AM, Intl, CH Lady Geneva Snow Star
"Geneva "

Geneva.  What can I say?  It's her fault.  She was my second Bichon and my first show dog.  She started all of this show stuff for me.  I got her because I wanted another Bichon, (because you can't have just one)but I wanted on that was within the standard.  Don't get me wrong, I loved my Chilley completely, but he was a big boy.  Geneva is definitely a girl.  When she was showing, you knew that you were looking at a beautiful female, and she knew it too.  It took a while to finish her but it was worth it.  I placed her with a handler, Lynnette Spitzer, for her first point.  I knew it could take a while to get her into really nice show coat so I followed them around on weekends and learned what I could.  Lynnette was a great mentor, but I missed Geneva too much.  I brought her home and decided that I was going to show her myself.  People laughed!  I took Canine Chronicles, Show Sights, and Bichon Reporters, opened them to the dogs that I liked and tried to duplicate them.  Fun, huh?  Anyway, practice, practice, practice.  We would win often enough to keep me hooked. Geneva loved to show, but wanted nothing to do with practicing outside the ring or standing there, picture perfect with tail up, before going into the ring.  She preferred to nap up to ring time and the second that she would cross the ring threshold, her tail and head would come up and off she would go.  After I finished her, I specialed her a bit, but concentrated on the next step...health certification and breeding up. 

CH Sterling Rumor Has It was the number one Bichon at the time.  I realized that it was his photos that I was trying to copy.  I flew to the St. Paul show to meet Rumor's dad, Paul Flores.  Paul and I hit it off right away and I treasure the time we spent together and all that I learned from him.  My greatest grooming compliment came when someone asked if Paul Flores taught me to groom. I bred Geneva to Rumor and true to her 'Diva-ness' she produced one puppy - Magic.  So I guess I really owe Paul and Rumor a big THANK YOU, because Magic is the reason that I met the love of my life, David J. Scheiris.  That is another chapter...  

Darlene Veseling Scheiris