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Roger started off life as a classic tri puppy much like his sire. As the weeks went by the black on his head started to fade
little by little. One day I saw a few red hairs on the back of his ears and underneath the black hairs on his head. I knew then
he was going to be a hound tri like his sire Arthur, which pleased me as hound tris are my favorite color. Raising Roger was
a challenge at times. He is a nosey little guy and always on the go. There were two occasions where Tom's computer lost
everything in it. The first time we had no idea why. The second time I just happened to be coming into the room where his
computer is set up. Much to my surprise Roger was on the keyboard going back and forth! I think he must have liked the
sound of the keys moving
!
There were many times when he was young that I would just have to scoop him up to put him to bed or feed him dinner as
he was going past me. I would call him and he would come running and turn his head back to where he came from and then
back to me as if to say, "I'll be right back mom, I just have to finish checking this other thing out!" If I didn't scoop him up at
that moment Roger would be headed right back to where he had come from - always in that smooth flowing trot – never
stopping – never breaking his gait.
Tom showed Roger to his championship. In the show ring, Roger has followed closely in his sires’ footsteps. He was RWD
and Best Puppy at the Papillon Club of America National Specialty in 2004. Just as his sire Arthur had done at the 1999
Papillon Club of America National Specialty. Roger went on to win WD and BOW at the Sierra Nevada Papillon Club Specialty
in September 2004. In October of 2005, Mary Jo Loye of Josandre' Papillons and Delores Swan of Edenrock Papillons took
over Roger's show career. Under Mary Jo's expert hand Roger rapidly became a Canadian champion. In January of 2006
Mary Jo started a very young at heart Roger out on his specials career. I really don't think any of us were expecting more from
Roger and Mary Jo's first year out other than for them to become a team. So the first specialty Roger won in February was so
unexpected that Tom and I almost made bigger fools of ourselves than we did! We just happened to be out looking for old
teapots and we were in a Good Will store when Mary Jo called. Tom answered the phone and I kept looking at things and he
acted as if they hadn’t done anything special. Then Tom said “chat with Mary Jo so I can look at things too”. Well, when she
told me he had gone BISS I was so thrilled I just screamed out loud right in the store, ran outside and screamed
again !
It was very exciting and so unexpected from such a new team.
The year has had a few of these types of calls and each one has been a win that has brought so much happiness to us all.
When Mary Jo called and said that she and Roger had won Best In Show I really thought I would fall over! The excitement of
that win had us both on cloud nine for a solid week! I think I was jumping up and down when Mary Jo told me! Even now, two
months later as I write this article, I am still so full of pride and happiness that it brings tears to my eyes when I think of
it !
After forty-one years of breeding and showing dogs I can truly say that a Best In Show is the ‘crème de la crème’ of wins.
I know I will always remember the feeling when we received that call from Mary Jo and it will always bring a tremendous
amount joy to my heart.
To date Roger's major accomplishments on his first 10 months as a special
are :
All Breed Best In Show 9-16-06
BISS Canadian National Specialty 10-28-06
BISS Greater Chicagoland Papillon Club 6-17-06
BISS PCA NE Regional 2-11-06
Multiple Group Winner
Proven Sire of champion get
Ranked by AKC in the top ten Breed and All Breed
And more importantly - Roger is a very happy, outgoing and loveable companion who is just plain fun to have
around !
May the magic
continue ...
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