In like a Lion, out like a lamb...April has no fooling around start!

It's been a busy year so far, lots and lots of cold and snow, but thankfully I think it is behind us.

The first weekend of March, I drove to Purina Farms to meet up with some friends and attend dog shows.  Weather was lovely going down, but not so much coming home.  The last 90 minutes took about 2.5 hours and the snow was blinding.  It was so good to get home!  The Sunday dog show had been cancelled due to the weather prediction of lots of ice and snow coming in, so I feel lucky to have made it home in one piece

I left Gibbs, Loteki Good For The Team, with Ellen Perry.  Their first show out he was WD for 2 points, then a major three shows later.  He picked up yet his 2nd major and then BOB over 5 specials for yet another major, at 14 points in just three long weekends!

The end of March I drove to Claremore, OK to the Tulsa Papillon Club's two specialties and two all breed shows.  Drove through some spring weather, wind and hail, and of course, in a construction zone, so could not pull off, but the dogs and I made it to Claremore, enjoyed some lovely weather.  My 7 and 8 month old puppies travelled well, showed their little hearts out, and made me very proud.   The Tulsa club put on a lovely show.  There luncheon spread was quite impressive!  The show site was spacious and well lighted, although the grooming area is on dirt, it was well packed.

We brought home a 4 point major on the prince & princess under Mr. Edd Bivin.  Dyson, a.k.a. Loteki It's Superstition, was in the Bred-By Exhibitor class and sister, Electra, a.k.a. Loteki Being Good, in the 6-9 class.  Electra was definitely the smallest Papillon in competition.  Dyson was one of the smallest males.  So proud of my kids.

On the long drive home, Helen Schultz (WI) send a message that Scout, a.k.a. Loteki Take The Nature Trail had finished his championship by going BOB over two specials.  I called Helen and talked a bit - it was wonderful to have this news on the long drive.

The following Friday, April 4th, I received a message from Ellen that Gibbs had won his final point!  Gibbs is the 6th champion for his dam.

On Saturday, Gibb's daughter, Mari, was WB for 2 point to complete her title, now Loteki Fair Winds.  She is her dam, CH Loteki The Wind In My Hair's 8th champion and the 1st for her sire.  Loteki Natural Talent was WD/BOW for 3 points from the puppy class at just 7 months.  Harrison is also sired by Gibbs, so it was a great weekend for Gibbs and his kids.

The Saturday show in DeKalb found Scout winning his first major towards his Grand championship by winning Select Dog.  Mari was BOS for a major towards her grand, so it was a great weekend with wins, fabulous weather and good company, as I stayed at my friend, Patti Perkins, who is always an incredible hostess!  The drive home went well and we started the week back at work!  

The 5th issue of Papillon Revue was mailed on April 1st!  It has been an incredible adventure and I enjoy the time I spent getting the articles and trying to put together something people want to read.  I cannot believe how quickly this past year has flown!  Working hard on issue #6, which will be available at the National!

Glad to have a weekend at home, lots to catch up on, and with the nice weather, there is a lot to be done outside!

Happy 2014

 Happy 2014!  I hope everyone is warm and healthy.  We had a quiet couple days at home.  Thursday, I left work early to load the van and head north to the first dog shows of the year here in the Midwest.  I pulled out of the garage at 4:00 p.m. with the temps at 9 degrees, as the sun went down and I headed north I watched the temps drop steadily on the van’s thermometer.  Nervously watching it bounce between -9 and -14, I arrived safely at my friend, Gretchen Hofheins-Wackerfuss’s home about 8:45 p.m., unloaded and settled in for the evening to bath dogs for the show in the morning.

Up at 5:30 a.m. and temps hovering around -5, off to the show in downtown St Paul.  Papillons were on first thing at 8:00 a.m., UGH…but we were there with plenty of time to set up, and primp our exhibits.  I was thrilled to have Reid win the Bred-By class and on to Winners Dog for a point.  Two points in bitches with Mari going 2nd in Bred-By and reserve.  On to Best of Breed competition, Reid was selected Best of Breed and Best of Winners over 5 specials, the Winners bitch was Best of Opposite Sex over 2 bitch specials to make it 3 points, with 3 males for an additional point for Reid!  What a way to start the year!  

Gretchen and my 8 month old Min Pin brothers had fun at their 2nd show.  The black and rust Jay was won the BBE class and was reserve to the well-trained and behaved Open dog.  

