Our Kennel Visit
Published in the Pomeranian Review in 2014
I thank the Pomeranian Review for asking me to introduce myself and Accolade Pomeranians to everyone. I have not been in the breed long enough to entertain you with my breeding history so I write this in tribute to those who helped me. I have been very fortunate to luck into wonderful people to help me get started with nice dogs and mentor me with their knowledge and experience. Showing dogs is not easy and without the help of others established in the breed it is so hard to succeed. Good breeders also need to be good mentors and pass on the knowledge and bloodlines to future hobbyists.
I started with my love for animals at an early age. My dad not being an animal lover did not want us having pets so I used to catch crayfish, lizards and turtles as a kid and hold them hostage for a period of time each summer. I finally did get a dog, a Scotty, which I had until I was eighteen. My love for animals has always been a part of my life and I worked at a pet store part time for fun after my full time job before I had my two children. Then after I had my two kids, Kyle and Eryn, I worked part time at a veterinary clinic for 8 years so I could stay at home with them as they grew up. My animal hobby continued as my children got older with me raising small caged birds including gouldian finch, parrotlets, cockatiels, grasskeets and lineolated parakeets. After 15 years of hand feeding birds and cage cleaning taking a toll on my back, I have scaled back considerably on the birds
Through the birds I met my good friend Larry Lopez of Halston’s Poms. He contacted me about a parrotlet I had for sale. Noticing his email mentioned poms I inquired with him about them. When working at the vet we had a client with the most beautiful pom that they got from a show breeder. I always loved that dog and really wanted one. When Larry didn’t have any available I saw a cute boy who was the prettiest light orange color from Ken Griffith of Lenette. Vinnie is my best buddy and now four years old. He is a bit big for the show ring at 6.5# so he just harasses my girls and teaches everyone how to bark. Larry finally said he would part with a female, Katy, Halston’s Kiss Me Kate, that was 11 months old. She was the perfect foundation bitch, bigger size, wonderful pedigree, pretty face and well built. Her sire was Chevy, CH Windsor’s Fasten Your Seatbelt and her grandfather was Buster, CH Damascusroad Dream Buster ROMX. He arranged for her to be bred to Darcy, BISS Am GCH/BIS Can Ch. Silhouette Surrender to Chriscendo, owned by Elizabeth Heckert of Silhouette Pomeranians and introduced us.
I started going to shows in 2011 with Liz and meeting the other local pom people and joined the local club, PCCV. Katy’s first litter was what I considered a disaster. After taking awhile to whelp the first puppy she had 3 out of the 4 stillborn. My lone survivor was a boy and not really what I wanted to keep for show so I sold him as a pet and bred her again. I was heartbroken…..another year with nothing to show. During this time I continued going to shows and watching, learning and patiently waited for my next litter to produce me my show dog. Katy’s second litter to Darcy was a miracle. Two girl puppies…one for me and one for Larry. Right after the birth of Katy’s litter, Liz told me of a black girl with a great pedigree available from Chris and John Heartz at Chriscendo. I LOVE black poms and Natalie was the perfect girl for me. Her four grandparents are all top producing dogs and I was so excited to actually be offered a girl of such nice lineage. Her father was Cole, Am/BISS Can Ch. Silhouette's Sixth Sense ROM and her grandfathers were Macho BIS BISS Am/Can/Thai CH CR Tuff Guy of Isabella ROMS and Denzel, BIS Can/BISS Am CH Finch’s You’re So Special N BLK. Her grandmothers Talia, CH Chriscendo Come Closer ROMS and Adia, Sunterra Sweet Surrender ROMX were the foundation bitches of Silhouette (Elizabeth Heckert) and Dee Little (Christine Crane Goodin), and were excellent producers and free whelpers. I can never thank Liz enough for vouching for me with Chris and helping me to get Natalie. Chris happened to be coming to Virginia a few weeks later for a visit with friends and brought Natalie to me. The way it all came about was such a coincidence…so we named her Chriscendo Coincidence. I raised Natalie with my girl from Katy’s litter that I named Darla, Accolade’s Surrender My First Kiss. Natalie and Darla came with me to Nationals 2013. I did get some class placements which I was happy with as I had only shown in a couple of shows and my newbie status was very obvious.
