Quick Video Blog!

So today we have a guest in our video blog! Saya and I have been in Seattle the last few days visiting Daniel. We will be writing more when I return back to Reno about our adventures visiting Morningstar Shibas and Saya as a city girl. For now enjoy this quick video featuring our friend who we are transporting back to Morningstar Shibas.

Saya's First Year

On January 16, 2011 Saya turned one year! To celebrate her birthday we created the video below. Happy Birthday Saya!!!

Wine Country Kennel Club Show

Hello again folks! The holidays hit and next thing you know we are already in May of 2011. We've got a lot of ground to cover since last year!

Let's start with the Wine Country Kennel Club Show, which was held in Napa on November 13th and 14th, 2010. We stayed at the Discovery Inn in Napa. This show was quite an adventure for us as we were informed there would be a Shiba Inu seminar led by JKC Guest Judge Yuuichi Tomimoto of Gold Typhoon Shibas! Jacey Holden of Mokelumne Shiba Inus recommended we attend the seminar to hear first hand from a Japanese judge and breeder.

We attended the seminar and due to a last minute switch in translators, I ended up assisting in presentation interpretation. I sure learned a lot from Judge Tomimoto, it was very exciting to hear a presentation in the native Japanese tongue. We also met a lot of the Shiba Inu show community. Napa was a wonderful opportunity to finally put names and faces together as there was a fairly large Shiba Inu turnout.

We are so lucky that Daniel is the handler because my interpretation skills were called upon both on Saturday and Sunday of the show. Saya took 2nd in class on Saturday and took 1st in her puppy class on Sunday. Our little girl is still a puppy, but Daniel showed her well. We also took a handling class offered on Saturday where we learned more about showing Saya's strengths.

We are truly thankful for the tips and tricks shared by Larry Weiss, Dorothy Warren and Denise Onstott of Ranchlake Shiba Inus, and Joan Morningstar of Morningstar Shibas.

While Saya didn't place in Winner's Circle, we felt we learned a lot about showing Saya as well as the finer points of her breed. On Sunday we were able to spend more time with Judge Tomimoto where we were able to learn more about his kennel and what he looks for in a Shiba Inu. His insight has truly helped us understand the breed more as well as what we should be looking for when mating Saya. We are grateful for his time and expertise.

I definitely feel I need to work on my Japanese skills after this adventure! Learning about Shibas in Japanese requires a certain vocabulary set that isn't often used in normal conversation. We hope to visit Judge Tomimoto's kennel the next time we are in Japan!

Daniel showing Saya to Judge Tomimoto

Sacramento Valley Dog Fanciers Association Dog Show

Time just flies!  This evening I'm sitting at our hotel room in Napa for the Wine Country Dog Show but I still haven't recapped our second show at Dixon!  On October 30th and 31st Daniel showed Saya at the Sacramento Valley Dog Fanciers Dog Show.

We had heard from Jacey that the Shiba Specialities were the same weekend but we opted for the smaller show instead.  Afterall, Saya and Daniel are fairly new to Conformation.  After the hoopla from our last show we only entered in one class.  Because we heard that many of our fellow exhibitors were heading to Washington, we worried that wouldn't be any Shibas!  

Have no fear, we had a few to compete with.  As a smaller show, it was actually very friendly!  We were able to talk with the other handlers and owners.  Saya won her puppy class but was defeated by an older puppy for Winners Bitch.  As a result, she won her first Reserve ribbon!  Well, her first OFFICIAL Reserve ribbon.  Judge Sharon R. Lyons had mentioned that Saya was a pretty bitch indeed but she had hit a growth spurt which affected her stacking.  Oh well!  Can't blame the puppy for being a puppy!

The second day was an awesome day for Daniel and Saya.  Judge Attila Soos was a very thorough judge that really took his time to compare and contrast all entrants in the ring.  Lucky for us, Saya was having a grand time and really showed her true spirit.  She showed the judge all the traits we love about her, most notable her personality.  She was responsive to Daniel, really focused and energetic.  We were proud "parents."

As a result of her and Daniel's efforts, she won her puppy class and she also took home Winner's Bitch!  What a wonderful surprise!  She also took Best of Opposite.  Way to go Saya!  We have our first Champion point!  How many shows until she wins her next one?

Although this was a small show we really liked the friendly atmosphere.  We met some wonderful breeders and also veteran and beginning handlers like ourselves.  The dog that took Best of Breed on the first day was a 10 year old veteran being handled by a 6 year old junior handler!

Reserve Ribbon Recall

A few days ago we received an interesting letter from the American Kennel Club.  Remember how we wrote about the confusion we had on Day 2 of the Bonanza Show?  Saya had been awarded Reserve by Judge LaMar Mathis.  We were pleasantly surprised until we found out that we had been awarded Reserve in error.

The letter we received was confirmation of said error.

This only affirms our resolve to only compete in one class per day.  Lesson learned!