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became a reality.
Charm was a
"puppy back"
from one of those
breedings.
From the time he
was a tiny puppy and the
first
photos were sent to us,
we were drawn to him and
knew he was a very
special Papillon.
In August of 2003, he
completed his title on a
specialty weekend by
going Best of Breed over
specials. In
December of that
year his sire,
"Mark",
returned to his breeder.
The sadness of parting
with Mark was
indescribable. He
and Angela had
formed
a partnership in and out
of the ring that was
what she thought then
was a "once in a
lifetime"
closeness. A funny
thing
happened though, when
Mark left, Charm started
to grow into his own
superb showman.
One of the greatest
comments we have
heard about him was from
a fellow exhibitor in
the toy group who
commented,
"He sure thinks a
lot of himself, doesn't
he ?!?!"
There is truth in those
words !
Charm has had many great
wins already, but of
course his Best in Show
at the Clermont County
Kennel Club in September
of
2004 is so special to
us. The breed was
early in the morning and
we then waited around
all day for the group.
It was terribly
hot and humid that day.
There were a lot of very
nice toy dogs there and
we really walked into
that ring with no
expectations.
The toy group was last
and so Charm and Angela
had to go right back
into Best in Show.
The outpouring of
support from the
other exhibitors in the
toy group was
tremendous. Two of
them ran and got Charm
some ice to help him
cool down before his
turn to perform.
They cheered him on and
were all in tears when
it was over.
Angela was so calm going
into the Best in Show
ring ... "my main
focus was to get him
cooled back down and to
have him put on a good
performance. He
did ... he showed
like we were practicing
in our own front yard.
The judge, Mr Gerald
Schwartz, was retiring
from judging and this
was his final
Best. He came out
and gave a lovely speech
about how proud he was
to have such a lovely
lineup for his final
judging
assignment. Then
he said, "my final
Best in Show goes to ...
the Papillon !"
For a second I stood
there thinking, but
Charm
is the only Papillon out
here ????? Then,
it sunk in...... WHAT A
THRILL !"
Charm has been
exclusively
owner/handled by Kim and
Angela. Kim has
always teased Angela
that if she ever won an
American Best in Show it
had to be at a show
superintended by "Onofrio"
... according to Kim
they have the prettiest
BIS
ribbons. So, when
Angela called Kim to
tell him the news she
told him Charm had won a
really pretty ribbon.
He asked ... "is it
blue ?" Her
response was, "well
it has blue in it"
... I don't think I
better tell you his
response to that ...
suffice it to say it was
quite a surprise to him
as well !
Charm turned two years
old the following month.
We are looking forward
to a fun-filled future
with him.
As an update, Charm has
gone on to win two more
Best in Shows and three
Best in Specialties as
of December 2005.
Charm is shown on
a very limited basis as
Kim and Angela are Dog
Show Photographers and
he is never exhibited
at
any show that they are
photographing.
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