Zeke awarded Best Dog at the FLCV Specialty Show. What a day. While i was enjoying the sunshine standing around a paddock watching dogs chase plastic bags (Lure Coursing) i received the exciting news that Zeke (Caleebra Fearless Hero (AI)) had been awarded Best Dog at the FLCV Specialty Open Show. Not in my wildest dreams had i expected that. I still think of him as such a baby, like his sister, Winter.
It was bittersweet for me, as I couldn't be there in person. I can't believe I actually suggested to Zeke's owners that they didn't really need to go as I couldn't be there to help them.
Robyn Sharp (Janoby Kennels) handled him to that win and i'm so incredibly grateful.
For Best in Show Zeke was beaten by a bitch with multiple international titles, and runner up went to an Australian Grand Champion. Not bad company at all.

Winter earned her Junior Courser Title the same day Zeke was strutting around the show ring. She's such a little trooper and so easy going. She's worked out the Lure Coursing game now though and enjoys herself immensely.
She's also had some success in the show ring, beating her mother quite a few times (helped that Summer is out of coat) and is now so close to her title. Of course she picked that moment to come into season, missing 11 local shows, and now nothing locally for a few months. Oh well, she'll get there when she gets there.

A few weeks later and an in-season Winter i felt was sure to ruin my chances at the double Rally trial in Canberra. But surprisingly Dolce still had plenty of focus, and pulled off 2 very nice Rally Excellent passes with 4th place in both trials. Just one to go now for his title.
Summer found the 6hr wait between runs a little too much and lost her focus for the last trial, but scraped through with 2 passes including a 5th place in the first trial, to earn her Rally Novice Title.

Lexie also lost her brain on her 2nd trial but gained a beautiful pass in the morning trial towards her Rally Advanced titles

Vader completes another leg of her Working Pack Dog Title. Unfortunately an accident has Vader on crate rest for 6 weeks and she'll miss completing the last leg for the title this year. 

Eva was the surprise though. Wendy has been super keen to get back into dog things with Eva and finally it all came together. She pulled out some beautiful passes to earn her Rally Novice Title. So proud of this fantastic pair. 

Once again a busy month for us.

Vegas flew up to Bundaberg with Kira and his sister Vader to attend an Easter Cluster of shows in Bundaberg.
Vegas took Best of Breed each day and was shortlisted for Best in Group twice.

At the same weekend, little Kova from our Character Litter made his show debut, awarded Best Baby in Group at his very first show. It wasn't for his behaviour as he barely kept 2 feet on the ground, let alone 4
But the judge seemed to love him all the same. 

Down in Victoria, Skipper made his show debut and was also awarded a Baby Puppy in Group win. In a surprise twist, he was a very well behaved puppy for his first show.

In Agility News, Tawnee had an amazing week, earning not 1 but THREE Agility titles in one week: Agility Dog, Jumping Dog and Strategic Pairs. The culmination of a lot of hard work and training. What a star.

Well we had quite a busy second half of the year and i fell well behind with updates so i'll recap briefly.

We welcomed our Guardians of the Galaxy Litter in early September. 6 gorgeous puppies from Lexie and Tiltti: 4 girls and 2 boys. They ventured off to new homes at the end of October, except for Nebula who stayed with us an extra couple of weeks before her flight to New Zealand. You can find more about the litter on their own page

The FLCV specialty show was the first week of November. Nothing significant for us to report there. Summer decided to do a massive coat drop just before and looked like she'd just whelped a litter.
Winter had just come into season for the first time and was really not feeling it either. Poor little poppet was so flat. It was awful timing after so many years waiting for this show.
Zeke (F), Vegas (D), Fenix (A) and an in-season Winter (F) were all present but weren't to the judges flavour.
However they all had a great day and enjoyed the cuddles, treats and socialising immensely. We had Nebula with us for her final days before she flew to New Zealand so it was a great day out for her as well 

We moved house. Not a small undertaking on ones own. We moved states and it took several days for our furniture to arrive. We're still unpacking.

We also managed to attend 2 shows, the first for little Aura from our Guardians litter. She was awarded 2 Baby Puppy in Groups in her first 2 weekends showing. She's gorgeous and we're so happy to be able to spend time with her. Winter and Summer also shared the Best Bitch win over 2 shows.

Because we weren't busy enough moving, we welcomed our Character litter just before NYE from Alleria and Kassu. 6 puppies: 4 boys and 2 girls. As this is only the 2nd litter in Australia to produce Sable puppies, overnight, we doubled the population of Sable Finnish Lapphunds in Australia. From this litter, 2 surprise keepers who will have their own pages just as soon as i can get myself organised.

We sent the puppies home just in time for the Canberra Royal, where in absolutely torrential conditions, Summer pulled off a 25 Point Best of Breed. We were thoroughly soaked and flooded. We sent all the other dogs home, and most of the exhibitors didn't stay either, but we waited the 6 hours with a dozen towels, a borrowed dryer and a change of clothes, to represent the Lappies in the Best in Group lineup. Unsurprisingly, Summer was completely over it by then but she did her best and went home with a packet of Chicken Nuggets to share and had a great sleep after getting another dry off.

Mish had to have surgery on a small lump in her mouth. It's nothing serious but will continue to grow and become uncomfortable for her. Hopefully we got enough of it this time to stop it coming back.
But unfortunately thats pretty much ended her show career, so she eases into retirement.

