Texas Pet Expo "Meet the Breed" Booth!

One of our fantastic members, Deb from Riverwind Shilohs, actually found a brand-new Pet Expo for our club to attend this year! We talked to the management about getting a Meet the Breed booth and they were so impressed with us that our representative actually gave us a free booth. We brought flyers, trifolds, business cards, and a Q&A that Sparta Shilohs LBITs Zak and Anne created with some of the most frequently-asked questions that we've heard at other Expos and canine festivals. We set it all out on our lovely club Meet the Breed banner.


We expected the pace to be brisk, but we were blown away by the number of people attending! Although this was a new Expo, they had advertised well, and we were buried under waves of people fascinated by our dogs, all asking bunches of questions. We ran out of cards, trifolds, and the Rescues and Rehomes flyer...we ran out of Q&A's and had to print more, and then we ran out of those, too! Here's Anne explaining what Shilohs are and pushing the printed materials on some unsuspecting Expo attendees. Kyrie is with her but for some reason we didn't manage to get her in the shot!


Linda attended from Tulsa OK, bringing her Lily. Below, Lily puts on her silly face for the camera. She liked sitting on that bench, but she didn't need the height--she was already the tallest Shiloh there, and she was just a puppy!


Deb and Mel from Riverwind Shilohs in OKC brought BJ. Here's BJ relaxing with Mel during one of our rare slow times!


Zak and Anne from Sparta Shilohs brought Leo and Kyrie. It was very cold, and the dogs often lay down on their blankets or on the cushions in their x-pens, which were warmer than the poured cement-and-gravel they had us on. Here are Leo and Kyr on top of their super-size pillow (big enough for both of them!) waiting for another wave of people to hit. Notice the really cute little boy looking through the glass at them--behind the glass there was the registration booth. We got a TON of people registering, then coming right outside to meet our dogs!


Below, Leo waits for the next wave of little kids. One thing I wish I would have gotten a shot of--there was a little boy who just LOVED Kyrie. He didn't want to do anything but give her hugs! He put his arms over her back like he was putting a saddle on her, and just stood there and hugged her until his dad peeled him off and took him away. We were sad to see him go. What a sweetie!


The Shilohs carried on through it all like real Champs! Even with all the barking from the shelters' displays (they had at least fifteen to twenty dogs looking for new homes just down the aisle from us), an actual farmyard show with ponies and chickens right in front of us, the Rabbit Adoption around the corner, and being mobbed by hordes of little kids, they were living testimonials to the marvelous stability and temperament of the breed.


At the end, all the members of the management team of the Expo came to talk to us. They told us that they were tremendously impressed with how well-behaved and calm our dogs were through the whole event, and begged us to come to the next one! It looks like they are looking at putting on two of these a year. We said we'd love to--it's nothing but more great publicity for the ISSR Shiloh Shepherds!

The one thing we regret is that we were SO busy we didn't have time to get more photos! Next time, we're appointing someone "Club Photographer" and handing them a camera--any of you guys out there want to volunteer for the job? Grab your Shiloh trifolds and come on out for the next Expo--we'll see you there!

IABCA OKC Show and Gather!

In September we had a Chapter Gather at the IABCA dog show in Oklahoma City. We had a good turnout for this, with six Shilohs attending--we were the fourth-most-populous breed at the show! Ideally, our Breed Founder, Tina Barber, has said that she would like to see between eight and a dozen Shilohs at every show. With so many great litters coming up from the breeders and breeders-in-training in our club, hopefully we will have a couple of puppy people who get the "show bug!"

Here's the setup for "Camp Shiloh" as we started to call it! We had three pop-ups and a tent. The dogs had crates or x-pens to relax in between shows.




The Riverwind girls, who are very well-behaved, also spent some time relaxing in the bed of their truck under a handy shade-tree!



The great thing about the IABCA is that they put on four shows over the course of a two-day event weekend. We managed to get four adult girls in the ring at this event--enough that the winner of each show would get a three-point Major Win toward her Championship! Katie won Winner's Bitch in the first show, collecting one Major; Kyrie collected one Major (and her first-ever Championship points!), and BJ won Winner's Bitch in TWO shows, collecting the two Major wins she needed for her Championship! CONGRATULATIONS to all the girls!!

Here is Kyrie relaxing in her crate, and then again in the ring with her human mom, Anne:



A head shot of the lovely BJ, and then a shot of BJ attempting to extricate the treats out of one of the chair pockets (we thought this was hilarious, but her mom Deb didn't think so!):



Junebug smiling up at her human mom Deb:


And the beautiful Katie, hanging out and taking it all in!


The lovely Lily didn't show, but she came to provide moral support! Her human mom and "granddogmom" brought tasty cookies to share with everyone. Here are shots of Lily with her family and then a profile shot. Such a pretty dark grey sable girl!




This event wasn't entirely a girls' club, though! Carrying the Shiloh banner in the puppy shows was Zakanne from Oklahoma. Zak's mom was pretty sad that he didn't have more competition; we need to get more puppies out there! Here's Zak relaxing with his human mom Sheryl, and then again attempting to stack nicely for the camera.



Also attending was Leo, the sole adult male. Leo took Best of Breed in all four shows, earning himself a bunch of points toward national titles this year. Congratulations Leo! Here's Leo relaxing in his xpen before a hard day of showing!



Thanks for looking at all our photos; we hope this inspires you to get your own Shiloh companion out to the shows with us next year!

The CSSC's First Summer Specialty!

