The Blog of the Frog

Well it’s been an interesting few weeks! I thought I’d seen a lot of snow at the beginning of the year – well that was nothing compared to what we had this time!

I’d say we had slightly more than last time, but it stuck around for ages. We had a vague semblance of a “White Christmas” – that is to say it didn’t snow, but the ground was still very much covered in the white stuff!

It stayed away for the 11th and we made it to the NEC for LKA. I spent too much money buying Christmas presents! And Elton got a respectable 4th in a large class which had 18 entered. When we all went round together at the beginning of the class I had a glimpse of what he could be like when he eventually settles (in years to come, the rate he’s going!) and…wow.

By the 19th we were well and truly snowed in, and as they (rather misguidedly in my opinion) decided to go ahead with the show I’d entered, we missed it. I did feel for our judge – we had a breed specialist who’d struggled all the way from the other side of the country, she had an entry of 16 Paps and not one turned up! Which I suppose backs up that I feel it really ought to have been either cancelled or rescheduled. Our Obedience Club Christmas Party was also victim to the weather 🙁 They’re planned to reschedule it but not sure when.

My new chair was finally redelivered  in November, and although I can’t use it for prolonged periods (seating needs to be reassessed – appt on 7th Jan) it was an absolute godsend in the snow. I still can’t believe how well it coped!

On the subject of new things a couple of weeks ago I bought myself a new laptop….my old one is very old and hasn’t worked properly since it crashed, so it was well overdue! I wanted to replace it before VAT went up, and this deal came up so I went for it. I don’t like it as much as my VAIO, but I can’t deny it works better! I expect I’ll get used to it.

Christmas was ok…a bit strange, the day its self was nice, but Boxing Day was hard – always the way it was going to be really. Grandad always went to my uncle’s for Christmas Day, so we didn’t notice it so much…but Boxing Day they always came here, and there was definitely a void. The dogs were thoroughly spoilt! Lots of new toys and treats, Fish4Dogs Salmon Mousse for breakfast and Christmas Dinner a top of their normal biscuit for tea! For the first time I put together hampers for my parents this year which I had a lot of fun doing, they went down well.

On Wednesday we did our usual post-Christmas show at the Bath & West Showground. It’s always been a two day show but in the days of increased cost and falling entries I wish they’d go to one day, there would be room and it would save them hundreds. Nothing is ever simple – when I arrived and looked in the catalogue I wasn’t entered! Luckily I always get proof of posting whenever I post an entry, which they have to accept in lieu. I’d never had to use it until this year and now that’s three entries that have gone AWOL (one breed club champ (April), one open I actually sorted out before the show because I rang the secretary to query something and discovered the entry hadn’t arrived (October), and this show). I would say the post has been thoroughly disrupted because of the snow (we had no post for two weeks) but that obviously didn’t affect the April or October one and this was posted in November so should’ve got there in plenty of time! When we eventually got in the ring Elton wasn’t on his best behaviour, but not too bad. Got a 3rd.

In other news I’m feeling very sorry for myself cos I’ve got an infection in my face 😆 So, so painful and it’s stopping me sleeping which then makes everything worse. A new year tomorrow…..onwards and upwards?

Oops…I’d completely forgotten about this, not quite sure how I managed that! I suppose because my last post was so exciting I wanted to let it sit as the newest post for a while 😉 and then I got out of the habit!

I got confirmation of Elton’s Junior Warrant back really quickly 🙂 So he’s officially had letters after his name for a while now.

Other than that, things have been fairly quiet on the showing front! We went to South Wales KA champ show on the 8th October, where Elton got a 3rd in Junior Dog & a 2nd in Graduate Dog. Closely followed (2 days later) by the South Wales Pap Club Champ Show where he had a 3rd in Yearling Dog & 2nd in Phalene Dog. Neither judge was particularly good for Elton so that was ok.

The following weekend I’d entered an open show with Elton, but South Western Gundog Club was the same day so as Elton now had his JW (and SW Gundog was half the distance!) I opted to give him a rest and went to the gundog show instead. I handled a Clumber to Reserve Best of Breed and a Golden Retriever to 3rd in the Puppy Stakes, so that was fun!

The 23rd/24th was meant to be a weekend of two shows, but on Friday afternoon the garage rang to say the minor repair the car had gone in for actually wasn’t, and not only was it not safe to drive, they couldn’t get the part until Monday. I was absolutely gutted because that weekend was two shows I particularly wanted to do, and of course to add insult to injury I could have got lifts with so many people if it weren’t for the chair.

I suppose at least it was fixed for Midland Counties on the 30th; another I wanted to do, because I thought the judge liked him. He got a 2nd in a good sized Yearling Dog class, apparently a very close decision and on another day could easily have been the other way round (that’s what the judge said!)

On the 14th November little rocket man turned eighteen months old….can’t believe he’s a year and a half. Where’s it gone?! He decided to celebrate his half birthday in style as we went to Minehead open show and he won Best of Breed in good company, going on to 2nd in the Toy Group!

