MICHELLE ERICKSON THE BREEDER/OWNER HANDLER
3. Do you attend show handling classes? Have you attended any handling seminars? I only took some handling classes when I was a teenager, in 4-H. When I got married and started showing, I learned the hard way. Also, having a daughter in Junior Showmanship made me learn fast, and some of the handlers helped us out too. I would watch my daugh- ter and give her three things to do better. She got to go to Westminster with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel in Juniors and in the breed! (Mrs. Biven once told me that it was the best she had ever seen some- one show a Cavalier. That was quite an honor, coming from her.) Never turn down a chance to learn. Every breed is shown differ- ently and each dog has different needs. When it comes to your chil- dren, the more they listen to others, the better. So, classes are always good and so are the people there who will help. Take time to learn! 4. Have you found virtual learning tools to be helpful? Classes? Videos? Websites? Social Media? Any kind of help is a great thing. You can never learn enough, and an extra set of eyes is good. I have been blessed to know some of the top groomers in the world as well as some of the top handlers. I have so much respect for them. They have taught me more than I ever thought I could learn—and they are still teaching me... Again, never miss an opportunity to learn! 5. Do you compete in the National Owner Handled Series? Are rankings important to you? I paid a handler in the 1990s, but for the last 28 years, we have been handling our own dog and helping others show their dogs too. When Erica started winning in the Junior ring, handlers and other breeders would ask for her help. Our Bred-By Sealyham, “Remi,” is competing in Owner Handled; we showed him in Bred-By. He is ranked in both Owner Handled and in Breed! We are currently Number 12 in the country and we are trying to get back up in the top 10 in the National Owner Handled Series! The competition is tough. (If you are not out showing, you will fall down in the rankings!) Every Owner Handler is trying his or her best to keep their dog in the rankings. We do enjoy the people and have made many friends in other breeds who will stay and cheer us on when we do win! This is such an honor, and a good feeling, because each and every one of them knows how hard it is to place. 6. How important is the Bred-By Class to you? How important are specialties? I feel the Bred-By Class is telling everyone that you not only own this dog, but you bred it too. What an honor to finish out of the Bred-By Class! Going to specialty shows is fun because you get to see so many of the other breeders within the US and those from other countries too. Our breed is rare, so it is so awesome to meet the people you have heard so much about and have given so much to the breed. 7. Is it a challenge to compete with your breed(s) as a breeder/owner handler? Challenge is an understatement. Every time you walk in that ring, it is a challenge; the grooming to perfection and your being of right mind so that your dog can show at its best. On any given day, if you are “off,” your dog will be “off “ too, and if your dog is “off ” it makes you “off.” You two have a bond, and when they say taking the lead... everything goes up and down that lead.
1. When were you first introduced to the sport of purebred dogs? To your breed? When my grandfather gave me an Irish Setter puppy for Christmas, I must have been 13 or 14 years old. I had him as my 4-H project. I took classes and showed him at an AKC con- formation and obedience show. I met Sally Hawks in Vegas at a groom show and was hooked on the Sealyham Terrier. It must have been 2013. (My daugh- ter, Erica Dunlavey, was competing and she won her Sporting Group Competition that year.) We thought that if you could groom a Sealyham, you could groom any dog. 2. How many years in dogs? How many as an owner handler? As a breeder? I have had dogs all my life. I bred my first litter when I was about 16. Then, many years later, after I’d married, I started breeding and showing. I would consider myself a breeder begin- ning sometime in the early 1990s, and I have been breeding over half my life with my daughter and with family support. I had a friend of mine who didn’t believe in breeding, but she showed. She told me that if I was going to breed, to do it right or not at all. So, I learned about OFA and began researching my lines. When I had children, I started taking them to the shows with me. Another friend gave my daughter a Japanese Chin and told her to show her. The hardest few minutes, ever, was watch- ing her put the Chin on the table; you couldn’t even see my daughter’s head. She won that day and was hooked too! Erica and I show our dogs as a family, and now her children are show- ing with us in Breed Classes and Junior Showmanship. The best part of being an owner handler is watching my children and grandchild love and respect what you do—and carry it on.
200 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MAY 2021
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