The Blog of the Frog

So yesterday I went on a cleaning spree. I put some more things away in my cupboard (almost finished all the unpacking now) and blitzed my kitchen. It’s become more of a place to put things than a place to cook, every square inch was covered in something or other! So I removed all the papers, folders, books..etc cleaned the worktop (now I could actually see it 😉 ) and then found new homes for some of the stuff. A lot of the things did end up just being put back on the worktop, but they were put back more neatly and as I had cleared some of it off completely I do actually have a bit of worktop visable now!

Almost all the stuff on there is to do with the dogs, so it’s their fault! I use about a third of the available space for their food anyway – I don’t have much kitchen storage – I’ve not got cupboards under most of the worktop because of getting the chair under, and I haven’t got any wall cupboards cos I can’t reach them. So I’ve got a thin pullout unit under the draining board where I store the wet food (until it’s opened, then it goes in the fridge) and if I’ve got any of the small bags of dry (2kg I think they are?) they fit neatly in there as well. Then I’ve got four drawers at the other end, the first is my dog drawer (anything else pertaining to dog food that will fit goes in there as well as various other dog related bits), second my banking/stationary drawer, third is another dog drawer – this one I store all my show catalogues, schedules and prize cards – and the fourth actually has kitchen equipment in! Saucepan, glasses, measuring jug…that sort of thing.

I’ve got a wardrobe/cupboard/drawer thing (this with a single wardrobe attached beside it) which is fantastic in that it stores everything I own that needs storing – clothes in one half of the wardrobe and boxes piled up beside it, clothes in two of the three drawers and bits and pieces in the other, and we’ve put shelves in the single wardrobe so it acts as a cupboard – but except for my kitchen that is the only storage I’ve got and it’s no good for those day to day bits – thus my kitchen drawers not being used as kitchen drawers! I’m hoping to get a drawer unit to go under my grooming table soon, then that should be much better.

Anyway, I’ve completely deviated from the point there! I was tidying everything up partly because it was bothering me, but mainly because I was hoping to clear a space so that I could put the christmas tree up on the worktop (tree on the floor or within a couple of feet of it with Sarah about = not a good idea!). So that was all ready yesterday, but I didn’t finish until late so left all the christmas stuff for today. This morning I finally opened my christmas cards and put them up (all 2 of them!). Lorna has made the most fantastic card with Solei on! It’s brilliant, thank you; I love it 🙂 Can’t wait to show it to S and T to admire as well 😉 Then we went to put the tree up and I actually couldn’t do it. Had to take it away again, I just couldn’t cope. I don’t know what the matter with me is this year! I’m not in the mood but I’d hoped if we got everything up and festive it might kick in, never expected to actually not be able to stand having the tree up. I was going to do my cards this morning but I…er..forgot. So I’ll do them later today, get them in the post and they might get there for christmas! And I’m sorry for the presents I haven’t bought that I was going to, I feel bad about that but I just haven’t been able to get organised. And I’m clean out of ideas!

On the plus side Solei is finally on the mend 🙂 About time too! He’s not 100% yet but definitely getting there.

So..er…happy christmas everyone?

Last post wasn’t as long as it was going to be in the end – rather than cram almost 2 months worth into one post I decided to split it into two, meant I could take a break as well!

So, on a high from Midland Counties (that’s Sir Solomon PhD (Phalene of Distinction) to you!) we went down to Exeter on 3rd November, fully expecting to come back down to reality! Which we did, but luckily it didn’t spoil the thrill from the previous weekend. We had a young judge, who I don’t think was very experienced with the Paps and wasn’t going to place a Phalene if she had enough Papillons, which she did. Sarah was chucked in her breed class as well. Then I had them both in AV Toy – Sarah in Minor Puppy and Solei in Open. Sarah got a 2nd, Solei was the only one in Open so won it almost (they can withhold) by default! Which was probably just as well cos he was a right so and so! He spotted his granddaughter (owned by someone else) outside the ring and then for some reason all he wanted to do was get to her. She was only 5 months so definitely not coming into season, but he decided he HAD to get to her. He wouldn’t stand on the table because all he wanted to do was leap off over to her, he wouldn’t move properly because he was looking over his shoulder unable to take his eyes off her(!) and generally being silly. As he *was* the only one in the class it was actually very funny, but if there had been other dogs there it would have been anything but!

