Grand Champion Twin Oaks Way To Go Domino

After completing his American Kennel Club (AKC) championship in December 2009, we thought it was time for DOMINO to just be a "dog".. but as the warmer months rolled around so did the local outdoor shows and we decided to enter him as a "special" this means he only competes in the "Best of Breed" class, typically this is with other champions and the winners from the class entries. At his FIRST show as a special he won "Select Dog" a new award that would gain him points towards being a Grand Champion, interesting enough it was the same judge that awarded him his 1st point towards his championship!

YUP... 2010 was the year dedicated to having fun and earning points towards his Grand Championship, there is no rest for the "showy" dog that he is... he jumps for joy and dances around as soon as you mention that there is a "rock show" (he doesn’t really know they are called "dog shows"). Long story, shortened till I have time to embellish... but we went to shows here and there, a bunch of ribbons, a bunch of fun, a bunch of points towards the GCH.

So here we are in 2011... so close to earning the new title we ventured to the beach "Wildwood NJ" - picked up a 3rd "major" win and a bonus BEST OF BREED (winning over a multiple "best in show" dog!!!) the little man does it again... WAY TO GO DOMINO :-) The icing on the cake came at the end of February as we watched his co-owner, breeder and his pop-pop Tom Faust pilot him around the ring to win the final points to become known as
GRAND CHAMPION TWIN OAKS WAY TO GO DOMINO, the very 1st Twin Oaks HomeBred Grand Champion

Champion Twin Oaks Way To Go Domino

Another Year Older

2009 was an exciting year. The first half of the year was spent entering only shows that would be "Majors", and on July 5th Domino won his 2nd major in West Springfield (MA) - exactly one year to the day that he won his 1st major. That brought us to 11 points total. It seems like at the rest of the Summer Shows it rained.. Domino HATES showing in the rain, perhaps that has to do with the fact that since he was a puppy someone would take him outside with an umbrella!

He went Winners dog two days in a row at the Sussex Harvest Cluster (thats 13 points total if you are counting) and Best of Breed on the 4th day. We "made the cut" in the Sporting Group, 6th out of 16 - no points, no ribbons but quite a thrill for both of us and he really liked being in the "big ring" and the applause of the crowd. November brought the Philly National Dog Show and on Friday the 13th he went Winners Dog, Best of Winners & Best of Opposite for one more point.. hmm that's 14 now. As the show season winds down, the shows are few and far between so we traveled to Gettysburg (PA) and on December 5th he went Winners Dog & Best of Winners at the Chambershburg Area Kennel Club for that final point to become Champion Twin Oaks Way To Go Domino. He is now known as #57, that is Twin Oak's 57th Home Bred Champion. Domino has taught me many things, patience was not one that I planned on though!

All we can say is "Way To Go Domino!!"

Domino... The Story Continues

We celebrated the July 4th (2008) weekend in Maryland. This was Domino's first show in the OPEN DOG class, We're happy to say that it was a great day for Twin Oaks! Faith (Twin Oaks Keep the Faith) went Winners Bitch and completed the requirements needed to become a Champion. She is now Twin Oaks 55th home-bred champion.

In addition, Domino took 1st place in his class, went Winners Dog, Best of Opposite Sex and took Best of Winners for a 3 point major. For anyone keeping track, he now has a total of 4 points. (15 are needed to become a Champion).

What more can we say... You Gotta Have Faith and Way To Go Domino!

The Hunterdon Hills show rolled around on August 3rd, here at our "home-town" show Domino went Winners Dog for 1 point. His sister Natasha went Winners Bitch... so it was another score of a Twin Win for Twin Oaks. In the now "annual tradition" we had party afterward at our place, good food, good friends and plenty of frozen margaritas on a hot Sunday afternoon.

Then came the coolest thing ever... Domino and I traveled to Easton Maryland, sans Tom and the rest of our regular Springer folks. It was our first trip with Domino's new mobile dog house - aka the Itasca Navion. The first day he went 1st in his class and reserve (which is like "runner up" in the miss America pageant) but on Saturday August 16th he went 1st in his class AND Winners Dog for 1 point handled by his loving owner and very novice handler Patty. OK, that brings us up to 6 point now.

Ventured down to Raleigh North Carolina for the Labor Day Weekend Shows... a stack of blue ribbons and equally as many "reserves", its like being the bridesmaid instead of the bride :-( but it was interesting to dodge tornados on our way into town and camp on the Midway of the State Fairgrounds.

September kept us fairly local, nearby in Branchburg NJ for the Garden State Springer Specialty, and then over in PA for the Lehigh Valley and Berks Kennel Club shows, nothing exciting to report.

October was a busy month, shows 3 weekends in a row, down in Maryland, over in PA... with the status quo of "1st in class and reserve". However October 17 during the Keystone Springer Spaniel Club's Supported Entry at the Gloucester Kennel Club our Domino went 1st in Open Dog, Winners Dog and the Best of Winners for 2 more points.

Whew... we are over the hump! Now with 8 points and 1 major under our belt Domino is 1/2 way to becoming a Champion. Like brother like sister... Twin Oaks scored another "Twin Win" with Natasha going winners bitch too.

In addition October brought us 6 new members of the Twin Oaks family, Twin Oaks Keep the Faith became a proud mama on October 6th (2008) - 3 males and 3 females, (2 b/w and 4 l/w) to see pictures of the puppies visit: www.TwinOaksSpringers.com

In November there were the Maryland shows... no big wins to report and then it was the annual "National Dog Show" held by the Philadelphia Kennel Club - this is the only BENCH show that we participate in. This year it was really cold and we all wore our Springer Coats (aka - dogs in your arms & across your lap!) to keep warm. The cutest part was the lil 2 year old girl that wanted to groom Domino, he stood perfectly still while she combed his coat!

