Kim Savor recently brought home a bucket load of awards won by her standard poodles at the biggest show in Canada.
The Lower Mainland Dog Fanciers Show at the Tradex in Abbottsford, Oct. 27 – 30, draws some of the best from across Canada as well as the United States.
Showing dogs isn’t new to Savor, she’s been breeding and showing standards poodles through her kennel Kimelle Standard Poodles for 16 years.
Always interested in showing and breeding, Savor took her time deciding just which breed suited her best.
“I bought my first standard poodle, Ella, as a pet but was interested in getting into showing and obedience as well as agility,” she said.
“I wanted a dog to cover all those aspects. Poodles are very intelligent and easy to live with, they’re so easy-going and despite their look, they’re not a fussy dog, they were originally bred for hunting.”
With a little help from Ella’s breeder and a few ladies at the first show she attended, Savor entered the ring for the first time.
“I was terrified,” she admitted.
However, Ella took third in her class and Savor said she was hooked.
After that, Savor invested in proper all-breed grooming courses and has been a professional groomer for the past 12 years.
She certainly has the credentials for pet grooming but is also a Certified Master Groomer and a Canadian Canine Master Stylist which qualifies her to prepare animals for the show ring.
But at every show, Savor says she learns more about grooming.
“You never know it all,” she said.
Savor’s well-established breeding program has produced many award-winning standard poodles, so when one of her dogs had puppies, 10 in all, Savor began the selection process.
“Both parents were completely health tested and were titled dogs,” she said.
With all the puppies, Savor said she would begin routine maintenance and stimulations at about two weeks, even before their eyes are open and handles them to get them used to the outside world.
In her selection process, Savor starts with temperment testing at seven weeks followed by confirmation assessment at eight weeks. One puppy shone.
“She was brown and that clinched it,” she said.
Kimelle Walk on Water or Glory as she is known to family and friends, is now 10 months and has passed her first health test (she’ll be tested more extensively at two years and if she passes then, she’ll be bred at about three years).
Through local obedience classes, Glory passed the milestones well, already showing well.
“I took her to Kamloops for a one-day show, just to have her handled in the ring,” Savor said.
“I was a little worried she’d find everything a little overwhelming.”
However, when Glory enter the ring for the Lower Mainland Dog Fanciers show, her tail was up and she flew through the competition and won the standard poodle breed three days out of four.
When her dogs are in the ring, Savor tries to have a professional handler show her dogs.
“The handler needs to show as well as the dog and that’s not me,” she said with a laugh.
For the Tradex show, Savor took four dogs, two in the rally obedience, Glory in the senior puppy and Jymmy (Glory’s great uncle) in the veteran classes.
Spice (Glory’s dame) won two rally titles in Novice Advanced and received a perfect score in the Novice class; Lady Jane (Glory’s aunt) won rally excellent title (highest title in rally) and also high in class and a perfect score; 11-year-old Jymmy won Best Verteran in Group on his last day of showing.
“It was a phenomenal weekend,” Savor said.
“It’s not very often you have a weekend like that.”
Kim Savor operates Uptown Pet Stylings beside Marshall’s Vet Hospital and can be reached at 778-466-5000.