Tag: dog show

Royal T Mi-Kis At The 2023 UKC Premier Nationals Dog Show

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The UKC Premier Nationals Dog Show is the equivalent of the AKC’s Westminster Dog Show, so to be invited to their Top 10 Competition was an honor. We took four of the Top 10 positions for the Mi-Ki breed in 2022 with Cosmo at #2, Brighton at #3, Harley at #6, and Truffle at #7.

Since Bill needed to stay home and watch the fur babies, we were only able to show one dog in the Top 10 Competition. I decided to take Cosmo since Brighton has puppies and Harley is a goofball. Truffle has been retired.

Our UKC Top 10 Debut Event at Premier Nationals

We’ve previously been invited to the UKC’s Top 10 Event in years past, but we’ve never been able to make the trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan. We decided it would be important to have the experience and to represent the Mi-Ki breed at this national level. With a small window without any litters due, Bill and I decided that now was the time for me to go for it.

I was able to share a hotel room in Kalamazoo with Sue Versmesse of Little Angels Mi-Kis. She’s a seasoned show exhibitor, and I was glad to have her to pal around with. Sue brought a lot of beautiful dogs with her and had a lot to manage including hand-feeding a puppy. Needless to say, we were feeling fairly frazzled trying to get set up before the show. It was further complicated by a couple of the Mi-Ki females being in heat with amorous males around. So the dogs had to be strategically housed.

We arrived early, but not early enough! There were several missing breeds that were supposed to be shown before the Mi-Ki. Sue had stepped out to retrieve some missing items from the car and I heard the call for the Mi-Kis to come into the ring! Cosmo wasn’t brushed and he hadn’t had a chance to move around to get limber, relaxed, and get his nice movement going. Instead, I grabbed Sue’s Grand Champion Echo and two leads and rushed to the ring. The ring steward and other exhibitors tried to help me get the dogs into the ring, hastily putting on leads and figuring out if I was going to need an extra handler for Echo.

Sue Versmesse with GRCH Little Angels Echos of Heaven.

Thankfully, Sue arrived just in time and we walked into the ring. We made our rounds and had the table examination. As he was standing there, I was sad to see Cosmo’s glorious coat not looking its best. The judge picked Echo as the winner, and I was happy for them both. I could tell Cosmo hadn’t been walking as smoothly as he’s known for, and I knew Echo’s win was well deserved. I congratulated her and left the ring to go make sure my other dog Poppy was okay in her crate since I heard her fussing during the show.

As I was removing Cosmo’s lead, I realized it had been placed around his neck and his front leg. No wonder he hadn’t been walking nicely! To this day, I’m still not sure if I put it on him that way or if one of the helpful ladies did. It’s an easy mistake with his profuse coat, but it makes me sad that he didn’t get a chance to show off his beauty and movement that day.

UKC’s Premier National Show June 16-18, 2023

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were regular dog shows with lots of participants. Jennifer Martin of BFF Mi-Kis was able to join us and she showed her beautiful blue parti girl Champion Little Angels Anastasia, bred by and handled by Sue. Jennifer also showed her UKC Champion Midwest Mini’s Sebastian who is a descendant of Jubilee’s Southern Charm (Savannah) out of Royal T’s Remington. Sue also showed Anastasia’s blue parti sister in the open class. I showed Brumby’s Run Poppy in the open class.

  • Anastasia at UKC Premier Nationals
    Little Angels Anastasia shown by Jennifer Martin.

Poppy took the best female in the open class on Friday and Sunday. This was a nice win particularly with it being Poppy’s first show. Those evenings spent at conformation classes paid off.

Echo was the only Grand Champion shown. Sebastian won over all the other Mi-Kis on Friday. Cosmo took Best of Breed on Saturday, and Anastasia took first on Sunday. The Mi-Kis didn’t get top placements in the group ring, but we noticed that most of the awards went to sporting breeds rather than companions.

Estrellita’s Count Cosmo Royal T after his Best of Breed win.

Despite not getting the big group placement ribbons for our Mi-Kis, we were all happy to have nice wins evenly spread throughout our kennels. We all got nice competition wins and points to go towards the next achievement levels. We got lots of nice comments about the breed from seasoned handlers, breeders, and folks in the crowd. I handed out lots of cards! Hopefully, we will recruit people to the Mi-Ki – the “fun-sized” side of dog breeds!

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt!

I don’t see myself going to Premier every year, even though it was a great experience. It was quite the effort getting everything ready at home for those caring for our dogs. Getting myself packed for two dogs, and then getting two dogs through security, and flying with a layover was also a challenge. It wasn’t exactly a vacation caring for so many Mi-Kis on the road. We were lucky to have each other for support, and it is a weekend we won’t ever forget!

When I got home, it was a lot of catching up to do as far as grooming and deeper cleaning, though Bill and my mom did a great job of keeping everyone in good shape while I was gone. I’m grateful they helped me go, and now I have the T-shirt to prove I went!

I’m ready for a nap!

Introducing Our New Mi-ki Champions!

