Showing Cyrus as a Puppy

The first show I would have been able to attend with Cyrus was when he was six months old. Since that was the weekend of my wedding rehearsal some how I don't think my family would have understood if I took off for my first dog show. Before the next opportunity I got I attended my first handling class when he was nine months old. That experience was very frustrating and intimidating to say the least. Everyone there had a dog that stood so still in a perfect stack looking at his or her owners with such focus, and gliding along the ring effortlessly. Me, well I had a boy that would flop to the floor as soon as I stood him on all fours. He jumped like a pogo stick to get at my bait, crammed his nose up the dogs butt in front of me and instead of running around the ring, he wanted to run through the ring to meet the dog at the other side. I felt like I was leading a horse around with a shoelace. The lesson I learned from that handling class is no more thin nylon show leads!!

Cyrus' First Show was the fall October 2001 Fall LCA Specialty Colusa, CA.
9-12 Month Class
At 10 months old I still had the problem of getting him to stand. At the first show, the judge actually judged him while he was lying down. He took second place in the class both days with a very promising rating for both shows.

February 16-17, 2002 Spring LCA Regional Specialty Sonora, CA. 12-18 Month Class Show 1 First place in his class Best Youth Male Show 2 First place in class Best Youth Male Both shows he got a very promising puppy rating.

June 21-22, 2002 ARBA All Breed Show Hayward, CA.
Open Class
Show 1
Second Place in Class with an excellent rating.
Show 2
Second Place in Class with an excellent rating.
Over all the judge gave Cyrus very nice comments saying that Cyrus is a very well balanced male that just needs to come into his own with time. About this time I noticed a big difference in Cyrus and the other males he was competing against and that was although he had the height he was about 15-25 lbs. leaner then them. My boy was slow to mature and had a long was to catch up to the big boys!!

Showing an Adolescent Cyrus

Cyrus was no longer the floppy dog from his puppy hood, in fact, he seemed to really enjoy showing and found a new interest at shows, GIRLS!!! My little pup's hormones seemed to have really kicked in, which presented a whole new set of problem in the show ring. At a 115 plus pounds we had to really work on him not dragging me across the ring, not cutting the circulation off on my fingers and not throwing himself on the floor to get at girly smells.

September 21-22, 2002 IABCA All Breed Show, Vallejo CA. Open Class Show 1 Second place in class with an excellent Rating. Show 2 Second place in class with an excellent rating Show 3 Second place in class with an excellent rating. With the three excellent ratings this show gave Cyrus the first level of his IABCA championship

October 26& 27, 2002 LCA Fall Regional Specialty Colusa, CA. Show 1 Open Class First place with an excellent rating Winner's Dog Show 2 First place with an excellent rating. Winner's Dog Best of Winners This show was a great show for Cyrus giving him one 4 point major and a 5 point major.

January 25& 26, 2003 IABCA All Breed Show Vallejo, CA. Show 1 Open Class First place in class Won Best of Breed Show 2 Second place in class Show 3 First place in class Won Best of Breed Sunday the rare breed section of the show took place and Cyrus took Best in Show Rare Breed beating out 13 other breeds in the ring. What a great moment that was. The judge pulled me aside after the show and told me that she wanted to place him in group but because he was acting like a big goof ball and hitting on the female in back of him she couldn't, but said he really proved himself in the ring for BIS. This show Cyrus received three more V-1 ratings to give him the Ehren championship level of IABCA.

April 26, 2003 The LCA 2003 National Specialty Show 1 Open Class Third place in class With a very good rating Overall, I was very pleased with Cyrus' placement and rating coming from the world renound Leonberger Judge Guido Perosino. He had many nice comments to say about Cyrus.

June 21-22, 2003 ARBA All Breed Show Hayward, CA.
Open Class
Show 1
Second place with an excellent rating
Reserve Winner's Dog
Show 2
Second place with a very good rating
Show 3
Second place with an excellent rating
Reserve winner's dog
This show is always held out doors in a grass ring, which seems to be very difficult for Cyrus some how. I had a hard time keeping his head off the ground. He seems to enjoy inhaling all the girly smells that the grass seems to hold.

A Distinguished Young Man

Some time in late summer things started coming together for my young lanky boy. He finally filled out a bit more, started to grow in a coat that he seemed to be missing since last winter, put on some serious muscle and some how, he seemed to get over his butthead adolescent stage were he actually had focus!!

August 23-24, 2003 IABCA All Breed Show Anaheim Hills, CA.
Show 1
Champion Class
First in class
Best of Breed
Show 2
Second place in class
Show 3
First in class
Best of Breed
Cyrus got three V-1 ratings from this show moving him to the Ehren Bronze Championship level of IABCA.

September 20-21, 2003 IABCA All Breed Show Napa, CA. Show 1 Champion Class First in Class Best of Breed Show 2 First in Class Show 3 First in Class Best of Breed The win of this third show earned Cyrus his LCA Championship and since he earned 3 V-1 ratings moved him to the Ehren Champion Silver level. This show he also fell in love with his girlfriend Ms. Harmony vom Sanften Loewen, she ended up being his bait partner for the show :)

October 25, 2003 LCA Fall Regional Specialty Colusa, CA.
Show 1
Championship Class
First in Class with a very good rating
Best of Show
What a proud moment for me for my boy to win a LCA regional specialty!!!!

