NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Depending on whether you read these notes on line or have a hard copy, Crufts will either be about to start, or is taking place. Last year covid was still on everyone’s minds and although it is certainly still around, it seems to be the weather that is the main concern with the threat of snow over the Crufts dates. The Beast from the East started in February in 2018 and I remember driving to Crufts with snow piled up at the road side, with several exhibitors just not being able to travel, so everything crossed that there is no repeat performance of 2018.
The overall entry this year is only a couple of a hundred short of prep pandemic levels, with an increase of overseas dogs up by 1,614 from last year. If you are showing, win or lose, we will all take the best dog home and being first in the ring it gives time for shopping afterwards! If you are not going but want to watch some of the activities, More 4 have early evening coverage with Channel 4 taking over later in the evening.
Being a numerically small breed Discover Dogs at Crufts is very important as a shop window for the breed, with many owners having first found the breed there, so very many thanks to those who have offered to man the breed booth over the four days, and of course to Lisa Strong for all the hard work she puts into setting it up and taking it down and looking after everything between DDs .It is tiring for owners and dogs alike but it is really is appreciated.DD and Bu Bumbles help to make sure that those interested in breed understand them before having a puppy.
We also have to thank Marie Corin for advertising the breed over the air waves, she writes -: “A couple of years ago at Discover Dogs in London, I bumped into a dog behaviourist and nutritionist Anna Webb. I recognised her as she has many media engagements talking all things dog related, including her own podcast ‘A Dog’s Life’, as well as being co-host on the long running ‘Barking Hour’ on BBC radio London, a weekly show which I have listened to for years. We got chatting and she met Bergen and I met Mr Blinks, her English Toy Terrier. We kept on touch via social media leading to Anna coming along to the Buhund ring at Crufts last year to record a quick chat for her podcast just before judging started. Then a few weeks ago, I had a message asking if I would like to go into the radio studio to have a short guest spot on the ‘Barking Hour’ in the lead up to Crufts. They wanted to talk someone who would be showing there this year and talk a little bit about what was involved. I never miss an opportunity to talk about Buhunds, so was delighted to take part. The studio is in Broadcasting House where the comedy show W1A was filmed, which I enjoyed when it was on TV. It was a lot of fun going into a live radio situation, with no prepared questions or rehearsals. Realising most of the audience would not know a Buhund,I did my best to explain a little bit about the breed, as well as talking about how dog showing works. I felt like I could have carried on for longer, but there were other guests coming on to talk about different dog topics so my time was up. I have since heard the ‘Barking Hour’ will be live from Crufts on the Sunday this year so I will see if we can get any more Buhund PR!” Thanks Marie the more PR the merrier.
One of the few subjects I was really interested in and good at in school all those years ago was History, and I have for many years been fascinated by Archaeology, not doing it myself but watching programmes where people dig for hours and then find a piece of pottery from Roman times, which tells them who probably used it and what for! I would probably have thought it was just a stone! I was therefore very interested to find a Face Book page ‘Secrets of the Ice’ about glacial archaeology in Norway. They say that with climate change they will lose 90% of the ice in the mountains in this century, and it is a race against time to find the artefacts that are now coming to light having been buried and preserved in the snow for years, which are messengers from the past. In the Lendbreen pass in Norway which was a Viking Trail, they have found thousands of artefacts including a skeleton of a dog with a collar and lead. The dog was carbon dated to 16th century AD. The bones showed it was an adult male about 50cm tall, with wear marks starting to show in the bones. One of the ribs had been broken and healed again. A selection of small bones collected at the same spot appeared to be the contents of the stomach, showing that the last meal the dog ate was fish. The DNA analysis of the dog’s teeth is ongoing and the archaeologists say it will be interesting to see how the dog relates to traditional Norwegian dog breeds. Having seen a picture of the skeleton of the dog it does not appear to have a curled tail, but with new discoveries all the time it is very possible that bones that could be from a Buhund or Elkhound will be found.
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