Dawn Charley
1. My name is Dawn Charley. My husband and I live in Uniontown, Ohio. I purchased my first English Toy Spaniel as a pet in 2003. I then decided I’d like a dog to show and purchased my first show prospect in 2006. I bred my first litter in 2008. I have finished all of my dogs myself and have gotten multiple Group placements. Over the last couple of years I have had dogs ranked in the Top 10 in both Breed and All-Breed, and Owner-Handled. I’ve also had dogs I owned and bred be invited to Westminster. I enjoy competing in the National Owner-Handled Series, receiving multiple Best and Reserve Best Owner-Handled in Show. My kennel name is Luvn Chr-Lys.
2. In choosing my show puppies, I watch them as they grow and usually start to evaluate their structure at about eight weeks of age along with watching their movement. I continue to watch them grow and make my final decision at around 12 weeks old. Also, temperament is important. You want a happy, outgoing puppy. When choosing a performance puppy, I am looking for a very outgoing, brave puppy; a puppy that likes to explore and has a lot of play drive. I won’t consider a shy, soft puppy when looking to place a puppy in a performance home.
3. I do think our breed has come a long way from when I started. I have even had multiple judges say this to me. When I started, it was hard to find proper conformation, health, and all-around soundness. I don’t know if you would say it’s a trend, but size still seems to be a bit of a problem. Some dogs are larger than the Breed Standard states, but our Standard does not have any disqualifications. The smaller dog is to be preferred.
4. There are not a lot of people out there showing and breeding English Toy Spaniels. Being a rare breed, it can be challenging for judges to even get a chance to get to know and examine our breed. I think this more commonly happens in the Owner-Handled ring. In general, I feel entries have gone down over the years. We need more young people involved in our breed to gain interest in showing and breeding to keep our existence. We need to encourage Junior Handlers. They are the future of the sport of purebred dogs. I think there are many shows available. It’s all how far you want to go.
5. For the most part, I think social media is good for the sport. It gives people different places to look to ask questions, whether it be about their breed, show questions, or to announce their wins. There are so many different groups to belong to for information and discussion. Of course, there are always going to be negatives but that’s with anything in general.
6. I think one of the biggest challenges is people working together. We are all there for the same reason: to show our dogs and improve our breeds. We need to work together in our breeding programs. For us, our gene pool is small and so we need to work together to produce healthy puppies that conform to the Breed Standard. We need to welcome new people looking to get a start in showing and possibly breeding, giving them guidance. We can learn so much from our mentors. We need to be mentors ourselves.
7. I think the National Owner-Handled Series has made showing for our Breeder/Owner-Handlers more exciting. The Owner-Handled ring has a supportive, fun atmosphere. It gives us a chance to showcase our dogs without the pressure of being in the ring with Professional Handlers. The addition of class dogs that earn a Group placement earning points toward their championship is a great thing for our rare breed. Also, the chance for Reserve Winners to earn majors at Specialties and Nationals is great. Points can be so hard for us to come by, so the chance to earn a point when there is only a single class dog and a single class bitch is very helpful.
