Norwegian Buhund

Breed Notes 13th April 2018 Margaret Deuchar

NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS

I hope you have seen the lovely advert in the ‘Our Dogs Crufts 2018 UK and International Winners supplement’ published with this week’s ‘Our Dogs’, as well as great photos of the Crufts winners it is also a great advert for the breed.

The weather has improved over the last few days although still wet at times and the temperature has risen, although not before many outside events were cancelled, not just over the Easter Weekend but also the following one. One agility show was told it could not use the ground in Essex where it was booked for a two-day show, the secretary did not give up and after phoning 40 venues just 48hrs before the show she found one, a permanent showground in Leicestershire. Now anyone who organises any kind of show knows it is not just a case of informing all the competitors, there are the judges, trade stands and very often the toilets although as here it was a permanent showground that was probably not the case. Equipment with an agility show is the largest thing that is needed, most clubs have one set of equipment but hire the rest, you do not have to be good a geography to know that there is quite a distance between the far side of Essex to Leicestershire, so get the show organised on the new showground and start on time was definitely quite a feat. Competitors were very supportive and apparently the ground was perfect. The organisers even offered a full refund to anyone who was unable to travel the extra distance.

Those that have really suffered from this winter and late spring are of course the farmers, many have lost animals especially sheep and lambs, as the snow and bitterly cold weather came just as lambing had started. Having been to agricultural college and having had connections with farms and farmers for years, and also having had horses I know only too well the problems freezing weather can cause, never mind when there is heavy snow as well especially when there are also high winds causing blizzard conditions. Now it is the rain causing trouble with crops under water in flooded fields, or too wet to be planted. There is a rumour that next week things will improve, fingers and toes crossed.

Debbie Penniston-Fleming who has a has a small farm in the hills North of Glasgow over looking Loch Gare, her ewes had just started lambing when the snow arrived. She managed to get all the sheep in to the barn which was just as well, as they were snowed in for four days. There are always lambs that need help but Debbie has a very helpful assistant Shepherdess in the form of Us Ch Arctridge Kaylee Topaz, bred in the US by the late Brenda Solomon she came to the UK in 2012 with GCH Us Ch Vision’s Dino of Trolleimen, Casper to his friends, he became a top show dog in the UK gaining his UK crown and being BOB at Crufts three years running, as well as adding to the gene pool and being top stud in the breed for several years. Kaylee on the other hand became Debbie’s top pest control officer for most of the year, only changing roles during lambing. Debbie has had some lambs that needed extra care, she was also asked to help out a local farmer who had fallen ill and was not being able to look after his orphan lambs. One lamb really needed help, it was nearly 8kg it would have been a big single but was one of twins and did not move an hour after being born, Kaylee and the aga in Debbie’s kitchen made the difference and now it is running with its twin. Kaylee had a litter in the US and one over here, her maternal instinct is obviously very strong and she thinks she is foster mum to the lambs, she cleans the lambs up and allows them to cuddle up to her. Debbie says the aga in her kitchen and Kaylee are her special needs unit for lambs. Debbie sent me a lovely video of a lamb that was brought to her so weak that she thought it would die. Kaylee again did the trick but the lamb is still not strong enough to live out in the barn with the other lambs, just going out for a play and a little socialising with them, immediately she sees Kaylee she follows  her back to the kitchen so that they can cuddle up together .I think the lamb may grow up thinking she is a Buhund!

Finishing on a rather sad note it is a year now since Lesley Butterworth lost her Finn in the sand dunes near her home in Formby. In spite of a reward being offered, search parties when he was lost and posters and social media being flooded with pictures of him, there have been no sightings. On the other hand a 5 month old French bull dog puppy who was stolen from outside the National Motor Museum Beaulie, was only missing a couple of days but here the Police were able to release CCTV of the person carrying the dog away, the family started a campaign on social media and within a couple of days the dog was handed in to a vet and the family were given an anonymous call saying where the dog could be found.

Margaret Deuchar http://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