I thought I would share my morning with you as you would have been proud, I took Gavin to Petsmart to socialize and they had a puppy training class where people were standing around watching, I just walked in and all the spectators looked at Gavin and just flocked to him, I had him sit as people came over to pet and inquire about him, he just lapped it all up as everyone commented about how beautiful he was, than we went to Baskin Robbins and sat in the quad where 2 LAPD officers went virtually out of their way to come and inquire about him, one was a K9 officer and he said Gavin was the most beautiful puppy he had ever seen, he pulled out his checkbook and told me to name my price!!! Lol ! He than asked me to take his card and when I have a litter by Gavin to call him, I told him your looking at years, he said the timing would be perfect as his dog is 10. He said his heart literally skipped a beat when he saw him and he took a picture on his cell phone to keep!!
Lorie
Alta-Tollhaus dogs are the best “schmoozers” and “lookers”—great story, Lorie.
Sounds like Gavin is taking the West Coast by storm!
I hope Gavin continues to take the West Coast by storm!!! His debut show is Sunday the 27th in Malibu Beach and he will be handled by Melanie Rupp, I hear she’s quite the handler and is in fact giving a handlers seminar on Saturday, the day before the show, she wants Gavin to attend so she can work with both of us before the show, Melanie will also be handling Gavin at the NASS show in November, she’s never seen him yet but went on this site to look him up, than she called me and said Oh My!!!!!
It was really a fun day yesterday, I have had German Shepherds literally my whole life, but nothing like Gavin, in fact it was quite funny yesterday, there was an older gentleman sitting in the quad outside Baskin Robbins, I asked him if he would please hold Gavins lead so I could get us our ice cream ( Gavin gets a little vanilla scoop) he obliged and I laughed as I saw people coming up and talking to him, when I came out he said BOY! I never in my life wish I owned a dog as badly as this one, he’s like a ROCKSTAR!!! 🙂
Well Gavin and I had our show ring debut yesterday in Malibu Beach, Ca. It was a beautiful show with some truly beautiful dogs, Gavin was in the Baby Puppy 3-6 months. He did extremely well with the gaiting around the ring as I handled from the outside, he wasn’t the happiest during the stack but did a pretty good job, he was a little squirmy, he received a VP3 in the class, the 2 puppies ahead of him were right at the 6 mos mark and looked much bigger ( and they stacked very well:)) The Judges comments on Gavin were very good and his handler was very pleased with him in his first show. The Judge said he had a beautiful head, deep rich pigment and very nice substantial bone with a very fine ring presence, he said he has a very bright future. I later saw the Judge as I was walkng to the refreshment bar during the lunch break, he came and placed his hands on Gavin and just played a little with him, he told me he was a beautiful puppy and explained that because of his age he is still tight in his hocks, he said when he matures and can physically drive off his hocks he will be able to really extend his front reach, he said he really really liked this puppy. 🙂
I cannot even begin to count how many people came up and just told me what a beautiful puppy he is, including the owner of the big dog out here in California, a dog named Urban, a Sieger winner who they displayed at the show with his offspring, the woman who owns him came over to me and inquired about Gavin and said he was a absolutely beautiful puppy, she asked to see his pedigree and just was very complentary, which is really in her case praise from Caesar!!! I had a wonderful time and am so proud of my baby, he handled everything so well, he’s just a trooper and a joy to own, he won
a really nice little trophy that is already proudly displayed on my mantle. I cannot believe how many people asked to purchase my little pumpkin, he’s priceless no matter what he does
from here on out, one of the best things about him is his gameness, coming home which was a long 2 plus hour drive he lounged on the back seat in my truck, on his snuggly comforter and
never whined or fussed, already a traveling pro.
I myself,need a LOT of work, after 3 or 4 laps around the ring calling Gavin I just about collapsed in a heap, I was beginning to wonder if there were people in the stands who could perform CPR!! I need to build my endurance up before he really starts to move out!!!
Lorie and Gavin
( there were
photographers on the grounds and I’ll share as soon as I receive them)
CONGRATULATIONS LORIE!!!! You did good! You are so brave to go to your first show by yourself and show your first dog!!! I am very impressed. Gavin is just over 3 months and to place right behind dogs at the 6 month age is excellent.
I can’t wait to see the pictures.
Julie
Thank you Julie!!
Melanie his ring handler was very impressed with him, she gave me homework to do between now and NASS. It’s funny because she personally felt he was a little heavy, later when talking to the Judge I mentioned if he was a little heavy and the judge felt he was fine, he said he really liked his bone and look, he said he was a “manly” puppy with beautiful dark eyes, I was happy, I’m going to work on the stack a bit, but Melanie was adamant that I not bore him to death with it, after his class a gentleman from Germany with an accent so thick I could barely understand him came up and told me that Gavin looked fantastic when he was being stacked and just looking for me, when I called him he became too focused on getting to me and it cost him, he explained to me how to be more aware of Gavins personality, it was very helpful, later I learned he too was a judge!!
It was a positive experience and we’re only going to get better!!
Congrats to you and Gavin on a wonderful day! I can’t wait to see the photos.
Excellent job Lorie & Gavin!!! Can’t wait to see the photos. Congratulations Lorie, Gavin and Julie!