Ch QuietWood Tiramisu
"Tira"
This caricature by Mike McCartney (http://www.mccartneysdogs.com/)
was done at the Houston, Texas show in July 2008. We LOVE it.
To order products with Tira's picture, contact Mike and ask for the caricature of "Tira."
© McCartneyDogs used by permission
pedigree
Tira is a special girl in so many ways. She is from our very first Spinone litter out of Candy (Ch Mals-About Furstclass Gal) by Monte (Ch Monte Dell'Arrone). That in itself makes her very special. I choose her to keep from that litter with the hopes of having lots of fun showing her in the bred-by exhibitor class. That didn't work quite as planned, but better than I could have dreamed. Tira finished her championship in two weekends, four shows, with two 3-pt majors and two 5-pt majors. I sort of stood there after that 4th winners bitch and thought, harumpf, now what do I do with her? I couldn't show her in bred-by anymore, but she was only 7 months old and it seemed foolish to try to show her as a special. That was in October, 2004. Because I really wanted to show her, I did continue to show her as a special. She won many Best of Breeds after that, but it wasn't until the Lubbock show almost a year later, in Sept. 2005, that Tira got her first group placement. She was awarded Group 4 under judge Jean Fournier. She was handled at that show by Linda Brantley because her regular handler (besides me) wasn't able to be at that show. Karen Newman has handled Tira exclusively (with a little help from her handler friends when she had another Sporting dog in the same group) since I had to stop handling Tira in Group due to my health.
Backing up a little, I decided to take Tira to Westminster in February 2005 even though she had her first birthday just the day before she was judged there in New York. I was very sick at the time, but didn't realize just how sick. Tira showed beautifully, despite having a sick and nervous mom and being only a baby at one year of age. She didn't receive an award that day, but received numerous accolades from spectators and friends.
After Tira got that first group placement in September 2005, she began getting group placements quite reqularly. This is a big accomplishment for a breed still considered a rare breed, new in AKC and especially for a bitch, and a very young one at that. Many a "special" (meaning a dog that continues to show after earning its championship), doesn't even start competing as a special until they are four years of age or more. Here Tira was getting lots of group placements starting before she was even two years old.
Tira attended the SCOA (Spinone Club of America) national specialty show in April of 2006. Unfortunately Karen wasn't able to attend and we hired the Caton sisters to handle her. They sort of tag teamed as their schedules allowed for the Specialty and for the all-breed shows in Canton, Ohio that following weekend. The second day of the specialty, Tira was awareded Best of Opposite. The last day of the all-breed shows, she got Best of Breed and went on to earn her first Group ONE. We were very excited about that first Group ONE and getting to see Tira in the Best in Show ring.
February 2007 found Tira back at Westminster, this time invited due to being in the top five of the breed. Karen showed her superbly and Tira got Best of Breed. I nearly fainted with excitement. I can't tell you how exciting it was to be there and watch her show so beautifully and then be rewarded for it. She showed beautifully in Group and got lots of TV time! We almost didn't care that she didn't get a group placement there. Almost.
After Westminster 2007, Tira came home to have babies. She produced eleven awesome puppies in February 2008. Although she did show at the big Houston show in July 2008, that was her only show that year. We may show her some in the future, but we have decided to have one more litter with her in Spring 2009. Please go to the next page to see more pictures of Tira. To see our plans for her next litter, click the link to "Tira Upcoming Breeding."
© QuietWood Masiffs & Spinoni Italiani