MEET SHARON LESNIAK

MY BIO

By Sharon Lesniak

I have always loved dogs. My family always had at least two dogs and sometimes more. I have owned toy poodles, West Highland White Terriers and Scotties before getting my first Cesky, Oskar.

After showing and breeding Scotties for 25 years I started looking for a Terrier that didn't have to be stripped. About 14 years ago, I picked up Dog World Magazine and on the cover was their feature dog, a Cesky. I read the article and became very interested, I wrote to the person who wrote the article and was sent a few articles on the Cesky. They also informed me of a Rare Breed Show the following month in Detroit, Mi. They weren't sure if any would be there. So my friend and I braved the cold, icy Michigan winter and went to Cobo Hall to see my first Rare Breed Show and hopefully my first Cesky. As luck would have it there was one at the show. It was love at first sight.

But at the time I had 5 Scotties at home and they weren't too keen on me bringing another dog into the house. So I just kept reading articles and waiting.

In the year 2001 I was down to one Scottie, my female Cammy. She was 11 years old. Although, Cammy was perfectly happy being an only dog, I decided it was time to start looking for a Cesky. I looked through my Dog World and I found Lori and John's ad. I called them, and I think left a message saying I was interested in buying a Cesky. But I didn't pursue it any further. My Mother had just passed away and I thought maybe I wasn't ready for a new dog. Thank God, Lori didn't know that. I went to my mailbox one day and found a newsletter from Lori and a wonderful note asking why I never called back. I walked back into the house read the newsletter and found a picture of a 9 month old puppy that Lori was selling. I called Lori immediately. After many conversations and letters Lori and John told me about the puppy they had. That's how Oskar came to own me.

My friend and I drove down to Lori's and John's house in July of that year and picked up Oskar. I stayed four days and learned about grooming and Ceskys. I will always be grateful for all the wonderful information and the warm welcome I received. For all the time that I was down at the Moody's, Oskar would not come near me. The first time I held him was when Lori picked him up to give him to me for the ride home. Oskar and I took one look at each other and it was instant love. He bonded to me and me to him. As my friend Sue who has raised Smooth Collies for over 30 years said she has never seen such a devoted breed.

Just like potato chips you just can't have one Cesky so about 2 years ago I started my search for another Cesky. After a long wait and some disappointment and with the help of Lori I found my Trinket (Milenka's Charmed Life).

We are now getting ready to show in Canada where Ceskys are a recognized breed in the Canadian Kennel Club. Oskar is a United Kennel Club Champion, so both he and Trinket will be traveling to Canada in search of a championship.

I am the President of the Saginaw Valley Kennel Club and have been for the past 14 years. We have two back to back shows the first weekend in April, with an average of 1300 dogs each day. This year we sponsored a sanctioned puppy match after Best in Show on Saturday. AKC will now allow Rare Breeds into these matches if you contact the people giving the match at least 3 months before so that they can get permission for Rare Breeds to participate.

This was Trinket’s first AKC match. She took a Terrier Group 3 and I found out later was on the news station that night. She created a lot of interest. People heard of the breed but have not seen one. Most of the people who asked questions had Terriers and like me, were tired of the stripping. I also had a few AKC judges come over to examine her. This was their first time seeing one,

Reprint from Cesky Chatter Vol 13 No 3 June 2001 Copyright (c) 2001 Lori Moody & NCTC

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