NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Last week I told you how I came to have my first Buhund. Having shown horses who were all registered with their various breed societies it seemed natural to join the Norwegian Buhund Club, and in due time a show schedule arrived. I thought it would be fun to show Okie Wolfen Just In Time) who was just 6months old, so he was entered in minor puppy. It was a long time before I realised that perhaps it was not the best idea to go to the breed championship show, the first time you show your dog apart from exemption shows may years earlier, particularly when it is the club’s 25th Anniversary show! I was met by Sue Sercombe who owned Okie’s sire, she was horrified that I had never shown a dog before (I thought it cannot be much different from showing horses!) Sue kindly gave me a showing lesson. Okie was 2nd which of course qualified him for Crufts, but I did not realise, so the next year Debbie and I went and watched. I continued to go to open shows if we were not showing the horses and became more and more hooked. I had made several friends in the breed, and they suggested that I should start showing at Ch shows with CCs. I chose Southern Counties when it was held at Ifield Wood near Crawley and Gatwick Airport.
I still remember standing at the gates of the show and thinking what do I do now! A kind person told me how to find the Buhunds, over the years since then I have had people ask me how to find their breeds. Okie won PG and this time I knew he had qualified for Crufts. I was really hooked on dog showing and decided to leave the showing the horses to Debbie, who had to have a quick lesson in horse box driving, we also had to change horse boxes to a slightly smaller one, as I had an HGV licence.
Okie won his first RCC when he was 3 1/2yrs and gained his crown just after his 4th birthday. In 1994 I gave the Elkhound Fullani Silent Thought (Harmar, so called as he was born during the winter Olympics in Norway) to my husband as a 30th wedding anniversary present, so would often go to shows on Pastoral and Hound days. We also had great fun doing the Irish Munster Circuit with the late Elisabeth Coleopy her daughter Treena Maun (who has the Bowerhinton Elkhounds) the late Gail Hussey and Sue Sercombe. Both Okie and Harmar gained their Irish titles to add to their UK ones. Okie sired 2 litters and the successes of these puppies gave him the title one year of ‘Top Sire’, I kept one of the puppies Fullani Flekkefjord born in 2004.
I also had three trips to Norway, one was a holiday with Elisabeth, Treena and the late Margaret Harper (Ravenstone Elkhounds) we went to some shows and visited Elkhound & Buhund Breeders, staying with one who took us round to see Buhunds on farms. Later we went to a show held at Harmar in December. That year they had a display of Norwegian Breeds which included a number of Buhunds. I found it very interesting that their Black Buhunds were still very black right into old age, as in the UK they tend to go frosted. In 1999 I had the great honour of being invited with Elisabeth to Halden to the 60th anniversary dinner of the NBC of Norway, this was held in a castle, with a show held the following day in the castle grounds, and they even played the National Anthem in our honour!
Then in 2001 came pet passports. I had Okie, Flekke our young Elkhound Krisen (Hamar’s son) and Gilbey Debbie’s Papillion vaccinated against rabies, and in due course they had their passports so that we could go to the World show in Amsterdam. Flekke won the CAC(CC)and the CACIB (the International CC) and Krisen the RCAC, but it was Okie’s day, he won VB which gave him a qualification to the Veteran Spitz group in the main ring. A full group has 55 breeds and although not every breed was represented it was still a full ring. Okie was 3rd which gave him a place on the podium a large cup and numerous photos taken by the World’s canine press. When we left the ring, we had cheers from the British supporters in the audience. The next year we went to the World show in Dortmund, there Flekke and Krisen were both BOB and Okie BV. Later that year at show in Belgium Okie was BV all breeds on the first day of the show. Okie had an amazing career as he also did Obedience and Agility and at the age of 14yrs he won all but one veteran class he entered including Crufts. He lived till he was 16 1/2.yrs. Flekke was the first UK Buhund to gain his International Title and is still the only dog to have the title, Brenda Bethell’s bitch Lux/Ir Ch Arnscroft Glad Di Ola at Minforst also has her Int Title. Flekke became a UK, Dutch, Belgium, German and Luxembourg Ch. He also managed two group placings at shows in Germany and was RBIS at a Spitz show in Holland where Krisen was BIS.
Fullani Finnsmark the grandson of Flekke joined us in 2004 he gained 3 RCCs but as one judge said to me, he is lovely dog just too big! at six months he looked stunning but forgot to stop growing but like Okie and Flekke he enjoyed doing agility.
In 2007 Tonylynn’s Charles Laiffte came home, the fun Debbie and I had with him over the years is well documented, and I still cannot really believe he is no longer with us. My one real regret in the breed is Trelowen Ancorya who was Finn’s grandson he joined us in 2011.He was a lovely dog not the best Buhund as his tail was not his fortune, but he was a sweetie and loved doing things. He gained his Gold Good Citizen when he was 6 months (Dogs now must be a year). He was in our Obreedince Team and nearly always had full marks for his ‘Go To Bed Exercise’, he also did Agility and Rally. He had 3 clear eye tests but hated having it done so I decided not to continue with them, which to this day I regret as in July 2017 his pupils suddenly became very large, an emergency visit to an eye specialist diagnosed an eye infection that can also affect humans, he had steroids and antibiotics but was not enough to stop him going blind. If I had continued with his eye test the problem would have been picked up earlier, as his behaviour belied that there a problem as the progression was very slow. I started doing Scent Training with him as it is something you can do with a dog that has disabilities, he loved it and was 2nd in his first and only trial. Sadly a few days later he was not well, and extensive veterinary tests diagnosed stomach cancer, and he was put to sleep 4 weeks later, a week before Christmas 2018, he was only 7 yrs old.
I was not planning on having another puppy as David had had a couple of serious health issues and with Kiki being blind.
There was a litter born in September 2018, however that I was going to follow, by Ch Kormandel Best Served Cold at Knytshall x Kirsty Irvine’s Kimura’s Vera with Tapui (Imp Nor) her Great Great Grandfather was Kirsty’s Ch /Nor/Swe Ch Tapui Tane and his Grand Father was my Okie. Lorraine Bolton had whelped the litter for Kirsty. When they were 4 weeks old I had a message from Lorraine to say one of the dog puppies had become available, and was I interested? After some discussion with David we decided we could cope with a puppy. Very sadly, just a couple of weeks after Rikarlo Gable (Time) joined us we lost Kiki, just as he and Time were starting to play together. We had a lot of fun showing Time before Coronavirus and he has been a joy during lockdown.
I have met so many lovely people and made some great friends over the years, and Okie started it all.
Stay safe everyone.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com
The views expressed in Margaret’s Breed Notes are hers and hers alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Norwegian Buhund Club of the UK.