Christmas and
New Year will be spent quietly -
recovering from the hectic autumn - work-wise ;-)
And the preparations for the coming
Imatra International Dog Show in February 2004
have been started.
Had a nice time in the Finnish Winner show -
my favourite scottie Quaint Goodwill ended up
as Reserve Best In Show!
More official
duties for me:
I have been elected to the board of Imatran Kennelkerho,
one of
the oldest local dog clubs.
In mid-October
Jackie Marris-Bray was judging
cocker spaniels at the Spaniel Club of
Finland show.
The entry was 24 puppies, 41 dogs and 58 bitches!
In the beginning of the month
I had been invited to judge at a Match Show in Mikkeli.
The organiser was a local spaniel club.
I was so looking forward to this appointment ;-)
And what a nice day it was!
My Match Show BIS was a lovely
Finnish Lappland Spitz
(Suomenlapinkoira) puppy.
The runner-up was a 10-year old veteran Red Irish
Setter,
third a very sound representative of a mixed breed
(Basset + Great Dane)
and fourth
- well, you guessed it! - a black cocker dog.
In the
beginning of September
the Scottish Terrier Club had its
"last of the
summer day" get-together at Kennel Sirkiss.
Together with my friend Niinuli, I promised
to teach
the scottie people some country line dancing!!
And here are some photos of the Scottie day...
Me teaching line dancing
And again together with Sirkiss Sterling...
August saw the traditional
Scottish Terrier Club show take place in
Helsinki.
Besides acting as the official photographer for the club,
I also
took part in the senior handler competition -
and was placed second with Sirkiss Sterling!
Sirpa and I spent a hilarious evening updating her website.
Please check the new look of
Sirkiss Scottish Terriers
by clicking on the banner.
***
A dear friend of mine, Elena, got married at the end of the month.
What a lovely wedding it was -
the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome
and the
third family member was not left out...
And what a swell party we had afterwards ;-)
Photo by Risto Märkälä
A group of friends organised a hen night for our friend Elena,
she had a
tough job judging some very nice toy - literally - dogs!
Lea Bogers from the famous Tripol's kennels in Holland came for a visit.
We had lots of fun while we did some sight-seeing, attended
the Cocker Club of Finland specialty show and visited some cocker kennels.
Lea was also judging in our local spaniel club's match show.
I am now counting the days until the day in June when
my dear friend Lea Bogers from
Holland comes to Finland for the first time.
I was brushing up my ring steward skills in the Hamina dog show in mid-May.
I was also helping my good friend Elena and the Irish Water Spaniel Club
to organise a
nice spaniel show in Lohja.
And all the time working hard for the Imatra 2004 show ;-)
Spent the Easter holidays helping my good friend Elena
in 'her' dog show in Lappeenranta. Had a lot of fun!
Otherwise a very quiet month.
More responsibilities for me...
I have just been elected as Chair(wo)man of our local
spaniel club, Kaakkois-Suomen Spanielikerho.
Thank you to the club members
for the vote of confidence.
Have just returned from Crufts...
I spent four whole days at the NEC,
checking several other breeds besides the cockers.
Photo by Paula Heikkinen-Lehkonen
Congratulations to Ann Swärd for Hansi's success!
Many thanks to our "group leader" Marja Talvitie for a
beautifully organised trip
with a bunch of doggy-minded people.
Special thanks to Elena - oh boy, did we
have fun!
And what timing throughout the whole trip...
we were always at the right place at the right time.
I have been elected to the board of the local kennel district
(Kymenläänin Kennelpiiri ry) for the coming three-year period.
The Imatra international dog show is over - for this year.
My good friend Rudy Feyaerts made his first ever visit to Finland
and we had a chance to chat about cockers.
The Imatra international dog show is approaching,
which keeps me pretty busy!
Soon I will
see some very good friends from Belgium ;-)
I should also arrange my trip to Crufts...
Happy New Year 2003 to everybody!
The latest photo of Sirkiss Sterling,
a Scottish terrier that holds a very special place
in my heart.
a photo of Will in the summer of 1999 |
News 2002
|
