It's not often that Glen takes Mischa to a show but i'd entered a Friday show at Cooma to support our regional area and Glen agreed to take Mischa down as i had to work.

Mischa absolutely adores Glen so i was expecting it would be a good experience for her after a long spell from the show ring. The show didnt start until 4pm and we live about an hour from the grounds.
While i was at home waiting impatiently to hear the results, only expecting a ' she did well', i suddenly got a very simple message 'Neuter in Group'. I could hardly contain the smile as i quickly rang to get the details. 'We were up against the guy with the Corgi's who usually beats us' he tells me. I'd like to thank the judge Mrs R Henderson (QLD) for awarding our gorgeous girl her first Class in Group 'fringie'.
Mischa is the most precious little girl who stole my heart a long time ago and yet i continue to be awed by her quality and am so glad that she has this new opportunity to shine in the show ring and be seen by judges.
As it was a very long night waiting for General Specials, Glen told me he'd stop by McDonalds for dinner and 'get Mish some chicken nuggets'. I'm sure for her, this was the highlight of a very special 1 on 1day spent with her favourite person, Glen.

Finally Titan has landed. A long time in the planning, we are thrilled to announce that Pakkanen av Vintervidda (Imp Norway) today arrived in Sydney. He will spend the next 30 days in quarantine before coming home to us here at Caleebra. We couldnt be more excited to have him and thank his breeder Christian Lauluten of Vintervidda Kennels for entrusting us with this gorgeous son of Max (Int Ch. Dagolas Qultapoju), the top winning Finnish Lapphund in Norway for 2011 and 2012 and Tillie (Lumiturpa Tytön Tyllerö).
He has his own page here
We will have more photos of him soon.

4/5/2012
I'm so very excited to confirm that we have a new member of our Finnish Lapphund family. Very cute and adorable "Summer" comes from the well-known Lecibsin Kennels in Finland. She is out of one of my very favourite boys Lecibsin Kepponen and from a gorgeous cream dam Lecibsin Suvituuli. The process for importing a dog to Australia is quite strict and drawn out. In a nutshell Summer must be vaccinated against Rabies, have her blood tested for adequate rabies antibodies, and then a period of 180 days must elapse of which most of that can be out of Australia but a minimum of 30 days must be spent in Australian quarantine. This is the option we've elected. We chose to have Summer moved from Finland to be raised by our very dear friends in the UK. This will prolong her stay a little bit but we felt it would be better for Summer to be raised with a family environment in which they place similar values on socialisation and upbringing as we do. We are eternally grateful to Louise Wyatt and Simon Brown who under the Lumikoira prefix are home to 3 Finnish Lapphunds: Mylo (uncle to Summer), Kiva, and a bitch from the first litter under their prefix, Sassi.
Simon and Louise also operate 'Dogs to Stay', in-home dog boarding so socialisation is assured. This will not only ensure that Summer is well socialised but having Summer in the UK in the hands of a vet knowledgeable in the export/import processes will ensure that all the paperwork and customs/quarantine requirements should go  smoothly as theres no language barrier to contend with. Also means Summer will know English :) As an added bonus Simon and Louise have promised lots of photos, video and skype and have opened a Facebook Group for Summer as well as operating two webcams so we can check in on her all the time. We consider ourselves especially lucky to have Simon and Louise open their home to Summer and look forward to the future.
Summer will arrive in the UK on the 19th May and will hopefully grace Australias shores before Christmas 2012.
You can read more about Summer on her own page. There are also links to further pages with photos and information on her pedigree.

We've had Nike (Aus Ch. Ausvarg DragonValcore) visiting for the week leading up to the Royal. Nike fit in just as i expected he would, loving cuddles, treats and especially rough-housing with Dolce. They all happily hopped into the new trailer on Monday morning for the trip over the border. We stayed with Jacqualine Lincoln of Armahani and the Lappies: Kulta, Emmi, Louis and Taija. 

Melbourne Royal Show Lappie entry consisted of 25 with 3 absentees. In what proved to be very typical of the Victorian state, the heavens opened and severe electric storms and flooding shut down the show (and the airport). But not before we got to show under the same Finnish Judge who recently judged Lappies for the World Dog Show in Europe. We were all very excited and had no idea what the day would have in store for us.
Mischa's grandma and Dolce's dam Emmi, whom we love and adore, finally had her moment in the sun. A runner up to the Best of Breed winner 5 years in a row, Emmi finally broke through the glass ceiling and took Best of Breed in 2011. The cheers even drowned out the thunder breaking overhead. Emmi looked very happy with herself as were her league of admirers ringside, clapping and cheering the girl of the moment.

Nike was the only junior dog and he performed effortlessly. 
Dolce spent the entire day showing off for the crowds so i was surprised he was still awake but he showed really well and took 3rd place behind 2nd placed Ahti (Mischa's brother - Armahani Bloodstone Bihci)and Larry (Janoby Kennels owned Watersege Secret Agent) taking 1st place.

Mischa was in the biggest class. 5 girls. Up against some quality bitches, Mischa showed like a true star and took 1st place. Not enough for her, and to our complete delight and surprise, she then took Reserve Challenge (2nd best bitch) behind her Grandma Emmi. It was a proud moment for me when Mischa actually ran off against her sire Alaska who took Runner Up Best of Breed. At her last Royal Show no less. Mischas grand-sire Kulta took Reserve Challenge dog to Alaska. A fitting send-off for his last Royal Show also.