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The next weekend we had shows on both the Saturday & Sunday. We don’t like to make a habit of it but for one reason or another we ended up with quite a few of them in November/beginning of December. Saturday Sarah got a 3rd in her class (which Sam won & then got Best Puppy and Puppy Group 4), Solei won his class (of 2 – he actually won a class with competition 😆 ) and I got a 4th with Storm in his class (which Jason won & then got BOB and shortlisted to the last 6 in the group but didn’t place). On Sunday Solei was 4th (last) in his class and Sarah 2nd to her brother (who got Best Puppy again) in her class. She was also in AV Toy Puppy and got a 3rd there in a very good class! Jason got BOB and Group 4.

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The 17th saw us at another open show. I got a 3rd with Sarah in Junior, a 3rd with Solei in Post Graduate and another 3rd with Sarah in AV Toy Puppy. You get those days where for some reason you can’t get anything other than a certain placing and you can almost predict it before you go in the ring 😆 Then the 18th was our club open show, up in Coventry. These are obviously always quite a big event because you get to compete against a lot of the Paps currently showing, but more so with a Phalene cos the club shows are the only time we get Phalene classes.

We took 11 dogs between us – the usual Sam, Sarah, Solei, Tara, Tammy, Storm and Jason, plus Jester (6mth Phalene, Solei’s grandson), Igor (Phalene), Mac and Sable. We were meeting the people who have Morris (Mac’s brother) up there as well. And what a day….

Sam got a 2nd in Minor Puppy Dog, Jester a 3rd in Maiden Dog, Mac a 2nd in Post Graduate Dog, Morris 1st and Storm 2nd in Limit Dog, Jason 2nd in Open Dog.
Sarah got a 3rd in Minor Puppy Bitch (I was so pleased with her, she’s getting there slowly. When the judge was only about 2 dogs away she managed to get her leg through the chain of the lead and I was the last in the line and I knew he’d move us all as soon as he’d looked at her so I had no choice but to pick her up and untangle her! Anyway he was standing waiting, I put her down and she stood perfectly with her tail right up 🙂 ) Tara won Graduate Bitch, Sable was the only one who was chucked, in Post Grad Bitch, Tammy won Limit Bitch & Tara won Phalene Bitch. In the Brace S won it with Tammy & Tara and I got a 2nd with Sam & Storm. Storm got a 3rd in Special Open Dog and Solei a 4th, Tammy got a 2nd in Special Open Bitch.

But, the best bit….

I put Solei in Graduate Dog. It was a class of 10 and all the rest were Papillons….and he got a 3rd! There were some very nice dogs in there and when I saw the catalogue I wasn’t expecting him to place at all so I was ecstatic with that. Then we had Phalene Dog and Solei won it! Beating a Dutch Junior Champion, a Reserve Challenge Certificate (RCC) winner, and a dog who has done a lot of winning over here and is now showing in Ireland and has picked up multiple Green Stars & BOBs over there as well as BIS at the Pap & Phalene Club of Ireland and RCACIBs. Igor got 2nd.

Solei’s been knocked at one show after another recently and it was so nice to have a judge that appreciated him for once. Then to top it all Morris went and got Best in Show!

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The next weekend we only had one show again which was a nice break! Somehow we’d managed to not enter Sarah which was frustrating. Sam was showing, as were Tara, Tammy, Storm, Jason and Solei. Tara and Sam were in the first class, Sam winning Best Puppy by default (only pup entered), but beating Tara in their class. Tammy beat Solei in the next class (which shouldn’t happen but always does…) and then Jason beat Storm in Open and got BOB. We had 1st & 2nd in each class though we were the only people in Yearling and Graduate….:lol: Solei did AV Toy as well and got a 2nd there. It wasn’t on the group system which means all the BOBs from all the breeds in all the groups go in together and just compete for Best in Show & Reserve BIS.

