Bichon Frise

THE STORY

 

Kizi arrived as part of the Sarabande team during the spring of 1978 quite by chance.

At the time of Kizi’s arrival, Nigel and Anne were actively showing English Setters, Anne had been longing for a dog to show that would be exclusively hers, but it was difficult to choose a breed, after a few conversations,  A Bichon Frise was mentioned; A breed that very few people in the UK at the time knew anything about as a very small number had only just been imported into the UK and only a handful of these were active in the showrings.

One very determined Nigel found a litter bred by the late Chris Coley (Glenfolly), so an appointment was made to see the litter despite the fact that nothing was available for sale, the litter was a complete outcross, looking back the sire and dam had absolutely nothing in common, the Dam was a Bitch from Europe called Carlisle’s Columbine, the sire from the USA Ch Leander Beau monde Snowpuff.

Whilst visiting the litter, Anne fell for a bitch puppy that appeared to enjoy not playing by the rules, She stood away from the rest in terms of balance, soundness and personality.

Apart from that Nigel and Anne knew nothing about the breed and of course she wasn’t for sale! However, as the saying goes… money talks and Nigel happened to take some cash with him.

 

To cut a long story extremely short…. Kizi came home with Anne and the adventures began.

 

Kizi had a mixed reception on the show scene locally, very few knew what breed she even was and we were often told that she was entered in the wrong class.

We entered Toy Puppy (Bichon), stewards and judges kept saying Utility Puppy (Poodle).

We stayed put and sure enough the team started winning, Kizi’s first big win came at the very first Bichon Frise Club Open show judged by the late Lavinia Graham-Weall.

By this time, although completely naïve to politics that often appear in breeds, we discovered there was a huge divide between the “American” type owners and the “Continental “ type owners of the Bichon Frise breed.

There was also a divided opinion on whether the breed should be trimmed, some did most didn’t!

However, due to the expert skills of a very good friend and poodle exhibitor Paul Williams, Kizi was trimmed.

That day she caused a stir by winning a number of her classes, starting with Puppy Bitch, Best Puppy in Show, Best Bitch in Show and Reserve Best in Show.

Kizi continued to frequently win at both open and championship shows amassing quite a record.

The Bichon Frise breed gained Challenge Certificate status in 1980.

 

 

Anne and Kizi had certainly made their entrance.

 

Six sets were to be on offer that first year, the dog Challenge Certificate’s were fought over by two of the top kennels.

Anne and Kizi however, picked up the first three bitch Challenge Certificate’s on offer and became the very first Champion Bichon Frise in the United Kingdom.

Kizi also won the fourth and sixth Challenge Certificate’s on offer that year making her the top CC winner for that year.

After that year she was very lightly shown, as it was our intention to have a litter from her, choosing a mate was difficult due to her diverse pedigree.

We did succeed in producing a male Sarabande Silver Sovereign (King).  He was a stunning male version of his dam, however, despite being a very happy little dog, he didn’t enjoy showing.

Kizi lived to the age of 15 years and is still very much missed by the family.

 

NIGEL AND ANNE WORTH (Sarabande)