Alittle girl flew home with me and was promptly named "Elizabeth Austin Garbonzo" for some unaccountable reason. Like many owners, I thought she was the most beautiful dog in the world. So I went to a dog show and took Elizabeth with me. We had a wonderful time meeting people in the Cocker World, who were kind enough NOT to tell me the actual "total" truth about Elizabeth's show potential. Elizabeth did end up being shown a couple of times. However, I am a good observer and it only took those couple of times to see the difference in Elizabeth and other dogs being shown. So the next natural step was to locate a show Cocker and that was the beginning of Lu-Cee Cocker Spaniels.
As usual, I threw myself into this new hobby, became a member of The Cocker Spaniel Club of Central Ohio which produced two Specialty and Sweepstakes shows every year and held the position of President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Secretary over the years. I also had the opportunity to be the Show Chairperson and Trophy Chair a number of times for those events. Probably the most enjoyment was judging fun matches and watching the young puppies' antics in the ring. It's amazing how a small puppy can embarrass even the most stoic owner.
Several Champions later,I felt that I really wanted to do more of the actual showing rather than having a handler most of the time. However, I was not thrilled with the hours of bathing, clipping,and scissoring. It was then that I decided to find a breed more readily handled by owner/breeders that was coated but shown more naturally.
My transition to Tibetan Spaniels was when I met Jeanne Holsapple (TASHI), in approximately 1990. Jeanne and I hit it off right away and she has been there to help me ever since. I began with the Tashi line, which was built upon the Braeduke dogs of England. Jean formed the Mid-America Tibetan Spaniel Club for both companion dog owners and breeders and I was privileged to be elected President of that club from 1997 through 1999.
I'm not a large breeder since I care for the dogs by myself, but have completed championships on ten Tibetan Spaniels and have three girls in varying states of points toward their confirmation championships. My dogs live within my home with me, specifically the recreation room has been taken over by them. Up until recently, their television was bigger than mine!!
My current membership in the Tibetan Spaniel Club of America has me involved in Tibetan Spaniel health issues specifically PRA. Through involvement with the International Tibetan Spaniel Working Party, I hope to provide a link to other Tibetan Spaniel breeders to communicate with each other about eye related issues. So, this tells you how the Tibbie Troupe got started, if you would like to find out more about my family of humans....check out my family page when you have time.