My Dog Lost at the Super Bowl of Dog Shows and I’m Throwing Her a Party

Last weekend I watched Daisy, a dog I bred, walk into the ring at Montgomery. It took me six years to get there, or fifty, depending on how you do the math.

Having a dog of my own breeding in that ring was a dream I’d been chasing for years!

If you own a terrier, Montgomery County Kennel Club is the Super Bowl of dog shows. People come in from all over the country and from overseas, and the best of the best show up to compete.

But my story with this breed started a lot earlier than that. That’s me in the cover photo with Kandy, my first Airedale, when I was five. This was my starting place, and if my parents had only known 😂

For a long time, loving Airedales was enough (I’d had eight of them by the time Prayerie came along), but I always knew I wanted to do more with the breed.

Then in 2020, my friend and mentor Karen Gunter of TNC Airedales was teaching me how to evaluate puppies, and during the process she said she wished one of them was going to a show family.

As you can already imagine… the bells and whistles went off in my heart and head, and I said, “I’ll show her.”

That puppy was Prayerie, and I had no idea how much I still had to learn. Regardless, I was all in.

Between learning a whole new grooming routine for the show ring and figuring out the point system to become a champion (which I’m still not sure I understand), there was a lot to do.

Karen introduced me to Leonardo Garcini, who became Prayerie’s handler, and I’m not sure he would have taken my call without her.

Prayerie worked with him for four months before she ever set foot in a ring. She had to learn to stand instead of sit (it’s probably the only place where sitting is not a good thing) and how to connect with her handler.

Then there’s the training that happens in the ring itself. Some shows are really practice, a chance to get comfortable before the ones that REALLY matter. And that’s where Prayerie met the judge’s exam.

Nobody likes having a stranger check their teeth and private parts, and Prayerie was no exception. I had to laugh every time Leonardo called with those early reports: “Kim, Prayerie is doing well. She doesn’t like the judge’s exam, but she’s getting better.”

I’m pretty sure she would have come around faster if dinner was involved. 😆

When you’re new to this, the right people are everything. Karen opened the door, Leonardo taught Prayerie the job, and between the two of them I learned so many things that nobody in this world ever bothers to write down.

Prayerie became my first champion, and in 2022 she showed at Montgomery. I knew we weren’t going to win, but it was still a major step for me.

Standing at that ring, I realized exactly what I wanted next: to see a dog I bred out there with the best of the best.

In April 2024, I bred Prayerie to Coz, John Turba’s Montgomery champion. John is an expert on the breed and passionate about helping the next generation of breeders, and I’m lucky to be one of them.

He walked me through everything I needed to do, with Karen right here on the ground. People like them are a big reason this breed keeps getting better.

Prayerie had a small litter of three healthy girls, which I call my starter kit. When it came down to Daisy and one of her sisters, we went back and forth over who had the most potential, but I knew it was Daisy!

Daisy had attitude, and at 12 weeks she fit right in with the rest of the pack. I thought that would translate really well into the ring.

Last weekend, Daisy walked into the ring at Montgomery.

She didn’t place, and I won’t pretend we wouldn’t have loved the ribbon, not to mention the trophy. But I watched like every proud parent does, somewhere between cheering, smiling, and a few proud tears, and I left feeling like we had won anyway.

From Karen’s comment to that ring took six years, and from Kandy, a lot longer than that. That’s what I mean when I say you still win even when you don’t place.

Daisy has already gone further than her mom, with wins at the breed level, and that’s why I’m showing her at the AKC National Championship presented by Royal Canin in December, here in Orlando.

It will be her last show, and then she comes home for good, with a retirement party, because a milestone like this deserves to be celebrated.

I can’t wait for all of us to be together and build on what we started. This part of the story is just beginning!

What’s something you love enough to dedicate years of your life to? I’d love to hear what it is and where you are with it.

-Kim Opdyke

💗

PS: As I write this, Erwitt has informed me that it’s dinner time. Gotta go!