Tao the junior!

Tao's 9 month birthday was on Sunday 14.9. and as it happens, there was an all breeds show that day in Porvoo. Naturally I "had to" enter him to the show, first time as a junior :) There were 17 basenjis entered and junior males (2) were of course first in the ring. Tao wanted to look behind him and play with the other junior male when we tried to run around the ring but othervise he was a very good boy. Judge gave him Excellent with CQ and he won the class. As there were no female juniors, this made Tao BOB-junior! And it didn't end there... All but one male got the CQ (very silly, I think) so the Best male ring was crowded. Judge really seemed to like Tao since he first made the cut to the four best males and was finally awarded Best Male 3 and a resCAC! What a smart boy!

pic (c) Anni Toikka

This show also had a BIS competition for the BOB-juniors so we had to wait a couple more hours. The pre-judging ring was way too small for all the 100 or so juniors so I have no idea how the judge was supposed to have a proper look at all the dogs. Even in the actual BIS ring there was not enough space for everyone and we had to make two lines. I was with Tao at the end of the first line so we barely had room to take two steps running in the big ring before we already had to stop. A real shame!! We didn't make the (no surprise there really) but I was very pleased with Tao's performance and behaviour throughout the day. He is such an easy, laid-back, friendly and cool guy!

Dio in Junior Handling

I have never before even seen a Junior Handler competition but as I got a request for one of my boys, I jumped to the opportunity. As Tao was still one day too young and Karma just isn't suitable for such competitions (lets face it: he is just wayyy too bossy towards strangers in the ring), it was up to Dio to "man the boat" in Porvoo all breeds show on 13.9. Luckily he is also the one who knows how to stack freely and has a friendly temperament. The Junior Handler was to be the talented Justiina Mahlamäki (one of the top competitors at WDS). I was a bit nervous of course since Dio and Justiina didn't have a chance to meet before the show due to long distance. Luckily Justiina is a real professional and she really knew how to show the best sides of Dio. Well, except for the whining :) Dio is such a silly boy and whines in the ring when a stranger is handling him. Unfortunatelly Justiina & Dio did not palce this time, but at least they managed to get some smiles out of people with Dio's silly ways :)

pic (c) Pasada, Petri Örling

Mastery all breeds show 6.-7.9.

Mastery all breeds show is organized every second year at Tuomarinkylä sighthound track and our club is one of the organizers. Just like last time, we were in charge of selling tickets and checking vaccinations at the gate. We had a great team and the weekend just flew past! I hated getting up at 5:30 in the morning though... :)

On Sunday it was also time for the basenjis to enter the ring. I had entered Tao and Dio. This was the last time for Tao in the puppy class. It was a bit bitter sweet as I have loved showing him as a puppy but I'm also excited about taking him out to compete "for real". Only two puppies were entered and guess who the other was? Yep, Tao's sister Mimmi of course :)

Tao behaved so well and this time did not try to jump and catch the hem of my dress or shirt :) He received the Honour Prize and judges comment was "I really like him"! Sister Mimmi also showed herself beautifully and received the HP. In the BOB-puppy competition Mimmi finally won and Tao was BOS-puppy, as always before :D

Tao's critique was amazing: "Middle tall. Strong proportions. Scissors bite. Excellent head proportions. Typical expression. Long neck. Level back. Well set and carried tail. Typical angulations. Excellent movement. Very promising young male. I'm sure he'll have a great show career. Excellent presentation.". Doesn't get much better than that, right?? Judge was Gyorgy Tesics from Hungary.

Next Sunday Tao turns 9 months and he will celebrating his birthday by entering the ring first time as a junior at Porvoo all breeds show!

I just love Tao's head!

And rest of him is not bad either ;)

Dio was of course competing in the champion class. He was a good boy too and received Excellent with CQ and was third in the class. He wasn't placed in the Best male competition this time. CQ alone was a great victory as the judge didn't give out too many of those (only three CQ's in bitches!!).

All pictures (c) Pauliina Ylitörmä

SuBa's Match show

The Finnish Basenji club (SuBa) organized a match show in Helsinki on Sunday 31.8. As our show committee has only seven members, it was a lot of work. Luckily we got some help during the actual show day, so everything went pretty smoothly. The weather was really nice and everyone was able to enjoy the day ringside. We got about 50 entries and so many beautiful, well behaving dogs :) I'll add some photos as soon as I have time to go through them.

Tao was entered to the class for small puppies totally extempore and he was handled by dear friend Ari. Despite some puppy-like (=wild) behavior Tao won the red ribbon and was finally second in his class. Thanks Ari!

Dio was helping out in the junior handler ring. All the talented junior handlers got to try out how to show a basenji and Dio sure didn't make it too easy for them! They all survived though :)

It was such a nice day that we in the show committee decided right there and then that we must do it again. Possibly next spring? Everyone helped out so nicely (even members from further away sent trophies, nice prizes and food for the buffet) that I can't be anything but happy. Thank you guys!!

Tervakoski INT 30.8.2014

Tao did so well at the Tervakoski INT show under judge Magnus Hagstedt (SE). He competed in male puppies against his gorgeous cousin Hi-Lite Cola Candy and to my amazement won the class with hp! There was only one female pup entered and as she didn't receive hp, Tao was automatically BOB-puppy. Well done my little rascal!

Dio was entered to champion class and he also performed really nicely, received good critique with Excellent and CQ. At the end, he was 3rd best male.

The grass was wet and muddy but weather was nice and good friends made the day perfect. So thank you again everyone! <3 p="">

Photos by Tanja Taipalus, kiitos!