Hi Chris and Sarah,

I attended a double show in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday.  I took my 3 best Dutch: Ruby, Blitzen, and Bella.  Steve Lussier is a judge from the East Coast and he never sees Dutch on the table, so he pulled out his Standard and chose Ruby as his Best of Variety.  Roy Colver is a new Dutch breeder who has judged Dutch before, and he chose Blitzen (Celandine X Charlock).  Both of them beat my Bella.  I have completely changed my mind about breeding Ruby.  I have decided that she will do better as a representative for the Dutch in the US, and so I won't turn her into a breeding sow  Wherever I take her, she is admired for her nearly perfect markings and people are interested in joining us. I sent most of the black Dutch to Roy Colver who lives up north in Washington, and he now has 21 Dutch with 4 showables, starting with the 4 sows and one boar that I sent up to him.  I invited him to join DCC and he was pleased to accept, so I gave him one of my DCC embroidered badges to wear on his judging coat.  I will send in his subscription soon.  Mike Welsh, the Grand Canyon State Cavy Club member who won Best in Show at the ARBA National Convention Show in November with a Teddy Satin, really liked seeing my Dutch and is seriously considering getting Dutch for his nephew who wants to get started raising and showing cavies. Mike is an excellent breeder and plans to help his nephew, so this will be a huge boost to the Dutch if this plan comes to be. As soon as I get new litters of pups, I will give him the best starter stock I possibly can.   In the mean time, I will send him the DCC website address and he can have a look at the various colors that he can choose.  Most people in the US are used to seeing only red Dutch.  

It was a good show, and I am very pleased to tell you that my American (short coat) red/white broken color intermediate sow, Crissy won Best of Breed in one show. Black selfs in the US often win BOB and I have never seen a bi--color beat them, so this was a great achievement. The blacks at this show were nearly perfect. Crissy was much admired by the judge in the other show, though he ultimately chose a black self for BOB.  Cheers,

Nancy

In the photos, the judge in the red apron is Steve Lussier.  He is a very popular judge in the US, lives in Connecticut, and is a produce buyer for a "green" grocery store called Wild Oats.  He rarely judges Dutch, so he had the standard in front of him while he was judging.  The judge in the white coat is Roy Colver, a math professor from Washington state.  Roy developed the Teddy Satin breed in the US.  He recently began raising black Dutch and has joined the DCC.  The red/white sow that I am holding won Best of Breed American.  Both of her parents are showable Dutch. 
Nancy