NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I have recently received the Breed Record Supplement (Pastoral Group) for October /December 2024,the Supplements are published quarterly.For those of you who are not au fait with the publication, it gives Litter Registrations ,Change of Name, Transfer of ownership ,Importations, Stud Book entries, Champions and Challenge Certificate winners. On the health front it gives the results of dogs tested under Joint KC/BVA Schemes showing affected as well as clear, and in our case, those tested for Hereditary Cerebellar Ataxia, that are not hereditary clear due to being by AI. In this latest supplement it also gave the registrations for all the Pastoral Breeds over the last 9 years which I found really interesting .Some breeds have gone up like the Australian Shepherds from 131 in 2015 to 356 in 2024.The numbers in most of the breeds though have dropped with the biggest being GSDs from 7,783 in 2015 to 4,187 last year ,although possibly some may have been bred and just not registered by the KC,especially if they are not going to be shown .The Shetland Sheepdogs have also dropped from 963 to 529 .Many like the Buhunds have remained about the same our numbers vary from between 18 in 2016 to 20 last year, the only really low year was 2020 with 7 due to the pandemic, with a rise the following year to 25 puppies, with breeders having waited till the pandemic was over to breed . The Corgis are interesting as the Cardigan Corgis have had a steady drop from 124 in 2015 to 81 in 24 but the Pembroke have gone up from 366 in 2015 to nearly double 700 last year. There were 12 breeds lower than ours in 2024 with the Hungarian Pumi having the same as the Buhund with 20 puppies. This is interesting as in the previous 4 years the number of Pumi puppies born were in the 40s.We know that the numbers of dogs being shown is dropping ,why no one really knows, I am sure there are a variety of reasons, with cost being one of them, it is not just entry fees ,but fuel and overnight stops which are necessary more often now for the shows that are further away, due to possible traffic problems. In the past SKC and WKC were the only shows where I would stay the night before ,but now there are a number where I would travel to the day before especially if we are first in the ring, especially as shows often start at 9am rather than 10am as in the past. The RKC has over the years brought in various ways to help increase numbers at Open and Championship shows, such as allowing dogs to enter stakes class without being entered in the breed,and for Breed shows more recently classes for Champions, and still more recently Baby Puppy classes for puppies 4-6 months. Now it has just been announced that classes for Champions may be held at all Open and Championship if the show wishes, although Ch dogs do not have to enter them the can still be entered in Open .There have been mixed responses to this announcement, some feel that the less experienced judges may go for dogs entered in the Champions class, while for others who have more than one Champion it means that they can enter one in the Open and one in the Champion class, which personally I think may be why the RKC has brought it in. The FCI has had Championship classes for years and in some countries, dogs going forward for the CAC (CC) cannot come from the Champion class but can go forward for BOB.
On Saturday the 5th of April there was a family reunion, not for humans but a canine version, with dogs and their owners travelling from Cumbria North Yorkshire , Peterborough, London and Aldershot to Ferry Meadows, which is at the heart of Nene Park one of the largest country parks in the Peterborough area ,situated less than 3 miles from the city centre. It has meadows, lakes and woodland and the all-important café where the reunion ended with lunch. The family was that of Lilliam and Mike Rumsey’s Kata Syndattir Av Fjeldvidda At Wheatshade Imp NLD(Darcy)who came down from Cumbria with her daughter Wheatshade Iridium Sky( Hallie) to meet with other youngsters from her most recent litter, Sue and Paul Martin’s Wheatshade Crystals of Ice (Freya)and their Wolfen Dancing With Wolves (Ulfie),and the Alaskan Klee Kai Amka. Sarah Stonton who lives locally in Peterborough brought Wheatshade Snow Dreamer (Pixie ).These litter mates were born on 22nd March 2024 and are by Sarah’s Stonton’s Ch Arnscroft In Di Ana Jack L8Ex R2.Then from Darcy’s first litter born on the 10th November 2022 Julia and Anna Engstad brought Wheatshade Brada Hill (ai) (Arven)they live in London and from Aldershot Sharon and John Gover came with Wheatshade Earle Whin(Earle )and their Pomsky Smudge, the two litter mates are by Trollheimens JR Made For Cascilius. Lillian said all the dog behaved really well and enjoyed playing chase with dips in the streams to cool off.
I hope you are all enjoying the sunny weather and fabulous spring flowers that the sun has brought out in abundance.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com
Any 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