The Blog of the Frog

Solei’s Stud Book Number arrived this morning 😀 I’m absolutely over the moon!

The time given was 2-6 weeks and today was 5 weeks and 6 days 😉 So you can see why I was getting rather anxious. Compouned by the fact Papillons have moved Stud Book “Bands” this year and in the previous band 3rd in Limit wouldn’t have qualified but under this band it does. So I had all sorts of things going through my head like maybe the 2009 bands didn’t come into effect until after Crufts..etc

I knew it was fairly illogical but couldn’t quite believe it until I had physical posession!

South Wales Pap Club show was a nice day 🙂 Tyler won Minor Puppy Dog & got a 2nd in Novice Dog, Darwin got a 4th in Puppy Dog, Jason a 4th in Open Dog and Solei 2nd in Phalene Dog. With the bitches, Dilly won Minor Puppy Bitch and was 2nd in Novice Bitch, Jeanie was 3rd in Minor Puppy Bitch and 3rd in Novice Bitch, Tosca won Post Grad Bitch and was 2nd in Phalene Bitch, Sarah was 3rd in Open Bitch and Topsy 4th in Phalene Bitch….

…..and then Tyler got Best Puppy in Show!!

Bit of rubbish there 😉 Told him he’s got a heck of a lot to live up to now, after a debut like this weekend!

On Tuesday we took Jeanie and Dilly to the vets to have some baby teeth out that were showing no signs of budging. Whilst we were in the waiting room waiting (there’s novel 😆 ) for the premeds to take effect S asked me if I wanted to take on Jeanie & Darwin 😀 They would still pay expenses but I’m responsible for everything, in effect they’re mine – I take responsibility for them, I say which shows I want them entered in, I have control 😀 Within reason, anyway 😉 Very exciting!

Both puppies are fine btw. Dropped them off in the morning, were able to pick them up just a couple of hours later and much like any youngster they bounced back very quickly!

That evening we had a match at ringcraft. I just took Darwin & Solei as Jeanie was obviously in no condition for that kind of thing! Unfortunately Darwin was drawn against Tyler and Tyler knocked him out and then got Best Puppy in Match. Solei won the first round but then ended up being drawn against a gorgeous Goldie in the next round who went on to get Best in Match, so that was the end of that! As I said last time, he always seems to get drawn against the eventual winner in the early rounds 😆

Oh, and Solei showed very well on both occasions 🙂 (phew!)

We have a Pap Club Champ Show on Sunday. Solei’s granddaughter is going to be there so I’m really looking forward to seeing her for the first time.

I’d entered Solei for UK Toy last Saturday because I really wanted him to go under this judge, but I couldn’t go so he was going with S and T. Everything was ok (after all we’ve done it before) until S woke up on Saturday morning and was too ill to go. So T had to take the dogs on her own. Long story short it was a disaster 😆

It’s one of the two shows where we have separate dog & bitch rings, but T had only taken 1 bitch….and of course she had to be in the ring with her when Solei’s class was called. So he missed half of it (they knew he was coming) whilst T finished that class and then she had to grab him and dash….now you know Solei is a very…er….special 😛 dog to show anyway and although he’s used to T I can’t remember the last time T showed him (2+ years ago probably?) and with the rush as well the chemistry just wasn’t there that day and he was dropping his tail and not showing well at all! Add to this the fact it was after he came back from the last show he went to with S&T that he started showing so badly (I’m sure coincidence but it didn’t make it any better!) and you can imagine how I was feeling 😆 Especially as I’d just got him showing better than ever.

Then to really rub salt into the wound we went to an open show on Sunday and I hadn’t entered him because the entries closed in that one week just before Crufts when he was being *really* stupid (I took Solei anyway, he comes to all the open shows even if he’s not showing)….of course there were hardly any dogs entered, the judge likes (has) Phalenes and he would stood a very good chance at BOB. Though I didn’t take him round an empty ring or anything walking round he felt so good on the end of the lead still so hopefully Saturday hasn’t done any damage….though it made me wish he was entered even more 😛 I took Jeanie as well, again not showing but I wanted her to get the experience.

We had a match at ringcraft last Tuesday and I entered all three of my lot. Jeanie didn’t show too badly (improved on the weekend before last) but the tail still wasn’t really there and she was knocked out by a Pom. (Quick explanation of match system – all numbers are put into a hat and randomly drawn, 2 dogs (or occasionally 3 if there’s an extra and they don’t bye them) then compete against each other with one going through to the next round and the other being knocked out) Darwin ended up against Tyler who knocked him out and then went on to get Best Puppy in Match. Solei ended up against a Pointer in the first round who went on to win the whole thing! Every match he’s done he’s ended up being drawn against the eventual winner in only the first or second round….that’s the flaw with the match system, you could potentially have the two best dogs competing against each other in the first round and of course one of them has to be knocked out.

Then today we had an open show. None of mine were entered bue T was staying behind to bath for tomorrow (breed club show) and S had 7 dogs going so I went along to give a hand. There were only two dogs showing – Tyler and Sarah – and I got to show Sarah. She won her class 🙂 But didn’t get Best of Breed. I’m scared to show her anymore actually, every single time I’ve shown her since last April she’s won her class 😆 It was Tyler’s first real show and he got Best Puppy in Breed and then won the Toy Puppy Group!! What a debut 😆

So tomorrow we do it all again. All three of mine are entered plus Tyler, Jason, Dilly, Sarah, Tosca and Topsy so it’ll be interesting!

The 15th was Jeanie’s very first show. She was in AV Toy along with her brother, and 19 other toy dogs of varying breeds *lol* Actually there weren’t 21 there (though 21 entered), I’d say about 10 were missing. She didn’t show too badly, not brilliant but her tail wasn’t completely down – although not properly up – and it was wagging half the time 🙂 She beat her brother and got a 4th! I was very pleased with that, especially as the winner of AV Toy went on to win the Toy Puppy Group. I hadn’t entered Solei because the judge has judged him before and didn’t like him!

Then last Saturday Jeanie came to a show where she wasn’t in a breed class, only the stakes at the end. I took her round the ring before judging started and she was a star….by the time it came to the stakes she was so tired she wouldn’t even eat ham and she showed so badly. She hasn’t been the same since which is so frustrating! Again I hadn’t entered Solei.

On Sunday we were showing again, this time Solei was entered and I’d put him in Open Dog….seemed like a great idea at the time 😆 The only classes he could go in were Post Grad Dog or Open Dog (no Limit which is in between the two) and I was a bit reluctant to move him down to Post Grad but Open is often a bit out of his league (mainly cos of the way he shows rather than his quality). So arrived, look at the catalogue…..2 entered in Post Grad, 9 in Open including a Champion, and 4 CC & RCC winners. You can guess what I was doing at that point…..

You remember that moment at Crufts I wrote about in my last entry when all the dogs were standing at the end of the class and the judge was making her cut and Solei was like I’d never seen him before? He was just like that. Only this time it lasted for the whole class…..he didn’t drop his tail ONCE and I was standing him for ages too. And he got a 3rd 😀 Jason won it and the Champion was 2nd, then Jason got Best Dog & BOB and the Ch got Reserve Best Dog! And icing on the cake, Jason went on to BIS!! So that was a fantastic day – I never knew I could get so much pleasure from 3rds 😉

We have mated Fancy & Solei…sods law, after being so late last time she was overly early this time! Still, we got one good mating and a couple of slips, so time will tell now.

I actually think that may be what’s caused this….I can’t remember how now but I remember after Solei was allowed Fancy last year his behaviour changed. Either way, whatever’s caused it, I now have a supercharged showy Solei! 😀 Long may it last!

Well, against all the odds Crufts was brilliant!

