eyes as they both began picking apart the faults in the dogs being shown, despite having no knowledge of the breed they were watching! Luckily the time soon came that the vladhunds were called, and Aurora was up out of her seat in a flash. She quickly exchanged Bunyip’s lead for a fine show lead, and led her confidently into the ring.

 

The steward marked them off his list of entrants and she took up her place at the head of the line up. The other dogs filtered in slowly after her, but neither she nor Bunyip pad them any heed. Aurora stacked up her stalker build female with a smile. Bunyip always looked showy when she was stacked up thanks to her eye catching colour.

 

The judge walked up and down the lineup and eyed the dogs first from the side, then from the front, one by one. Then she requested that they all move around the edge of the ring. Bunyip lead the pack with an easy, flowing stride and halted herself into a near perfect stack after her lap. Aurora could not help the smile that this procured from her.

 

The judge then asked that she move and stack her up individually. She nodded and jogged to the space in front of the stewards table where she knew she was expected to present the dog. Bunyip needed only one back foot moving to achieve the perfect square stand, and she wagged her tail gently as Aurora showed her a tidbit of sausage. The judge looked her over from afar very thoroughly before moving in for a closer look. First she asked the dogs age, then she checked her teeth, before finally laying on her hands to feel her musculature. She seemed content and asked for a triangle and a straight up and down.

 

Aurora obliged and Bunyip moved like a true show girl, and when she re-joined at the back of the line-up she felt very confident indeed.