Award-winning dog takes up villa residence
Like many residents, Tricia and Clark Elmer brought a beloved family dog with them to their new villa.
Clark and Tricia Elmer in their villa with Jazzy.
Not just any pet, though: Jazzy is an award-winning Old English Sheepdog who’s even been invited – twice! – to participate in the renowned Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City.
The Elmers never intended to join the competition circuit, even though they’ve owned Old English Sheepdogs for decades.
“We’d shown one puppy about 30 years ago, and it was not the best experience. I said I wouldn’t do it again,” Tricia recalls. “But it was a requirement when we got Jazzy. If we wanted this dog, we had to agree to show her.”
Jazzy received Reserve Best in Show (second place overall) at a contest in Michigan.
Turns out that was a good decision. The breeder in Colorado Springs, Bugaboo, handled Jazzy at her first show when she was just a year old. She was awarded Best Puppy and also Best Bred By An Exhibitor, a competition for all ages. Those early wins got the Elmers hooked, and they showed Jazzy consistently for about four years.
“Our son would say, do you get a lot of money when you win? No, you spend a lot of money and you get ribbons!” Clark laughs. “If you’re really good, you get rosettes.”
What makes Jazzy a standout? The Elmers say she is square and well-proportioned with a great coat. When she’s on her show leash, Jazzy is all business.
Her registered show name is Bugaboo’s And All That Jazz, indicating the breeder followed by her name, which comes from a number in the musical “Chicago” as a nod to Tricia’s hometown. Tricia took Jazzy to “confirmation classes” near Chicago once a week when she was a puppy.
Jazzy won this blue ribbon in 2019. Tricia says a common question is whether sheepdogs can see; she reports that they have keen eyesight, even if we can't see their eyes!
“That gets the dogs used to behaving and showing among other dogs, and you go through the routine and what it’s like to have the judges look at them,” Tricia says. “Then she got too big for me to run around with, so we found a family of handlers. We go to the shows, but they handle her in the ring.”
It takes more than two hours to get Jazzy’s hair ready. “It’s a lot of brushing and fluffing,” Clark explains. “They take all this hair on top of their head and they backcomb it. So when you see a picture of her in a show, she looks quite different than she does here.”
Points from each win get tabulated and that’s how the top five of the Old English Sheepdog (OES) breed get an invitation to Westminster. Jazzy received an Award of Merit in her first Westminster show; she was pregnant when she got a second invitation and couldn’t attend.
Westminster was an exciting high point, yet just last year the now eight-year-old Jazzy surprised them by winning Best of Opposites at the OES national show, meaning she was the best female out of hundreds entered.
“So that was a big deal, to have a veteran come back and beat all these much younger dogs,” says Clark.
Her lineage continues in next generations: One of Jazzy’s puppies has won 15 Best of Show awards in Europe and is being bred in Hungary. And the Elmers likely aren’t done with show dogs, either. Tricia will drive to Colorado this month to pick up their next Bugaboo pup, a four-month-old they have committed to readying for competitions.
The Elmers with Jazzy and her litter of puppies at their previous home in Wisconsin on Lake Michigan.