Now, winter is well and truly here! Though we’ve been in our little bubble here and have hardly seen a flake of snow. Though the show in Dorset I’d entered last Sunday was cancelled due to the weather – rather disappointing because Darwin was entered and his outings are few and far between at the moment!

Other than that, not a lot to report I don’t think! Christmas is fast approaching, obedience is over for the year, and I’ve been resting Solei since he went funny back in the summer. I’ve just started taking Elton to obedience, and I’m very pleased with him, though it is needed! – he has quite a good grasp of commands, but we’ve never taken them out into a more distracting environment so that’s what I intended to work on by taking him! He loses all concept of heelwork, though to be fair that’s partly because we’ve done very little work in the right chair – his heelwork to a manual chair is very good! (Fat lot of use that’ll do…)

Well that was interesting – the show I mentioned we were going to in my last post, and the judge decided to judge like they do abroad – at the end of the class they move you up or down the line to the position they think they’ll place you in, and then move again. Elton was on the end of the line, and this judge pulled out almost the first five dogs in the class (most of the nice ones were at the front lol), got to Elton and then I think wasn’t quite sure what to do….so he pulled him out anyway, but then he was unplaced as there were only five places and now six dogs.

It’s the only class he pulled 6 dogs out (5 in all the others), so I don’t know if he forgot Elton and then when he got to him remembered and felt he ought to pull him out but then wasn’t sure what to do with him or what, but it was interesting! I can count the number of times Elton has been unplaced on one hand (that was his fourth time), and the others were (ironically) his first three championship shows – in December, January & April. Hey, proves he’s getting better with maturity!!

That was just a minor blip in proceedings, for a week last Friday we went to Richmond champ show. This was one I wasn’t going to go to, and then Elton started winning big! It was pure luck we ended up going – entries closed about a week before Paignton, but on the closing date they decided to extend it to midday on what happened to be the day we were showing at Paignton. At Paignton Elton won his Junior class, followed by his Yearling class – and I thought “oh..”!! So I borrowed S’s iphone, and entered via iphone at the show about an hour before entries closed 😆

It was this judge’s first CC appointment, so I didn’t know what to expect as to his views on Phalenes or what his judging would be like. Elton was in the same classes he had been at Paignton – Junior Dog and Yearling Dog – and once again he won them both!! He’s doing me proud at the moment <3 And six more Junior Warrant points! Two to go…

Yesterday we went to an open show where once again he won both his classes (only this time it wasn’t hard as he was the only one in them….) and then got Reserve Best of Breed.

Onwards and upwards!

Well, Elton finished an absolutely incredible month (29 days, to be pedantic :lol:) by also going on to win his Junior Dog class at Bournemouth Championship Show on 15th August! So he needs 8 points now…so near yet so far.

That Friday we went up to Welsh Kennel Club, where he was 3rd in Junior Dog. It’s a sad state of affairs – it was a good class, and he did very well to get 3rd….but when all you want is points it makes you very ungrateful 😆 I suppose it’s worse now I feel under quite a big time pressure. Though I was less than amused – the judge shortlisted the five dogs she was going to place, and then sent us all round together once before making her decision. Elton was the last dog to be seen, thus the last dog she got to and so the last to be pulled out. Because of where everyone was standing when she gestured to send them round he ended up at the front, and the person behind insisted on going up his backside! He’s not one to be phased by something like that, but Elton being Elton that was an invitation to play….so most of the way round the ring he was spinning circles and trying to get to the dog behind, rather than moving nicely. Then when I stopped at the end she stopped too close and so Elton was still trying to play rather than stand. I eventually got his attention, but I’m actually not so sure that didn’t cost him the class, which is rather frustrating – especially given the circumstances!

A week last Monday I took Solei to obedience, for the first time since that diasterous first week in July. He wasn’t bad, but he’s certainly not the same dog he was….I honestly don’t think he ever will be. I already knew he hasn’t been the same, but I’d hoped he would just slot back in to somewhere familiar he’d always liked 🙁

Then of course there was the excitement of the show last week….the less said about that the better!! I’m pretending I didn’t go 😛 Got there, to discover the judge had cancelled last minute….so we had a replacement. Problem with that was the previous judge is knowledgable about Papillons, but that was the only toy breed she was doing….other than that she was doing a different group. So the show society went and got this judge of the other group that was qualified to judge Paps in that they “could”, but I don’t think they knew anything about them, nor were interested…only something they had to do before the “real” stuff. Needless to say they wouldn’t have known a Phalene if it had bitten them on the nose (and the thought was tempting…)

To add to that, the table was in the wrong place for me so I had to get the steward to move it, by which time the judge was standing waiting….steward managed to move the table on to rough ground so it rocked like the titanic as soon as I put Elton on (which I didn’t realise until he was on), judge didn’t give me time to actually stand him or settle him (like I would’ve been able to anyway on a table that was moving that much)

Elton went so, so well as well <3 He felt and looked amazing….actually felt better than he has the last couple shows. Figures he’d pull extra stops out when there’s a judge that isn’t gonna look twice at him.

