Being that I was destined to leave for South Africa on a three week part judging assignment, part vacation – I gave Alison two puppy females to watch while I was away.  I suggested she look at them and decide which one she wanted to hold onto for the show ring.  Vita was a huge, heavy boned puppy with a masculine but pretty head – the other one was tiny but oh so cute with huge eyes.  Both puppies were shown as babies and there was no question that Vita was the chosen one!

Alison had been introduced to the show ring before with some of her other dogs but she had never really had proper instruction.  So she took Vita to various professional trainers in conformation handling and to a two day seminar on preparing and handling a dog for the show ring.  The more often Alison and Vita entered the show ring, the better they both became.  There were times when Vita played up and that was always difficult for a new show person to deal with – what does one do?!

It is tough for unknown, new exhibitors to succeed in the ring, for reasons mostly of the dog and the exhibitor being ill prepared.  Nonetheless, the cream rises to the top and soon the Alison/Vita team knew what they were doing and it became a roller coaster ride to a Championship, culminating in a Best in Show at a Cavalier Specialty.