December 19
Leaflet's The Catwoman was once again shown beautifully by her co-owner Ms Hanna Sorsa, this time in Riga, Latvia. They travelled there this close to Christmas only because this was one of the few last chances for Pinja to try and finish also her Latvian and Baltian junior championship before becoming too old to competite in junior class any longer. Their trip fulfilled all the expectations and even more as Pinja not only become Best of Breed with her last junior-CC but also went BEST IN SHOW-junior and what's more:
BEST IN SHOW!!!
I can't imagine a better way to end one's career in junior classes. :)
Leaflet's The Catwoman BIS juniorCongratulations to Pinja's co-owners Hanna and Sirpa Sorsa and also many thanks for your dedication in loving, owning and showing Pinja not to mention your always so funny company and friendship I get to enjoy. I also wish to thank the judge Mr Owe Germundsson from Sweden for appreciating her quality both in the breed ring and also in the group finals.
December 13
Leaflet's The Catwoman gained excellent in Nordic Winner show Helsinki under Ms Chie Ejima from Japan.December 5
Leaflet's Off The Record was the last one in our O-litter who hasn't debuted in the showrings yet and he didn't want to be any worse than his brothers, so we took him to a puppy show in Helsinki under Ms Karin Bergbom. "Albert" performed very nicely and gained a fine placement of winning his class with a Price of Honor and ending up 2nd best male puppy. All of the boys in this litter look very promising and it's going to be exciting to show them next year. :)
Leaflet's Off The Record, about 6 months
November 28
We had foreign visitors and were most pleased to get a chance to take them to see an international dog show in Finland. There were 40 bichons under Mr Paavo Mattila and Leaflet's The Catwoman went 3rd in Intemediate class with excellent.November 15
We went to a puppy show to practise with some of our 5-month-olds. They all performed very nicely and gained the following results in Helsinki under Mr Harri Lehkonen: Leaflet's Overnight Sensation 2nd in baby boys with Price of Honor, L's On The Rocks 3rd with Price of Honor in the same class and our only girl Leaflet's Bite My Dust 2nd in baby girls with Price of Honor.
Leaflet's On The Rocks
Thank you for the photo, Annmari!November 8
Leaflet's Overnight Sensation debuted in the showring with his owner Krista. He went BOB-puppy under judge Ms Riitta Lahtovaara in a puppy show in Turku. Congratulations, Krista and Nemo!
Leaflet's Overnight Sensation, 5 monthsOctober 17 - 18
I wasn't able to get abroad again, but as Hanna has been bitten by the showbug she lured the rest of the gang for just one little boat trip over the sea... There were Sari, Rocky and Sari's husband and Hanna's mother Sirpa, who expertly prepares Pinja's coat for grooming and shows every time. They were also kind to take my Mike with them and in reward got to enjoy his cheerful company in the hotel room... ;)) They went to Rakvere National on Saturday and what's more, Pinja, Hanna and Sirpa continued "only" 500 kilometers further the very next day to Lithuania. Hanna handled all of the dogs with following nice results:
Rakvere national show 17.10.2009
GloryB's Dragon King 2nd best male, JUN-CC
Leaflet's The Catwoman Best of Breed, JUN-CC, Estonian Junior Champion,
#3 in Toy Group!!!
Lithuania national show 18.10.2009
Leaflet's The Catwoman Best of Breed, JUN-CC, Lithuanian Junior ChampionThat really is some way to go, girls!
September 13
We showed in sunny Äetsä, where both the bichons and poodles were under the same judge, Mr Unto Timonen. GloryB's Dragon King was first time out in Finland. He gained a very nice placement, junior class 2nd and 3rd Best Male. Leaflet's The Catwoman wasn't that succesful today and become "only" 3rd in junior bitches with excellent. The star of the day was undoubtfully our Irina, whom I dared to groom all by myself for the first time for showrings and apparently didn't completely manage to destroy all the bottomwork Tiina had done a month earlier... Canmoy's Primetime become Best of Breed and finally at the end of the day 2nd in Toy Group under Ms Vija Klucience. Thank you both judges for appreciating her!!!
Irina is a natural born performer, as anyone can see when she enters the ring.
September 12
Leaflet's The Catwoman was shown by her co-owner Hanna Sorsa in Helsinki under Ms Tiina Taulos. They took the junior class and got a fine placement 4th best bitch. Well done, girls!
