Stephany & Simon

Apr 092019
 

I’d like to introduce Stephany Gale and Simon. Stephany is a groomer in the Olympia area who recently decided to test her skills in the Competative Grooming Arena. Since Simon is retired and was in need of a haircut, he volunteered to help her out. You know how he loves the attention.

Stephany placed first in her class at the Northwest Grooming Show winning the First Timer Award. We are so happy for her and can’t wait to see how she progresses in the competative grooming world. Simon is willing to help out again if ever needed.

Bichon Frise Club of Puget Sound – The Golden Specialty

Jul 122018
 

This year our club held back to back Specialties in hopes of increasing the number of entries.  Well, we think it worked.  Entries were slightly higher but we did have a couple of exhibitors with high ranking dogs from Texas and the East Coast that I don’t think would have attended if we had the normal single show.  On the other hand, the draw could have been our Australian Judges John & Wendy Hutchison.  They are long time Bichon breeders and exhibitors and have a wealth of knowledge about the breed.  This was their first judging assignment in the USA and we were very fortunate to have them judge our event.  For whichever reason we felt the back to back was a success and we expect an even larger entry next year.

Now for the important stuff: US!

Sassy, Violet and Emoji showed very, very well each time they were in the ring.  Ya can’t help but be proud of those little girls.  Emoji won the sweepstakes competition in the 2nd show however no points were awarded to our girls this time out.  Not to worry.  Their time will come.

Our boys were a different matter.  Oliver and Simon both showed beautifully.  Best of Breed for the first show judged by Wendy Hutchison went to GCH Cher Ami Center of Attention.  A Multiple Best in Show winning dog and Simon was awarded Select Dog.  The little guy Oliver was given an Award of Merit.  So proud of him.  He is really coming along.

Show #2 Best of Breed was given to Simon, GCHG Absolute Affinity Agape Bullet Proof.  Judge John Hutchison made us work for the win as he compared Simon to the other dogs in the ring.  It was dead quiet around the ring.  When the judge had finally made his decision and pointed to Simon for the win a real cheer went up in the crowd!  I believe everyone in attendance hugged and congratulated us, even some people that I don’t know.  Not only did Simon win the Specialty, but we could confidently say that he now had enough points to give him his  Grand Champion Gold title.  One of just a handful of Bichons to obtain the gold title and the ONLY one who did so with an Amature Owner/Handler on the lead.  Oh and once again Oliver was given an Award of Merit.

After basking in the glory of the Best in Specialty Show win and the  GChGold, we went back to our set up and were surprised by a wonderful little GOLD celebration by Absolutely team members Tasheena Housman and Dina Taylor.  They are both so thoughtful.  I tried to hide it but it kinda choked me up a bit.  So we made a little toast to good dogs, good friends and good times.  Simon is a bit tousled in the photo but hey, he had worked hard and deserved to let his hair down a bit.

 

Emoji – Best In Sweepstakes

Oliver – Award of Merit

Simon – Best in Specialty Show and Grand Champion GOLD!

Our little After Party.

Just the best photo of Karen and Sue taken at our awards dinner. By Carol Fellbaum.

Four days at Lynden 2018

Jun 102018
 


From left to right: Simon, Kevlar, Cash, Oliver, Violet, Emoji 🙂

 

Well it was quite a weekend at Lynden.   Four days but worth the effort.  Simon won Best of Breed each day giving him 20 more points toward his GCH GOLD.  Oliver and Kevlar both obtained their American Championships.  Cash added to his Grand Champion points and was awarded a Group 2 Owner Handler.  Liberty finished her Grand Championship.  Violet and Sassy both snagged snagged 4 point majors and Emoji grabbed a Reserve Winners.   On Saturday every award that was given went to Absolutely dogs!   That’s a dream of a day.  Oh, and Oliver (in the ring as a Special for the first time on Sunday) won Select Dog and a Group 2 in the Owner Handler ring.

 

 

 

 

BFCA Nationals – Been there, done that!

May 272018
 

It was such a memorable Nationals for us this year.  So many of our extended Bichon family traveled to Tucson to watch the show.  I do think we had the biggest crowd there.  It was great.  We certainly felt the love. 

