Page 142 - K9 News - Issue 15 - March2021

Ffion Thomas

My name is Ffion Thomas, and I am 19 years old. I have been involved in the showing world for
around 12 years, and have loved every minute of it! It all started with my dad buying a Weimaraner
for my mum as a present in 2004, which made our family instantly fall in love with the breed. A few
years later, we welcomed our first show dog into the family, Tomi, Gunalt Pi in the Sky. I can still
remember the first time I handled him when I was seven years old. I definitely wasn’t strong enough
as he dragged me out of the ring when we were doing our ‘triangle’! My mum would always have to
hide whenever I showed him, as he would do everything he could to get to her! Although I struggled
to control him, my enthusiasm never faded. My parents thought it would be a sensible idea for me
to get a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, so that I
could learn the ropes in the handling, whilst mum
continued to show Weimaraners in the breed.

Handling a smaller breed definitely helped me
gain confidence as a young handler, and I owe so
much to the JHA and YKC organisations for the
confidence they have helped me gain over the
years. I couldn’t believe how fortunate I was to win
my age category in the YKC handling at Crufts
in 2012, and was also runner up Welsh Junior
handler of the year, handling my CKCS Patsy,
Clentview Patsy. Since 2012, I have been placed
in the handling at Crufts 5 times, handling both
Weimaraners and CKCS. Patsy and I have made a
great team over the years, and we won the JHA Toy
Semi Finals in 2015 and 2016, where we placed 5th

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K9 NEWS DIGITAL / MARCH 2021