Last week I brought Agnes, A Aalii Del Rey, home to stay with us for a while. She is a wonderful puppy, quite beastly, but wonderful nonetheless.

Her older brother is Roxom Del Rey, the Xolo that went Best of Breed again at the Westminster Dog Show in NY last week. It was so exciting to see him on the green carpet again this year! He looked incredible, handled exclusively by Erika Lanasa, one of my heroes. That’s them on the left during the Non-Sporting Group competition.

Agnes is still very young and at three months of age, this is the perfect time to get her used to stacking, walking politely on a lead,  acknowledging her name when called, being comfortable around other dogs, and having judges go over her. You can train a dog when they are older, but the younger you start the better. It’s extremely sad seeing a dog in the ring that is scared. There are lots of noises and so many people at a dog show, it spooks them sometimes. Having them comfortable in that situation is better, that way both of you are comfortable and able to have fun and enjoy the show. I think the judges like to see happy dogs that love being with their handlers in the ring. I know I do.