In December a year ago, Brandi Lewis’ Irish Setter, Vivian, had just a litter of puppies when Brandi got a call from a person who needed Irish Setter puppies for a commercial.
The problem: the person needed puppies that were eight weeks old, not newborn, and needed them right away.
But that didn’t mean the Vivian and her pups missed out on their shot in show business.
On Dec. 16, Eleanor Lewis, 11, will be showing Vivian in the 2023 American Kennel Club National Championship in Orlando, Florida. Eleanor’s brother, Elijah, 13, also qualified for the Juniors division of the AKC show, where he will be showing his pug, Edison.
Elijah and Eleanor, who live west of Clinton and go to Holy Rosary Catholic School, are two of five students chosen from Missouri to compete in the championship, which will draw 158 junior handlers, ages 9 to 18, from across the United States.
Unlike AKC shows, the Juniors in the competition are judged by the showmanship of the handler, not confirmation to breed standards of the dog. The Junior handlers will be competing for scholarships ranging from $5,000 to $2,000 for first through fourth place, and $500 scholarships for all finalists. Sponsored by Royal Canin, a French company that makes dog and cat food, the show will be Dec. 16 and 17 at the Orange County Convention Center.
“It will be televised on the AKC tv channel,” Brandi said.
Brandi Lewis, Elijah and Eleanor’s mother, started breeding Irish Setters at the family’s property, north of Hwy. 18 west of town, in order to have proven championship breeding stock. She has been competing in shows for the past three years, she said, and is treasurer of the Sedalia Kennel Club, the closest AKC club to Clinton. Brandi, who grew up in Appleton City, is an account manager at Mike Keith Insurance in Clinton in addition to running Sunshine Setters.
“Sunshine was the nickname my grandmother called me,” Brandi said, referring to Bessie Woolery, who lives in Appleton City.
Brandi’s parents, Jim and Lee Neal of Appleton City, are flying to Orlando to join the family and watch them compete in the AKC shows, she said.
Sunshine Setters is located on the Henry County farm where Brandi’s spouse, Danny Lewis, grew up. Danny is the water treatment plant supervisor in Clinton. On Dec. 9, he and Brandi will be driving Elijah and Eleanor to Orlando, along with Vivian, Edison and Vivian’s pup Fletcher, who will be in travel crates. The Lewises are packing the dogs’ favorite treats, string cheese and cubes of boiled chicken. When they get to Orlando, they are renting a Bed and Breakfast with a fenced backyard, Brandi said.
Fletcher is going because Brandi is showing him in the AKC Puppy Stakes and breeders’ competition during the week of AKC events. With travel days, they’ll be gone a total of ten days, so Elijah and Eleanor will miss the Christmas program and the last week of second semester classes at Holy Rosary. Their older brother, who graduated from Clinton High School last spring, will hold the fort at home, including looking after Estelle, Georgia and Scarlet, the family’s other Irish setters, plus Elijah’s pug Penny and Hazel, a Bernese Mountain Dog.
“Penny and Hazel are pets,” Brandi said.
Penny used to be Elijah’s show dog, he said, competing in 4-H shows in obedience, rally and agility. Both Elijah and Eleanor participate in 4-H Cool Cats club in Pettis County. Competing in the AKC National Championship, however, takes their showmanship skills to a whole other level.
“It’s very competitive,” Brandi said.
Like handlers in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, junior handlers dress up for the AKC Championship— Eleanor wears a skirt suit or dress, she said, and Elijah will wear a suit and tie. They enter the ring with the dog running alongside them on a lead. Then each handler does what is called “stacking,” which is arranging the dog in a standing position that displays its form to the best advantage to the judge.
“Eleanor has to hold Vivian’s tail out,” Brandi said. “Elijah has to hold the pug so that its tail is curled correctly over its back.”
Eleanor, who has been showing dogs since she was 9 years old, says she doesn’t get nervous, depending on the size of the show, but probably will be for the AKC National Championship.
Vivian, however, loves being in shows, Eleanor said —the hardest part for the dog is standing still. Keeping Edison’s attention focused is the most challenging part of showing the pug, said Elijah, who has been competing in shows since he was 11.
Raising and showing dogs in a way of life for the family, Brandi said. They travel to shows about once a month, she said, usually on weekends within a half-day drive. But occasionally, they venture farther afield. Last spring, Brandi and Eleanor took Vivian to Lexington, Kentucky, to compete in the Irish Setters Club of America’s 50th anniversary show.
In October, Brandi and Elijah flew with Edison to a show in Virginia Beach, Virginia, she said.
Besides being show dogs, the puppies’ star qualities are reflected in their names. Vivian, who is 4 years old, was named for the main character in the Julia Roberts movie, “Pretty Woman.” So Brandi gave Vivian’s litter a Julia Roberts theme, naming the pups for other characters in her movies. Fletcher, for example, is named for Mel Gibson’s character in “Conspiracy Theory.”
Another of Vivian’s litter, Georgia, took Best of Opposite Sex (of the Best in Show winner)/Beginner Puppy at an Irish Setter Club of America show. If Fletcher takes first place in the All-Breed Puppy Stakes in Orlando, he’ll bring home a check for $1,000.
Estelle, whose name means star, is the fourth female Irish Setter at Sunshine Setters. Born two years ago on Christmas Ever in New Bethlehem, Penn., Estelle is an AKC Grand Champion.
Vivian is an international star in dog circles, being an IABCA (International All Breed Canine Association) Champion, an AKC Grand Champion, and a UKC (United Kennel Club) Champion. Edison is also an AKC Grand Champion and a UKC Champion.
Irish Setters were bred as hunting dogs before the use of firearms to work the open fields of Ireland. They used their sense of smell to locate game birds for hunters working with falcons and nets, then “set” to indicate the find. The popularity of Irish Setters peaked in the United States in the 1960s and ‘70s after the 1962 Disney movie, “Big Red,”came out, Brandi said, but they are not common in this area.
“A lot of people say they had an Irish Setter when they were kids,” Elijah said.
The Setter’s reddish-brown coat requires regular brushing. Eleanor must rinse Vivian’s coat daily and apply conditioner and oil to her feathers or furnishings, as the long fringe on the Setter’s ears, chest, skirt (stomach), legs and tail are called.
Eleanor also plays basketball with the Clinton Parks and Recreation department, and keeps up her grades at school. To qualify for the AKC Junior National Championships, handlers must have a GPA of 3.0 or better, and five first-place wins in an open class of an AKC show. Both Elijah and Eleanor said that when they grow up, they would like to be professional dog handlers.
Eleanor said she would also like to own her own business and be an Irish Setter breeder. She has already chosen a “Taylor Swift” theme for Vivian’s next litter, tentatively scheduled for next summer.
“They’ll be named for her songs, and for some of her albums,” Eleanor said of the puppies.
Junior competitors in the AKC Championship are divided into three age groups and three classes, novice, open and master. Elijah and Eleanor are in the open class, but aspire to the master class, Elijah said.
For more information about Sunshine Setters, go the Sunshine Setters Facebook page or sunshinesetters.com. Email address is sunshinesetters@gmail.com.
