I was reminded recently that I still have a blog that is just for Finlay rather than the Facebook blog that is about both Finlay and Cooper. I need to update this blog as it seems I haven't since last August. A lot has happened in Finlay's life in the last 7 months.
Finlay has been slow to mature. He is such a bubbly character and has been since day one, but this has also meant that he hasn't shown his best, until the last few months. As well as physically maturing he has started to calm down enough that he can still be that goofy Finlay we know and love, but also bring out some of the breed characteristics of our beloved Tibetan Spaniel. Well, except maybe the 'aloof' part.....
Finlay gained a Reserve Dog Challenge Certificate in 2018 and it was a complete surprise and an absolute honour. But since then although he has had very good success in Open shows, Championship show honours have been thin on the ground. Then came last week at the South West Tibetan Spaniel Club Champ show where he won his Mid-Limit class, again totally unexpected......... and then came Crufts 2020.
Finlay took part at Crufts 2019 and gained a 4th place in his class, which was amazing. We had never considered ever showing a dog at Crufts before, so this was a dream come true. But then in 2020 Finlay came along and won his Limit Dog class. A red rosette at Crufts, astounding. But then he went and won the Reserve Dog Challenge Certificate (like at Richmond), but this time at Crufts. CRUFTS!! The day was a blur and even driving back home in the car it really hadn't sunk in. Next day I watched back lots of the video I had recorded on the day and it seemed a bit like a dream, but it was real alright.
Then Deb and Finlay took part in the Breeders Competition and the team came 4th out of 36 teams. After a full year of qualification in 2019 and then to put a team up against the cream of the best dog breeders at Crufts and to come 4th for the 2nd year in a row is such an achievement for Aileen McDonald. Such an honour for such a novice pairing to be 'allowed' to take part.
At home Finlay (and Cooper) are pet dogs. When you get up in the morning there they are. They happily go out for walks in all weathers, they are there on the sofa, playing with toys and spreading them all over the house. They are both very naughty at times. They are forever deep within our hearts. Only for a few hours a month are they show Tibetan Spaniels. Those same dogs that look so composed around a show ring (whether Crufts or not) are equally at home covered in mud or rolling in fox poo. I'm not sure this is very well understood by non-dog showing people. Yes these are carefully bred pedigree dogs, but these 'posh' dogs are really nothing of the sort, just ordinary happy dogs who have been so well trained and socialised that they are happy attending dog shows without being stressed by the whole experience. They take it in their stride, more so than the humans I suspect.
I don't know where Finlay's show career will go from here (or Cooper's), but if this last week turned out to be the pinnacle (and I do hope it's not) then it would have been pretty damn good. Deb and I are still bursting with pride at being able to get as far as we have with Finlay, many of you have given us support along the way, we couldn't have done it without you.
I take literally hundred of photos at dog shows, but I've rarely caught such a good one of Finlay.
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| Finlay in his Limit class at Crufts |
Deb, Finlay and Aileen our breeder. When we picked up that fluffy pup in August 2017, we couldn't possibly have known what a star he would turn out to be.
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| Proud breeder moment |
....and I certainly never envisaged ever taking a photo like this, winning anything at Crufts let alone a RDCC.
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| Finlay and Deb with Linda Morton our judge |
