When Pomeranian Lovers Congregate

Despite the inclement weather, last Sunday morning (July 27, 9-12am) was a glorious time for Philippine pomeranian lovers. Fifty people braved the strong winds and rain to make the trip to PCCI Activity center in Marikina, hear top pomeranian breeder Basilio Yap discuss show grooming and watch international handler Faustino Farro do his magic on the show carpet.

About 75 people registered for the event through club officers and the PCCI. Invitation was made in online fora as well as traditional mail. Fifty people came while several expressed regret via text messages that they cannot make it, mostly because of the weather.The weather on the seminar site was cooperative enough. The skies held back the rain from registration hours until the end of the seminar. And then the rain came down in torrents. My party left with less than a handful of people left waiting for the rain to abate; I hope everyone reached their homes or destinations safely.

The idea for the seminar was simple enough: we want to encourage more people to try the show ring. We want to demonstrate to fellow pomeranian lovers that showing is a fun activity with their dogs and that they themselves can easily try it. We want to ease real or perceived barriers to show entry. Two of these perceived barriers to entry are knowledge of grooming and handling. The third perceived barrier is the quality of dog that one has. The Philippine Pomeranian Club earlier addressed this through a seminar on pomeranian standards held last January 26, 2008. The third seminar in 2008, which is about breeding and pomeranian bloodlines, will hopefully encourage and enable new exhibitors to breed a specimen they can show, if outright purchase of a show prospect is initially beyond one's means.

The seminar started with Mr. Basilio Yap talking about general pomeranian grooming. One by one, Mr. Yap demonstrated to the participants the proper ways of brushing (tapping versus stroking). A demo dog (Canton Versace) was placed on table. Versace was shown as a baby puppy but was temporarily taken out of the show circuit while awaiting coat growth. The pup has grown tremendous adult (1.5 years old) coat but is not as accustomed to show grooming as the regular show dogs of Canton. The proper way of trimming was demonstrated: from the hair growing out the ear tips, the chest frill, the hair at the back of the forequarters as well as that of the hindquarters, the hair at the base of the tail, the hair growth on the behind of the dog, the coat underneath the body, and finally the stray hairs sticking out of the round silhouette for poms.

The next part was fun as owners who brought their dogs were asked to line up with their poms and individually walk and place their dogs on the judging table. Tino Farro emphasized the importance of making the dog at ease on top of the table and near the edge. Once the dog becomes comfortable, the legs can then be individually placed for proper stacking. The liver sausage Tino brought surely made the hungry dogs comfortable on the table.

Among the dogs brought in for the seminar, one is a clear show prospect with strong possibility of bagging a championship. They are about a handful more that can also be shown with enough assistance on grooming and training. I hope people become more comfortable with the idea of showing. See you guys on the show ring!

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Pet Photography

Capturing the essence of my dogs in photos has always been a fascination of mine. I have a clear picture in my head of how the shot should look like, but unfortunately, I do not have the equipment and four hands to hold the dog while clicking the camera. So I did the next best thing and requested a friend to help me in this endeavor.

I asked my friend Dino Ordonez to use some of my dogs as model subjects with the request that the following shots be made: side view profile of the dog showing the body proportions and stance, close-up face shots, and candid photos exhibiting the individual antics and quirkiness of my dogs. And so I waked up early Saturday morning for this photo shoot. The shoot started off well with nice photos of my sheltie Sofia under the after rain, sunless but clear morning sky. And then it drizzled. It took the quickness and inventiveness of my friend Dino to capture on memory card five other dogs within the erratic moments that the sun pierces through the clouds and rain.

Despite the uncooperative, challenging weather and the short time period, we were able to get some nice pictures. Obviously, the new pictures where a lot better in quality and composition to the stolen shots I took of my dogs. I particularly like the face of Bart in the profile photo. The fire in the eyes and the naughty but nice facial expression I love so much about this Philippine champion was captured splendidly in the photo. I also like the the profile and head shot of my Sheltie Sofia, particularly the lighting, the play of colors and the whimsy of the white flowers in the background.

So Dino, the job has begun. I have other dogs awaiting better photographs, and I want more shots of the first batch of dogs. I know you will hate me for this, but I give credit where it is due. My friend's multiply site is dinotante.multiply.com. Hey, my dogs deserve space in your multiply site. Update it man.

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