People In Poms
The Pom Reader October 2000

Hello, and welcome to SunGlo Pomeranians, owned and loved by Dan & Tammee Felix. We are located in beautiful San Diego California. We are excited that Sharon & Benson invited us to do a "People in Poms" visit. We hope that you enjoy your time with us.

It was in about 1994 when we made the decision to add another companion to our home. We decided that something smaller would be best. We already had my old "canhardly" (can hardly tell what he is), & a Doberman. I have always had bigger dogs, and Dan had Dobermans. While glancing through the paper, I saw an ad for Pomeranian Puppies. They were cute & I thought small (coming from big dogs). Oh if only I'd known. We came home with "Odie". Shortly after Odie came Brandi. These two Pomeranians have grown to well over 12lbs. Although they do not meet the Pomeranian standard, they serve the purpose for which they were intended, they are wonderful companions, and we love them.

We both love dogs and had always attended the annual SilverBay Kennel Club Dog Show each February, 1996 was to be no different, or was it? Since we had added this new & wonderful breed, we decided to watch the Pomeranians. You can imagine our surprise when these tiny beautiful little creatures pranced into the ring. My husband was in trouble, I wanted one of those!!! We met Fern Rodrigues of Sun Ray Kennels. It wasn't long after the show, we were at her home to pick out a puppy. I became very intrigued with the idea of showing. I wanted one to "get our feet wet". Looking back, I'm sure we were a breeders "worst nightmare". We had no experience in showing and no intentions of breeding (or so we thought). Fern was very nice to us, and she introduced us to all her Pom friends, who have always been so nice & helpful to us. We've never forgotten how lucky we were to come into this as we did.

We left Fern's home with Sun Ray's It's Ms Sabrina T'U. she is a sweet orange bitch. I had never owned anything so small & full of so much energy & love. Sabrina quickly became a "momma's girl" and Dan nicknamed her "Chee" short for Chee-Ona which is Spanish for crybaby. I couldn't leave the room without her. Sabrina is a lovely bitch with a wonderful personality. Everyone who meets her loves her. Unfortunately Sabrina does not carry enough coat to be competitive in the ring.

About a year after Sabrina, we got Tanner from Fern for me to show. He is a little taller on leg. With me being short, I made him look taller than he was. It was suggested that we have Dan show him because Dan is tall. Well that was all she wrote!!! I haven't been back into the ring since. Except to occasionally help out. I am now considered "Kennel Help"…ha ha ha. Dan loves to show the poms. He does a wonderful job. He never gets nervous. He has an amazing amount of confidence, which goes right down the lead to the pom. We have some top handlers in our area. Dan doesn't get intimidated. He just presents our poms at their best. I sometimes forget how lucky I am to have a husband who enjoys this as much as I do. It's nice to have a "buddy" to travel with.

In November 1997, Blanche Rider had a littler of puppies. I was told her had an orange sable show/brood bitch. I wanted that puppy, sight unseen. I felt she would be a good foundation bitch for us to start with. The only problem, I had convinced myself that Blanche would never sell us a puppy. I finally got up the nerve to call her regarding the litter. She told me to come over right away. She had someone coming out the next day, and she wanted us to have first choice. Dan bought me Sunray Rider's Samantha Rose, as a birthday gift. Blanche put Fern's kennel name on the litter also. Fern had become ill with cancer and Blanche wanted her kennel name to continue. Samantha has wonderful movement and a pretty face. She would not only go on to be our second Champion, but a beautiful producer, wonderful mother, and most importantly a terrific companion and "snuggle buddy". She's an "All American Girl".

February 1998 Fern gave us the Pomeranian she had in the ring at that time. Sun Ray's Sun Fire. Fire was being shown by Mr. Allan Chambers, and he finished quickly. He will always be special to us. He was our first champion, and the last "Sun Ray" Fern saw finish.

In May of 1998 we headed off to the City of Angels specialty. Dan handled Samantha. She won Best Puppy under sweepstakes judge Janet Lucido. We were so excited!!! We spoke with Allan Chambers about handling Samantha for us and he agreed. Their first weekend out she got a 3 point major. She was on her way. Samantha did take a brief maternity leave & then was back out in the ring. She finished February 2000.

The fall of 1998 turned into a sad season for us. Fern lost her battled with cancer, and passed away. But, in December things started looking up. What a Holiday Season we had. Sabrina had her first litter. Annaray Rhien came over to help us whelp her. How many friends can you count on that on Christmas Eve!!!! Dog people are the best!!! Sabrina had a litter of 2 boys & a girl. The day after Christmas, Samantha had her first litter, a boy & a girl. It was a puppy fest!!!

