"There is nothing like the passage of time, he thought wryly, to make triumph irrelevant."
~ Andrew Greeley, Death in April
This post is mostly photos and show news. I do not yet have the show photos from the WI shows earlier in the month, but I have seen the proofs of Josh's wins and two of the three look great. The other was disappointing, as he was not set up as nicely as he should have been.
So, let's start with puppy photos. Here are Liam, Willow, and Autumn at almost 8 weeks old.
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| Liam |
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| Willow |
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| Autumn |
Now for the exciting news (for me anyway!): Followers of this blog know the ups and downs I have been through with Jenna these past two years. She won her first point at age 6 months (May 2016), then a month later won a 5 point major at a specialty (June 2016), and another 5 point major at another specialty show in August of 2016, followed by a reserve to a four point major the next day. Oh boy, was I on Cloud 9. She seemed unstoppable. Well, as they say, "Don't count your chickens...!" In the fall of 2016 Jenna blew her puppy coat. And when I say "blew," I mean I was left with a nearly naked puppy. So we waited. And waited.
In the spring of 2017 we started showing again, only to have this once excited-to-be-in-the- ring-and-strutting-her-stuff Lhasa become a Lhasa scared to even hear the word "show." Over the course of 2017, she pulled herself together to win a point in May and another in November. She hated showing and I dreaded showing her. (Lhasas look really ugly going around the ring with tail down!) But we were so close -- only 2 points to go.
So in 2018 I decided to give her one more chance. We entered a 4-day show. She pulled herself together on day 2 and won a point. The count was now 14. One point to go. The next two days she was back to tail down and shaking so hard on the exam table that the whole table shook. I decided to quit. Well, never say "never." As I was looking at shows and asking myself which dogs I should enter where, I decided to give Jenna "one more try."
To be honest, I decided to use her as a "filler" -- a dog just there to build points for another dog. I was afraid that if I did not enter two of the same sex I'd waste my entry fees because if someone else did not enter, there would be no points. It was a good thing I did that.
True to form, when Jenna went into the ring, her tail was down. She shook once as we rounded the corner near the table, and the tail came up for a second or so. On the down and back, tail was still down. The judge said, "It's too bad." I thought, "Tell me about it!"
So, when it was time to go in for the Winners Bitch class, I took Bekka in and my husband, Lynn, took Jenna in. The judge said, "Take 'em around" and off we went, Bekka in the lead. Except "watch out from behind!" Miss Jenna took one look at mom showing Bekka and must have thought "that's not happening!" She put her tail up, threw her head back, and showed the judge what she was all about. He wasted no time in making his decision! The purple ribbon and that last point were hers!
Whew...she is now Ch. Joyslyn MLS Dakota Je-Na Sais Quoi.
Here is a photo that our friend, Carol Washburn, took of us after the win.
Chance got another point on Saturday. That brought his total to 3. Bekka won on Sunday and now has 7 points.
Again, we had much-needed help from friends. Thanks to LaVonne Bennett, who showed Chance for me, and to Carol Washburn, and Dawn and Dennis Symmonds, who helped us at ringside.
About mid-week I decided it was time to get some photos of Jenna and Onyx, our two newest champions. So we held at-home photo sessions and the photos below were among the results. I am so proud of both girls.
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| New Champion "Jenna" |
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| New Champion "Onyx" |
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