We left home shortly after 3am to arrive at the crack of dawn, as usual – if you want to get in the disabled car park you have to! We arrived, set up camp and I got Solei out so I could give him a quick walk round and see how he was. He pulled away a little bit and spooked over the noisy bits of floor but he was actually walking pretty well 🙂 So that was a relief. After that I pretty much made myself scarce – it was about 7:30am, judging started at 8:30am and there were 7 classes before Solei was in with quite a few dogs in them so I knew we had a while and I wanted to be out of his sight for a nice long time.

Crufts is *enormous*, there’s no way you can appreciate it properly in one day – especially if you’re showing. Never the less I wandered round the trade stands and spent a nice long time visiting my “other breed” at Discover Dogs – and folding leaflets for them! I’d had the inspired idea of taking walkie talkies so I could keep in touch with how the judging was progressing and not miss my class but not arrive back too soon either and ruin the previous hours I’d spent out of Solei’s sight!

I’d asked T if she’d groom him up for me because he’s been playing up a bit when I groom him recently (not happy) and I don’t think that’s helping with the way he shows for me either. So I lurked out of his sight until they called his class and then took his lead and (without a word) took him into the ring!

The thing I didn’t like to mention before because of tempting fate 😆 was that a few weeks ago our Crufts judge pulled out because of ill health, and our replacement was a complete surprise (usually they pull them forward, so the 2010 judge would do 2009..etc) – she has given Solei’s aunt a CC in the past and judged Solei a year ago at an open show and gave him Reserve Best of Breed (incidently the dog that beat him for BOB that day he beat today), so I knew she liked him and we were in with a chance.

There were 18 dogs entered in his class and they were actually all there too, so we were waiting in the ring for a long time and Solei had his photograph taken by 3 different people 😀 and they’re only the ones I saw….apparently there was at least 1 other man too. And people (even foreign people from FCI countries where Phalenes are much stronger!) were commenting on him and saying how nice he was 🙂

As I’m sure you all know by now I went not even sure if he was going to walk on a lead never mind show with his tail up! But in the end he was pretty good….he stood ok at the beginning, showed pretty well (though we had a dodgy bit when the floor moved – anyone who’s been to Crufts will know what I mean, there are strips where there are powerpoints or something under the floor and so the whole section unlocks and lifts up, and the rings are all covered in green carpet so you can’t see where they are either – and he shied away from me) and then when they were all stood at the end he was the best he’s ever been…..but she was cutting 5 out and then placing later after standing and moving them again and he wasn’t as good on the stand then but his tail didn’t drop totally and he obviously held it together enough as he got a 3rd!! 🙂

The major news is that now gives him his stud book number! It’s a great accolade and also gives him lifetime Crufts qualification! That’s always been my goal for him ever since I’ve been showing him and with his tooth imminently coming out (I didn’t think it would see Crufts, but it has) I really didn’t think he’d be able to do it. I can’t even begin to tell you how I feel about that 😀

Really can’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling now…I wanted that Stud Book Number *so* much. And it was a nice class too – he beat CC winners, RCC winners and both the dogs ahead of him have done a lot of winning 🙂 Well, the 2nd has…the 1st I haven’t seen shown much recently (last couple of years) but I know has a Pap Club BIS and a RCC to his credit. I looked in the catalogue this afternoon and although I knew it was a nice class with CC and RCC winners I hadn’t realised just how many CC and RCC winners there actually were. Can be very, very happy looking at what he beat!

I’d been told we’d been moved up a stud book band but had no proof (which made all the difference – if we had been moved up 3rd in the class Solei was in was enough, if we hadn’t it wasn’t) and so after he placed I ran over to the Kennel Club stand to ask and I was given a piece of paper with the breeds on, I grabbed it, scanned it and when I found we had been moved up I punched the air and said “YES!” totally involuntary reaction. Poor guy thought I was nuts 😆

Being a glutten for punishment on Sunday I managed (still not quite sure how!) to drag myself off to an agilty show to give the boys some experience as Solei will be doing agility and Alfie will probably be going to an agility home. I was a bit concerned about the seesaw but as it happened there wasn’t actually one! So that was brilliant from my point of view as they got the atmosphere without any bangs to potentially scare them. Solei was more interested in sniffing the floor and trying to stick his nose up every dog’s bum 😆 but he wasn’t at all fazed by it and Alfie was in his element saying hello to everyone and everything (everyone was enchanted by him) and he was really interested in watching what was going on too.

