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When we began attending
dog shows in 1995, this was a family activity. Both of our daughters,
Melissa and Heidi traveled with us to dog shows and Melissa immediately
became extremely interested. She studied all of the exhibitors and
professional handlers and we would often find her imitating the handling
she had just watched while walking and exercising dogs.
Once Melissa turned 10
years of age, she applied for an AKC junior handler number and the first
show she was eligible to compete in was the Collin County Kennel Club.
This was a 2 day show, and on the first day she took 3rd place. When
she came out of the ring, we congratulated her and told her how good she
did. She then asked us what she could have done differently and how
she could improve. It was now that we realized how competitive our
little girl was. She then told us that the next day she would WIN!
As always, we would tell her that it was only important that she have FUN!
Well, on the second day, she won her class. To add to her
accomplishment, she then went on to win Best Junior Handler beating the
top Junior Handler in Texas at that time.
During that first year of
eligibility, Melissa continued to participate in Junior Showmanship and
consistently won (25 first place wins, 12 BJH awards) and easily qualified
to enter and participate at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club.
Over the next 6 years,
while Melissa continued to participate in AKC Junior Showmanship, she was
provided the opportunity to use various other breeds to participate in
junior showmanship with. She began showing various breeds for our
dog show friends in the Conformation Breed ring also. One of the
breeds that Melissa began co-owning was a Brittany and she became active in
that Breed in 1998 and Melissa founded Brittstorm Brittanys. Brittstorm
Brittanys bred by Melissa has produced 20 Champions, many of which you will see below.
Melissa earned the AKC Bred By Exhibitor pin by completing CHampionships
on a couple of Brittstorm Brittanys that were handled by Melissa exclusively from the Bred By Exhibitor
class,
Near the end of Melissa's
Junior Showmanship career, she won Best Junior Handler at the 2001 Golden
Retriever Club of America National Specialty, the 2002 Golden Retriever
Club of America Western Regional Specialty, and retired as a Brittany
Junior after winning Best Junior Handler at the 2002 American
Brittany Club National Specialty.
Melissa has handled many
AKC Breeds toward AKC conformation awards and placements (i.e WD, WB, BOW,
BOS, BOB, BISS, and Group Placements). The various AKC Breeds that
Melissa has handled include: Sporting Group: Brittany, Golden
Retriever, English Setter, Gordon Setter, Irish Setter, Black Cocker
Spaniel, Ascob Cocker Spaniel, Parti Color Cocker Spaniel;
Hound Group: Standard Smooth Dachshund, Ibizan Hound;
Working Group: Alaskan Malamute, BullMastiff, Great Pyrenees,
Standard Schnauzer; Toy Group: Chinese Crested,
Japanese Chin, Papillon, Pekingese, Pomeranian, Pug;
Non-Sporting Group: Boston Terrier, Dalmation;
Herding Group: Australian Shepherd, Border Collie.
Melissa is available for
All Breed Handling at select shows (she is a full time college student) and can be reached for handling requests through this
website.
A gallery of conformation
handling pictures of dogs Melissa has handled over the years are shown
below. Please enjoy the pictures and notice the determination that
Melissa has displayed over the years while handling these dogs.
Conformation Handling
- Melissa Meyer - pictures
AKC CH Pt'd Gracious Glds Love On The Rocks -owners Goldenwind
Goldens Retrievers
AKC UKC CH Dogwood's Morning Star Miracle
AKC AM/CAN CH. Gldn Glows Sunny Serenade
AKC CH Summit Goldenwind High Caliber SDHF - owners
Goldenwind Golden Retrievers
AKC CH PT'd Slygo's
Time In A Bottle - owners Goldenwind / Slygo Golden Retrievers
AKC CH PT'd Slygo's Unchained Melody - owners Goldenwind / Slygo
Golden Retrievers
AKC CH PT'd Slygo's Bat Outta Hell - owners Goldenwind / Slygo Golden
Retrievers
AKC CH PT'd Goldenwind Take'em By
Storm) bred by Goldenwind Golden Retrievers
AKC CH PT'd Goldenwind Rock My World - owners Goldenwind Golden
Retrievers
CH Quantum Leap - co-owned by Melissa Meyer
AKC CH PT'd Peachcreek Why Not - co-owned by Melissa Meyer
Group Placing
AKC CH Brittstorm Crystal Clear - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
Group Winning, Multi-Group Placing, Best In Specialty Show
AKC CH Brittstorm Thunder N Lightning -owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
Group Winning, Multi-Group Placing, Best In Specialty Show
AKC CH Brittstorm Thunder N Lightning - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
Group Winning, Multi-Group Placing, Best In Specialty Show
AKC CH Brittstorm Thunder N Lightning - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
AKC Multi Best In ShowGroup Placing
AKC CH Acura's Blue Sage
AKC Multi-Best In Show AKC/ASCA CH Rainyday's Red Red Wine
Multi Group Placing Best In Specialty Show
INTL/AKC CH.Brittstorm U Askd For It
U Got It - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer AKC CH Blueridge's Ambren Express
(Melissa at 9 yrs old!!!)
AKC CH Brittstorm Lightning Flash - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer AKC CH Brittstorm National Debt - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
Multiple Group Placing
AKC CH Brittstorm National Weather Service - bred and co-owned by Melissa
Meyer
AKC CH Castle Brittstorm Lightning Bolt
AKC CH Brittstorm
Fahrvergnugen - bred by Melissa Meyer
AKC CH Brittstorm National Chip of Love
- bred by Melissa Meyer
AKC CH Brittstorm Clear Elegance - owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
AKC CH Brittstorm Clear And
Present Danger CD JH, RN - co-owned and bred by Melissa Meyer
AKC CH PT'd Cher-Gay Best Kept Secret
AKC CH Tejas' Venus Lacy SS - co-owed by Melissa Meyer
Melissa winning Best
Junionr Handler at
2001 GRCA National Specialty with AKC CH Tempo's Melissa winning Best
Junionr Handler at 2002 ABC National Specialty with AKC CH Triwin's
Joy To The World owned
by Melissa Meyer
Forget Me Not - co-owned by Melissa Meyer
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CH Tempo's Joy To The Word