Ch. FFT Carpe Diem RN

See those letters behind her name? RN. Edie finished her Rally Novice title, 3 for 3. I am so proud of her! Her scores were 83, 97 and 93. The low score the first day had to do with our inexperience – mine in particular.

A fun story… Years ago, Sondra and I flew to Specialty shows in Houston with the first Lhasa Apso I bred – Ch. Fleetfire Zhel Lee Bhel Lee ROM*. We shared a room with Samoyed breeder Judy Mears and a friend of hers. The first night Sondra and Judy marched me to a nearby Target and made me buy ‘show clothes’. No more batik print wrap-around hippie skirts! Inappropriate! If you mean business in the show ring, you must dress for success! I bought an a-line khaki skirt, two cotton pullover sweaters – one royal blue, one bright red – and – gasp! – a string of pearls. Say what?! A hippie chick from Nebraska wearing a string of pearls! The entire episode cost me $40. For that $40 I learned a valuable lesson.

That same weekend I met Judy’s daughter Susan. She must have been in her twenties. This past weekend, there she was ringside at the Rally ring! It was her first time competing in Rally too, with her pretty Miniature Poodle Mandy. She competed in Rally Novice A. Because I have put obedience titles on dogs in the past – the distant past – I had to compete in Rally Novice B. We sat next to each other all three days, giving each other support and encouragement, reminiscing a bit, talking about plans to continue with performance. Susan and Mandy are continuing with Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent. Edie and I are focusing on agility. It was really nice to share the Rally experience with someone of similar background…years of experience in conformation making the leap into the performance events.