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Mi-ki UKC Champion: Royal T’s Brilliant Brighton

We are very excited to announce that we have two new UKC champions! First, it was Royal T’s very own Brilliant Brighton, and she really did shine with her silky white coat and gleaming personality. The icing on the cake was that Brighton achieved her champion status on my birthday, and I couldn’t have asked for a better gift!

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As you may recall, our first foray into the show ring last November was very successful, except for the fact that yours truly managed to accidentally miss one of the group competitions. Being so rare, Mi-kis can usually only receive their UKC championship titles by competing with other breeds in the companion category. Along with at least 100 points, three competition wins are required to win a championship. Brighton had enough points but needed one last competition win.

So when Brighton beat her kennel mate Truffle on Friday, I realized, “I think she’s a champion!” And she was, and is, and always will be… ribbons or no ribbons. She’s our firstborn Royal T offspring, and it felt right to have her win on my special 45th birthday.

Mi-ki UKC Champion: Jubilee’s Champagne Truffle

With Brighton’s championship in the bag, next, we focused on our sweet little chocolate Truffle, bred by Barbara Briggs of Jubilee Mi-kis. Weighing just 4 pounds 5 ounces, Truffle is a little dot on the show ring floor. Her beautiful chocolate color has silvered to a gorgeous taupe, but I was worried that she’d blend into the concrete floor of the ring.

To become a champion, we needed Truffle to beat Brighton in the next four shows. Those would also count as competition wins. Beating Brighton would be a feat because Brighton’s outgoing personality and bright white coat are so vibrant.

How would tiny Truffle do against the other companion breeds in the group competitions? We learned that many of the other dogs were already AKC champions, so the competition was pretty stiff! Plus, with UKC shows, our tiny Mi-kis can be competing with athletic Dalmatians, glamorous Shih Tzus, popular French Bulldogs, and flashy miniature Poodles.

Truffle always gets lots of positive feedback at our Plum Creek Kennel Club conformation class. She naturally stacks beautifully (meaning she stands straight and evenly) and always gives the judge a warm expression with alert ears. Truffle moves so smoothly and has such lovely proportions, so I was hopeful that she was just a little nervous when she lost to Brighton but would do well after that practice run.

Sure enough, after a long weekend of four more shows, Truffle was able to beat Brighton each time to gain her required 100 points! Since Truffle beat Brighton, those also counted as her competition wins.

The pleasant surprise was that tiny Truffle was able to catch the notice of the judges. She placed 4th in the group competition three times! I’ve heard from more experienced showers that the rare breeds don’t usually get much recognition in the group rings, so the fact that Truffle placed at all was a significant win not only for her but also for the Mi-ki breed. We’re very proud of her!

Truffles-show-ribbons-2018-twin-peaks-dog-club-UKC

Special Thanks

Of course, these wins wouldn’t be possible without the support of our friends and family. Thanks to Bill Parker, the other half of the Royal T Team for helping me show, to my daughter Annaliese who also showed for the first time, and my aunt Marty Frick who came to support us and even took a little video for us!

Marty_Frick_UKC_dog_show_Royal-T_Mi-kis

Aunt Marty Frick came out to support us at the Twin Peaks dog show!

We are also grateful to our judges including Kathy Carter who awarded Brighton with her Championship, Alan Krenek who gives us wonderful advice and training, Heidi Scheff, the cheerful and thorough Sandy Shaw, and Rick Gann, who awarded Truffle with her Championship.

Championship photos credit: Randy and Kindra Solomon.

Royal T Mi-kis – Now Registered with the UKC – and we went to our first dog show!

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Brighton-Royal-T-Miki-first-dog-show2

The Mi-ki was officially recognized by the United Kennel Club in January of 2016. Founded in 1898, The UKC is the world’s largest performance breed registry. This esteemed club offers family-friendly events that not only judge a dog’s appearance but also give dogs an opportunity to demonstrate the skills they were bred for.

With this in mind, we decided to register all of our dogs with the United Kennel Club to be able to participate in dog shows and make it easier for any future Royal T Mi-ki offspring to do so as well. After all, Mi-kis definitely deserve more exposure in the dog world for their beauty, temperament, and trainability!

We joined a local chapter of the UKC, the High Plains Kennel Club (HPKC), and it has been a lot of fun to get to know other dog lovers in Colorado. Alan Krenek, the president of the club, has taken us under his wing to prepare us for UKC shows, for which we are incredibly grateful!

In fact, our first show went so well that Brighton nearly earned her championship, and probably would have had her handler (me) not accidentally missed one of the group ring competitions while socializing with other dog lovers. It was a beginner’s mistake, but we had a lot of fun in spite of ourselves.

Brighton earned tons of ribbons, and excelled in the group ring, competing against seasoned adult companion breeds. Since Brighton is only 7 months old, we are thrilled that the judges found her to shine among such a wide range of excellent breeds.

Mi-ki-UKC-dog-show-Brighton-ribbons

There’s always next time, and next time, we’ll show even more of our Mi-kis. We chose to show just Brighton since it was our first event, and the other Mi-kis are much too busy working on new puppies! We hope to have new additions in early January 2018! Stay tuned!

BaxterBoo.com asked us to share about our first show dog experience on their blog. You can read about that here: Brighton’s Big Day – Tips and Trials from our First Dog Show.