about sue

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Sue has been married to her husband Roger for 22 years. It was their love of dogs that initially brought them together as they exchanged photos of their dogs. Corny I know but True. Our first breed together were two wonderful Airedale Terriers, Sophie and Toby, which following a bad experience at a grooming parlour we decided to groom ourselves. As time went on friends would ask us to keep their dogs tidy too.
Sophie and Toby came to fame with an article in the Dogs Today magazine where Sophie won Best Golden Oldie, but we lost her three months before the article was published. Sadly both Airedales have now passed on and, being irreplaceable, we decided to go for a totally new breed. Following a visit to the Discover Dogs stands at Crufts, 2001,we finally settled on Giant Schnauzers, which we now own, or rather they own us! http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/index.asp?newpage=discoverdogsshapeimage_3_link_0
Little did we think that 2 years later we would be manning up one of the same booths at Crufts on the Giant Schnauzer stand which we now have done for 3 years, to say nothing of catching the showing bug with Mr Otto, the first of our 3 Giants and incidentally the inspiration for our name Awesome Pawsomes as he most certainly was.
What followed then was a steep learning curve in the art of hand stripping and grooming to show standard of a Schnauzer, and some, but by no means all, of the intricacies and politics of the show ring to say nothing of the art of ringcraft. It was from her love of grooming Mr Otto for the show ring and her abiding passion for dogs that made Sue decide to join a 6 week residential course at one of the UK's Top Dog Grooming Salons in Shropshire in February 2003 to become fully trained and qualified in grooming all breeds of dogs with the view to opening up her own salon, giving up a highly paid professional job and career of 19 years in the process. Despite missing weeks 2 and 3 due to her father's death from a long battle with cancer, Sue went on to qualify with flying colours, coming top of her course, missing her distinction certificate by 3 marks. Sue will always owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sue and Kay her Tutors, and to Derek, Kate and the rest of the staff there , for keeping her on the course, and their huge support and encouragement in helping her through a very difficult time. By a strange quirk of fate Otto's first ever exemption show was held at her Training Centre 2 years before where he won Best Puppy in show. Little did she know then what was to come! Since qualifying Sue has gone on to open 2 Grooming Salon's, the first with a friend, but she now prefers to work from home, where she can spend more time with her own dogs, who often jostle for pole position over who gets to stay in the salon with MUM. Needless to say honours are equal most of the time.
Two years ago after much discussion and debate, we decided the time was right to branch into a smaller breed with our retirement years in mind, not that we are that old!. Rog has always wanted to breed dogs and as luck would have it we got in touch with some long time friends Cheryl and Dave who own the renowned home of Tibetan Terriers - Khados Kennels.http://www.khados.co.uk/shapeimage_6_link_0
Fate had in store for us the most wonderful Black Tibetan Terrier which we named Mylo, although we had gone there ostensibly for a foundation bitch. Little did we realise then the roller coaster ride that was to follow, and the new friends we were to meet, culminating in multiple first prize wins all over the
In 2008 we took out the Kennel name of AWEPAWS originally as our Tibetan Affix, but due to ‘Xtenuating ‘ circumstances we decided at the very last minute to register Zeta’s litter as AWEPAWS and were blessed with not only a wonderful maiden litter but fantastic owners of our Pups. 2008 also saw the sad loss of Mr Otto who after a short illness was diagnosed with Toe Cancer which was diagnosed too late to save him as it had spread to his brain and lungs and he was put to sleep in September
Sue and Rog are very knowledgeable about dogs, but are always keen to learn more, and through the show circuit know a lot of people in various breeds and have made many friends along the way. They are only too happy to help in all aspects of dogs if they can and if they can't they will usually know someone who can !!!
Sue also attends regular breed seminars on grooming as she is a firm believer that you can always learn more, and does not believe in resting on her laurels. She also loves gardening, but with 3 giants a lovely garden is just a dream as those of you with dogs will appreciate!! In November 2003, Sue attended and passed a Micro-chipping course to qualifying her to chip dogs, cats rabbits and of all things ferrets. She has experienced the loss of one of her Airedales-Toby who ran off from Roger when walking on one of the most awful rainy days back in the World Cup of 1990...we will never forget it. It was only by luck that as he was walking home to tell me the worst news ever that he had lost one of the dogs that a motorist stopped and said 'Do you know anybody who has lost one of those, pointing to Sophie, Micro chipping was not common then, but as we picked Toby up from Ray Dedicott's at Hollytrees Sanctuary at Wythall where she had rescued Toby too, I will never under estimate the value of having your dog chipped. Sue has also successfully completed a 2 day foundation course at the home of Jan Fennel in canine communication.http://www.hotfroguk.co.uk/Companies/Ray-Dedicoats-Hollytrees-Animal-Rescue-Trustshapeimage_10_link_0
FOREVER FRIENDS Sophie is our 14 year old Airedale Terrier and Toby is her devoted and inseparable 12 year old tyke - one of 13 pups from her one and only litter. Although neither of them can make the stairs anymore for their morning love in over tea and choccy biscuits in bed, they still have their fair share of treats and our leftovers and once even got the Sunday roast which is more than we did !
They share in everything we do and love the outdoor life - walking, bird watching, camping and caravanning - especially the BBQ’s. The hours they’ve spent outside the unit watching the world go by, chasing balls and being fussed and admired by all. Four years ago we nearly lost Sophie due to a mammary strip, followed six weeks later by an infected womb and hysterectomy and three minor strokes after that. Feeling sorry for her we allowed her cuddles on the sofa and yes, you’ve guessed it - ‘Creature Comforts Rule!’ and we ended up sitting on the floor! Despite all her health problems she still remains the same loyal, soft, affectionate, adorable and at times belligerent dog she’s always been, ably assisted by Toby. She’s just slower, less boisterous and sleeps more! Most recently urinary incontinence has been a major problem and to a lesser extent the other - believed to be due to spinal arthritis and pressure on the nerves supplying the bladder and rectum. Thank goodness for wooden floors, mops, modern washing machines and tumble dryers, doggie duvets, Rimadyl (her medication}, George the vet, the fact that she is no longer able to get up onto the sofa or upstairs onto the bed and for friends who have had a lot to contend with!. But despite it all she is still happy with life. She still has an unfailing nose for food and will guard a crumb all night long, is still game for those much shorter walks now and still gets up to greet us when we get home at all times of the day and night. She loves a fuss and a cuddle and being told that she is the bestest girlie in the whole wide world. All her doggie peers have either passed away or are old and grizzled now, but this is one old lady who doesn’t look her age and I am sure she is eligible for that telegram!. This article was published in The Dogs Today magazine in July 2001 when she won the first prize of a delicious Dog Cake for the best Golden Oldie. Unfortunately we lost her in the April, so Toby had the cake all to himself.
country. Our thanks and gratitude go out to Cheryl and Dave and to Jude who did most of the early handling, Glyn, Maggie and Chris, Roy and Anita to name but a few. The Giants took this little guy into their hearts and home and he quickly took over all our lives and despite many noisy nights and hours of brushing, our hearts. Mylo has now been joined by Kofi our Foundation bitch who has also taken the house by storm. TT’s are often refered to as Little People and they are certainly little characters!