 

At just under 18 months of age, Oliver was the Grand Sweepstakes Winner this year.  OMG!  This is the first Sweeps win for Absolutely Bichons.  Many will recall last year at Nationals at the tender age of 5 1/2 months Oliver won Best Baby Puppy.  So the promise he showed early on continues as he matures.  Our judge for Sweeps was Karen Graeber of Whitebred Bichons in New Jersey.  Ms. Graeber is a long time successful breeder and a win under such a knowledgeable judge is all the more special.


Not to be overshadowed by the whipper snapper Oliver, our boy Simon also traveled to Tucson.  At the age of 8 1/2 Simon was the oldest bichon entered by far.  Simon proved he still has everything it takes to be successful in the ring.  Simon showed beautifully and came away with the 1st Award of Merit.  So proud of this guy.  He has really put us on the map.  Simon is about to make history.  Watch for a post in July.

Liberty-CH Absolutely Snowbird Free Reign CD BN NA NAJ RN TKA CGC, received a Versatile Bichon award, competed for the first time in rally intermediate recieved a 99 out of 100, then a second in obedience.
Kevlar- Absolutely Snowbird Heart of Strength BN RN TKA CGC, won her class in breed! Competed in Rally for the first time, with a PERFECT score, and third for her first time in obedience.

Liberty and Kevlar are owned, trained, groomed and shown by the incomparable Tasheena Housman.  She just amazes us and was definitely noticed at Nationals!  Thank you Tasheena, for representing us so very well.

 

Karen’s girl, Absolutely Affinity Smiley Face 🙂 (Emoji) placed in her class also!  Emoji is completely inexperienced and was a tough handle for Karen, but she pulled it together enough to finish in the ribbons.  Every ribbon at Nationals is a prized possession.

 

 

 

 

Simon is Back and going for Gold

Jan 202018
 

Simon is back in the ring at 8 1/2 years of age competing for his Grand Champion Gold title.  Once achieved he will be the 11th Bichon to received the Gold and the one and only Bichon Frise to have been 100% Amature Owner Handled.  He will be in a class of his own.  Simon loves the ring and has picked up where he left off winning back to back Best of Breeds at Puyallup this past weekend.  The Gold is in sight.

 

 

In other news:

 

Oliver went Best of Winners on day 1 of the show for a 4 point major.  He is very close to finishing his American Championship but we are going to hold him out of the ring until we go to Nationals in May.  It’s always a dream to finish a dog at Nationals and we have done it once with Baron.  Maybe we can be fortunate again with Oliver.

Simon the Stud

Jun 172016
 

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Simon came out of retirement to compete at the Bichon Frise Club of Puget Sound.  Here is his photo from the Stud Dog class with his sons Baron and Buzz.  That is Tiffanie Coe handling Buzz for us for the photo.  She is usually seen on the lead of Leo the Leonberger.  Thanks Tiffanie! (She is one of Simon’s biggest fans.)

Simon received the Select Dog award all three days of the shows with his son Baron winning top honors both days he competed.

Also a snap of our loot from the Specialty.  Good times!!IMG_3513

NEW CHAMPION

Mar 262016
 

Liberty got Best of Winners today, giving her enough points to achieve her U.S. Championship. Tasheena looks very happy, as she should be. She learned to train, groom and show Liberty by herself. Liberty is the third champion from the Piper x Simon litter.

Liberty got Best of Winners today, giving her enough points to achieve her U.S. Championship. Tasheena looks very happy, as she should be. She learned to train, groom and show Liberty by herself. Liberty is the third champion from the Piper x Simon litter.

Simon’s Final Trip Around the Ring

Jun 092015
 

Puyallup June 2015

We attended the Bichon Frise of Puget Sound Specialty and the Puyallup Cluster shows June 5-7th.  Simon was awarded Select Dog at the Specialty.  On Saturday he took the breed win and was awarded a Group 1 in the Owner Handler ring.  Sunday gave Simon the breed again.  He showed his heart out and powered around the Group ring and was awarded a big Group 2!

We have finished many dogs…but this is the first time we have retired one.  Simon is still on top of his game but it’s time to step aside and let the youngsters have their time in the sun.

Simon does enjoy his time in the ring and I expect he will make a comeback at a Specialty when he is able to compete as a veteran. It’s hard to keep a good dog down.  🙂

 

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