We have a fun tradition in Team Kitaco, started a few years ago by the inimitable Amba Waghorn, who has (and this will surprise no-one who has met her) a spectacular collection of tiaras.
Amba instigated the Tiara of Triumph award in Oamaru (we suspect as an excuse to strut around wearing a tiara in the middle of the day at a show because it matched her Steam Punk outfit and 8" stilettos).
Only Amba, it has to be noted, can run a dog on grass in 8" stilettos and not break an ankle.
Anyway, the rule she decided on was that the handler of the Team Kitaco dog who earned the highest win of a show, got to wear the tiara until the next show. If there were two shows in a day then Tiara of Triumph was passed on to the next top-ranked handler, for that show and so on.
Sadly because of COVID, Amba and her spectacular tiara collection are far away in Nelson, but we missed the fun of it all, now we have Ava, Tinky and Briar in the ring as well as some new pups coming up.
So, at great personal expense, we invested in an official Team Kitaco Tiara, purchased from the $2 shop for the exorbitant price of, well, $2.
Not only that, our $2 tiara came with a wand, which - after a team meeting - we dubbed The Septre of Schadenfreude, to be awarded not to the highest win of the day, but to the most satisfying.
So today at Geraldine, Ava took Best Reserve Bitch and an automatic Junior of Breed (she was knocked out of Group contention by the Best of Group winner who was also a Junior), and then our novices, Tinky and Deb, took Best Puppy of Breed.
We are so thrilled for them both, Tinky was never destined for a career as a show dog. We pet-homed her with Deb, because she although she is gorgeous, and sound and full of beans, she didn't meet the absurdly high standard we set for our breeding program and what we look for in a show prospect. (You can check out this article here on the difference between a show dog and a pet, if you want an explanation of what that entails)
Deb has done such a fabulous job with Tinky though, in terms of temperament and training, that we agreed to change her back onto the full show register, so Deb could show her for a bit of a lark and hang out with her new BFF, Jenny, who has cooked up this alarming scheme where the two of them go away t0 shows together and play up when Tracey is working!
Anyway, Deb definitely gets the Tiara of Triumph and The Septre of Schadenfreude for Tinky today. What a win for our crazy little pet, and her novice handler mum.
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