Hi and welcome to our photo collection from this year's CSSC Shiloh Shepherd Specialty! This was the first specialty show we put on all by ourselves. Deb and Mel of Riverwind Shilohs graciously offered the use of their lovely farm for the event. We had a Meet 'n' Greet on Saturday and the show on Sunday. Attendance broke records, with EIGHTEEN ISSR Shiloh Shepherds attending from as far away as Arizona, California, and Louisiana!

Here's a photoshow from our club President, Lura, and another from one of our Louisiana attendees, Blair. Both of them got some great pics!

Lura's Photo Show - CSSC 2010 Summer Specialty

Blair's Photo Gallery - CSSC June 2010 Meet 'n' Greet


Most of the dogs ran loose until it was time for the food! They had a great time playing together. Pictured are Noel on the left and Jes on the right--look at those silly Shiloh tongues!


Noel was certainly one of the more hilarious attendees at the show. Shiloh puppies have a lot of curiosity and intelligence, which gets them into some interesting situations. Noel decided it was too hot, and that big metal thing full of drinking water MUST actually be a swimming pool!


Ender and Leo were less than thrilled when they came over to get a drink, though...


Everyone had a ton of fun hanging out at the Gather the evening before the show! We had food, a seminar on gait and structure taught by judge Fred Lanting, and an auction to raise money for next year's show.


One Shiloh family from Texas really wanted to come to hang out with everyone, but sadly could not stay to participate in the show the next day. However, we got some lovely photos of their boy, Neiko. Neiko is a grey sable from New Zion Shilohs in New York state, the kennel of our Breed Founder, Tina Barber. You can see his Champion-pointed brother, Ender, down below in our show coverage!




We bid farewell to Neiko and his wonderful human family and everyone went back to their hotels and rooms to get some rest for the show. Early the next morning, it was time to put up the ring!


Some of the Shilohs who came didn't show, but we don't want to forget their photos. Here are Big Jake from California, with his son, The Duke, in the truck behind him. Both of them are from Strauss Haus Shepherds in Washington State.


And the charismatic Batman, a Riverwind Shilohs puppy who was born at the farm the show was held. He is a son of Katie, Deb and Mel's foundation girl, and Big Jake, who you just saw in the previous photo. He lives with his family in Oklahoma.



Batman's littermates were there, and in the show ring! BJ and Junebug both live at Riverwind farm, so they were on their home turf! Here's Junebug in the ring, getting her teeth looked at by Fred while her sister waits her turn:


Another of BJ:


Both girls have the wonderful, friendly temperaments that the real Shiloh Shepherd is known for. Here's BJ catching some scritches before the show!



We had a lot of other adult Shilohs at the show this year! Our officers, Lura and Michelle, both attended with some of their girls. Here's Lura's pretty Moon:


And Michelle's beautiful dark Greta, standing for her photo and then in the ring:



Michelle's Tammy definitely got the award for having the most fun in the ring! Here she is, being shown by her breeder, the wonderful Laura Kathryn of Solace Shilohs.


We were lucky to have the lovely Charm come all the way from Louisiana to show! Charm is a white Shiloh from Dayspring Shiloh Shepherds in Tennessee.



Also coming a long way to show was the handsome Ender, a black-and-silver dual plush who lives in Arizona! He is a full brother to Neiko, who we introduced earlier. Ender comes from New Zion Shilohs.




There were three more adults at the show: one Champion, Leo, and the boy and girl who beat the others to win Winner's Dog and Winner's Bitch: Chester and Sunny! Sunny is actually Leo's litter mate. All three dogs ended up in the final competition in the ring together, and all three come from New Zion Shilohs. Here they all are!

Here is Champion Leo, in a photo taken before the show, with his human mom, Anne:


His sister Sunny, who took Best of Opposite Sex (best female), a major win toward her Championship! Here she is in the ring with her human mom, Liz, and judge Fred Lanting.


And finally, CHESTER won adult BEST IN SHOW! Congratulations on a major win toward your Championship, Chester! You can see what great focus Chester has in the ring with his human mom Joyce.


And here is a photo of him in the ring with the judge. Great job, everyone!


The Shiloh puppies were in their own separate show, so they would not have to compete with adults. We had five puppies showing this year. Hopefully we will get a LOT of new Shilohs in the area this coming year, and have even more next show!

Here are the puppy boys in the ring. They are, from front to back, Torren, Zakanne, and Travis.


Here are the puppy girls in the ring--Noel in front, and Jes trying to catch up in back! Jes wasn't quite sure about this "show ring" idea...but our shows are very casual, so novice dogs (and handlers!) have plenty of leeway to learn. Participating in local Specialties is a great way to get your feet wet showing your Shiloh!


Some photos closer-up; here's Torren with his human mom Blair (with camera) before the show! Hard to believe he's a PUPPY, isn't it??


Here's a great shot of Zakanne in the ring. He's looking for his mom Sheryl; she's in hiding!


Here's a shot of Travis going around the ring, and then another of him with his "brother" Chester (Travis on the left, Chester on the right), both owned by Joyce and Alan.



Here's Jes being stacked in the ring by Carla. Jes is in that leggy adolescent stage. Sometimes Shiloh pups look like they're on stilts when their legs get a growth spurt and their bodies don't!


And, finally, it was the troublemaker who won it all! NOEL won BEST IN SHOW PUPPY! Congratulations Noel on your first win--we're sure you'll be making us laugh just as much at future shows! Here's Noel showing exactly what she thinks of this "showing thing" while she's being examined in the ring!


Thanks so much everyone for reading our blog and I hope you enjoyed the photos and links! Check back soon for more updates!