NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Last weekend Debbie and I with Fizz, Asti (Debs Pyrenean Sheepdog) and puppy ‘Time’ headed off to Royston, for a Rally try out for the South East & East Anglia Rally Team for Crufts. I knew the post code but what neither Debbie or I had realised it was it was in a barn, on a farm which is used by a dog training club, but to say it was cold is an understatement, luckily we had both taken thick coats for walking the dogs! Fizz was in the team last year as the Grade 2 dog. There are six grades and in each team there is a dog for each grade. There are teams from areas all over the country. The team did not get placed but it was a great day and Fizz put his beat paw forward representing the breed. He has now won out of Grade 2 so is in Grade 3 and that means has to work off lead. Asti is grade 1. There have been four try outs, this was the last one with each dog doing a course at their level, the organiser will then choose the best dog for each level. Time went along as the support team and to learn about how to behave at events. Fizz started off really well then half way round the course seemed to forget how to sit! Any of you that do Rally will know that there are some new signs for next year, and that each level will have its’ own signs (previously 2 grades were together) and these will be used at Crufts. After each dog had worked their course, the organiser went through all the signs she had not used for each level and all the new signs. Most of the new signs are clearer but was good to be able to practice them. Time was also allowed to do a recall through some cones which he did really well. At the end of the day the organiser asked for all the dogs to sit in a circle and for Time to join them, then each dog took it in turn to weave in and out including Time, this is to make sure all the dogs will get on with each other. I think you could say that was his first training day. When I took Debbie and Asti home, Time had a play session with Debs and Richard’s collie puppy Silver, so when we arrived home he took himself to bed! It will be as couple of weeks before we find out whether Asti or Fizz have been chosen.
For those of you who entered the caption competition on the front of Bu news, the winner was James Stewart with ‘Odin says to Molly nosey parkers the new neighbours’ and in second Celia Vines with ‘I smell food’. It was a photo of two dogs looking in through the window of a house. I hope the dogs enjoyed their prizes.
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