In 2005, I purchased my first maltese, Daisy, while in college. At the time, I wanted to try showing to see if I would like it. I didn’t get to start showing right away because juggling school and showing proved to be more daunting than expected.
When Daisy was about two years old and I had finished school, I started focusing on obtaining Daisy’s championship title. We didn’t get off to a great start. She wouldn’t walk on a lead, and I couldn’t groom for anything.
After moving to Hawaii, I entered Daisy in our first show. There was a free practice handling class a couple weeks before the show. Although I thought we had practiced and were ready, we weren’t! Daisy would not stack on the table or walk in the grass. She hopped over certain spots or would chase the dog in front or lag way behind in protest.Well, not wanting to look like too much of an idiot, I signed up for a handling class put on by the Hawaiian Kennel Club and joined another class instructed by a professional handler. Daisy and I were practicing three times a week. I was determined to be ready for the show.
Through the Kennel club, I met Mindy who had shown maltese but was getting more into cavaliers with her husband. She helped me immensely with handling and grooming on show days and was extremely supportive in my efforts. Unfortunately, there were not many maltese being shown in Hawaii at the time. So, Daisy only earned two points while showing in Hawaii. But, we did get a lot of group ring experience!
When we moved back to the mainland and settled back in Louisiana, we really started to make some progress towards Daisy’s conformation title. I had some tough competition in the area from Angie Stanberry of Divine maltese and Tonia Holibaugh of Rhapsody maltese. But, it was definitely a blessing in disguise as they have both provided me with tons of much needed guidance. Plus, I had the opportunity of going over all of their dogs, and really getting a better understanding of the breed standard.
Finally, the grooming was starting to come together for me after almost three years. We earned a bunch of singles and even one group four placement! Quite an accomplishment for a new owner handler! However, we still needed majors! So, I decided to make the 12 hour drive to the Brooksville cluster. Well, the majors broke! So, I decided to send her to Tonia Holibaugh to get her majors. On Daisy’s first weekend out with Tonia, she took her two majors the first two days and was finished!
And, that was the long road to the makings of my first champion! And the beginning of my new obsession!