In her conformation show career for her AKC Championship, when comparing to the AKC point schedules of each division, the division 8 (Washington & Oregon) is some of the tougher division to earn Champion points as to the number of dogs to compete but there have been not enough entries in class for majors in the most of shows held in WA and OR since last summer while the point schedule for the division 8 got harder than last year.  Maaya needed one more major to finish her championship since January after successful showings.  We were looking for a major….when we thought she got it and found afterwards that one girl didn’t show etc...that she couldn’t get it even though she won....  When I started losing our hope to find a major in the division in the near future, we thought we’d enter in the FCRSA supported entry in Albany, Oregon hoping there would be large entries even though it is quite far from where we live.  But again I was disappointed - one entry short in the bitch class.  On the other hand, I also found that there was a major in the dog class in one of the two day shows which would give her a chance for a major as most of her wins were BOW! We just couldn’t miss the opportunity, so we went there aiming for BOW.  At the show, there were some nice looking females who had never competed with Maaya before, so my fingers were very tightly crossed!  The judge was very thorough which I really love in general and examined every aspect of Flat coated retriever features and chose our girl for WB.  In my mind “OK, one step is done, Go Maaya Go!!!”.   And the time came for the judge to decide BOW and it didn’t take long for him to decide.…”YES! Maaya got it!!!”  As it was the supported entry, she received a lot of nice goodies, toys and some beautiful rosettes!!  We appreciated the FCRSA NW club members for preparing this fun event and the great prizes!

So now we are very happy to announce that Maaya is a new Am Champion!!  This is her first achievement of the year 2014, yay!! 

Oh boy, although it was only a couple of months for us to look for a major, it was painful just to enter in shows but not to go due to the insufficient entries…  But for those who plan to do AKC Championships, we hope not many of you have to go through this much….!  While there will be no change in the point schedule for a 3 point major in bitches, at least it will be a bit easier for dogs in WA & OR from May 14 this year, so Good Luck to whomever plans to do!!

From Donald & Chizuko & Maaya, Can GCh / Am Ch Blacklace Opal Isle of Maaya CGN CD RE JH WC Am CGC CD