She makes it look so easy, you may be
fooled into thinking it is easy!!!!
I have wanted to write about this lady for a long
time. She has helped me out more times
than I will ever be able to repay. You
have a question about show procedures, rules and regulations, upcoming shows
and entry information, Vickie is the go to person at the show site.
Vickie is a woman that wears a lot of hats. She may very well be the busiest woman in
Canada.
 |
| The Busiest Woman in Dog Fancy, Vickie Barrett |
Vickie has been in dogs for thirty years, starting with
Chows. In fact she still has three
Chows. She currently owns and shows a
Newfoundland.
In addition to owning MJN Show Services, Vickie has
worked for the Ontario Government for 30 years. She currently works 40 hours a
week as IT support for the provincial government. Vickie is a member of Chow Chow Fanciers of
South Central Ontario, where she met Joey Nattrass, the original owner of
MJN. Vickie went to work part-time at
MJN in 1990 until 2005 when she took over MJN’s ownership when Joey wanted to
retire.
MJN has seven employees that process entries, performs
graphic design and assist at the show sites managing the show secretary’s
functions. By the end of 2013, Vickie
will have worked 40 different shows.
Vickie makes sure the clubs she works for meet all CKC
requirements. Under Vickie’s guidance,
MJN processes entries, provides the premium list, designs and prints the show
catalogs, prepares the judges schedules, prints armbands and records and
submits the show results to CKC. The
mark of Vickie’s success with MJN is all the repeat business she enjoys.
I asked Vickie what is her one complaint about her job
and she said, Entry Forms. She’d like to
ask people to be more careful when they complete their entry forms. She said, please take the time to look over
the entry for accuracy and legibility.
The one aspect of her job does she love? The people.
For the most part, exhibitors have a good time at the show and enjoy
their dogs. The dog show atmosphere is
fun.
If Vickie could change one thing it would be that the CKC
would move into the Electronic age. Currently she has twenty one days to submit
the hard copy of the show’s results. She
wishes they would make it possible for her to electronically report the show
results. This would be easier for her
and the exhibitors would be able to get their show and point results almost
immediately.
Vickie is generous with her time for exhibitors, and she
is a friend to the Junior’s program by providing prizes and ribbons. When your results are listed on Canuck Dogs
website, many times it is due to the time Vickie has taken for Canuck Dogs
volunteers to go through her paperwork to send the results in for timely
publishing. She is a real friend to the
Dog Fancy and deserves kudos for all she does for the exhibitors and many clubs
during the year.
Purebreds are for the Rich, Not for the Average Person
BIO: SW is on a
leave of absence from her graduate studies after being diagnosed with advanced stage
Hodgkin’s lymphoma in March 2013. Her
major symptoms were swollen lymph nodes under her left collarbone and in her underarm
and itchiness for several months. She
underwent 6 months (12 treatments) of chemotherapy at Juravinski Cancer Centre
and recently had a PET scan to determine if radiation will be needed. She is currently applying to medical schools
for next year and taking care of her new puppy, Copper. Happy to report that SW is currently in remission and doing well. She has asked that her picture and name not be used because she fears that having cancer could jeopardize her chances at finding employment. We wish her all the best in her long, healthy and successful future.
*************************
About fifteen years ago, my family got
my first dog when I was ten years old.
My parents were worried that my dad had allergies so one of the main
reasons we chose a cocker spaniel/poodle mix (cock-a-poo) was because they apparently
didn't shed. We didn't know anything
about temperament or puppy mills, so when we went to the pet store, we just
picked one out and bought him. We also
were under the impression that purebred dogs were unhealthy (with recessive
genetic defects) so we thought it would be better to buy a mixed-breed
dog. Unfortunately, Buddy had health
problems his whole life, which included many ear infections, itchy paws that he
would bite, and an obsession with food (and eating non-food items like toilet
paper). After he passed away two years
ago, my parents said we would not get another dog.
However, last March I went to the doctor
and was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
During the week of waiting for the lymph node biopsy appointment and
then the two weeks of waiting for the results, my parents took time off work
and I basically stopped going to school.
It was a miserable month. We were
all stressed (and I was itchy from the lymphoma), and I was stressed out even
more because of how my parents were stressed.
Then, a day after my biopsy result came
back with my official diagnosis of Hodgkin’s, my parents told me that we could
get another dog. I thought that this was
the best idea ever: it would give my parents something to worry about more than
me, and it would give me something to do and think about during my chemotherapy
treatments.
I tried getting a dog from a shelter
this time, but my dad said he wanted a puppy and I couldn't find any. I also decided I wanted an active, smart
breed of dog that we could go jogging with, and that I could play fetch
with. And we decided to get a
medium-sized dog and we didn't mind if it shed (by this point my dad’s
allergies were better). We still thought
that purebred dogs had more health issues, and I didn't want to wait much
longer, so I turned to Kijiji. I found
some puppies that were a German Shepherd/collie mix from a house in Hamilton
that bought them from “out in the countryside” and then sold them in
Hamilton. So we went a few days later, and
I picked out a brown one. In the few
minutes I looked at the puppies, he seemed slightly calmer than the other two
puppies, which I thought would be good.
