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I had brought a
friend of mine,
named Scott
Perry, who
was doing some
handling
and asked him to gait
Kriss outdoors and we
both immediately fell in
love with this
dog. His head was immediately
up and his
movement and drive were
truly beautiful.
By the time the weekend
was over, I had spent
considerable time with
Anna
McKnight, Kriss' breeder
from the United Kingdom,
and Pat Groff. I
wanted to show this little
8 1/4 inch dog and use
my friend,
Scott Perry, as his
handler since the two
took to
one another so
quickly at their first
meeting. Anna and
Pat agreed to
send
Kriss with me. He
has been with me since
May of 1999.
Within
5 weeks, Kriss was in
the ring. He was
shown in a total of 6
shows to finish his
title with 4 majors.
He finished his title
on the very same day
that he took Best in
Show in Belvedere,
Illinois in July 1999.
I believe he is probably
the first Papillon to
take a Best in Show from
the classes. Kriss'
Best in Show winning
made the front page of
the Rockford Register
Star the next
day with a half page
photo of him and Scott
Perry in the Best in
Show Ring.
Kriss adored Scott, and
the two became
quite
a
team for the next few
months. I remember
calling Pat Groff to
tell her the good news
and telling her that
Kriss had finished
his
championship.
Naturally, she
congratulated Scott for
a job well done in such
a short span of
time--May to the middle
of
June. But when he
then told Pat that Kriss
had gone on to take a
First Place in the Toy
Group and then Best, she
was
ecstatic. Later
Pat asked me if I had
ever guessed that the
little dog had it in
him, and I remember
saying that I was just
surprised that it came
so quickly and thought
he may take a Best
after a year in the
ring.
We continued to show
Kriss until September of
that year when he
started to blow his
coat. He ended the
year in 1999 as
the number 10 Papillon
in the country all
systems. A pretty
good record for a dog
that
was
only shown for 3.5
months!!
Unfortunately, I did not
have any bitches at the
time, so Kriss has
produced very few
litters. He has
sired two Canadian
champions--one (owned by
the Canadian buyer who
had looked at him in
Delavan,) was an Award
of Merit winner at a
Canadian
specialty in 2001. He
also has sired 5
American champions and
an additional one
with NA OAJ titles.
He also has a
lovely
granddaughter bred by
Pat Groff who has won a
Best in Show in Brazil in
August 2004 and has
finished that year as
the
Number 1 Papillon in
that country.
At the age of 8, Kriss
remains healthy and
happy.
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