Before I continue I’d like to point out I started writing this on 8th October 😉 Then I seem to have got distracted….so this is going to be ridiculously long, beware. Though it’s worth reading cos there’s some exciting news hidden somewhere!

Yesterday (7th October…which was yesterday at the time!) was the South Wales Papillon Club Championship Show, held in Caerphilly. So at ten past six in the morning we were sitting on T’s drive waiting for S because we were going down in convoy. We were meeting M near Caerphilly so he could show us the way, cos we were told it was very tricky to find. When we arrived I could see why! I’d never have dreamt of going down the road we did, it looked just like you were in the middle of a housing estate and no way would you have guessed there was a leisure centre there as well! So there we are, at Caerphilly Leisure Centre, at about quarter to eight and, thanks to our guide, we hadn’t even got lost once 😉 (we made up for that later but that’s another story..)

Judging started at 9:30am but we had 12 dogs between the three of us so by the time they’d all been out the time soon went! Sam got a good 4th in Minor Puppy Dog, Mac a 3rd in Graduate Dog and then it was Solei’s class. He did me proud 🙂 Well, except for the table but hey, nothing’s perfect! He stood beautifully with his tail up when she came down the lineup at the beginning and I even managed to get him standing with his back legs out properly (he’s terrible for tucking them under himself and I often just can’t get them out). He was a little bit silly on the table but nothing too awful, moved wonderfully as Solei always does and then stood ok at the end – had a job to keep his tail up but I’m getting quite well practiced at that now. He just gets bored and can’t be bothered to hold it up; the longer the class the worse it is. He didn’t get placed, I was a little bit disappointed but it wasn’t unexpected and I didn’t have a problem with the dogs placed 😉

Next in was Morris & Storm in Limit Dog, which Morris won! Then Jason in Open Dog and he won that! The final dog class was the Phalene class, which Solei and Igor were entered in. There were 4 dogs and Solei came 4th…there’s a lot more I’d like to put but seeing as this is on the internet for all and sundry to read suffice to say that shouldn’t have happened 😉 Igor got a 3rd.

After that Morris and Jason went back in to compete for the Dog Challenge Certificate (DCC). The judge watched them all and then eventually pulled three of them out to move again – it was obvious these were the three she was considering for the DCC & Reserve DCC – Morris and Jason included! After watching them move up and down again she gave Jason the DCC & the third dog the Reserve. That’s Jason’s first CC; though he’s been knocking on the door for such a long time 🙂

So on to the bitches! Sarah was chucked in Minor Puppy Bitch, Tara 4th in Junior Bitch, Tammy chucked in Limit and then I handled Tara whilst S took Tammy in Phalene Bitch, Tara getting a 3rd and Tammy a 5th.

After the Bitch CC had been awarded she and Jason went head to head for Best in Show, which went to the bitch. So then the RBCC winner came back in to challenge Jason for Reserve Best in Show. She’s a nice bitch and we weren’t at all sure Jason would beat her so hearts in our mouths temporarily whilst she made her decision – which was Jason!

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The next weekend we had off which was very strange – you get used to dashing up and down the country every weekend! So the weekend after that, on the 20th October, it was nice to be back at a show. Especially as T was coming; her first show since Richmond because of the puppies. We took Sam, Sarah, Solei, Tara, Tammy, Jason and Storm. I’m writing this more than a month and a good few shows later so I can’t remember all the details – all the shows merge, especially as we take more or less the same dogs each time!

Sarah doesn’t show herself well. She’s not afraid but she just won’t keep her tail up and she hasn’t got that attitude that her brother has, so T was going to show Sarah because she lives with her so S thought she may go better. The toy group is always one of the last groups to be finished and so whilst we were waiting for AV Toy there was an empty ring and I took Sarah in to work with her a bit before her class. She started going a little bit better and so they asked me if I’d show her as I’d been working with her!

Tara was in the first class and won it, though I think she was the only one. Tammy & Solei were in the second and came 2nd and 3rd respectively and Storm and Jason were in the third class. Jason won it and then got BOB and Group 4(? I think), I can’t remember where Storm came – 2nd or 3rd I think. Sam and Sarah were just in AV Toy Puppy – usually if you have a breed with classes scheduled you have to enter a breed class, but if you have a puppy and there’s no puppy breed class you can just enter AV – which was won by a very nice chihuahua who later got puppy group 1, Sam was 2nd and Sarah 3rd 🙂

Sarah did actually show better than usual, and semi-kept her tail up almost the whole time! I’d made a passing comment earlier about if they ever had a dog that needed a bit more one to one than they could give I’d be happy to have them….and at the end of the show they asked me if I’d have her to live with me for a bit to work with her and see if I could get her to show! So the next day they dropped her round…and I gained a Papillon puppy 😆

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The 28th October was Midland Counties. I’d entered Solei, I wasn’t able to go myself but he was going with S. T couldn’t go because of a bitch who was due to whelp a few days later so mum, Sarah and I went round to spend the day with her.

There were over 200 Papillon entries so most of the classes were large. The judge was one of our top breed specialists who I knew doesn’t really like Phalenes. One or two of the people who have Phalenes hadn’t even bothered to enter them because of that, but there were still some there, obviously Solei included.

Sue rang mid morning to say that Sam (Sarah’s brother) had got 3rd out of 17 in Minor Puppy Dog! That’s him Crufts qualified now. Then there was a gap (thus the phone call) and then Solei, Storm/Morris and Jason were in consecutive classes so we knew she wouldn’t be able to ring until they were all finished. About…half twelve, I think, the phone rang again. Storm got a 3rd in Limit, Jason a 4th in Open….and Solei got a 5th in Post Grad!

It was a strong class with 16 dogs entered. I’d had a good feeling about it beforehand but it didn’t seem real until they got back home and I saw his card, kept thinking she must’ve been talking about one of the other dogs. I still can’t quite believe it to be honest – you get knocked such a lot with a Phalene and we’ve had an awful run of judges the last few months. Then to get a 5th in a good class under a very well respected judge who doesn’t even like Phalenes!