It’s not nearly as good, mainly because it means if you win BOB/BP you have to stay right until the end where as on the group system if you don’t win your group you can go home! Though also when you have a little breed you get a lot of big dog judges who won’t look at a small dog. Then you get the judges which aren’t biased towards one or another (which is obviously good) but you rarely get a small dog judge!

I’d also entered Solei in the AV Open Stakes, which was being judged by the same chap who was doing BIS. He didn’t look at Solei twice (so he was obviously unplaced) which didn’t bode well for the group. He seemed to be very much into the more Spitz-type breeds. When it came to BIS and BPIS he didn’t look twice at either Jason or Sam, and both his winners were spitz-type!

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The weekend just gone was our last double weekend for a long time. On Saturday we had a normal open show and on Sunday a group open show.

I’ve been working so hard with Sarah and I’d noticed a definite improvement in the past couple of weeks so I couldn’t wait to see how she went.

On Saturday as usual first up were Sam and Sarah in Junior. My god did she show 😆 I’ve never seen such attitude in one so young 😉 She was leaping about and when she moved she was wiggling her bum and acting like a right little tartlet – she thought she OWNED that ring! And she came 2nd….beating her brother into 3rd! That’s only the second time, and the first was only their 2nd show. The winner was a junior so she was the winning puppy in the class.

In Graduate Tara was 3rd and Solei chucked. I was really disappointed with that; it’s the first time he’s ever been chucked and it hasn’t been for being a Phalene. Though it wasn’t totally unexpected – this particular judge has raved about the head of another of S & T’s dogs, saying it was the best head he’s ever seen on a Papillon. Solei’s head is very different to that, and indeed different to a lot of the other dogs out there now (he’s got the older head), so I thought he might hate it, but I hoped his construction and movement (judge should’ve been big on that) may still be enough!

In Open Jason got a 3rd and Storm chucked (wasn’t my day 😉 ). There was a puppy in Graduate so Sarah had to challenge for Best Puppy, which the other pup won. So as we didn’t have to stay for the groups and we had a long day tomorrow we left, and were back home before midday!

Whether Sarah was slightly tired after Saturday or whether she’d just calmed down a bit I don’t know, but she wasn’t as all over the place as the previous day! She didn’t move brilliantly – pranced (and I mean pranced) down the mats wiggling her bum again! – but she wasn’t jumping about. This time they swapped places, Sam winning the class (and Best Puppy) and Sarah coming 2nd. The judge said she was very nice but he just preferred the outline of Sam, which I would actually agree with – she’s the slightly nicer dog but Sam is balanced at the moment, whereas Sarah needs to lift (ie her legs are too short and her body too long atm!) – and he shows beautifully, he’s not OTT on the move like she is. Not that that’s a bad thing at the moment – time for refinement later, the point is she’s really enjoying being in the ring now; the transformation is incredible!

We had a problem in Post Graduate – Solei, Tara and Mac were entered when T was at home so there were only S & I there. M & P were there with Morris and although they also had a dog in P was showing her, so M was free. The problem was Mac has been very spooky and skittish recently and so S really wanted either herself or me to show him, but she wanted to show Tara. I know M loves Solei so although I obviously really wanted to show him myself I asked M if he would show Solei so I could take Mac, to which he said yes.

I wasn’t sure how Solei would be about going with someone else whilst I was in the ring too but he wasn’t too bad. A bit distracted by me, as you’d expect, but it was more the odd glance over his shoulder than anything else. Mac was very on edge but his tail stayed up which was good and he showed well. And Mac & I won the class! With Tara 2nd and Solei chucked. It was the same judge as our club show so we knew where BOB would be going (Morris). I knew Tara would beat Solei (beat him for Best Phalene in Show) and I was 99.9% certain Mac would as well but I’d hoped he might get a 3rd or 4th. So there was the second time he’d been chucked and it wasn’t for being a Phalene – both in one weekend!

