Memory Lane

The first dog I tried to show was our second Lhasa, Joyslyn's Miss Buffy Jo. Please note that I said "tried." Buffy was beautiful and had high opinions of herself. Her self image did not include being paraded around the ring on a lead! It was not long before she won the battle -- and the war.

The first dog we bought specifically as a show dog didn't work out so well either. He was Lutzmor's Dolsa Bo Jangles. He had a lovely pedigree, a ton of red-gold coat, and a sweet personality, but he was not a show dog. I took him to training classes and he actually walked around the ring and did what he was supposed to. Alas, Bo never earned more than one point. He did not have the "right stuff!"

Now, as I look back, I wonder why I just didn't give it all up then. I was so inexperienced about showing; I was spending money we couldn't really afford to spend on entry fees, travel, and equipment; I was a novice at grooming. I have no clue why I continued. I just know my life would have been very different if I had given up.

Next step...breed your own show dog Joyce! So I did. We took Buffy to Virginia Knoche, a grand lady who lived in Warsaw, IL. Buffy was bred to Virginia's BIS Ch. Arborhill's Rah-Kieh. From that breeding came our first two Joyslyn's champions, Ch. Joyslyn's Piece of the Rock and Ch. Joyslyn's Raggedy Rebel -- both very beautiful Lhasas.

Rocky won his first point when he was 7 months old, and by then I was hooked on showing for sure.

I think the lesson here is that if you have a goal, you can't let a few setbacks discourage you to the point of giving up. Each experience teaches a "what to do" or "what not to do" lesson. And what we do with the lessons we learn makes us who we are.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you.

Joyce