2008 Midwest Gerbil Show Update

Well, we are back from the Midwest Gerbil Show in Oklahoma!

Our gerbils did very well. Marco placed 2nd in the White Belly class behind Garden of Eden’s Morty, who won Best In Show. Toby placed 2nd in the Mottled Class. Sebastian placed 3rd in the Spot Class. His nephew Kyle got 2nd Place, and his sister Jaden got Best Of Opposite Sex in the class. Jaden went on to win Best Of Opposite Sex in the entire show.

Although we didn’t have as many gerbils of our own at this show as last year, we were excited to see how well Herman’s family members from other kennels did. Herman’s son won 1st Place and his grandson won 3rd Place in the Self/Non-Black Class. Four of Herman’s grandpups placed in the Pup Class. In all, Herman’s kids and grandkids took more than 25 percent of the ribbons at the show!

In addition, Herman’s son Keegan won People’s Choice, and Herman’s granddaughter Circle won the Showmanship Award. Finally, Herman’s daughter Jaden won her Championship, making Herman, Kaden, and Jaden the first mated pair and child to all three achieve an AGS Championship.

Although Herman is retired, it looks like his family members will continue to make appearances at gerbil shows. We hope we’ll have the opportunity to see them at
future shows and hope that they'’ll be able to bring others as much joy as Herman and Sebastian have brought us!

In addition to the main conformation portion of the show, there were many fun Pet Class events, such as the obstacle course, which you can see to the left.

Herman and Sebastian competed in the Pairs Chewing Competition and tied for 1st Place (with some of their relatives). Marco and Polo competed in the dust-bathing competition, and Marco won a Pet Class ribbon for style in that competition. :)

There was also an artistic competition in which gerbils chewed paper snowflakes, and there was a contest for the humans at the show to make the best tank backdrop.

I got a chance to catch up with many friends in the American Gerbil Society, and there were some funny moments, too.

To the right, you can see a photo of my friend Ruth with one of the electric bikes that she sells. We took turns riding the bike around the parking lot with a gerbil in the basket in the front of the bike. People must have thought we were crazy. :)

The most exciting news from the show is that we came home with two new pups named Hallie and Liza. These girls are Herman’s grandpups, and I’ll write much more about them in a separate blog post. :)