Road's End Papillons : March 2012

Saturday, March 31, 2012

4 Months old Papillons: VanGelis Zahr & Zanzibar @ Road's End

Our 2 little Valentine butterflies (imported from Sweden on Valentines Day) @ 4 months:

Road's End Papillons Owned by Others: Road's End Zitoni

Hi Antje, I am sorry to be so long updating you on the adventures of Zitoni. She has taken over the house and rules the other two dogs as well as us. She came through spaying with flying colors. I have moved very slowly in agility since I didn't want to strain developing joints. She is surprising everyone. She is fearless, seems to love what she is doing, and is amazingly quick to learn. She does all the equipment, and we are working on developing sequences of obstacles. She is the sweetest, silliest, ... Guess you get the idea. My husband and I are so happy to have gotten her. I love your blog and check every moring for news from Road's End Papillons. Thank you and best wishes. Cordy and Don

Zitoni is now 11 months old.

Papillons, Phalenes, small Dogs and a Bicycle

Dogs in general, but especially small dogs are not designed to run along at bike speeds for any amount of time. It's bad for their joints; on hard surfaces even more so. If they had the chance to trot only, it would be more safe, but require for you to go very, very slow for a tiny Papillon or other small dog.
Just imagine the very painful injury of getting one of the little paws caught in the spikes of the wheel....that alone should make you wanting to find another, and much safer interaction between you and your friend.
Stay away from taking your small dog along while bike riding.

Road's End Results from the Papillon Club National Specialty in Seattle, WA

Well, I am back from the Nationals with my two dogs, with less than desirable results. Neither one of them made it to the top 4. Max got sick already on the second day with bouts of diarrhea and vomiting, Pepe was also stressed to the maximum. But they did learn to ride elevators, walking into congested areas, seeing a lot of beautiful Papillons and Phalenes. And there is promise, and hope for the next shows to come.
Here just a few pics:

I had thought that Max being shown by June, a much more experienced handler than me, would have a better chance to place. But that was a huge mistake. He kept wining in the ring, constantly turning around to find me (I was hiding). All heavy mistakes to make in the show ring.
Now we know!!