About Us
On Showing Our PONs
Let me start by saying that when we brought Boris and Natasha over from Poland we had no plans to show or breed. We just loved the breed and our PONs.
Three years ago, we had never been to a dog show. (Even to watch - like most others - our total experience was watching Westminster on TV.) We attended our first show on a lark, just to see what they were like. We went without our dogs just as observers. After that first day we thought "our dogs can do that, it looks like fun". That was my first mistake - just joking.
Next we started taking handling classes, where we were the joke of the class at first (not joking). Our guys didn't even know how to walk on a lead. We all (dogs included) seemed to have all left feet. We found good fellowship and began showing a few months later. After the first year, our Boris qualified for the 2002 Eukanuba National Invitational Championship show on the Animal Planet Channel and people stopped laughing and started slapping us on the back. Boris has also won two ARBA Best In Show awards and he and Natasha hold multi-championships.
We had our first litter in February 2003 and had to keep one pup (BeBe) to show in the AKC Bred By Exhibitor Class and BeBe finished her AKC Bred By Championship at 10 months after only four months of showing. She is also well on her way to her ARBA Championship and her International Championship. We have kept a pup from our current second litter (Topper, a chocolate) to show next year in the Bred-By class.
We have made so many wonderful friends and met countless colorful characters in the dog show world (as in the movie Best In Show). We have found that it's not always fair (what is?), but if you have a good dog - you will win eventually and that you can compete in the ring and still go to dinner that night with your competitors and have a great time. Showing dogs is truly a sport where on can compete without a professional handler in the ring and have a fair chance of winning. The greatest feeling in the world is going into the ring against professional handlers and having your dog come out on top that day. Every judge is different and every show is a new day.
The greatest plus of all is having fun with our dogs. We only show in our home state of Florida and do not campaign our PONs so there are several weekend trips during the year. The dogs love the road trips and getting to stay in hotels (jumping from bed to bed). Once we get out the gear and say "road trip!" they stand at the front door staring at the doorknob ready to go. Needless to say, we are hooked and would not trade the experience of the past few years for anything.
We have gotten involved with our National Breed Club (APLSC) and have found it to be a great source of support. An added plus is having friends all over the world who share our love of the Polish Lowland Sheepdogs. They are truly The World's Best Kept Secret.
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