September, 2010, Merlin went to his first dog show. I’m sure I was more nervous than he was, but somewhere along the way I began to see some sense of anticipation from him. The show was fun and exciting for both of us. He did well enough to make me proud and was enough of a rowdy youth to keep me on my toes and to sometimes embarrass me. He did take a second place ribbon, but then there were only two dogs in his class. He did pass his CGC. Ok, not so great on the Temperament Test and the Therapy Dog Test, but all things considered, he did well enough to make me proud, especially considering that I wasn’t sure we would even be doing anything beyond the conformation.

But the moment I will remember was when he wandered up to Brandy, a beautiful young female. As usual, they sniffed around each other’s heads. His whole expression changed. He began giving her little kisses, licks, all around her lips and chin. He was clearly enamored. John and I looked at each other and laughed as we both acknowledged what had just happened. He was clearly a young male in love.

A few minutes later he approached another dog, Angel. She had the added attraction of being about to go into heat. He sniffed around with an interest he had never shown before. We decided it was time to separate them.

Suddenly Merlin’s had shifted his attention to other dogs from casual to fascinated. Before long he discovered another category of dogs: the ones who returned his deeply curious stare with a focused and challenging glare. Other dogs had quickly become creatures to study and engage. The show area took on a heightened level of excitement that had nothing to do with the planned events but did have an impact on them.

Merlin got the honor of assisting as the “neutral dog” in some of the CGC testing. He did ok in his own test and did even better in assisting one of the males who had been particularly engaging in his glare. I was proud. Then there was the last CGC he assisted – Angel’s test. Angel did herself proud. She strolled past Merlin as if he didn’t exist. Merlin, not so much, as he strained to get another whiff of this hot young thing that had opened new vistas to his imagination.

Watch out Wendy: we’re on our way home. Your big little brother grew up a bit while we were gone. Hopefully your familiarity and lower spayed hormone levels will protect you from his new found curiosity.