Morris won Open and then got BOB which was no surprise, Jason 2nd and Storm 4th (last). Notice a pattern to this weekend…? It starts off well with Sarah and goes rapidly downhill for Solei and Storm! Sarah, meanwhile, was stuck on 2nds – as I said she got a 2nd in Puppy, then she was in AV Minor Puppy and got a 2nd, then finally in the AV Puppy Stakes…and got a 2nd!

Solei was also in AV Not Bred By Exhibitor, where I was able to show him this time and he got VHC (5th). He’d had enough by that point and was thoroughly bored, wouldn’t keep his tail up no matter what I did. S took Sam & Storm in for the brace which they won 🙂

A Group Show (show for one group, eg the toy group, as opposed to a show run on the group system) has a normal group with placings 1st-4th only instead of Group 1-4 you have BIS, RBIS, Group 3 and Group 4. Morris was shortlisted to the last 8 but not placed in the main group, and Sam got Puppy Group 3 in the puppy group!

We’ve just got 3 shows left this year now – LKA Championship Show this Friday, and then two open shows on the 15th and the 30th.

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And now changing the subject totally! I’ve not long renewed two of my domains but when they expire in July and August 2009 I’ve decided not to renew them (certainly not frogaholic, may change my mind about tie-dye) and to just keep the one. So I’ve installed WordPress (fancy upgrade as well) and moved frogaholic over to my other domain.

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!

Right, now I’ve recovered from the shock of seeing myself in the paper 😆 ….

On the 22nd we went to Weston-Super-Mare (didn’t have time to see the sea though :() for another open show. We’ve actually got these weeks quite well spaced for diversity – we go on the M5 one way one week then the other way the next week! We ended up being a little too efficient and got there at 8am – show didn’t open til 8:30 and they wouldn’t let us in until then cos of the insurance! So we stood outside for half an hour 😛 But then we got first choice of where to park the trolleys! And we managed to get the prime parking spots, so it was worth it 😆

The usual crowd you get at Exeter don’t usually come up to Weston, so we had most of the Paps entered. There were 5 in Post Grad (the two babies doing their first show at 6 months and 1 day, Solei, another pup just shy of 12 months and a 5yr old bitch) and 3 in Open (Jason, Morris (who although owned by friends now was with us today) and another dog).

Our classes were on very late but it didn’t really matter because we had to stay until the very end anyway for the Junior Warrant heat that Morris was entered in. I wasn’t impressed with our judge. He was very quick going over the dogs and gave the impression he’d rather be elsewhere – I didn’t actually see much of his judging cos I was busy with our dogs but the little I did see I saw him ask a dog to go down and back and then look away whilst he was moving! Anyway, he placed them in age order – Sam 1st, Sara 2nd, 12mth pup 3rd and Solei 4th (only place 1st-4th). Not sure what the chances are of that actually happening, I suppose it’s possible….but although Sam showed well both Sara and the 12mth old puppy had their tails down and although Sara is nice otherwise the other dog is definitely not as nice as Solei. But how do you judge a six month old puppy against a three year old dog anyway? You can’t! Maybe that’s what he decided so thought he’d put them in age order instead 😉 I think maybe he thought it wouldn’t do his street cred any good for a Phalene to win his class but he couldn’t bring himself to totally ditch him?

The really fun bit was when my chair decided to break right in the middle of the class. Cue panic! Luckily I’d already moved Solei but there’s nothing more humiliating than having to be pushed into the lineup and then out of the ring. Plus as we had 2 dogs in Open and T was at home with the puppies I was showing Morris! So we frantically started trying things to make the chair work and thankfully it suddenly decided to fix its self so I was good to go again. Meanwhile we’re busy switching dogs at top speed, sorting numbers out….and at this point we realise because Morris belongs to friends we’d forgotten to get his number! (When you arrive you usually go up to the secretary’s table, give them your surname and they give you an envelope with your numbers in). So I grab Morris, S grabs Jason and we go into the ring whilst someone else dashes off to get Morris’s number! Jason got 1st and Morris got 2nd 🙂 So then back out again, put Morris away so I can get Sam and take him in for Best of Breed. Unsurprisingly (they are *so* ugly at the moment) Jason beat him and he got Best of Breed whilst Sam came out with Best Puppy in Breed!