September 5
We visited Estonia again with our juniors. This time we had some tough competition of Finnish decend in the bichon ring, congratulations Winston and Natali! In "our gang" Rocky the chihuahua (Rosalago MM's Ronaldinho), who likes to travel with his girlfriend Pinja and spread some "Chihuahua fever", was handled by Hanna again. This time we also had the pleasure to have Rocky's owner Sari with us and she must have been very pleased as Rocky gained his 2nd junior-cc becoming 2nd best male. Congratulations to Rocky, Sari and Hanna! Bichons "Mike" GloryB's Dragon King become 2nd Best Male and "Pinja" Leaflet's The Catwoman Best of Opposite Sex with her 2nd JUNIOR-CC from Estonia. The judge was Estonian Ms Anne Sume.
BOB Diamella Karma Chameleon & BOS Leaflet's The Catwoman
GloryB's Dragon King showing his excellent carriage and drive
August 29
Leaflets' The Catwoman 1st in junior class with very good under Mr Juha Putkonen in Tervakoski International show.
August 15-16
We made a trip to Sweden with my husband, Anton and Emil. We visited our dear friends Mia and Peter and naturally had to participate in a couple of dog shows with Irina. Canmoy's Primetime become 2nd best bitch on Saturday in Nyköping under Mr Harto Stockmari and R-best bitch on Sunday in Norrköping INT under Mr Michael Coad. There was also a little souvenir from Sweden as we brought our latest import, little Daisy (Frittmi's Simply Exquisite Daisy) home with us. Pictures will follow one day...
August 1
To make a bit shorter trip (at least in distance...) Sirpa, Hanna and I decided to show in Tartu, Estonia. Both chihuahuas and bichons were under Swedish Mr Henrik Johansson so we didn't have to worry about getting into different rings at the same time. We had three juniors and also three adults with us, but this was the youngsters' day. Pinja's boyfriend Rocky , Rosalago MM's Ronaldinho, who was handled by Hanna, started very nicely becoming Best of Breed in short haired chihuahuas with Junior-CC (congratulations Sari, wish you had been there!) and Pinja, Leaflet's The Catwoman ended up with the same result in bichons. Our debutant Mike, GloryB's Dragon King started his show career beautifully becoming Best of Opposite Sex with also a Junior-CC! The journey was tiresome and we got very little sleep but plenty of fun. Thank you girls once more for your wonderful company, we'll do this again don't we!
We had just one little dog with us... ;))
Pinja having fun in the ring with Hanna
BOS GloryB's Dragon King & BOB Leaflet's The Catwoman
Pinja with the breeder & Rocky with Hanna
July 17-19
We drove quite a long way away from home to Oulu where there were three shows at the same weekend. We only had one bichon and a poodle with us while the rest of the gang stayed home with Laura (thank you for taking so expertly care of everything!).
The first one of the shows was our National Specialty where American judge Mr Bill Lee judged 84 bichons. Our junior bitch Leaflet's The Catwoman made us proud becoming 2nd best bitch and gaining a res-CC at the age of 12 months! Pinja is co-owned with Sirpa and Hanna Sorsa, who shared the cottage with us during the weekend. Thank you girls for all the fun we had this weekend and also taking such good care of Pinja!
On Saturday Pinja became 2nd in junior bitches with excellent under Mr Markku Kipinä. In my opinion the brightest star to shine in our gang today was my precious little Irina; Canmoy's Primetime who became BOS with a CACIB under Russian Mr Anatoli Zhuk. Thank you again, Tiina! I also have to mention that Hanna probably was even more pleased with Pinja's boyfriend "Rocky", Rosalago MM's Ronaldhino who become BOB with a CC over 30 short haired chihuahuas under Ms Paula Heikkinen-Lehkonen from Finland! Not bad for a 12-month-old... Rocky is owned by Hanna's friend Sari Anttalainen and was handled by Hanna this weekend. CONGRATULATIONS HANNA, SARI AND ROCKY FOR THIS SUPER RESULT!