The show year came to a close in Mid December at the Lehigh Show - unfortunately there was no Winners Dog for us this year :-( So now our little guy (who is **SO** not little anymore!!) gets to be a real dog for a while... run thru the woods, chase the deer, play in the snow and just hang out on the couch. And 2008 came to a close.

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Christmas 2008

Domino is a BIG Boy Now!

Domino was entered in a few shows here and there, mainly to keep him in the "groove" while we wait for him to mature. February (2008) we went to Wildwood NJ, March to York PA and Edison NJ, April we chilled, in May it was Bucks County PA, Trenton NJ and Monmouth County NJ. A stack of ribbons of which many were blue (1st place) but no "big" wins to report. In June (2008) we went north to Rhode Island for the Eastern Springer Spaniel Specialty. Domino took 1st in his class in Futurity and also 1st in his class in Sweepstakes. He has also taken fondly to staying in Hotels :-) For the month of June we were also a foster family to his half-sister Faith. The idea was to help transition her from life on the road as a show dog to her future life as a house pet. She caught on pretty quick and laid claim to her share of our king size bed! Domino really liked having a buddy to play with and both Ren and I liked having a little "girl" in the house again.

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Part Springer... Part Frog - 02/21/08

Winners Dog at Lehigh - Domino's First Point!

December 2007 brought the Lehigh Show (Allentown, PA), it was here last year that we decided that we wanted another springer, another black and white and another "Twin Oaks"! So how appropriate that on Sunday December 16th, Domino went WINNERS DOG and got his very first POINT towards his championship. Not too shabby for an 11 month old pup!

Pictured: Judge: Nancy Liebes, "Domino" and Breeder/Co-Owner: Tom Faust

All We can say is... Way to Go Domino !

Domino's Next Few Months

October (2007) was quite an exciting month for us. We traveled to Lexington Kentucky for the English Springer Field Trial Association's National Show. I'm happy to say that Domino faired quite well during the 12 hour car ride.

On the first day of the show Domino took FIRST PLACE in the 6 to 9 month "Puppy Dog Sweepstakes". The cool thing was there was actually competition, 13 other dogs his age to be exact! When he made the first cut I was thrilled, when he moved from 6th to 4th I thought "Oh my, we're going to get a ribbon", next thing I know he was in second place, as the dogs moved around the ring once more, the judge pointed and directed Tom forward. Seconds later she called the placement 1, 2, 3, 4.

The rest of October and November was a bit of a blur, a fair amount of shows, a fair amount of blue ribbons (first place) and just as many "reserve" wins. The most unique was the National Dog Show in Philadelphia, it was Domino's first bench show. This means they are on display on their grooming tables to greet and interact with the public. Being the social buterfly that he is, he just couldn't give enough kisses!

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1st Place at the National - Oct 3, 2007

Domino's First Few Months

"Domino" was born on January 17th, 2007 and officially became a MORTARA on March 14th, 2007. Share in our joy and watch our little boy grow!

His real estate career shaped up nicely, he loves to ride in the car and tag along on listing appointments, join us on meetings and likes to staff open houses (when he's not out on the show circuit). But his forte has been helping clients select their new construction home sites (he especially likes the ones with tall grass and dirt piles he can climb).

He attended "Puppy Kindergarten" and really enjoyed the leash work and took a fond liking to the agility tunnel.
His first official day as a "Show Dog" was in mid April, at the Wilmington Kennel Club (Match Show), we're proud to say he took FIRST place. The competition was fierce, it was him, against himself!
He was all fired up for his 2nd show at Gloucester Kennel Club (Match Show), in mid May. Unfortunately a bit TOO fired up, and he took second place to his "calmer cousin".
His 3rd show, was closer to home in early June in Branchburg at the Keystone & Garden State Springer Club's (Match Show) even after 5 days at "Camp Camisi" he was still bonkers in the ring, another second place... sigh.
We spent many hot summer nights at "Show Handling" class and he actually started to get the knack of this.
On July 17th he turned 6 months old and was now eligible to compete in "Point Shows". His first as a "PRO" would be our local show here in Ringoes which was held in early August by the Hunterdon Hills Kennel Club. Second place once again... at least he's consistent and since it was just a few miles down the road... it gave us an excuse to throw a great party at our place afterward!
Early September brought the Big Apple Sporting Society and Somerset Hills Kennel Club Shows where he took FIRST place in Sweepstakes and brought home a stack of 2nd place ribbons from the rest of the weekend.
As late September rolled around he traveled to Pennsylvania to the Valley Forge Kennel Club, took FIRST and won his 1st BLUE ribbon, he also went on to the "Winner's Dog" class and won "Reserve"... there is hope for our "little guy" - who's not so "little" anymore!

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Even Soaked to the Bone I'm a Good Looking Fellow - September 2007

Twin Oaks Springer Spaniels - Puppies Born January 17th, 2007

On Wednesday January 17th 2007 "Betsy" (Ch Twin Oaks Red White & Blue) gave birth to 8 puppies. 2 Black & White Males, 2 Liver & White Males, 1 Black & White Female, and 3 Liver & White Females.

Twin Oaks is a breeder of Champion English Springer Spaniels, it is owned by Tom Faust of Medford, New Jersey. To see more Twin Oaks Springers visit: www.TwinOaksSpringers.com To reach Tom... by phone: 609-953-5472 or by email: TomFaust(@)TwinOaksSpringers.com

The photos below were taken from January 17th (One Day Old) through February 28th, 2007 (Six Weeks Old).

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