And so after sitting there doing almost nothing for hours there was our frantic few minutes! Then there was a little break before I took Solei back in for AV Toy and he got a 3rd there. Then came the groups. S took Jason in for the normal group and he got Group 2! Behind a Pom who went on to win BIS. Then she took Sam in for the puppy group and he got Puppy Group 2! So pleased with him – first time out at six months and one day and he wins his class, gets BPIB and PG2!

More waiting and then I took S took Sam and I took Sarah in for the AV Puppy Stakes. Nothing there – not a little dog judge. Though they both showed nicely 🙂

Even more waiting then – the whole reason Morris was there was for the Junior Warrant heat which was right at the end of the show so we had to sit through everything else! Unfortunately the judge for the JW heat was the same judge as the stakes so we weren’t overly hopeful. And alas we were proved right. She pulled out her 5 dogs and they were all big – a Dobe, Curly, Irish Setter, Lab and something else I can’t remember!

So that was the weekend before last. Then last Sunday we went to Okehampton (see, other way down the M5 again 😆 ), this time with Sam, Sara, Solei, Tara and Storm. And….oh my gosh 🙄 There were three classes this time so Sam & Sara were in Yearling, Solei & Tara in Graduate and Storm in Open.

I was handling Sara again. It was only a class of three, the other dog was almost 13 months and her owner is rather well known too so we weren’t expecting to beat her with our little 6 month and 1 week scruffballs! So in to the ring we go….stand the dogs ready for the judge to walk down the lineup….and Sara decides this is a great time to pee! So when the judge was finishing looking at the dog before her down she squatted….and it was a massive one too, she took ages! So the judge and I stand there and patiently wait for her to finish, me silently cringing! This was indoors as well to make it worse. Then we can’t start again until it’s cleared up because she’s managed to do it right where you move the dog. So, eventually we precede! Sam went on the table first, meanwhile the 13mth old decides she wanted to pee as well which made me feel a bit better – though at least she had the decency to do it out of the way and whilst the judge was busy with another dog so no-one else actually noticed!

Sara was next on the table, so we did that, did the triangle and then started on the down and back. We went down away from the judge, turned round to come back and the little bugger suddenly decided she had to poo right this minute and it could not wait! By this point I’m just standing there laughing so hard whilst I wait for her to finish because..honestly. Small class so she wasn’t in the ring very long, and she’d been outside before we started! Whilst she’s pooing the judge comes up to me and says “you are having a good day aren’t you!” Naturally it was a very smelly one as well.

So clear *that* up and then resume the down and back, stand her at the end and crawl sheepishly back to the end of the line! Thankfully she didn’t find anything else to do to embarrass me whilst the last dog was going and it ended okay – she beat her brother and got 2nd! But oh gosh, talk about an experience! I suppose it’s one way to draw the judges attention to your dog 😆

The next class all went smoothly except the judge had to ask what the ear set of a Phalene should be and should she lift the ears up! Obviously I’d have rather she’d known but I like it when they’re not afraid to ask if they don’t know rather than just ignoring the Phalenes or pretending they know what they’re doing. She pulled 1st, a nice Pap, out very quickly and then took ages deciding 2nd. She kept looking at Solei, then looking at this little Pap pup and then back to Solei again. I think she liked him but wasn’t sure if she had the courage to go for a Phalene or not. In the end she decided she did and so we got 2nd! Tara got 4th and then in Open Storm came 2nd.