On Sunday Irina won Champion bitches and became 3rd Best Bitch under Ms Liliane de Ridder-Onghena from Belgium. Pinja seemed to be too big for our bichon judge Gunther Ehrenreich and got her first very good. Rocky became 4th Best Male with a reserve-CC under Ms Brenda Banbury, so our weekend was not bad at all. :)
July 12
Leaflet's The Catwoman Best Bitch 4 under Mr Unto Timonen in Karjaa
July 5
Leaflet's The Catwoman Best Bitch 4 under Mr Markku Kipinä in Hyvinkää
June 6
Leaflet's The Catwoman excellent and 4th placement in the class under Croatian Dubravka Reicher in Aura.
May 16
I showed only the juniors Pinja and her litter brother Pikku (L's Too Cool) under Ms Päivi Eerola in Hamina all breeds show. Pikku made his debute in the showring with quite unforgettable way (at least for me...) He simply refused to trot nicely on the leash and after trying to lure him I tried to drag him which at least made the audience laugh. Bichons really seem to know how to keep their breeders humble! ;)) Our judge really must have liked him anyway for still giving him evaluation very good after all! Pinja showed herself in a perfect manner and gained a fine placement 4th in the class with excellent.
Pikku has since started practising in inofficial match show's with his owner Riina. If we manage to be more stubborn than him, he'll return to the "real" rings at the end of the summer... ;))
May 3
This time only my co-owned junior bitch "Pinja" Leaflet's The Catwoman was entered. She did very nicely becoming 2nd in junior bitches and Best Bitch 4 in Turenki Specialty show for FCI group 9 under Ms Tanya Ahlman-Stockmari.
Pinja 9 months with the breeder
April 26
Leaflet's The Catwoman debuted in the official class gaining excellent from Junior class at 9 months of age under Mr Juha Kares. Also our poodle Irina was entered under Spanish judge Mr Javier Blanco, who made her 3rd in Champion bitches.
April 19
I made a terribly long trip to Outokumpu, where there was a Specialty for FCI groups 9 and 1. The journey was long and tiresome, but - I dare to say - worthwhile, for my precious Irina truly did it... She was the first time out in Finland after gaining the age of 2 years and become Best of Breed with her last CC, which makes her a brand new Finnish, Estonian and Lithuanian champion!!! Special thanks to our judge Ms Tanya Ahlman-Stockmari for appreciating her and also to Irina's breeder Ms Tiina Taulos for the magnificent grooming she once again created to make this possible for us. Also Dimmu was entered in junior dogs in bichons and he became 2nd in the class under Ms Zidy Münsterhielm-Ehnberg.
BOS, new champion Saruko's Destiny at Chic & BOB, new champion Canmoy's Primetime
March 14
We showed our young Bichons in Tampere international show, where the breed entry was amazing 81 under Ms Florence Fahey from Ireland. Leaflet's The Catwoman went Best of Breed -puppy shown by the breeder this time. (Hanna, they really don't mean it literally when someone tells you to break your leg before a competition... ;)) Also our little "Dimmu", Petit Ami's Kiss-And-Tell debuted very nicely in the official classes becoming 4th in junior class with excellent.
Dimmu moving
Pinja 8 months
February 14 - 15
While we were at home celebrating the kids' birthdays (Laura 15, Anton 3 and little Emil 1 years, congratulations to all of you) Irina's breeder took her to an international show in Tallinn, Estonia. The trip was truly worth all the effort it took both of us as they gained the following result:
Canmoy's Primetime Best of Breed, Toy Group winner and finally the next day...
BEST IN SHOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much judge Mr Giusseppe Alessandra! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Tiina, for your gorgeous work with Irina!
February 7 - 11
I took a long trip to the other side of the globe to see the Westminster KC show in New York. I also got the possibility to see a Bichon Specialty on Sunday. It was most wonderful experience to get to see some of the finest representatives of the breed in the USA not to mention getting to make some really fabulous new friends. I also brought a little souvenir with me as you can see from the photo below. He is GloryB's Dragon King aka Mike, age 5,5 months picured with his breeder Joanne Rubin and myself. Thank you Joanne for parting with this charming little heartbreaker. I promise to take good care of him!
and at the same time I spent my time waiting for my flight in Denmark I got some very nice news from Finland: Leaflet's The Catwoman started her show career at the age of 6 months becoming Best of Breed -puppy in a puppy show in Helsinki. Pinja was presented by her co-owner Ms Hanna Sorsa. WAY TO GO, GIRLS!!!
Leaflet's The Catwoman 6 months
