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For Anne Olejniczak, Dogs, Writing, and Life are all One Day at a TimeByMark Anderson
Anne, who qualified six times for Westminster as a Junior Handler, didn't mean to get into dog showing, it just sort of happened. When she was seven, her father was transferred. To make the move easier (it was a bribe, really), her parents agreed to let her breed her Lhasa. So they found Jolene Cazzola, a breeder in Chicago, who introduced Anne and her mom to the dog show world. Anne Olejniczak (pronounced "Ol-eh-NEE-chak") talks about her experiences in her book, Best Junior Handler! A Guide to Showing Successfully in Junior Showmanship, which was just released by Doral Publishing. In it, she gives some "tricks of the trade"--like free baiting and the importance of always knowing where the judge is--that helped her become a winner. She hopes her experiences will benefit other Junior Handlers. One of the most important subjects that she stresses is demonstrating that you have a genuinely good relationship with your dog; an aspect that a judge once told her gave her the win, even when she felt she didn't deserve it. In "The Finer Points," one of her favorite chapters, she talks about all the little creative things she learned over the years that go beyond basics, because sometimes it's the little things that can give you the win. Anne feels her book can be especially beneficial to Juniors because it's been over three years since a Junior Handlers book has been put out so some of the information out there is out-dated. Her book is also unique because its a textbook approach to Juniors and avoids the who's-who approach some handler books take. One of Anne's earliest memories of showing was being grabbed by a woman who had an open bitch due in the ring but who has also had a six-month-old puppy who'd won her class and needed to be taken in. So Anne agreed to do it and promptly took reserve with the puppy. "I still laugh about that," said Anne, now a junior at Oakland College. "I thought I had won a gold in the Olympics ...I ran back to the grooming area dragging this poor puppy and waving the ribbon at my mom. I was a goofy kid, but I was hooked." Anne describes herself as a less-than-an-ideal student, often stubborn and headstrong, but credits her mother, who is a dog show judge, with helping to develop her strengths and overcoming her weaknesses. A strong addition to the book was the chapter for parents, written by her mother, Denise. Parents often don't realize all the stress involved: stress on the kids, on the dogs, and on themselves. Her mother talks about all the driving they'll have to do, the standing at ringside, the consoling they'll do if they lose, and the importance of keeping their child's feet on the ground if they win. Originally, Anne's goal was to be a jockey, since she loves horses equally as much as she loves dogs but realized at age twelve that she was going to be too tall. Taking it all in stride, she set her sights on becoming a writer. Now at nearly 6'2", her dreams of being a jockey are over but she can always write about one if she wants. "That's the beauty of fiction. It not only allows the reader to become anyone but the writer as well." Anne says that writing her book proved to be a little harder than she'd first thought. She'd written some articles for The Lhasa Apso Reporter, but this was her first book-length non-fiction. She wrote all but three of the chapters. It wasn't easy. "I thought it would be really quick and easy to put together because I had all the knowledge in my head." Instead, she found herself creating outlines, sorting through photographs and deciding which ones to include, and doing a lot of careful planning. "It's not as easy as people think." When asked what advice she would give to prospective Junior Handlers, she said, "First, always treat your dog right. It's a team sport and without him you don't go anywhere. Secondly, enjoy it." After her years in competition, Anne feels strongly about the attitude of many handlers, both juniors and adults. She feels there is currently too much emphasis placed on winning. There's always plenty of time for winning but Juniors should also enjoy it, and while winning is obviously the ultimate goal of any sport, it should never come at an expense. "The real reason for dog shows has gotten lost and that is the dog." Anne feels people fail to realize just how much stress the dog goes through during a show. They know how tired they are after a long dog show weekend, "but do they ever stop and think that the dog feels the same if not worse?" Anne would like to see the dogs become the focal point of showing again. "Too many young dogs burn out and it's sad. There's nothing more pitiful than a broken spirit and that's exactly what happens. The dog is never the same again." Anne plans to pursue her writing career and wants to obtain her bachelor's in English and probably her masters but hasn't made any plans beyond that. "I feel like I'll be going to school until I'm 900 years old." For now, she doesn't have any plans to have her own kennel or to turn pro but does want to show her own dogs and enjoys doing so. "I have hopes of importing an Irish Setter. That's something I want to pursue and I have a little male Lhasa I would like to play with as a special after he finishes. Other than that, I pretty much take it one day at a time."
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