December 2011
Skye Terrier World
Volume 1 - Issue 1
Saturday, and Bianca would win on Sunday. By the end of the fall shows, both girls had 1 major (from the weekend in Ft. Smith), and a total of 7 points. We were on a high. This stuff was fun! Furthermore, it was easy! We both had no idea why we had not gone dog showing for the prior 25 years (since the Unbuttoned Shirt Fiasco). We were sure both girls were looking great. In fact, we were sure they were The Most Beautiful Skyes In The Whole Wide World. Well, we should all feel that way about our dogs, right?
Pride Cometh Before a Fall. In the Spring of 2009, we went to shows in San Antonio, Texas where Michelle and I had built majors. I was confident these would be easy majors. I had forgotten that Pride Cometh Before a Fall, and indeed, it did. To make our majors, Michelle brought Mei-Mei (Ch. Skye Island Dell‟ Antica Caledonia), and a 6 month old puppy bitch, Nikki (Solana _______________). She hoped to get an AKC championship on Nikki before Nikki was shipped to Laura Calistri of the Dell‟ Antica Caledonia kennel in Italy later that spring. The first day, Nikki showed her potential, and took the major, while Bianca pulled her usual “I‟m nervous on Saturday‟ routine, and while Aislinn and Gary looked something like a Marx Brothers routine – Who‟s On First, What‟s On Second, coming immediately to mind. To further worsen the blow, Mei-Mei took reserve. Michelle‟s specials bitch, Ch. Angelskye Four Leaf Clover, went best of breed. In other words, we washed out. We were seriously bummed. But determined that we would win on Sunday. Sunday morning, Michelle told me that Clover was sick and she had pulled her. She was also pulling Mei-Mei, to give the girls that needed a point the chance to win a point. I was upset the major had been broken. Things went from bad to worse as we argued. However, the argument did one thing good for me: it cleared my focus, to stay on my bitch. We went into the ring, and Bianca took 2 points. Aislinn and Gary still looked like Groucho and Harpo on the big screen. Nikki took reserve. Bianca now had 9 of the 15 points to become a champion. Over the next weekends, Gary and I went to shows in Houston. Bianca won 3 days, so now she was only 3 points – one more major – to make her Champion Bianca (remember, I did not name her). I remember that that last point came with a comment that the Judge made her decision because Bianca was „wary and aloof with a stranger, and the other girl acts like she never met a stranger in her life.‟ I think that must be the only time in history that a Skye lost a show for being too good natured.
The Plot I was determined that Bianca would finish her championship that spring. She was showing well, and I, well, I was almost up to snuff. But I wanted a slam dunk, no misses allowed. So, I did the only logical thing. I called in the Big Guns. Susan flew down to Texas, to drive with me to Oklahoma. I didn‟t even bother to tell Cheryl Schuman, with whom I would be staying, that I was bringing a guest. We drove up with Bianca and Aislinn (once again going as point maker). I have never seen Cheryl Schuman as shocked as she looked that day when she met me to lead me to her house.
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