As it was a toy specialty, the groups were early in the afternoon.  We spent the entire day at the show, leaving after sunset to head home.

Saturday morning dawned with a high of 15, balmy! At 5:30 a.m., pack all the dogs up and head back to downtown St Paul.  Min Pins were in at 8:30 after a few, as luck would have it our puppy dog, Levon, was Winners Dog for a major at his 3rdshow, brother, Jay was won the Bred-By class and was Reserve again!  

Papillons were in at 9:45, with a repeat of Reid winning the BBE class, he went on to be awarded Winners Dog to finish!  Mari had been given some training with a different lead, which seemed to help to keep her a little more in control.  She is so happy and tries so hard, she often kills herself in the ring!  LOL!  Mari (Loteki Fair Winds) won the Bred-By class!  She, then, was awarded Winners Bitch for 3 points!  WOW!  In Best of Breed, I took Reid in and Gretchen took Mari.  Mari was awarded Best of Opposite Sex over 3 bitch specials to up the points to 4 and Reid was Best of Winners for his 4th major!  Reid is now known as CH Loteki Written On The Wind.  Champion number 7 for his dam, CH Loteki The Wind In My Hair.  What a great day!  We enjoyed a nice lunch, a bit of vendor shopping, and then, packed up and headed back to Gretchen’s about 3:30 and dinner for her dad, John’s 85thbirthday.

Sunday morning temps held steady overnight at only 5 below, but there was much talk of what was to come.  Schools had been closed for Monday by the Governor, because of the forecast.  Up at 5:30 a.m. and back to the show site, we had taken a lot of our equipment out on Saturday and loaded my dog food on Saturday.  Min Pins were again at 8:30 a.m.  Jay won the BBE class and went on to win his first major!  Great weekend-four entries and 5 majors!  Papillons were judged at 10, with Mari going 2nd in the BBE class and reserve but showing the best she had all weekend!  I was very proud.  I was thrilled to see KerstinHokanson, whom I have not seen in a couple of years.

I quickly changed my clothes, packed up the dogs in a warmed van and headed south!  Temps held at -5 for a long part of the trip, but slowly rose to 0 and by the time I had pulled in the drive at 3:45 p.m. the temperature was 2, but at the same time the wind had started to blow, I actually feel it blew me home!  Snow was blowing and it was feeling a lot colder than 2 degrees!  It was great to be home.  What a fabulous way to start the year!  

PACH2 Jackson

Jackson earned his PACH2 on Friday, December 27, with this run...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXGLmJh4A4Y

Congratulations to Cheryl Brown and Jackson.

Sheri Cassens and Lizzie enjoyed several great qualifying runs on December 22 in Illinois.   Lizzie is now Loteki Pride and Prejudice OA, OAJ.

Congratulations to these fabulous individuals and their incredible devotion to the sport of agility.

Life has been wild here!

I started a new magazine, Papillon Revue, with the first issue mailed out the last week of July.  It is going great!  It is growing every month!

I went back to work the first Monday in August, attended dog shows almost every weekend for the next 8 weeks, had a couple litters of puppies, and changed jobs!

Everything is good.  Healthy beautiful puppies!  A great change in jobs with the same company.  Nice wins at the shows!  Great friends and family.  And did I mention puppies!  They are wonderful keep me busy, but I love it!

The third issue of Papillon Revue is at the printer right now. 

Keeping up with everything is a challenge, but I am enjoying the challenges!  I am looking foward to the holidays and some time off of work, time with family and maybe a morning or two to sleep until 7!

I will try not to stay away so long.

Mid-July...it's hot, hot, hot

I cannot believe it is already mid-July!  My summer if flying by and I'm not off to many shows!

I did drive to the Fort Dodge shows mid-June picked up the first point on Natasha, Loteki Let My Hair Down.  Grant won another major towards his Grand Championship.

The next weekend the shows were held in Iowa City. Grant was BOB each day.  Glamour was WB/BOW on Sunday.  It was great to be close to home.  Helen & John Schultz were down so was able to see Scout.  He is so glamorous with his fringing! 

Sheri Cassen (IL) wrote that she and Lizzie had a great weekend at the agility trial with 5 qualifying runs out of 6.  So she has two legs towards her Open Standard degree (must have one other judge as she qualified 3 times), and 2 legs towards her JWW.  Sheri was so thrilled with Lizzie's confidence and speed.  She said they will have more fun to come!  Looking forward to hearing more great reports!

At the Agility Club of Evansville, Jackson was 6 for 6 with all first places and Spencer was 1 for 1!  Cheryl is really having a great summer with Jackson and Spencer!

Terry was off work the week of the fourth.  He was kept busy painting the house, still have the foundation, the garage and then the trim, but it is coming along.  It looks all fresh!  Thankfully the weather was not like last year!

Friday after the 4th, I drove over to friend, Patti Perkins, in DeKalb, IL.  I always have a great time at Patti's.  I attended the two Greater Chicagoland Papillon club specialties.  Ms. Glamour was WB/AOM and Best BBE on Saturday for 4 points under Kent Delaney.  On Sunday we had Tim Catterson, she again was WB, this time BOW and again best bred by to become  CH Loteki It's A Glamorous Updo! with three specialty wins!

In Dallas the same weekend, Mary Gail Holcombe called on Saturday to report that McGee was WD for FIVE points!  She was so excited.

On the way home from DeKalb, I received an email from my Aunt Marleen.  She reported that my Uncle Roger had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He was already in hospice care and comfortable.  One Tuesday evening, he had passed away.  This is the last of my father's siblings.  Terry and I had visited with Roger and Marleen at their home this past December.  We have lovely memories and some nice pictures. 

Saturday night, Terry became ill when we were had just went out to dinner.  We ended up in the ER.  They kept him and he has spent four nights in the hospital so far.  I hope he will be released tomorrow.  It appears at this time that he has been affected by vertigo, so there will be a period where he will have to retrain the nerves in his brain to work around the damaged nerves in his inner ear.  They did other tests while he was there, no news at this point.

I had great news from Optigen, where I submitted DNA samples for Lana, Rose and Nelson to see if they carried the PRA1 gene, all three came back 'NORMAL'.  Happy days!!!

This past Sunday, Mary Gail called again, even more excited as McGee had won his 2nd major and now was CH Loteki Rose To The Challenge!  YA!  Thank you, Hiram Stewart, for your expertise!

Cheryl Brown (TN) and Jackson have been burning put the agility ring!  I cannot keep up with the reports!

Finally, my new endeavor....Papillon Revue, a magazine devoted to the Papillon goes to the printer this week.  I am so excited!  I cannot wait to see it in print!

The Week of the National....Louisville, KY

Home from the National...so good to be home.

The Papillon Club of America had a week long event with three regional specialties and the official National at the Crowne Plaza in Louisville, KY.



Pottying the dogs outside the hotel

I left May 19th before noon.  I arrived at the hotel around 8, the weather was quite hot, so unloading was a warm endeavor - 10 (or more, I lost track of how many times I went up the elevator with stuff) trips later, all the necessities and dogs were in the room.  Luckily the rooms were spacious!  About 1:30, I crawled in bed.  I awoke about 4:20, laid quietly trying to go back to sleep until 5:30, when I got up and took the dogs out.  Back to the room I had 3 dogs to bath and groom for the first PCA Regional specialty.

In the performance arena, good news for Cheryl Brown and her two boys at the PCA agility trials.  She reported CH MACH Loteki Civil Liberties CD BN RAE MXS MJS MXP2 MJP2 had

Spencer's RN

four Qs with a score of 100 over the course of the three days of agility.  GCH CH Loteki The Winds Of Change NAJ earned his RN. 

Mary Gail Holcombe (MS) reported her two boys, Loteki Rose To The Challenge (McGee) was 2nd in Beginner Novice B on Tuesday and 4th in Rally Novice B on Wednesday. He had a 100 score in Rally, but was beaten on time.

 

Mary Gail's Loteki Just Be A Gentleman CDX (Rascal) was 1st in Veteran Obedience on Tuesday with a 197.

 

Asia's Monday rosette

Monday's specialty was judged by James Hupp.  First time in the ring, Ona, Loteki Chanceux On My Honor won a 4th in the 9-12 class.  She had moments of brilliance and some very naughty times too, it was a big class so I felt great about Ona's debut!  Ms. Asia was shown in BOB.  I was thrilled to have GCH Loteki In The Heat Of The Moment awarded BOS over the top winning bitch in the country handled by a well known handler!  I also was proud to own the sire of the WB/BOW, Rorralore Fayrye Queene, owned and bred by Charlotte McGowan, sired by CH Loteki Rose To The Throne.
 

 

Tuesday was another regional specialty, which I chose not to enter.  My decision proved to be correct.  The judge was incredible slow and took almost 8 hours to judge just over 100 dogs!  The highlight of the day was when my long time friend, Christine Bohentine, arrived shortly after 10 a.m.!  We had not seen each other for 20 years!  She looked the same and it was non-stop chatting, questions and hugs!

 

Wednesday, sweeps was held in the afternoon, judged by Tracy Burdick (Denzel Papillons).  My Glamour (Loteki It's A Glamours Updo) won the 12-15 month bitch class.  She was well received by several of my peers.

 

A judge change was announced after the sweeps classes for the National, Mrs. Billings was in the hospital.  We all were in suspense as to who was going to come to judge the National.  The rumors buzzed around for several hours, but then the announcement was made that it would be Randy Garren of NC.  Judging was put back from 8:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m.  I did not have a dog entered so Thursday was another free day, which Mary Gail,


Charlotte McGowan, Cheryl Brown, Gail McGrew with Belle and myself in front

Cheryl and I chose to go to Churchill Downs and enjoy some incredible history, great food and fun!

 

Friday was bitches.  Ms. Glamour did me proud by winning the BBE class, my favorite class, where I think all the best dogs should be shown!  She went on to win RWB!  For the first time at National specialties, the AKC started a new rule where the reserve wins a 3 point major, so we were thrilled to not only go Reserve at the National, but come home with a three point major to boot!

 

Saturday was the intersex.  The morning started out with Juniors at 8:00 a.m.  Ms. Asia managed to slip away from me for a short time and two all out runs around the big ring with a HUGE smile on her face.  She came once I was able to position myself on the

Asia and her huge rosette!

ground and call.  She was so happy with herself.  She was encouraged by the entire audience laughing and clapping!  She was quite happy with herself!  When it was our time in the ring, she performed beautifully and was awarded Select bitch!  I was thrilled, even though in my opinion, she should have won!

 

Sunday was another regional specialty, which I chose not to enter.  I packed up and made my way home.  It was so great to be home.  The dogs all agreed!  Thankfully Monday, I had time to put things away, do laundry and catch a few extra minutes of sleep.  Back to work on Tuesday....

Well, I've done it again....
February I attended one set of shows in Des Moines.  The Papillon Club of Iowa had their 2nd A match.  I have been working on putting together the presentation for AKC to get full status.  Crossing fingers that by this time next year we will be planning our shows!

We have had a lot of winter weather in February and March, but it seems like spring is trying to push through.  The grass is green at last and the daffodils are pushing up.  Everyone is ready for sunshine and green.

I drove to Columbia, MO, the 2nd weekend in March to shows.  I enjoyed success at the dog shows also.  Lita became CH Loteki Alito De Vento with her third major on Saturday.  

CH Lita
 

All from the BBE class, which is my favorite class! 

Grant, (CH Loteki The Sun On My Face), was BOB at his first show as a special.  He was shown by Danna Robinson Saathoff.  Who just took his lead a couple minutes before stepping into the ring.  I was so proud of how well he showed for her!  There were 6 specials so it was a very nice win and his first 5 points towards his Grand Championship!  He repeated his win on Sunday, but a threatening snow storm found me heading home and skipping the group.

Easter weekend I went to shows in Clinton.  Saturday I drove over by myself with three 'green' dogs, I was fortunate to find ring side help.  Loteki In The Party Moment was WD/BOW for 2 points on Saturday.  My two 1st timers did okay with Loteki It's A Glamorous Up Do winning the BBE class and going on to WB/BOS for her first 2 points.  Ms. Mari, Loteki Fair Winds, was Best Puppy. 
Sunday, Terry and I drove over the shows again, with similar success.  Kutcher was WD, BOW, and BOB for another point.  Glamour was WB and BOS.  We stayed and had a long 

10 month old Glamour

leisurely lunch with friends and showed in the group.  Kutcher showed like a pro but now ribbon.  We drove home and then had a family night at Stephanie & Clay's with everyone sitting around the table.  It was nice.

Last weekend, I drove to DeKalb and had a wonderful weekend with the girls!  Weather had it wow moments.  Driving home I had wished I had had a pedicure and flip flops at 64 degrees!

No dog shows for a while.  I have a lot to get caught up on being away two weekends, and then there is the National the end of May.