THE BU
OCTOBER FEATURE BOXER
CH MEL-O-D’S
SHAMROCK CHARM - "SHAMMIE"
Bred, Owned, and Handled to
Her Championship from Bred By Exhibitor...
by Melody Clementz
(Editor’s note: Not only
did Shammie finish from the Bred-By class, she had several outstanding wins along the way
-- second in a class of 38 12-18 Brindle Bitches at ABC 1999, and first in the ABC 2000
Bred-By class of 20!)
I started out showing Shammie
in BBE because of my other bitch, Joy, being in the open class. Then I decided to stay in
BBE because it gave me a chance at not having to compete against the more experienced
handlers and to make it in for winners. Also, I was so proud to be in that class. It might
sound funny to say, but in the end, I stayed in BBE because it was working!
If I ever felt discouraged, it
was because it is hard to compete against the top handlers and to be taken seriously by
the judges. I know Shammie would have finished faster had I put someone else on her, but
we just seemed to fit together as a team. It was a lot of hard work, but it was very
fulfilling in the end. When Jo [Thomson] pointed at Shammie as BOW and I knew she was
finished, it was wonderful to see the end results of all that hard work. It was more than
the hard work, though. It was awesome to be able to accomplish a dream come true, and that
I was able to finish my first champion out of BBE is still hard to absorb! I have to say,
though, I never did consider giving up. Keeping a positive attitude sometimes took a lot
of praying and mental talks to myself, but that attitude was very important. Without it, I
might have given up and quit. I've never felt prideful about how we've done together. I've
just felt blessed and sometimes very humble to have had the opportunity to actually do
this. I'm very proud of Shammie, also, for hanging in there and putting up with my
sometimes bumbling attempts at becoming a better handler. She's been a trouper and she
gave me the chance to have people know that I love my boxers and I take showing them very
seriously. |
