Email, Photos, Show Results

Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.  To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.  ~Calvin Coolidge, 1927

 

Christmas is fast approaching and I suppose the holiday season and preparations are on everyone's mind lately. In case I don't have time to write next week, I'll take this early opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Email and Photos

I received emails with some cute -- and very much appreciated -- photos. Maria and her family celebrated Ella's 1st birthday and sent a picture of Ella with her birthday treat.

 

I also received an email and photo from the Johnson family, who own Ella's litter brother, Snicker. They sent a picture of his birthday celebration also.

Robert and Catherine recently sent photos of their Mallory, litter sister to Snicker and Ella, as she celebrated her birthday. Here is one of them.

 They wrote, "We just downloaded a couple of Mallory's birthday pictures.  Thank you  for our sweet girl - she has blessed our lives this year with lots of laughs and  entertainment, and lots of kisses and cuddles.  She has helped us through the loss of our Mandy.  She is a sweetie!!" They went on to say that, like Rafe, Mallory does not like to sit still for pictures.

Cute pictures, but then, consider the subjects! That litter was small (3) but a very nice one. We are hoping to repeat the breeding this month or next.

I also received an email and photo from Cindy, who owns Jethro, a litter brother to our Lila. Cindy wrote, "Hi Joyce, Merry Christmas!
We did four weeks [of obedience training], took a break then did the entire six weeks of beginning obedience.  Jethro walked away with a completion certificate and I learned a lot.  The training is really for the human.  The trainer used treats and positive reinforcements which Jethro is all about treats. She used Jethro as her demo dog a couple of the nights which made me proud because he was totally focused when he was in the center of the room with all eyes on him.  He really excelled at the social interaction at the end of each class!  The trainer did call him lazy but said he did win the way too cute award.  On the down command he never really saw a reason to get up and repeat the process, down was good and a treat was icing on the cake for him...Jethro keeps our house hopping, he is a delight and a devil all rolled into a very cute package.  The boy is never still.  He is very social with all, he has really bonded with my 4 year old niece...Jethro definitely has the dominate personality and can get very stubborn when he doesn't get his own way...he is a Lhasa!….Bill calls Jethro Black Beard the pirate.  He can't go out to potty without a toy or a sock which he snags at the last second then carries around the yard."

 

I also heard from Ted and Evelyn, who live in Canada and who own Lucky (you've read about Lucky's exploits before!) They sent a photo card of Lucky and a note: "Mr   “Mall Greeter” would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. These are photos from his day care…The one on the bottom right is his girl friend Paddy. It seems he loves tall girls. Apparently whenever they are at daycare the same day, he never pays attention to the other dogs just Paddy. He loves the snow and we have a lot of it…Lucky is still a bundle of energy and never slows down...Every day he seems to come up with something new to draw attention…We love it when we are out walking and he finally notices that something was not in the same spot from the day before.   He stops and will not move…"

 Lucky is a half-brother to our Lila. (same mother)

A note from Violet about their Lhasa Yogi, who is now 10 or so, was cute. She wrote, " I bought two dog bones for somebody's two dogs. At first Yogi showed no interest in the bone. After I wrapped them, he then went over to chew the wrapper off. So I just called the groomer to order another one for Yogi. The two minutes later, he went for the second wrapped bone." Yogi is a half brother to our GCh. Ch. Joyslyn MiToya Wind Walker. Here is Yogi chewing someone else's Christmas bone!

 Show Results

As I explained the last time I posted, Duncan, Lila and I were getting ready to go to the dog shows in Belleville, IL. We had a great weekend with our Lhasa and Shiba friends, did some nice winning, and had fun. I'll start by saying Lila's showmanship is sadly lacking. She and her half-sister, Mabel, (same sire) owned by my friend Karen, decided that they would hold their heads down and race around the ring. Karen was eventually more successful than I was regarding getting the head of her puppy up. Mostly it was funny. You had to laugh. They were very cute and at least kept their tales up and were happy. Both stood well on the table for exams. Lila won the puppy class on Friday. Mabel won on Saturday and Sunday, and even took RWB on Sunday!

Duncan was my weekend success story. He was entered in the 9-12 puppy class. There was an adult dog entered also. On Friday and Sunday, Duncan took Winners Dog for the point and then went on to take Best of Winners, Best Opposite Sex for the majors! Hurray! He now has both majors out of the way and needs only 5 single points for his championship! He is growing up nicely, looking and showing well. He has a sweet disposition and is fun to be with too! Here's a photo Jan took from ringside as the photographer was setting up the "official photo" on Friday. (He was mad at her for that!) The judge is Mr. Kirkland. Sunday's judge was Mr. Murphy. 

Saturday's judge was Mr. Penta. For some reason, Duncan and the majority of the other Lhasas showing that day seemed leery of him. It was very unusual behavior because he is a gentle but  thorough judge. I was disappointed with Duncan's suspicion of him. It made me feel a little better when I saw others pulling away on the table also. Even so, it was a relief on Sunday when my boy was back to his usual ring behavior. I was worried about that!

Of course others had wins to celebrate as well. Cynthia put a point on her male, who now needs just a major to finish. Pat's Bred-By female won 2 of the 3 days and got both her majors. LaVonne's bitch, Toffee, finished on Saturday. See the photo below, taken in the grooming area with Jan's phone, with Karen holding Toffee's ribbons. Jan, Karen, and Polly's champion Secret is now competing for her Grand Championship and she now has all her majors and has met the requirements for defeating other champions. She took Select Bitch two days. Polly's champion bitch took Select the other day. Best of Breed each day was Tom and Sandy Sorth's champion bitch.

And last, but not least, my friend Jane's Shiba Inu Champion "Tux," who is now competing in Rally, earned his third and final leg toward his title and now has an RN (Rally Novice) title behind his name! Here he is with all the ribbons he earned on Friday.

We had a great time with friends at the dog show, and once the dogs were shown and ready to go, we all went to dinner. Fairview Heights, IL, has a restaurant called Lottawatta Creek, where they serve wonderful food in huge portions, so it has become a tradition for most of us to have dinner together there after the Friday show and to eat way too much! After eating, we went Christmas shopping, trying to walk off the calories. Below are a few of the bags resulting from the Friday shopping spree. (We shopped on Saturday also!)

All in all, it was a great show weekend, in spite of the very cold and snowy weather. Going home was a chore for our Wisconsin friends, Karen, Jan, and LaVonne. The weather and roads were dangerous as they drove farther north. Thankfully, everyone made it home safely...although much later than planned.

I am so grateful for my Lhasas, for the friends and experience they have brought me, and for the lessons they have taught me.

Life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce