VIPEON’S BEIJING EXPERIENCE

It all began at a ABKC in Italy. We were invited by our Italian family, Guido and Simona. It’s always a pleasure to share moments with them. They are like part of my family. At the show, I met Jhon Enerva who, to me, is one of the judges to know. We talked with each other the entire day. Don’t ask me how we understood each other as He is from the Philippines and I am from Spain. We talked about the type of dog that should be evaluated in the ring and the type of dog that we need in this breed. We talked about how we need certain dogs in the breed that perhaps in the ring are not the best but without them we would lose a lot of qualities of the American Bully. We understood each other perfectly and quickly formed a friendship. These days, we talk with each other all the time, but we hardly ever see each other. Despite the distance that keeps us apart we continue to have things in common. One day, during one of our chats, the name Nan came up. Enerva told me that I should see this man because we have very similar ideas about what really makes a true American Bully. So we got in touch with each other and soon we began having long conversations about what we wanted to breed, in what direction we could take our ‘bully game’ and how we could work with our dogs to get the dog that we had in our minds. We shared a vision of a dog that took years to take form because we were always looking to tweek one more trait. We know that the perfect dog doesn’t exist. Each time we try to get that dog we envision we lose something. Despite the reality we have never lost that vision that gives us passion to breed.

Back in 2009-2010 I would watch videos of West coast Gottiline dogs like Aceline, Black Ace, Knockout, Romeo, Gorilla black. I would think ‘one day I will achieve a dog like that. What remarkable dogs.’ In my opinion, I’ve seen improvement in the Dali litters that I’ve worked on. However, I’m am not completely satisfied. I am very sure that the line can be improved on in many respects.

Nan and I became good friends. In the begging we dreamed of doing things together (everything is very complicated because China, aside from being far away, does not allow animal exchanges). Now, we have made decisions based on our blind faith we have in each other. More opportunities come our way. We never know if they will turn out good or bad. Yet, we always put down our best bet that all that we have can be better.

We always talked about visiting each other. The long flight was something that held me back. It was Juanele’s excitement to record a trip to China that changed my mind. So, I packed my bags and, along with Juanele, made the trip to China. You can see the excitement and entire experience in our documentary ‘Vipeons Experience in Beijing.’

Thanks to my friend Jiang, I have realized that I have a lot to learn from them and their culture. In a lot of respects Chinese culture more intelligent than ours (Spanish culture). Vipeon sold Jiang Nocilla. She is two time Dali inbred. In a split decision Cacique came along too. He was treated very well in Beijing. He was much calmer compared to the tornado he is in Spain. Jiang had a lot of confidence in the dog, but even still, he did not open up to us until a few days after our first visit. He showed me one of Cacique’s pups. She is absolutely precious. She has a beautiful chocolate coat. I gave him my sincere congratulations. Much to my surprise, just before our trip ended, he asked me if I would do the honor of naming that puppy. I’m not sure if you all understand the importance of that gesture. It was a privilege that made me feel happy and proud. I didn’t have to think about it much. I had a name in my head that I had been wanting to use for a special dog. I remember that Nan and I were in Jiangs car. Nan said ‘please, let it be a name that is short and easy for us to pronounce not like ‘Pajarita’ or ‘Cacique’.’ The three of us burst out laughing. The name that I had in my head was CAPITAN(I don’t know why but many people call me that). It was just what they wanted; short, simple, and easy to pronounce. I am pround to say that it was me who named ‘CAPI’. I am sure that Jiang will have a precious successor to the king of his house, Vipeon’s Cacique.

As I mentioned before, we have a lot to learn from Chinese breeders. I thought that we knew each other well through our talks and that we both felt comfortable with each other. He even trusted me enough to buy a few dogs. I was surprised that it took a while for them to open up to us. They treated us very well since day one. However, that trust that we Spanish are well know for, that, at times, cause us problems was not how they socialized. Sometimes our (Spanish culture) openness can lead us down the wrong path. Most times this way of being causes us to hold ourselves and others to high expectations with the result that we feel guilty when those expectations are not met. It makes me think that maybe we should have studied more, thought twice about with whom we talk to and sit down at the table. I wonder how we would be if it were easier for us to say like they did ‘ stop, little by little, everything clear.’ There was no talk about ‘I owe you or you owe me’ not one ‘I’ll help you because I’m going to try and take something away from you later on.’ After seeing how they interacted with associates I thought to myself ‘maybe we would have avoided many bad situations at BULLYGAME if we were more like Jiang and Nan. Perhaps we wouldn’t have the reputation as the ‘bad boys’ with dogs. I start to think of all the people that would come to us wanting to make our family bigger. I had a realization while I was in China: we live as if we are in our own world and we are all on separate paths. So, when we are diving along the road and another car beeps at us to merge into the lane, its not to cut us off or make us angry, rather the other car is letting us know that weather we were expecting it or not they are merging into traffic and we can sart a war or accept their presence and move along.

During 7 days we lived as they do in China and leared about their culture and customs. We visited emblematic places like the great city of Beijing and of course we visited lots of outstanding dogs. We had enough time for everything including strengthening the connection that Nan and I have. It was a very special experience that you will be able to see in the documentary.

It was a great trip and we can’t wait to go back! Now it’s Nan’s turn to come to Spain and try octopus (typical Galician dish) and to get to know about our customs. Maybe if there is enough time we will see some mutts as well. This is an exclusive look for our readers. You can see it all in the video ‘VIPEON’S EXPERIENCE IN BEIJING’. We hope that you like it!