Or not 😆 At the show last weekend someone came up to me and said there was a photograph of me in this weeks paper. She couldn’t remember which one (there are two dog papers – Dog World and Our Dogs) so today I walked Solei down to have a look. I’ve taken him into WHSmiths a few times (on my lap) and no-one seems to object so in the interests of saving energy I combined that with his walk 😉 There was a particularly dangerous looking squirrel in the park which Solei decided he had to save me from – he chased it up a tree and then tried to climb the tree after it! They’ve decided to expand their magazine range in Smiths which, of course, involves moving everything about which meant me spending about half an hour looking for the wretched dog papers. When I eventually found them I had to look through them both to find which one the photo was in, cos I only wanted to buy it if it was Our Dogs – it’s too expensive for me to subscribe so I get S’s copy of Dog World after she’s read it, but the Our Dogs subscription has lapsed at the moment, so if it was in DW I didn’t need to buy it, if it was OD I did!

There was nothing in DW but in OD on the “around the ring” features they do, which is basically a page of random photos taken by an OD photographer, there was a photo of me with Mac at Richmond! It’s a terrible one of me but a lovely one of him. We’re in the ring but it’s whilst we’re waiting for our turn and he’s on my lap, looking at the photographer (who evidently snuck up behind me :lol:). There were only about 15 photos from the whole show so it was quite a surprise, especially as I didn’t know it was taken! We’re doing quite well actually – they managed to get a photo of S & mum watching the Pap judging which was in their Bournemouth feature last month 😆

The only thing is I’m sure the lady said it was a photo of us at Monmouth and she was very vague about which dog – first she said it was Solei then she said it was probably the dog I was holding at the time which was a red sable papillon (not much different to a black and white phalene then…) and I’ve never done anything with him before so it definitely wouldn’t have been him! The problem is I couldn’t swear to it that she said Monmouth. She may have just said there was a photo in the paper and I asked if it was Monmouth, I really can’t remember. I thought she did say Monmouth because I was surprised – I knew there was a photographer taking photos of Solei and I at Monmouth but I never expected them to get into one of the dog papers.

So there’s possibly another photo floating about as well. I’ll have to be careful not to let all this publicity go to my head 😆 There was a photo of Solei and I showing at Richmond floating round one of the big Papillon groups the other week! I suppose it’s the novelty of someone so obviously disabled, and when I have a rare breed (aka Phalene) with me as well that just compounds it. Not that I actually mind 😉 I usually hate having my photo taken but somehow it’s different when I’m with the dogs. I suppose it’s because of all the people that have said I couldn’t do it, it’s nice to prove that I can – and the more people that see that it is possible, wheelchair or no wheelchair, the better!

I can’t believe it was only a week ago (or it was when I started writing this post on Friday!) that we went to Richmond Dog Show at Loseley Park. It seems like so much longer!

It was quite a day. We left just after 4:30am allowing almost 3 hours for what I thought was a 2 1/2hr trip but mum thought it may take longer so we left a bit of extra time. We arrived at the show just after 7am which was a tad premature as we were aiming for 7:30! (which was when it opened). We arrived before the others so sat in the car and waited for them, they arrived and we all went in.

First thing I did when we got there was check the catalogue to see if there were any Phalenes other than our lot (and specifically checking for a certain one). Solei was actually the only Phalene dog there – there were two other bitches (one being Solei’s daughter) plus the bitches we’d brought (who were actually two of his cousins and his half-sister…we could’ve had quite a family party :lol:) but no other dogs. Of course whilst I was looking I couldn’t help seeing the class sizes and immediately wished I hadn’t! Our first champ show (and my first time showing at one) and of course we ended up in the biggest class of the day – 21! 21! Nothing like breaking me in gently 😆

The grass was very wet (dew) when we arrived and the sun wouldn’t come out so after waiting a couple of hours hoping it would dry off we ended up having to take the dogs out to pee in the wet grass and they got absolutely soaking. Nothing more depressing than spending the day before bathing and grooming dogs so they look fantastic then before they’ve even been in the ring having to let them get all wet and muddy!

Of course only about half an hour later it had started to dry off and by the second class of the day the sun had come out, grass had more or less dried and it was starting to get very hot.