Samantha's litter would go on to be our first "Bred by" poms. We kept the bitch and named her SunGlo's Secret Desire. Secret is a typy little bitch, pretty cream sable, beautiful head and lovely outline. She is a wonderful little "stacker". The male is co-owned with a wonderful couple Bruce Economy & Andrea Rose, and us. They named him SunGlo's Sir Daniel Fortesque. He is an orange sable, short backed, with his mothers legs, and movement. Forty started his show career much later than Secret. He currently has a major & several singles.

Secret hit the rings as soon as she was old enough. Her 2nd weekend out she picked up a major and some singles. She won her second major a few months later. Secret just finished this weekend at the Santa Ana Kennel Club, which makes her our first HOME BRED CHAMPION!!! We won our first Best of Breed this April at the Simi Valley Kennel Club show with Forty. It was our first BOB, out of our first litter, handled by us. I am sure you can still see the glow from my smile!!! Not to be outdone by her littermate, Secret went BOB at Bahia Sur Kennel Club (over a lovely bitch special)l in June. The weekend of August 25th, 2000, Secret completed for her International Championship. Secret went BOB & Group3 one day. They also had a special "Bred by" competition, she went BOB Bred by each day, and went Reserve Best In Show Bred By one of the days.

The lines we started with were Sun Ray, Rider & Sungold. We would eventually like to bring in another line or two to compliment what we are currently working with. We also co-own a chocolate/white parti bitch with Annaray Rhien. Now, oranges & sables are my personal favorite, but there sure isn't much that is cuter than a parti puppy.

We do not have a kennel. We live in the city so we have to keep our numbers down. The poms live in the house with us. They are our "fur kids" first, and show dogs second. We probably have more spayed/neutered poms, than show/breeding poms. One of the bedrooms is set up as a "Pom room". This is where they are kept when we are not home. When we are home, however, the poms have run of the house.

We breed only a few litters each year trying to achieve our "ideal" Pomeranian. One that is competitive in the show ring, but also a wonderful companion. We both work full time, and we each have a great boss who understands how important the poms are to us & allow for flexibility when we have puppies due or shows. We had a girl who had to have a c-section this year. It worked out nice because Dan worked the morning shift & I worked the evening, so we had momma & babies covered for those first few days.

Puppies are whelped either in our bedroom or the pom room. We use playpens to keep the litters in. Once they are weaned, we set them up in the living room. This is where most of the activity in our house happens. We feel socialization is very important.

We have been members of the San Diego Pomeranian Club going on 5 years. We have such a wonderful "core" of people in this club. It is like a little family. Tammee is the current Vice President. Last year we joined the American Pomeranian Club, and also belong to several other dog clubs. Our advice to anyone new coming into the show ring is this. Do not begin with unrealistic expectations. Do not get discouraged if you're not winning in the ring, it takes time to learn how to groom/present your pom. Attend some handling classes if you have them available in your area. Watch how the others are presenting their poms, you can learn a lot from observing. Get with someone who grooms his or her poms to your liking. Ask them if you can hire them for some grooming lessons. I have found people very willing to help, but you have to ask. Remember, when starting out, everyone starts somewhere. As a dear friend always says to me "It's only a dog show". If your heart is truly in it, you'll get there!!!

We have been fortunate in the dog world. We have met wonderful people & made some dear friends. We'd like to take a quick moment to thank them. Fern Rodrigues of Sun Ray kennel. She is no longer with us, and we miss her. Annaray & Robert Rhien, such wonderful friends, not just in "Poms" but also in life. Allan Chambers & his varsity team, Bob, Donna & Leiko, thank you for always handling our poms so beautifully. We appreciate your friendship. Anna & Ray LaFortune, thank you for Tracy who taught us about whelping & never being more than a phone call away. Daniel & Margaret Ontiveros who are always so helpful to new "Pom People". The rest of our dear friends in poms, Karen, Donna, Cheri, Lana, Barbara, Alane, Tish & Orville (you've got to watch who he's "baiting" in the ring), Pauline, Gina and all the wonderful Southern California Pomeranian Exhibitors. We have such a great bunch of pom people here! Thank you for all of the laughes & your encouragement & support. Last, but certainly not lease, Blanche Rider. Blanche, Thank you so much for believing in us, and allowing us to have such a wonderful foundation bitch. Offering us support & encouragement and sharing your knowledge with us. We truly appreciate it.

When we look back on how quickly the last few years have gone by. We think of all the wonderful people we've met, and the friendships we cherish. If it all ended tomorrow, we would miss it, but we'd still be happy. It's been a blast!!! We look forward to many more years, more successes, and I'm sure some more disappointment, but we wouldn't change a thing!!!!

Take care, Tammee & Dan