Two years later he came and was worth the wait - he was "perfect"!! I was in the show ring again, showing the top Pekingese in the country, beginning to handle Pekingese professionally for others. Though breed is too high maintenance for most people. We still keep and show a few but have made the conscious decisions to only breed enough for ourselves. Today Courtney has taken over their breeding. Now I just enjoy them and assist when necessary.

Then one-day mom had some Bichon friends visiting, I commented, “maybe I'll show at the "Garden" this year”. It had always been my yearly vacation and I had attended every year with only one exception, the year my son was born on February 9th. Through the years he has suffered for his birth date – as we're never home for his birthday. Within 24 hours of that fateful visit, I got a call from an old Bichon client, Lonnie Raia. She asked if I would consider showing a "Havanese", she had bred and sold, at the "Garden". Havanese - “huh”. I had been contacted through out the years about this new to AKC breed, as many of the old Bichon Breeders had switched to them, but the breed really didn’t interest me. The only one I had ever met BIT me while at my shop for grooming. Later, I learned that dog was from a poor kennel. I told Lonnie I would consider it but only if this was a good one!! In late 2001, the Havanese was brought to my shop. Her hair was a mess so after spending my days at the shop, I worked getting her coat in condition almost every night until the wee hours of the morning.

That dog was "Margarita Rose". In the months prior to Westminster, I continued to warn her owner, she's young and probably not able to be competitive at this age so don't set yourself up for a disappointment. The entry was over 20 with some of the top dogs in the breed competing, including her Sire, #1 Havanese that year. We hadn't even had a previous opportunity to show together so we went in the ring cold. The rest turned out to be History...