My friends have a 17mth old tri Pap, Mac, who’s always been very fond of me. I’ve shown him once before at a club open show (details of that in the May archives I think) and we just clicked.

In his last three or four shows he’s been badly spooked (just really bad luck – it’ll be when he’s on the table that someone drops a bench nearby, for example) and he’s now very jumpy and looking for something scary to happen.

As he’s got such a good relationship with me they thought if he would show well for anyone it would be me, and a change of handler might help too. So just before the first class started they sprung this on me and asked if I’d like to show him! I was more than a little shocked – I never dreamt I’d be handling their dogs at champ show level and to be asked because they thought I could do better with him than they could was such an honour.

They were halfway through the 1st class by this point. Mac’s was the 3rd class (Junior Dog) and Solei’s was the 4th (Post Grad Dog) so I didn’t have long to get myself sorted. Changed into my jacket and then had to groom Solei cos I now had back to back classes and couldn’t do him later. Finished him, grabbed Mac and went into the ring! He was a bit funny on the table which wasn’t really surprising as a lot of his frights have been up there. Then, standing him at the end, there were a couple of people moving just outside the ring (his latest fright was a Japanese guy wearing a scary hat leaning over the ring taking photos!) which he was very unsure about and although he was focused on me and stood nicely he wouldn’t put his tail up. But he didn’t totally freak out at any point and other than that he was fine Nine entered and he got a 3rd!

So I then did a quick dog swap and went straight back in the ring with Solei. The sun was completely out by this time and very hot. They lined us up numerically (which was fun cos in the rush I’d forgotten to switch my numbers which confused everyone briefly :lol:) and we were about 3rd from the end so because it was such a big class by the time it was our turn he was so hot and tired. Doesn’t help himself; I try and shade him but he won’t stay in my shadow! Never the less he pulled it together and showed beautifully until I had to stand him at the end where he was too hot and tired and although stood really nicely wouldn’t keep his tail up for longer than a second. I was doing an interesting dance trying to keep him moving so it would be up when the judge was looking at him and feeling like a right prat!
Didn’t place there but it was a big class and being the only Phalene maybe not the judge’s cup of tea. Judging by the dogs he placed I don’t think he was giving movement much weight either.

3rd in Mac’s class is a Crufts qualifier; I said I was going to qualify for Crufts and I did it – just a pity I qualified the wrong dog!

It was a fantastic day 🙂

After that Exeter the next weekend was a doddle. Didn’t have to be up until after six! We left just before 7am because we had to pick up some dogs first. We have two bitches currently expecting (one was due the day of the show, 15th, and the other the 19th) and so T was staying at home with her and S was going to come along to the show later. But they had two bitches who’s breeder was picking them up at the show and if the bitch went into labour S wasn’t going to come. So, just incase, we took the two girls down, as well as Mac (going for as much show experience as possible) and obviously Solei.

It was great fun having the extra dogs and kept me busy most of the morning. When we got there they all had to go outside, then I wanted to take Solei, Mac and one of the bitches round the ring before the judging started. By the time I’d done all that S rang to say she was just leaving. She arrived about three quarters of an hour later with the two dogs she was showing, by which time it was time to start grooming! So I did most of Solei’s grooming, got changed and then went back to finish him off. Only 1 dog turned up in the Yearling class which almost made me late cos Graduate, where Solei was entered, was after that and I hadn’t finished!

There were 9 dogs entered in Graduate but only 6 turned up. Four Papillons, then S had a Phalene bitch and I had Solei. They were placing 1st-4th at this show. The 4 Papillons got placed, the two Phalenes got chucked! Bit transparent that he either didn’t like the Phalenes or didn’t know what he was looking for in a Phalene so wouldn’t place them 😆 Ah well, unfortunately it happens. I almost put Solei in the Graduate Stakes at this show and I was so glad I didn’t because it would have been the same judge!

The bitch due on the 15th still hasn’t whelped. However, our girl due on the 19th had two lovely puppies on Sunday! Both B/W, one dog and one bitch. Both doing well so far.