
I first met Leks’ owners back in November 2012 when Blake and Georgio visited the FLCGB Finnish Lapphund booth at Discover Dogs in Earls Court as they were considering getting a Lappy when one might become available. Their wait for a puppy wasn’t long and we were delighted when we were contacted here at Dogs to Stay to ask if we might have space to look after their furkid when Blake and Georgio went on holiday and, being a sucker for Lappies, it was a bit of a no brainer, and our answer was yes. After the journey from hell I arrived in south east London to collect Leks – incredibly he lives in the road parallel to where I grew up and to bring him up to Dogs to Stay for his week long holiday.
Leks’ stay with us would work out well as we had no other guests meaning that he would get a lot of attention not just from Louise and I but also our own Lappies, Kiva (Leks’ auntie), Sassi (his cousin) and Mylo – it also meant that we could take him and the pack along to a couple of local Companion Dog Shows. The first of these was at a local village fete where the dog show was run by Heart of England Dog Shows and I entered Leks into just the one class; AV Puppy. At 6 months and 2 days of age this was to be his showing debut and I was so proud of him, and for Blake and Georgio, when he was awarded 2nd place in the class and went away with a blue rosette and bag of treats.
On the following day we took part in our own village dog show and I again entered Leks into AV Puppy – this time we went one better and he took first place and left the ring with a nice red rosette. Being placed first also meant that we would be eligible to take part in the Best in Show Class. We were up against some lovely dogs, all with much more experience of the show ring than Leks, and we were delighted to be awarded Best Puppy In Show and to be able to wear a rather splendid red, white and blue rosette.
At just a few days over 6 months Leks has done his owners proud – he showed well, a testament to the work put in at ringcraft classes and with a second place in his first show and a first place in his second it looks as though he will have a promising show career.
He’s not perfect however, as I am writing this he is busy destroying one of Sassi’s toys but hey ho, he’s a Lappy, what else could one expect.