December 7, 2003 LCA Regional Holiday Specialty Show 1 Championship Class First in Class with an excellent rating Best of Show Cyrus does it again!!

The Finished Boy

Cyrus had a great year in 2003 obtaining all the goals that I set out for him. Not only did he get his CH title but that December show he also obtained his CD title as well. In 2003 Cyrus earned #5 Leonberger for conformation and #2 Leonberger for obedience and the only Leonberger to qualify for Top Leo awards in both categories that year. He has earned a well-deserved break and will not be showing much due to focusing in other sports such as water rescue, carting and tracking.

March 27 & 28 2004, LCA Regional Specialty Auburn, Washington
Show 1
Champion Class
Second Place with an excellent rating
Show 2
Champion Class
Second place with a very good rating

Something I learned from this show is, that Cyrus does not show well when traveling long distances. Not only was he crazy for a girl in heat but also, he did not eat for 5 days on the road, which really stressed me out. The judge commented that he acted like an old dog in the ring, what happened to my energetic boy? Makes me wonder if it is worth traveling across the country to a National Specialty.

June 19 & 20, 2004 ARBA All Breed Show,Hayward CA. Show 1 Open Class Winner's Dog Best of Winners Best of Breed Excellent rating Group 4 Show 2 Winner's Dog Best of Opposite Excellent rating Show 3 Winner's Dog Best of Winner's Best of Breed Excellent rating Group 3 Show 4 Winner's Dog Best of Winners Best of Breed Excellent rating Group 4

November 13 & 14, 2004, LCA Regional Specialty Colusa , CA . Show 1 Champion Class First place with an excellent rating Cyrus went into the ring top compete for Best in Show when he started limping and the judge called it as a result she did not place us. She pulled me aside after the show and said she was upset that had to happen because she was going to put in up for BIS, that was a heartbreak. With some rest and aspirin for the night and next morning he was ready for the ring again. Show 2 Champion Class First Place with an excellent rating. He then went on to take Best of Show!

April 2, 2005 The LCA 2005 National Specialty
Austin , TX Judge: Willi Gülix, Germany
Champion Class
2 nd Place with an Excellent Rating
I was very pleased with Cyrus’ second place rating considering the competition was very stiff with some of the top stud dogs in the country competing. Willi had Cyrus and I running around non-stop comparing us to each dog as he placed them, for a split second there I though we had the class!

May 14 & 15, 2005, LCA Spring Regional, Livermore, CA. Show 1 Champion Class First Place with an Excellent rating. He then went on to take Best of Specialty Show! Show 2 Champion Class First Place with an Excellent Rating He then went on to take Best of Specialty Show!

October 1, 2005 Rarities Inc., All Breed Show, San Martin, CA. Open Class Show 1 Best of Breed Group 2 Show 2 Best of Breed Group 1 Reserve Best in Show Show 3 Best of Breed Group 1 Best in Show Show 4 Best of Breed Group 2

October 22 & 23, 2005 LCA Regional Fall Specialty, Colusa, CA.

Show 1
Champion Class
First place with an Excellent rating.
Two weeks before the show, Cyrus’ shoulder went out again (re-occurring sports injury) I wasn’t sure if he was ready for the show but thought I’d try him anyway. After coming out of the ring for BIS, a few people came up to me and told me he looked like he was limping again. I was pleased with the critique and excellent rating from the judge Alida Comtois who is one of the top breeders for the Leonberger breed in the country.

Show 2
Champion Class
First place with a Very Good rating.
The judge told me he could go either way giving Cyrus an excellent or very good, but chose very good because he felt that Cyrus was not moving well for this show. Because of Cyrus’ injury and because we were showing on a slippery surface in which dogs were falling on the day before, I decided to be very careful with Cyrus in the ring and really held him back so he wouldn’t fall. As a result for the first time ever, I got the comment from the judge that he didn’t move very well, oh well I rather that than have him slip and fall.

March 25, 2006 LCA National Specialty Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho Judge:  Roger Van Hoenacker, Belguim Show 1 Champion Class Fifth place with an Excellent Rating This was a humbling experience for me for the first time in Cyrus’ life he did not place in a show.  It was a large champion class with ten entries and excellent competition.  The class was split in half and judged separately than the judge kept the five males he liked including Cyrus and sent the rest out of the ring.  Originally he had us placed at fourth and at the last minute changed his mind which really disappointed me.  That night I ran into the judge and he said he remembered me and said I have an excellent dog but over handled him and fidgeted too much which caused the judge to look for flaws in my dog that I might be hiding.  A few other people watching the show told me the same thing and I was very disappointed to think that my handling skills might have blown it for Cyrus L.  It was definitely a learning experience I’ll remember for the next show.