Photos: Top row: Lexie and Rockette, Guardians of the Galaxy Litter: Girls, Boys
Row 2: Guardians puppies: Mantis, StarLord and Drax, Nebula in the garden, Aslak winning Best Open in Show
Row 3: Mother - Daughter team win Best Bitch at first shows in Canberra. Aura with her first Baby Puppy in Group ribbon, The Character litter.
Row 4: Character Litter at 3 and 4 weeks old, Summer awarded BEST of BREED at Canberra Royal 2018

We attempted a straight 5 days of dog showing over the Queens Birthday weekend. Given i'm recovering from whooping cough it wasn't the smartest idea i've had, but i held up ok. It was the week after that i really suffered.
It started easily enough with a Thursday West Gippsland KC show with Judge Mr Francisco Rodriguez (Spain) where Winter earned her first points with Bitch Challenge and Runner Up Best of Breed.
The Friday show she was Reserve Bitch. Saturday and Sunday i'd entered a few more dogs. Saturday was the Working Dog show double where we lost every class and we were able to relax for the afternoon.
Sunday I was rather expecting more of the same, and i was really starting to hurt, but being a glutton for punishment we were there bright and early to do it all again.

At our FLCV Open Show under Judge Ms Kathy Smith we had a great day.
Zeke (Caleebra Fearless Hero (AI)) was Best Minor Dog and Opposite Minor in Show
Vegas was Best Junior Dog, Best Dog and eventually awarded BEST IN SHOW!!
Aslak was Best Open Dog and Opposite Open in Show
Winter was 2nd (last) in Minor Bitch
Mischa was Best Neuter Bitch and Opposite Neuter in Show

Zeke and Winter teamed up for the Brace competition. Turns out we were the only ones brave enough but they did so well strutting around the ring together and were awarded 'Best Brace'
Mish was awarded Best Coated Neuter.
Summer wasn't entered as she's still recovering coat from her litter, though we let her have a run in the ring afterwards so she felt she was part of the action. The judge was even kind enough to play along. Sums had been beside herself and driving us all nuts all day and she promptly fell asleep after she'd had her turn. Poor darling. She's missing the show ring.

On the Monday i'd only entered Winter and we lost to the Minor puppy dog so again we were done and dusted quickly. It was a long and tiring weekend, with some fantastic wins scattered through. I'm so grateful to the puppy owners who made it possible.

Photos: Top Row - BEST IN SHOW: Vegas, Opposite Minor in Show: Zeke, Opposite Neuter in Show: Mischa and Best Brace (Zeke and Winter)
Row2: Zeke x2, Vegas x2
Row3: Aslak x2, Winter x2
Row4: Mischa x2, Our winning certificates, Brace Winners, Zeke and Winter

To tell this story properly we have to go back more than 3 years. Shell contacted me about friends of her brother who were really interested in a Finnish Lapphund after meeting Squiggle and to cut that story short they took home little Alleria. She was the mini-Dolce of the Armani Litter born in November 2013. In April 2014 we drove to Sydney for the FLCNSW's inaugural Specialty Lappie Show. We were reunited with Alleria and Leah got to talking to us about showing Alleria. We thought maybe they were a 'gunna' home. You know, the ones who are 'going to do' or 'gunna' do all the things but just end up having a well loved pet. Well Leah proved me wrong. Time and again. And i'm once again grateful to Shell for introducing us and for the gut instinct that told me to go for it.
Alleria has the temperament quirks of her pedigree and whilst she looks an angel in photos she can be a right shit when she wants to be. She was a little girl with so much attitude and was a real challenge for Leah as she tried walking all over her. But Leah persevered. It took some doing, but Leah and Wookie achieved Wookies show title and continued plugging away on the Obedience front.
Leah wanted to do Flyball with Wookie (Alleria's nickname) and in order to get there she needed a reliable dog who could work off lead and under enormous pressure and distraction.
In April of this year Leah and Alleria were Flyball demonstration dogs at the Sydney Royal Show. If you've never been, its chaos and mayhem. Huge crowds, rides, lights and sirens everywhere. And Alleria didn't put a foot wrong. I was fit to burst with pride. What an accomplishment.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and I was lucky enough to witness Leah and Alleria competing at the Flyball Nationals. This was their very first competition and i got to see her very first race in the beginners singles comp. Cool as a cucumber (at least on the outside) they blitzed it. I was so proud of Wookie. So focused. So much determination. And the execution was almost flawless. I couldn't have been more thrilled when Wookie finished her final race and they realised she'd won in her group. She later had to battle it out against the other winners and ended up FIRST place in her Beginners Division. What a coup
Fast forward yet a few more weeks and Wookie was now running in a Flyball team in her very first comp.
She's already considered one of the 'reliable' dogs and it makes my heart swell to see just how far they've come.
It took a few weeks for the points to be allocated but imagine our overwhelming delight when we discovered that during Alleria's very first competition, her oustanding performance gained her her first TWO Flyball titles. No small accomplishment and testament to a lot of practice and proofing.

It's hard to describe the emotion to encompass the last 3 years but i'll forever be grateful to Leah for all the hard work, dedication and devotion she has for Alleria and this is just the beginning. I wish them the very best of luck and can hardly wait to see what comes next.