At the weekend I was judging a fun show, at a fun day. What a super, super day! There was have a go agility which all three of my boys had a go at – Solei is a bit rusty but still remembers a lot of what he was taught – especially the command “tunnel”! Was very funny when I put him over a sequence and we were going slowly and rather rustily over the jumps (trying to remember that you go over them not round them :D) then from a few metres away I pointed and said to him “tunnel!” and he rocketed off and shot through the tunnel 😆 now to get the rest of the course like that 😉

Elton and Darwin have never seen an agility course in their lives, so that was interesting. Darwin totally freaked the first time, but then after watching a couple of other dogs had another go and had the time of his life! Elton took to it straight away, and I think has potential 🙂

The fun show was rather nerve wracking, but in the end (I think!) a fun experience. I had a good entry of 59, and I think everybody enjoyed themselves!

Elton’s next show is Friday, so fingers crossed that goes better! No thanks to me – I messed up the classes and he’s only in Junior, he should’ve been in Junior and Graduate.

Wow….just, wow 😆 Didn’t want to mix this in with the last post, and then more happened.

On 18th July I went to the Joint Papillon Clubs Championship Show with Elton and Darwin. Under an American judge, so didn’t really know what to expect. It was Darwin’s first time at a champ show for almost a year, he was so excited to be there! Showed pretty well and came out with a 5th in Post Grad Dog, which was a good result (I was hoping to qualify him for Crufts – 1st-3rd – but never mind, still good to be placed!)

Elton was an absolute star…he was 2nd in Yearling Dog (12-24mths, so at just 14 months he was one of the younger), behind a dog who was at the top end of the age spectrum. He then went back in for Graduate Dog, which he won!! Finally also being declared Best Phalene Dog. So proud of my little rocket man!

Then it got even more incredible! Last Saturday we went to a companion obedience show and Elton was entered in the baby class – his very first obedience show. It was a very basic round (heel on lead, recall on lead, 30 second sit stay on lead) but my little boy only went and won it!! During the heelwork the judge was walking behind us saying things like “wow, that is lovely” – whilst judging!! – so I think she was impressed 😆 All he lost was a ½ on heelwork and a ½ on recall. He won a (non-perpetual) trophy!

The next day was the South of England Papillon Club Championship Show. Elton won two of his three classes (I was kicking myself because I’d put him in Yearling instead of Junior, I knew I’d made a mistake a couple of weeks after I’d entered but it was too late to change it by then) and Best Phalene Dog. He then went up against the Best Phalene Bitch – who is a Champion with 5 CCs and had in turn beaten an Int Ch – and my little boy was declared Best Phalene in Show!!!

Finally, on Wednesday we went to an all breed championship show (never a dull moment at this time of year 😉 ) where Elton was entered in two breed classes. In to the first one we went, and he absolutely showed his socks off! At the Pap Club in his first two breed classes (one straight after the other) he didn’t feel right, and although halfway through I had a pretty good idea why – he needed to go out – but I couldn’t do a lot about it! I’d taken him out to pee before I groomed him up, but evidently he’d also needed to poo and hadn’t. Took him outside straight after his class and sure enough he did.

As I was grooming him up on Wednesday I thought he didn’t seem quite right…stopped grooming and took him out, he went – and thankfully kept his trousers clean this time! – I’d already taken him out before I started grooming him and I really didn’t have the time to take him out again, so I’d have been in trouble if he’d needed major grooming after! From this we’ve learnt I seem to be able to read my puppy quite well 😆 which is nice.

Anyway, then it was a bit of a rush to finish grooming him up and get him into the ring on time, but I managed it; and as I say he showed SO well. I was a bit concerned because he used to be a bit dodgy on the table (would go all rocking horse and then lie down) and watching some of the earlier judging I didn’t think he would like the way this judge was handling them, but he surprised me and was actually a lot better than I thought he’d be. He really took to the judge actually – when she came down the line he started wagging his tail, and by the time she took her last look at the end he was wagging so hard his whole body was moving! He used to be like that as a puppy, but he appeared to have outgrown it, and I don’t remember him ever doing it that enthusiastically! Elton won the class!

My day just got better and better, as we then went back in for his second class and he won that one as well! He couldn’t quite contain himself at the end of that class – until that point he’d been keeping his stand and just wagging, at the end he started off wagging and then got up and stood balanced on his hind legs. Vicious ugly creature 😉

So in the last three weeks Elton has (obedience excepted) won 6 classes, a Best Phalene Dog, a Best Phalene in Show and got 9 Junior Warrant* points!

*Junior Warrant = between the ages of 6-18 months if you win a breed class with 3 or more dogs in you get 1 (open show) or 3 (champ show) points. You need 25 of these points (inc. at least 3 champ pts and at least 3 open pts) and then you can put the letters JW after your dogs name. Elton now has 14pts and 3 months left to get the other 11….sounds easy, but all depends on if the judges are good or not! If he doesn’t get it he’s been incredibly unlucky; he’s won so many variety classes (don’t count) or breed classes with just 2 dogs in, and got so many 2nds in classes that would have given him points. He has until the 14th November, so please keep your fingers crossed that we can get the remaining 11 points!

(and Solei has totally lost it again, but not going into details here because this is a nice HAPPY post about Elton 😛 )