It
turned out to be such a great idea! My
parents and I focused on house-training Scout and I started doing a lot of
research on training dogs, which we knew very little about even after our last
dog. In between my chemotherapy
treatments and injections and doctor’s appointments, my parents and I took him to puppy
socializing class and two levels of puppy-training classes. We learned so much about training and we were
trying really hard to be good dog owners.
Scout turned out to look very much like
a Nova Scotia duck-tolling retriever and when I asked the place where we bought
him about that, the lady had no information she could/would give me. And we didn't realize this then (we thought
it was normal behavior , but he drank and peed a lot, would get in bad moods
and had red eyes sometimes, and wouldn't jump up into the back of the car (we
had to lift him). We think now he had
kidney issues.
I brushed Scout almost every day, brought
him to my uncle’s so he could play with their dogs, and bought him a new toy
after every chemo session. After my last
chemo session in September, I was excited that I was going to be able to take
care of him all of the time, not just during the non-chemo weeks. However, on Thanksgiving Monday when we were
visiting my grandparents, Scout ran outside their fenced-in area and was hit by
a car on the highway and died before I could find out where he went.
I missed Scout so much, and we decided
to get another dog. The shelters didn't have any puppies, so we went on Kijiji again.
This time on Kijiji, we at least made sure that the puppies were well
socialized and that we could see their parents first. We found a golden retriever puppy and so far
he has been wonderful! We don’t think he
has any health issues.
The other option was always to get a registered
purebred, but along with our persistent idea about their health issues (never
mind that our two dogs from sketchy sources both had health issues), we thought
that registered purebred dogs were for rich people. A purebred dog owner seems like they would be
someone in a mansion with a huge property or someone who has owned many dogs
before and shows them at dog shows. On
Kijiji, one puppy can cost $300 and can be bought immediately whereas a
purebred puppy can cost $1200. What is
the reason for this price difference and what are the advantages of buying from
a breeder? There are breeder websites,
but sometimes there isn't a breakdown of what’s included in the price of a
puppy, what the breeder wants in an ideal prospective dog owner, or information
on why buying from a breeder is better than Kijiji.
I met Donna when both Zachary and I were
getting PET scans to see if our chemo-therapies had been successful in eradicating
our lymphomas. While she and my mom were
waiting, they talked about breeding dogs and my mom told me everything Donna
said on the way home. We now understand
that reputable breeders are people who love dogs and are looking for them to be
healthy and have healthy puppies so they can all have healthy, happy lives. Our next dog will be a registered purebred
but in the meantime we will train our new puppy and hopefully do agility, dock
diving, or rally obedience with him!
SW would like to get involved in fun activities with Cooper. She is interested in learning more about rally obedience, flyball, and agility. If you can help her find these activities in the Burlington/Oakville, Hamilton area, please contact me via email with the details and I will pass them on to her - djenkins@shaw.ca
Submitted by: Angel Wagner, Canadian Dog Fancier Magazine
I would like to suggest a person for your nice deeds - Lisa
Wysminity of Jumpstart Imagery.
Canadian Dog Show Fancier Magazine includes an editorial
profile on a breeder/owner/handler and a professional handler in each
issue. The people asked to participate in these features do not always
have high resolution photos to include. On more than one occasion Lisa
has come to the rescue and has provided some of her lovely photographs to be
used. Lisa is a terrific photographer and is never too busy to help out
and for that the we would like to say - thank you Lisa for your Nice
Deeds !
Lisa is also a Manchester Terrier Breeder/Exhibitor under
the kennel name, Jumpstart Manchester Terriers located in Alberta, Canada. She started in dogs at the tender age of 9 as
a junior handler.
You can visit her website http://www3.telus.net/amstaffmanchester/index.html or http://www.jumpstartimagery.com/
Lisa is another example of the good deeds happening all
around us in the Dog Fancy. We should all
strive to perform at least one nice deed per show.
There is more to Dog Shows than Competing and Dogs
We make life-long friends through dog shows. We get to know each other's families, we know about the children's achievements and when someone is going through an illness or a family death. Just like family, we get together for meals, we share hotels or campers. We share tips and grooming space and tools. Sometimes we have spats or get on each other's nerves, but we get over it. One thing you can say about the Dog Fancy, we will look after each other when the chips are down. So many friends have passed away recently, it serves to remind us that time can be short. We should try a bit more tolerance, offer a hand more often and give encouragement when needed.
Thanks to everyone that has shown a kindness to Lyle and me throughout the year. We genuinely appreciate it and won't forget.
Be sure to go to Canuck Dogs, http://www.canuckdogs.com, to see all the upcoming events and to check stats. You should bookmark it. That's where you will find my blog.
XXXOOO
XXXOOO
