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BEST JUNIOR HANDLER
Demery Paladichuk
Throughout
my years of competing in Junior Showmanship, I’ve learned a lot of
things. Some of these things include; how to be a gracious loser,
gracious winner, how to balance school and shows effectively, and how to
trim the most perfect Springer foot. Despite these things being very
important and cornerstones of my Junior Showmanship experience, I also
learned the most important thing: it’s really all about having fun, and
doing it with a dog you love. I have been fortunate enough to share
every victory and every loss with the dog that sleeps on the end of my
bed each night, and for that I am extremely grateful.
When I first
started Juniors, I had some big goals. I wanted to show at Eukanuba, the
Garden, and I wanted to win some Best Juniors. As each year went by I
fell more in love with the sport, and each year Gleason and I became
more of a team. Throughout our time in Juniors, Gleason and I amassed
over 40 Best Junior Handler awards, 38 of which were All Breed Best
Junior Awards, as well as Best Junior at the National Specialty in 2008
and numerous specialty Best Junior wins. To finish it all off, this past
December Gleason and I garnered the ultimate cherry on top of our
career, being awarded the coveted title of Best Junior Handler at the
AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. Being awarded Best Junior at
Eukanuba also allowed me to be the representative for the United States
at the International Junior Handling Finals at Crufts, an experience I
will treasure forever.
Since aging
out of Juniors in April and graduating high school this year, I am now
taking time to focus on my academic career. I am currently enrolled at
Western Washington University in the class of 2014, majoring in Business
Management. Although I was sad to see my time as a Junior come to end
this Spring, it’s not completely over just yet. Gleason and I will be
competing at the Westminster Kennel Club this coming February for our
last lap around the ring together.
I know I’ve
said it every year in every bio I write, but thank you to everyone who
has and continues to support me and Gleason in our Junior Showmanship
endeavors. It truly means the world to me. The support shown by the
Springer and dog show community after winning Eukanuba was one of the
most tremendous things I’ve experienced in my life. Junior Showmanship
has played a huge part in making me who I am today, and I really can’t
thank the people who’ve helped made it all possible enough!
Photo
Credit: Christy Marley
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