THE ENGLISH TOY SPANIEL CLUB OF AMERICA 2016 NATIONAL SPECIALTY Celebrating Over 130 Years Of aKC reCOgnitiOn
by HeatHer tauer-reid
Photos by Michael Reid
T here is only one time of year when English Toy Spaniel exhibitors can see more than a handful of exhibits in one day—and that one day is our National Specialty. And this, our 130th anniver- sary, was no exception. We had one of our largest entries since relocating to Kalamazoo, Michigan—twenty percent higher than the average over the last two years! It began on Wednesday, May 25th with a welcome dinner hosted by Jamie Ward and Karen Miller. After a long trip, it is a joy to know that the national begins with a relaxing (and filling) pasta dinner where friendships are renewed and new people are welcomed without the stress and distraction of the show itself. Concurrently, Bruce Van Deman, our Club President, hosted a judge’s education seminar where two poten- tial new judges were the recipients of a thorough and eloquent explanation of the English Toy Spaniel standard and the unique way we want our dogs to be examined. The day of the national began with sweepstakes, judged by 20-year veteran breeder, Susan Plance. She had a nice entry with over 20 dogs in both variet- ies. Her Best in Sweepstakes in the Blen- heim & Prince Charles variety was a Prince Charles dog, Tudorhurst Porthos of Sanchi, imported and owned by Bon- nie Miller, DVM, bred by Alicia Penning- ton and shown by Per Rismyhr. In the King Charles & Ruby variety, the Best in Sweepstakes was a ten-month old bitch, Novel-Luvn Chr-lys Second Star to the Right, owned and bred by Dawn
and Brian Charley and Shelly Hepler, shown by Shelly Hepler. Mrs. Plance’s Veteran Sweepstakes winner was CH By Design Mudslide, bred by Mary K. Dullinger, owned by Pat Cox and Mary K. Dullinger. During the break, before judging for the Blenheim & Prince Charles variety was to begin at noon, many folks made an effort to get by the trophy table where our trophy chair, Kathie Law- rence had another year of superb tro- phies on display. This year’s theme was an English Tea Party printed with origi- nal artwork created by artist Rachel DiAndrea from Altoona, Pennsylvania. For a placement in the classes, winners took home a cute porcelain tea cup and tea tin. Best of Winners for each variety got to take home a porcelain tea ser- vice. Other winners would take home themed art prints of various sizes. After viewing the trophies, many went to the silent auction table, where Jamie Burke and Carol Sommers had an impressive array of items, mostly breed-themed. Bidding on some items, although silent, got quite competitive. Also on this table were the welcome bags and catalogues, handed out by vet- eran ETSCA member and breeder, Mary Hoagland. The welcome bags were sup- plied by Dr. Bonnie Miller, DVM, and contained lots of wonderful goodies. Promptly at noon, variety judging of the Blenheim & Prince Charles dogs began. The club was honored to have Chad Howard, a long-time ETSCA mem- ber and breeder, as our national spe- cialty judge. I spoke with Mr. Howard following judging, and overall he said
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