I was absolutely FLOATING but now the euphoria is starting to wear off and I’m just so tired. Bit disappointed because I wanted that lovely floaty excitement to last for longer! It doesn’t help that it’s really hit hard because of the lousy timing – Fancy’s puppies would be exactly 6 months right about now and they should be doing their first show this weekend, Mystery would be 6 months next week and the puppies that were due in the other breed would be due either this weekor next.

Talking of which, Fancy came into season on Friday; we got the news at Crufts! So we’ve got to make arrangements but if all goes to plan she’ll be mated to Solei again and we shall hope it’s more successful than the last time.

Tis the final countdown….Crufts starts tomorrow and we show on Friday.

And Solei has totally lost it 🙁

As I’m sure everyone who reads this knows Solei has never been the greatest showman. Then last August I switched the food I was using in the ring and suddenly found a bit of animation! Although he’d still never be the showiest dog out there he was ever so much better and although he had one or two off shows and I had to be very careful what I did (or didn’t do) with him in the ring, on the whole it was so much better. That continued up until January – I remember because when I showed him on the 4th I’d promised him a new lead if he showed really well and he did, so I bought him one. Then the next two shows I couldn’t go so S took him and showed him – he wasn’t quite so good at the first one because it was absolutely freezing (he actually shivered all day, including when he was on the table being gone over) but went really well at the second. The weekend after that I showed him again and he was awful, as I wrote at the time. I’ve shown him twice more since and although not quite as bad as the first he’s still bad – I have the Solei back I had before I switched him on last August, which is a very bad thing!

So that was bad enough with Crufts on the horizon, but for the last two weeks I’ve been trying to increase his stamina and build up his condition a bit so I started walking him every day – before anyone thinks I’m cruel he does get walked but not usually daily. That was ok until I walked him on the 22nd and he was pulling away from the lead and flinching a bit. I think I gave him a day off, then he seemed ok again. Then a few days later it started again – he gets all excited to go out but then after a very short period of time starts lagging behind, he’s not walking on the lead properly and I think it’s cos he’s flinching at everything though not 100%…..he’s walking as far away from me as possible, with his head down and he usually flinches a bit if the lead gets too tight (but I’ve checked his back/neck, all seems fine). Round the house he’s absolutely fine, eating normally, pooing normally, jumping about and you wouldn’t know there’s anything wrong. But he’s REALLY jumpy. He’s always been quite a sensitive dog but this takes it to a new level. From watching him I think he’s flinching at any noise rather than at pain, and flinching when the lead goes tight because he thinks it’s going to hit him or something. Who knows what goes on in his head.

So right now I don’t even know if he’s going to walk properly on a lead at Crufts before we even get as far as standing with his tail up! I just hope his back & neck are all ok. I haven’t walked him since Sunday in the hope that he’ll forget a bit so when he’s in the show atmosphere he’ll (fingers crossed) be ok.

I can’t see we’ve got anything to lose at this point so once we arrive I’ll ignore him until just before we go in the ring! I’m just absolutely gutted this has happened just before Crufts and when he’s so close to retirement too. All I wanted was another month or two with the Solei I unleashed last August! To say nothing of the fact the way he’s acting at the moment I can’t see him doing agility or obedience either.

Time will tell I suppose.

To finish on a happier note, on Friday I’ll have had Alfie for three weeks. He’s 5 months old and one of my current Pap pups, but he’s not going to show so I’ve got free reign to do more or less what I want with him. After less than two weeks with me he knew his name, could walk on a lead, had a decent recall, knew spin left, spin right and was in the process of learning targeting (my hand). Not bad considering when I had him he didn’t really know his name, had no recall at all, hadn’t  been taught anything and oh my….if you put a lead anywhere near him he screamed and screamed 😆 Never mind actually walking on it!