Show weekend

I went to dog shows this weekend.  It seems a strange statement for me of late, I went to two weekends of shows in January and have been home since then. 
It was a chilly end of March weekend, but sunny with no perceptation.  Early show times had me getting up very early!
Saturday morning, I had company with Danielle, Adam and Trinity making the trip with me to Dubuque.  Trinity helped me in the ring, while Danielle slept in the van after putting in a 12 hour shift on Friday night/Saturday morning.  After I was done showing I took them to the Mississippi River Museum, and I went back to take six of my Papillons to the eye clinic held in conjunction with the dog show, with all positive results!
Henri, a.k.a. Loteki Rose To The Throne, was WD/BOW at his 2nd show.  WB was Asia (Loteki In The Heat Of The Moment) and BOS was Hillary (CH Loteki Down The Garden Path).  It was a small show, with one point available, but Henri is just starting and needs everything!  Asia needs singles.
After several hours at the museum, we all went out to lunch and then drove home.
Sunday morning was 8:00 show time, luckily Terry went with me.  Henri and Asia were WD and WB, again.  Asia went on to BOW and BOS over Hillary.  Hillary got a select, so she is well on her way to her Grand Championship.
Sunday was another lovely chilly but sunny day.  The dogs enjoyed the sunshine. It was a nice weekend, but how out of 'shape' I am, having an almost 5 month lay off from shows certainly has me not in the 'swing' of things!  I am sure I will have ample opportunity to get back in to the groove with warmer weather on the horizon.

Dexter earns his OTCH!!! WITH a TWO HUNDRED score

A very excited DiAnne Dingmann called tonight to say that Dexter, a.k.a. Loteki He's On Fire, UDX3, OM3, RN, won the Open B class today under judge Richard Mullen in Garden City, KS.   With this win, Dexter earned is Obedience Trial Champion title.  He did it up BIG with a 200!!! 

This was DiAnne's first 200 score.  She is very excited and proud!  What an absolutely fabulous day!  Congratulations!

Dexter is littermates to CH Loteki Ima Natural and Loteki Playing With Fire UD.

Dexter is the ninth OTCh Papillon bred by Loteki Papillons.  I am very, very proud of the accomplishments of DiAnne and Dexter, as well as the other 8 Papillons and owners/trainers that went before him!

TACh3 FELIX

Felix earned is TACh3 title with is first run on Saturday!  WOW! 

Chery Brown (TN) writes - "Both boys were perfect today and Q'ed in all 4 of their runs. Jackson got one 1st place in Standard, a 2nd place in Standard, and a 3rd place in one of the two games. Fee got a 3rd place on the Standard where Jackson got the 1st place. Most of the dogs there didn't Q on that course but my guys did. :)

Judge with Cheryl & TACh3 Felix!

We have 4 more runs tomorrow. Both guys are working on their TACh4 titles. I was thinking that my goal for Fee was a TACh3 but he has that and I see no reason to stop running him. He is perfectly fine. Great knees. Healthy. I think he likes it. He comes right out of the crate to do his runs and dances back to his crate for his treat. So, TACh4, here we come! We need 25 Standard Q's and 25 Games Q's for that. I think he can get it this year."

Way to go FELIX, JACKSON and Cheryl!!  Congratulations!

Agility news

From Cheryl Brown (TN) - "We went to agility trials last weekend in Cumming, GA.  Her Loteki Total Windfall, a.k.a., Felix needed 5 Standard Q's and 3 Games Q's for his TACh3. There were 6 Standards offered and 4 Games. So, Fee had to Q in Standard 5 of the 6 runs and in all 3 of the Games to finish his title.

Saturday, Fee Q'ed the first game, Connect the Dots. He Q'ed the first Standard run. He Q'ed the second Standard run. He Q'ed the next game, Quidditch. Then, he was 2 seconds overtime in the 3rd Standard run. The pressure was on. He had to be perfect on Sunday to get the title.


Jackson with his HIT rosette



On Sunday, the first class was his third game. He had to Q. It was Dare to Double or Triple where the A-frame is the doubling obstacle and the weaves are the tripling obstacle. Felix is as reliable as the day is long and will never miss a weave pole. But, he isn't fast so we went for the triple. I planned to do the weaves three times and then head across the ring over one jump and then the A-frame and to the table to stop the clock. Great strategy for Fee and he would have Q'ed and made time. Then, the brain glitch occurred! After the weaves, Fee went around the jump and I let him. He took the A-frame and another jump and went to the table. NQ! AAAAARGH! The rules (that I forgot) said that you had to take an obstacle between the tripling and the doubling obstacles. So, he had to take that jump. If I had been thinking (and I wasn't), I could have gone back and fixed it and asked him again to take the jump, then take the A-frame and we would still have had enough time to Q. ALL MY FAULT!

Then, he Q'ed on the next two Standard runs. So, he needed one Standard and one Game for the title. Do I enter him in the distance challenge game to see if he can do it and keep alive the possibility of the TACh3 yesterday? I looked at the course. I walked the course. I decided that I didn't want to be so far away from Fee on the A-frame without being able to be in front of him. So, no TACh3 yesterday. He Q'ed the last Standard run of the day. So, that one brain glitch cost him the title yesterday. He was perfect. I wasn't.

Another trial next weekend, he should Q on the first game and get his TACh3.


