Yesterday a chat with a friend in the breed came with slightly shocking news. I was chatting to Joe when he said I'm with John now and he says hi, I presumed in the pub and said so. But the reply took me aback .. "No in his home, he's recovering from a triple heart by pass!" OMG ... well that is life changing for anyone .. but for John .. well I just hope he realises he's had another chance at life...
I first met John at Bolton GSD show in April 1993 I think, it was before I had Nikki anyway who was born in July 93. He handled Blade for me at his first breed champ show. I realised very early on that Blade didn't really have what it took to be a champ show winner .. though as a mature adult he took some beating at open shows. Nikki on the other hand could challenge the best in her day .. and she did!
In the early years John was Nikki and Dexi's handler and a damn good job he did too. Though as Dexi got into older classes he was taken on by the owners of his sire. To be fair all did him proud. To my regret we don't have many photos from those days, a photographer took photos of the winners, they were published in the breed magazine .. and everyone bought the breed mag. So the photo above is of John standing Blade .. not after handling him, he never did again. This was taken after a photo session with Nikki at a show, I asked him if he would stand Blade for a photo. I remember his words clearly .. you'll never get a better photo of that dog in stance...I guess I never did!
So the three way conversion with Joe and John continued with John saying he'll come and see me when I get over to Nantwich. He told Joe that Kaiah and Sammi are the best bitches I've ever had .. lovely to hear. As I've said with Kaiah I believe I've got to where I want to be. I decided to send them a photo of Ziva, well no one sees her and I feel she also deserves recognition .. the reply was that she also looks a top quality bitch. I agree, such a waste .. she could have been a someone in the show ring .. ah well it was not to be. She's still a big someone in our lives and has produced Sammi who in turn produced Kaiah so without doubt Ziva has left an important mark on the future of Blanik.
