SHARON ONORATO UTYCH & JAMES UTYCH THE OWNER HANDLERS
3. Do you attend show handling classes? Have you attended any handling seminars? Jim has attended handling classes and found them extremely useful. When there is a seminar at a specialty, we both attend as you are never too old to learn something! We’ve watched others (profes- sional and non-professional) in the ring and have had our mentors teach us the ropes at shows and at meetings. We’ve learned a lot from our mentors and from our friends who are professional han- dlers. Classes are a great start to learn the ropes in showing your dog to its best potential! 4. Have you found virtual learning tools to be help- ful? Classes? Videos? Websites? Social Media? Every tool available is helpful. We have watched handled videos on YouTube and learned a lot! Additionally, we make sure that we video our time in the ring and we watch each other to see how we are handling our Cavaliers. Of course, when we are at our shows with our longtime men- tors, we also discuss our time in the ring. We find that by videoing ourselves and watching it back, we can see where we can improve. 5. Do you compete in the National Owner-Handled Series? Are rankings important to you? We absolutely compete in NOHS! Sharon’s Edgar was the 2019 Number 1 Cavalier in the NOHS rankings and Jim’s Catcher was the 2020 Number 3 Cavalier. Jim still actively competes in NOHS with Catcher and it’s very important to him. Of course, any and all rankings are important! 6. In which class(es) are you most likely to enter your dog(s)? Why? Since we have dog specials, we are both in BOB. In the classes, we follow the Puppy Classes and then, if they age out of the Puppy Classes, we enter them in Open or sometimes we may enter in American-Bred. For the CKCSC USA classes, champions are in Open Dog Class or Bred-By only, and we enter our non-champions in the Puppy Classes, then into the “colors” classes. 7. Is it a challenge to compete with your breed(s) as an Owner Handler? It’s become quite the challenge recently as the Cavalier breed ring consists of a majority of pro- fessional handlers. We continue to compete and we do have our share of the wins.
1. When were you first introduced to the sport of purebred dogs? To your breed? We became involved in the sport when we got our first Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, MBVISS Karvale Brookhaven Finn THDA CGCA C-TCX, in June 2008. “Finn” and our second Cavalier, “Skye,” were the reasons we became involved in the CKCSC USA and the Greater Atlanta AKC Cava- lier club. We both became involved with the clubs, attended shows, helped with specialties, and learned everything we could about Cavaliers. You could always find us ringside with Finn and Skye watching the shows, studying the entries, and asking questions about conformation and type. We gained several wonderful mentors during this time who encouraged us to show in the non-regular Veterans Class and in Sweepstakes. When we first entered Finn in Veteran Sweeps at the ACKCSC National Specialty, where he took home Best of Opposite, the bug hit Sharon—and she and Finn became a team. Jim supported Sharon in showing and even had a go at showing Skye in Veteran Classes. When Sharon blew out her knee, Jim took the lead and learned quickly how to show all three of the boys we had actively showing. He now exclusively shows “Catcher” and has become quite the handler! 2. How many years in dogs? How many as an Owner Handler? We have been showing our Cavaliers since 2015, when Finn and Skye became veterans. We both have always been Owner Handlers to all of our boys with the exception of 2019 when Sharon had to have knee replacement surgery after blowing out her knee at a dog show. Our friends and mentors assisted in showing “Edgar,” even at Westminster. The Cavalier community is a wonderful community that supports each other in times of need!
106 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, AUGUST 2021
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