The Power Of Persistence

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114 – June, 2025

By William Given

It was by all accounts a wonderful day. Our Penny had won Winners Bitch and BOS; it was her third major and she earned her championship title. We were on our way home from the Nebraska Kennel Club dog show, and I do not believe we had gone ten miles when I looked at my wife and said, “I am so glad she finished today.” My wife’s response was, “I am so relieved.” I asked, “Why relieved?” She responded, “She is 3½ years old now–it has never taken you this long to finish a dog.” And, my wife was correct when she stated how much we had spent to accomplish our goal. We knew that our girl was correctly constructed, a superior mover, and possessed an outstanding temperament. She deserved to be a champion and our every effort to show her until she earned it.

Here are a few things we did not immediately think about:

• COVID – All of us here in the Midwest (and very likely a great part of the country) had shows canceled due to the pandemic. We had no shows here in our region for about a year-and-a-half. So, with no shows taking place, what do you do? We did what a great many owners did. We worked on those titles that the AKC gave us an option to do virtually. We earned a CGCA, CGCU along with two trick dog titles. I have Dachshunds, so here again, patience and persistence paid off.

• We started showing her at six months of age. In retrospect, she was very likely not mature enough to truly compete against older, more mature bitches. If I had it to do all over again, I would have given her a bit more time to mature. I believe it is fairly normal to get our dogs out at six months of age because we cherish them and want to share them with our friends and breed colleagues.

Click here to read the complete article
114 – June, 2025

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