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| Volume 4, Issue 3 |
International Parti Poodle Gazette |
July 2008 |
Premier ShowAuthor: Sandi K. Savedra-Dixon Unlike our Premier trip of 2006 when everything that could go wrong seemed to, the 2008 Premier was full of excitement and enjoyment. We had a wonderful time seeing old friends and making new ones. Tuesday morning on June 10th, I left southern Alabama for Birmingham with Poodles Savannah, Beethoven, and Zari to meet my co-breeder Heather Bryan there at the airport arriving on a flight from Arizona. Heather had with her a small Poodle named Abby who, after attending Premier with us, was going on to her new home. We stayed on the north side of Nashville off the I-65 freeway the first night, then got up early and drove to Michigan the following day. We checked into the Holiday Inn and found the hotel to be the perfect place to stay as it had a huge, open, lush, green field behind the parking lot where the Poodles could freely run. After being cooped up traveling in the car for two days, the Poodles ran and ran before finally winding down. The hotel staff was excellent. If a problem arose, they were there immediately to correct it. We called the desk to see which room Dave and Denise Spotila were in as we would be setting up show space with them and found they were booked into the room next to us. Along with them they bought Olivia who belongs to Heather and Patty Reid, for Heather to show. They arrived about an hour after we did. We had a brief discussion on departure time for Top Ten competition, which would be at 8:00 a.m. the following morning, then fed and pottied the Poodles and went to bed. I was delighted that my Savannah won Best of Breed, although I have to say that the odds were against Sharon Keen with her co-owned boy as he normally lived with, and was shown by, the co-owner and was not familiar Sharon. He is a very pretty boy. Savannah showed her pretty little heart out, and I was very pleased.
On Friday, everyone began arriving and, although we showed, we still found time to meet friends. We had a great time seeing Bob and Kathy Katz again. We had our little silver beige girl with us, and Bob immediately fell in love with her. By the end of the show I was handed back an empty crate as the little girl had found a forever home snuggled into Bob’s chest. I explained to Bob that he would have to allow her to walk sometimes as the judge would not allow him to carry her around the ring when she was being shown. I don’t think I saw her legs again except for when she was going potty. Midge Tucker and Karen Scopel traveled with friends Chris and JeanMarie Robertson from Colorado with their beautiful silver Standard Poodle Raige and his stunning black son Joey. It was a delight to finally meet Midge and Karen after many emails back and forth and to meet Sherman, their very lovely black and white Tuxedo boy bred from our lines. Chris and JeanMarie were wonderful. JeanMarie even allowed me to put my hands on Raige and feel his structure . . . before she brushed him up of course! He is a very lovely put-together Poodle. He and his son often appeared to be talking to one another, discussing the events. Dave and Denise Spotila were with us in our set up, and Dave saw to it that we were fed lunch each day. Premier is very busy: when you are not showing in the ring, you are grooming and brushing up. Heather spent from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Thursday grooming all of our dogs to perfection. She unconditionally gave tips and pointers on grooming equipment, coat maintenance, and how to grow coat. Without her by our side, our Poodles would not have looked nearly so lovely in the ring.
I spoke at length with Judge J. Ray Johnson who judged the MCPCA Specialty. He stated that he was impressed with the quality of the partis and said that he had a wonderful time judging Poodles. He was very impressed with the turn out of exhibitors of Poodles, regardless of color. J. Ray Johnson has bred many AKC Champions and is an AKC judge, so I was delighted to hear his opinions on what he observed over the Premier weekend regarding the quality of the Poodles shown in all colors. Even though we did not take home as many ribbons as the last time we showed at Premier, we were delighted with our share of wins. Heather and Patty Reid’s girl Olivia, who had never been shown, took Best Female two days: that little girl showed her heart out. Beethoven won Best Male one day, and Kane won Best Male three days; unfortunately, with no competition in his classes – being a silly, happy puppy, he never advanced further.
This year, there were twice the number of vendors with goodies to buy. UKC is primarily geared towards the performance dog, and I enjoyed stopping by vendors who had such things as a bar that attaches to the side of a bicycle so you can exercise your dog along side your bike without them getting in the way of the bicycle chain. Other vendors had such things as leashes and collars, grooming equipment, and agility equipment. For professional groomers, there were insoles for shoes that appeared to be made of jelly and were very luxurious to walk on. Another booth had clipper and scissor sharpening plus many professional items for making sure exhibitions and competitors were totally spruced up. If you are searching for some wonderful “stuff” just go to a UKC Premier show and you will see all of it in one place. Another highlight was getting to meet Michelle Crawford and Sara Bingham from England. They were at Premier last year and had such a good time that they returned this year. I got to spend some time with Michelle, and we had a lovely catch-up on Ariana whom she imported from me to the U.K. Sara was delighted to be in the Group ring with Gloria Ogdahl’s Levi.
The weather at Premier this year was wonderful and, for the most part, not excessively hot. Not to me anyway since I live in the south. It rained through the night on Saturday and, unfortunately, some pop-up tents blew down or were buckled beyond repair. The United Kennel Club is improving with each Premier and, even though the economy crunch is hurting many, it appeared that the entries were up from previous years. There was only one thing that marred my enjoyment of the Premier shows. I was approached by one of the judges who expressed dismay and disappointment at the lack of ringside and exhibitor’s etiquette with respect to the judging. The judge wanted us to know that our good sportsmanship was appreciated as there were several people at the Poodle ringside who were overheard making derogatory and disrespectful comments about the dogs in the ring and about the judging in progress. The judge seemed disgusted by the rude and boorish behavior of these people. I felt really awful that this judge had been treated with such disrespect. This unsportsmanlike behavior reflects badly on all Poodle people. I think it’s important to remember that to become a judge the person must pass tests and demonstrate their proficiency at judging each breed before they are licensed to judge either a UKC or an AKC show, and that judges have years of experience in judging dogs. Being a good winner and/or loser is essential in the sport of showing our Poodles. Many years ago, one of my mentors told me that to be a good sport in the dog show world, you have to understand one simple concept: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and, at that show, on that particular day, the beholder is the judge in the ring. Today, the judge may not see the beauty in your Poodle, but tomorrow there will be a new judge, a new beholder who may love your Poodle, and it will be a winner. It is customary and good sportsmanship to thank the judge for the win and, even if you don’t win, it is good manners to thank the judge as they took the time to look at your Poodle. You cannot always win. That is part of the sport. Overall, it was a great Premier, and I am looking forward to next year. I’m also looking forward to getting some of our Poodles in the Top Ten this year.
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