Jackson had a great weekend too. He also went 7 for 9 with two Standard first places and he went High in Trial on Saturday."

Sounds like a great weekend to me!  I hope your next trial is successful and Felix earns his TACh3!

Nicholas continues his winning ways

Jeannine Rash (PA), wrote about trials the last weekend in January.  OTCh CH Loteki Ima Firecracker, UDX, a.k.a. Nicholas won Utility.  The win was worth 10 OTCH points. OTCh CH Loteki Surprise Party UDX2, a.k.a. Jeffrey only was shown in Open, he won second. 

Saturday, January 29th, there were rally classes with Loteki Ima Cupcake, a.k.a. Chloe made her debut. She won the class  a perfect score over 17-18 dogs.  Way to go Chloe!

Judge with Keith's shoes on!

Nicholas won Utility B with a 198 and a 199.5 in Open.  We had a run off for first with my coach Betsy Scapicchio and her golden, both dogs, made no mistakes with Betsy's golden winning the run off. 

The judge arrived and found that his shoes which were new, made a loud noise when he walked on our flooring.   He ended up wearing Keith's sneakers and when we did stays Jeffrey ran away from his spot--something he's never doen and he's 9 1/2 and went to sniff his "dad's" shoes on this weird guy--the judge.  Everyone was laughing.  I had two students finish their UD's and another got a 198 in Novice and a Novice A won both her classes this weekend.  Nicholas went High Combined with a 397.5 out of 400--his best high Combined score yet. 

The weekend of February 19th and 20th, Nicholas won 5 more OTCH points.  He let out and excited whine on the gloves which madecost him first in Utility.  He was sliding all over the place.  He was worse in Open and went skidding a couple of feet every time he did anything.  He was so excited and cute! 

Hillary wins a GROUP 4

ASIA

Saturday morning I went off to my first 'weekend' of dog shows since October.  We had a late show time at a new show site in Illinois.  I met Meg Peifer mid-way and we went to the show together.  We had a wonderful time on Saturday taking in the dog show, meeting and chatting with friends we have not seen for a while, meeting new fanciers and finally going to look at a litter of two Papillon puppies.  We topped it off with a nice meal and then back to the motel.  There was not much to report as far as judging went, although Hillary (CH Loteki Down The Garden Path) picked up a point towards her Grand Championship and Asia (Loteki In The Heat Of The Moment) show very well after her long vacation.

Sunday morning, the parking lots were covered with a thin glaze of ice, so one had to be very careful walking.  Papillons were at 9 after 21 other dogs.  Asia showed very well and was awarded WB for a point.  Hillary showed very well also and was BOB!  Now the big decision to stay for the group or not to stay, well, since this was Hillary's 3rd time out as a special and I hoped to show her a bit, I made the decision we'd best stay and get a bit more in ring practice.  The toy group was first, which was wonderful since the groups did not start until 2:30 p.m.  To make a long story short in a very tough toy group, Hillary got her first group placement - a Fourth!  We are hoping for many more!  We arrive home about 7:30 p.m., unloaded, fed the girls, and then had a leftover bowl of potato sausage soup.  It was an enjoyable weekend, now we have to brace for a winter storm to arrive.  Off to the grocery story this a.m.!

A sad day in our life

"BIKINI"

CH Loteki Beach Party

August 24, 1996 - January 8, 2011

A grand lady left this earth today, a gentle spirit, a show dog extraordinaire, but most importantly, my very good friend, travel partner and bed buddy.

Bikini was born the only girl of a litter of four. She was the daughter of another very special dog in my life, Shelley (CH Loteki Outrageous Fortune), who in turn was the daughter of my Gypsy (CH Loteki Denzel Fortuneteller).  She was my special favorite from very early on. Her first show at 8 months she won a four point major. She had a lot of great and memorable wins during her show career. She loved to go to dog shows and was always ready go to one!  I remember how when she knew I was bathing dogs and packing she would run out to the van and run around it just waiting to jump in, get in a crate and wait with anticipation. 

She won BOB at Westminster in 2000 and made the cut in the group.  I was so lucky to be on the end of her lead, she loved it so much, she made me look good, when she was such a star.  We had such a great time in New York that year!  Bikini took to walks on the street like she had been doing it all her life. She never skipped a beat coming into the hotel, the doorman would open the door for her and she just went right through! It just made you smile. She made me smile a lot.

Bikini had three Best In Specialty wins, numerous BOS, group placements, and was the Silver Butterfly winner in 2000. She won the Veteran's class many times at the National and other specialties. In 2009, she was Best Veteran at the National. She bounced and wagged and put on a show!  I knew it was her last show, her retirement show.  She LOVED the big rings, the more room and more times she was "sent around", the better she liked it so she could move out. She had many wins, there are so many memories. She touched so many lives.

She had one live litter of one puppy - Crumpet.  She never had another live litter, although disappointing as a breeder, I was always glad to have had Bikini.

Our lives are so much fuller for having her in our lives. Her spot on the bed is going to seem enormously empty, but it does not compare to the hole in my heart that she leaves.

We will miss her joyful spirit, her company and just having a beautiful girl like her gracing our home. She had a sparkle about her that made you smile. She was just a great dog, a fabulous show dog, and a beautiful Papillon - dainty, fine-boned, elegant!

I love you Bikini, I always will. Thank you for loving me.