Over the next year I showed my two girls. I learned a lot about showing, training and grooming. Natalie decided she would rather stay at home so I focused on Darla. She was the perfect first show dog. Stacked when I told her and never misbehaved. We had a lot of losses as we learned together but we started winning big the end of 2013 when she was coated up enough to be a real contender. Darla finished her championship two days before our club’s specialty in January 2014. She got BOS at the PCCV Specialty and that weekend picked up over half of what she need to finish her grand championship. I decided to enter her in BOB at the 2014 Nationals. Darla showed like a champ at Nationals…she always did. We were pulled for the final cut and I was sooo excited when Judge Vicki Abbott picked her for Select Bitch which finished her as a grand champion! This was only my second Nationals and my very first show dog. Darla finished her show career with 2 BOB, 1 BOS at the PCCV Specialty, Select Bitch at the National Specialty and many BOS wins. All this for my very first bred by show dog. She really only showed well to please me so after the Nationals, Darla retired and I am excited to see what puppies she gives me.
My puppies I bred in 2013 did very well at the 2014 Nationals as well. Nora, Accolade’s Heck of a Coincidence and Timmy, Accolade’s Heck of a Time were my puppies from Natalie bred to Kert, GCH Mythical Easy as Heck. Nora won BOS at the puppy match and took first in her 6-9 mo. old class and Timmy at just 3# took third in his 6-9 mo. class. Since then Nora got WB at the Baltimore Specialty and has had some pretty big wins and finished her championship with 3 majors. Timmy has won two BOB including one where he won over two group placing specials and finished his championship as well with three majors. Finishing them gave me three champions in 2014 all bred and shown by myself. Natalie in her first litter has given me two champions and I have the best of hopes for her second litter a boy and girl sired by Palmer, BIS BISS GCH CR Simply Irresistible ROM.
My breeding and showing program just starting in 2012 is still developing. I have learned that a pretty face sometimes wins in spite of the outline and build of the dog. I love a pretty face as does everyone, but I really strive to also include the movement and structure of the dog. I really hope to produce dogs with nice legs and movement and pretty faces. I love a nice stack that includes four correctly placed legs with pretty feet. I have just started looking for studs for my girls on my own and trying to pick boys that have what I feel my girl is lacking or could improve on. It is hard to improve your dogs if you only breed to males easily available when they may not be what your girl needs. So although I really hate shipping my girls as they are my pets in the house and on my couch, I have started to ship them to be bred. I try to keep my numbers small because as wonderful as this breed is….10 barking dogs in the house can get to be a bit much. This is a constant struggle to keep something to show and not overwhelm my household. I often have a hard time in this breed as I have a soft heart and like to worry…two things that don’t go well with making decisions for the dogs, hard deliveries, fading puppies and waiting out coat changes. Yet somehow every time one of my babies smiles with their pretty brown eyes, paws at me to pet them, jumps in my arms after a bad day or a cute fuzzy puppy butt runs across the room and jumps in my lap, I forget all the bad… and that is why I love poms.
I will never be able to thank Larry Lopez of Halston’s Poms enough for all he has done to get me started in Poms. Katy was sold to me at a pet price with a puppy back from the breeding. I was sold Katy with nothing but a verbal contract. Honestly I am sure there is not any other breeder that would of done that and I am not sure I could myself. Larry took a big risk with me, selling me what could have been the last of his line if I had not followed thru with the return of a puppy from Katy. The gratitude I owe him for giving me this wonderful start in poms cannot be put into words. Very few people would have given me the chance that he did with such a nice girl and by doing so made it a lot easier for me to start in the breed. He introduced me to Elizabeth Heckert who today I am happy to call a great friend. Her knowledge of the breed and pedigrees is amazing. She has answered so many questions that the counts have got to be over a million by now, offered me advice, helped me whelp puppies, taught me what to look for and evaluate dogs. I obsess and worry about everything so at times I know I am annoying…haha…but she never gave up on me. As a new exhibitor I would never have had near the success I have or quality of dogs if it wasn’t for her taking the time to nurture my interest in showing and exhibiting Pomeranians. I hope I can someday do for someone else what Larry and Liz have done for me. I also owe tons of thanks to all those that have let me use their stud dogs, Elizabeth Heckert, Nady Godbout, Christine Crane Goodin, Celeste Solano and Carol Leemhuis. I take great honor to carry on the dedication and work you have put in the breed with your pedigees. I hope my babies have or will make you happy when you see them. A special thank you to John and Chris Heartz. Natalie as I have said before is a true gift. You could have sold her with her pedigree to anyone. You gave me a chance and for that I will always be grateful. And my final tribute to my Virginia Pom girls…Elizabeth Heckert, Christine Crane Goodin, Becky Johnson, Ellen Parkin and Stephanie Pineault each one of you have been a great friend and have made showing poms so much fun.