Success at the Specialties!

What a GREAT weekend this was. I am showing Belaire Little Bit Country ("Lola") for Gloria and Ken Hansen. She is the litter sister to Lainey, who I finished* last year. Lola is lovely, refined, has a PERFECT head, and I have told Gloria that I think that fellow sheltie breeders will really appreciate her qualities. Well, this weekend I showed her at the Interstate Shetland Sheepdog Club speciality show and she was Winners Bitch and Best of Winners under long time breeder judge Jo Virden for 5 pts! (which is the maximum number of points you can win at a show).

Lola was in the Open sable & white class, which was HUGE. We were 2nd from the end to be examined and when Mrs. Virden completed the exam and said to me, "take her around and put her at the front of the line" my heart leaped! I knew there was only ONE MORE to examine in the class! Sure enough, we stayed in front and won the huge open sable class. I felt very good going into the Winners class, but then Mrs. Virden really took her time and moved many and gave a good look to many in the winners class. When it was all said and done, she came back to me and said, "You will be my winners"- What a GREAT feeling!

Just as exciting as winning- was calling Gloria to tell her of the win. I just love calling with such good news.

When I got home, I found out that I had some additional good news. Acadia Shock N' Awe- a dog bred by me, but who is owned by Jean Theilmann and lives across the country in California, was also shown at a specialty this past weekend. He was handled by Jennifer Brough and he won both his Sweepstakes class and his regular class. He is still a puppy, and class wins at Specialties are really just that- special. Specialty shows have breeder judges and it is always good to know your breeding program is going in the right direction.

No one took (candid) pictures of me and Lola- so here are two pictures of Acadia Shock N' Awe and Jennifer. I will post the win photos of Lola when I get them.

*"Finished" is the jargon used by show people to mean "completed the requirements for a champion- or - finished the championship requirements"