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MALTESE
During our time showing Yorkshire Terriers we were one day captivated by the sight of a beautiful Maltese being shown at Crufts dog show on television and were instantly smitten with the breed. Almost immediately we began our search to purchase a maltese contacting as many of the top maltese breeder exhibitors as we could get in touch with by phone or letter .After several years of disappointment and broken promises it finally happened, we obtained our first Maltese fur ball puppy Movalian Shez.
All the years of self taught hair wrapping and coat preparation with our Yorkies helped a lot with our newly acquired little white furball.We successfully showed Shez to her irish Ch. title winning Toy Groups , Best in Show and B.O.B.at Maltese Club Show ( Specialty ) along the way.At the grand age of five she produced a son Khanthav Jack Frost . who won Best in Show at just eleven months of age at his first show.
After many enjoyable years of showing maltese we decided the gene pool in Ireland and Britain was now exhausted and we would have to look further afield for "New Blood". Our search began in Canada when after many years and disappointments we were referred to Florida in the USA where we befriended a Maltese "Top Breeder" exhibitor Bonnie Palmer from whom we obtained two diminutive white fur balls we named Vision and Sparkle, show names Angels Vision for Khanthav and Angels Sparkle at Khanthav. The puzzle now had to be solved as to getting our new boys home to Ireland ? With much enthusiasm and persistence we unraveled the mystery of importation and Quarantine with the relevant authorities who duly issued us with the forms and licences.The phone call finally came several weeks after sending the paperwork from the Quarantine kennels to the breeder. " Your little white dog is here in Quarantine for you to visit " was the message we had been waiting to hear .Vision was finally here aged just ten months and ready to complete his six months stay in the Quarantine Kennels.The following month Sparkle arrived into Quarantine aged almost five months. Our lives were now completely rearranged for the next six months with daily visits 40 miles each way to bath , groom , and play with our new boys.
On release from Quarantine we began showing Vision with successful Group wins and a Best in Show before a country wide epidemic of Bovine Foot and Mouth disease broke out halting ALL showing in the U.K. and Ireland for the next five months. Given the All Clear we resumed showing both Vision and Sparkle and after much winning we decided to try the greatest show of them all " CRUFTS " after all what had we to lose, we had heard it all said , taken the knocks along the way also so off we went in 2002. The stress and tension was immense , the stage was set, the show was on and the outcome truly unbeleivable..Best of Breed with "Vision" and forward to make the cut to the final 8 in the Toy Group on the famous green mat , in front of a vast sea of people and television cameras and in the Biggest Dog Show in the World , a lifetime dream realized after many many years..what a result ! The following year 2003 we tried once more with our younger boy Sparkle for the coveted B.O.B. at Crufts where we were again successful winning the BOB title.
Could we possibly do the impossible ! A return to the USA with our countries newly introduced Pet Travel Scheme to show our boys to try and obtain their American titles ? Being no strangers to aversion , we traveled to the USA with our boys where we met up with two Top Handlers Frankie Larrieu and Mark Chilcutt with whom we traveled for a month and with their guidance of the American Show Scene, we handled our own boys Vision and Sparkle in many shows in several states successfully to obtain their USA titles before returning home to Ireland with Sparkle just a few months before preparing for Crufts 2004.
Onward to Crufts 2004 dog show where this year a newly imported American Champion maltese and several European and U.K. Champion maltese contenders awaited us .The breed ring was by now resembling a much published " Prize Fight" type audience and tension filled the air when Sparkle responded to the normal loving affectionate and encouraging handling by Sharon to take command of the ring once more oozing presence all the way to win B.O.B. and to the delight of his Irish and growing English fan club he made the cut to finish Toy Group 3 appearing center stage on the huge Television Screen broadcast around the world ..
A few weeks after returning to Ireland we lined up for the challenge of our biggest Annual St. Patrick's Day Dog Show during the same week Ireland lined up for Rugby's Triple Crown game .This time we had an array of supporter friends and exhibitors willing us on as Sparkle lived up to his name and "Sparkled " as he won Best in Show to rapturous and delighted audience.
Determination to succeed from the beginning has been our driving force and the results have been staggering for us , setting some new records along the way winning Crufts B.O.B. maltese for three consecutive years by the same Owner/Handler Sharon Rainey, the first International Champion maltese U.K. and the first maltese to win the very coveted" Best in Show"at St. Patrick's Day Show in Ireland and the first Imported maltese from the USA to return to the USA and gain his Title there then return to the U.K. with the new Pet Passport Scheme... Whatever will we do next ?....Watch This Space !!!!