NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
We now know the entry for Crufts is 28 with 10 dogs and 18 bitches.
Bournemouth have now announced their judge, it will be Gary Clarke and the show will be unbenched.
The weekend the 4th/5th February was a busy one for several Buhunds and their owners from the north to the midlands, to the south east and in the west. In the North Kirsty Irvine took her Blaze aka Tapui Let’s Blaze to a Level 2 scent trial in Lydiate Liverpool, where he had a successful day qualifying. Then down to the Midlands and east a bit where Time aka Ch Rikarlo Gable JW attended an agility training day with Debbie, he dreams of one day being as good as his late kennel mate Ch Tonylynn’s Charles Lafitte who had his Platinum Agility Warrant. In the South East Marie Corin and Adam Camm took their Bergen aka Kligenthal Almuric to East Kent Canine Society Show, in the The Market Hall Maidstone where under judge Neil Hood he was Best AVNSC and PG2. Then it was over to the West Country where the Salisbury and South Wilts Canine Society open show was held at The Manor Farm nr Salisbury Wiltshire where under judge Jenny Rowe, Lucy Gilbert’s Zuki aka Leggatts Fly Like An Eagle at her first open show was 2nd in AVNSC puppy.
Marie wites about her day-: ‘We often travel to Lockmeadow Hall in Maidstone, a regular venue for Open Shows and it is only 45mins drive for us. While shows have varied in how well they have been run, this one put on by East Kent CS was the best yet, very smooth and even the Tannoy was working! There were no Buhund classes so we had entered AVNSC, which were scheduled first in the ring at 9am. There were 4 indoor rings and 4 outdoor rings, we were outdoor and luckily it was a dry bright day albeit rather chilly. The judge for AVNSC Pastoral (as well as many other breeds throughout the day, the puppy stakes and the Pastoral Group) was breed specialist Neil Hood. The turnout was good, as it often the case on the run up to Crufts as exhibitors try to get their practise in. There were 24dogs entered over the 4 AVNSC classes with only a couple of absentees. When the open class came round, we were in with 2 Corgis, a Vallhund, a Smooth Collie ,two Bearded Collies and two Briards. It was the same outdoor ring as at a show last year where Bergen decided to sniff his way around and pay me no attention at all, prompting the judge to sarcastically ask if he’s an Obedience Champion, so I was a little worried about how he’d do. I should not have worried, he did everything I asked of him and showed really nicely. He ended up being placed first in his class and going on to take Best AVNSC, which we were of course over the moon about. There was then a long wait for the group, but it was not a bad thing because I was able to watch friends I have met doing Open shows, with breeds I would not get to see at larger shows. I had a lovely time watching the German Spitz judging as well as the Bulldogs being shown by a friend from ringcraft. When it was time for the group, two outdoor rings were combined to make a larger one, which gave plenty of room to move the dogs. There were 9 dogs in the group and only a couple the judge needed to go over, having judged the other breeds. We all moved up and down then stood in the line-up. My heart did a little flip as Bergen made the shortlist (I had not realised until later that the shortlist was of 4 dogs, therefore these would be taking the group places). After moving again and a little deliberation G1 went to a lovely Finnish Lapphund, with Bergen proudly taking G2, a Rough Collie and GSD completed the line-up. We were absolutely delighted, a truly enjoyable day!’ Thank you Marie a great day for you.
There are approx. 10 million dogs in the UK most adored by their owners, they make wonderful pets and companions, there are also working dogs, from sheep dogs on farms right through to those working in the army, police, medical detection dogs, guide dogs for the blind, dogs that help the deaf ,there really are too many ways in which dogs help people for me to list them all. Sadly, though we all know that at the moment it is the dogs that are attacking people and tragically sometimes that are causing deaths that are hitting the headlines. You will know that I along with Sarah and Kirsty do scentwork competitions with our dogs, the dogs looking to locate a scent which it has been trained to find, we do it for fun and the dogs enjoy looking for cloves to start with working up to gun oil and then truffle oil. Lillian Rumsey with Darcy does another kind of scent work, mantrailing where the dog starts off following its owner’s scent and then progresses to following other people’s scent and that of course is what search and rescue dogs do.
None of you can possible have missed that there has been a catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria, with the most harrowing scenes of devastation, as I write this there have been over 22,000 deaths and thousands injured but sadly these numbers are expected to rise significantly. When these tragic events happen, the international community from around the world come together with aid pouring in. I read a short article on the Tuesday after the quake about how 16 search and rescue dogs and their handlers from Mexico were already on their way to Turkey, there was a picture of them on the tarmac by the aircraft waiting to go on board. They were a mixture of breeds including Collies, Labradors and Malinois. México apparently is prone to earthquakes and they have a civilian and military team of search and rescue dogs. They alert their handlers that they have found someone by barking and scratching the ground, and are used when heavy machinery could cause further damage and put trapped people at more risk. The dogs wear Neoprene Boots to protect their paws and googles to protect their eyes from dust, just one of their dogs over her life time found 50 people with 12 of them being brought out alive. With people being found alive after 120 hours in Turkey let us hope that in some very small way these dogs were able to help in this truly tragic situation. Other countries including the UK sent Search and Rescue dogs which shows how rescuers do value the dogs’ help.
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