NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Many of you know that we live 10miles from Hyde Park corner, and down south the heat is back, with my temperature gauge again saying too hot turn the hearting down and save money! Hopefully by the time you read this the temperatures will have dropped down to near normal for the time of year, and you never know we might even have a little rain.
Sarah Stonton had a very busy weekend the 6th /7th August going to scent trials. On the Saturday she took Jack aka Ch Arnscroft In Di Ana Jack RL1 ExL2ex to Haynes in Bedfordshire, where he qualified for the first time in Level 3 having gained his Excellence in Level 2 a few weeks ago. The following day she took Loxy aka Trelowen Andrea AW(S)L3ex to Fosdyke in Lincolnshire where she qualified also for the first time but in Level 4 having also gained her Excellence in Level 3 a few weeks ago. Sarah said she had a very successful and enjoyable weekend. Once qualified at a level you can move up to the next Level if you wish or stay at that level and continue to compete until you have 20pts and your Excellence, you then must move up or complete NFC.
Pastoral Day at Bournemouth Canine Association Ch show was the Saturday, the show is one of the few that includes Monday in its 3days. The Association was founded in 1911 and held its first show the same year, holding its first Ch show on 1st June 1927, which unlike this year turned out to be the coldest June since 1763.The show has had a number of homes , the first show being held in Meyrick Park Bournemouth then moving to Dean Park in the centre of Bournemouth where it stayed until 1969.It then moved to Canford Magna in Poole, when it had to leave there it managed to hire ground from a farmer in Sturminster Marshall for one year. The next venue was New Park in Brockenhurst where it stayed until 2011, that year the Association finally managed to purchase its own ground. So, in 2012 the first show was held on its own ground Pikes Farm Organford which is only11 miles from where the first show was held all those years ago. Having their own ground means each year they can continue to make improvements.
We were 5th in the Ring after 17 BSD’s Hungarian 3 Hungarian Pumis 1 Hungarian Pulis and 3PSD’s, our judge was Steve Bennett who judged all the breeds before us and gives CCs in the BSDs and Pyrenean Mountain Dogs. He found his BD & BOB in my and daughter Debbie’s Ch Rikarlo Gable JW RL4ex (Time)he was handled by Alysha Branchflower and is by Koromandel Best Served Cold At Knytshall x Ch Kimura’s Vera At Tapui. RBD was Marie and Adam Camm’s Kligenthal Almuric(Bergen) he is by Ch Arnscroft Di Na Mo Farah of Koromandel JW ShCM x Koromandel Guild the Lily who is Jamie’s litter sister.BB & BP following on from her successes at Paignton and NW&PBS where she was also BP,Sue Crocker’s Leggatts Jive Talkin (Noodle)she is by Sturtmoor Floki x Leggatts Voulez Vous ,she was handled by Jasmine Freeborn RBB Jackie and Michael Cobb and Nancy Kent’s Knytshall Eloise she was also handled by Alysha and is by Blakk Extacy V.Koekie’s Ranch (Imp NLD) x Ch Trolleimen Elske To Knytshall (Imp US).We did not go in until after midday as although there were 24 dogs in front of us,there was all the paper work that goes with each class and each breed ,so it takes longer than having many more dogs but in one breed.
Breed judging over I very quickly made the decision that with the temperature climbing we would not be staying for the group, only the second time in 30yrs of showing that I have done this, the other time was at SKC many many years ago, when the weather was the complete opposite and the heavy rain started to flood the show ground. We all know our dogs and some cope better with heat than others like people, and I knew for Time staying would be a mistake, Sue and Jasmine also made the same decision that Noodle who is only 7months old would not be staying for the puppy group.
The show had been heavily criticized for not cancelling because of the extreme heat. I am certainly not doing that, I chose to go and I think everyone who takes part in showing, agility or the many other canine activities know how to care for their dogs. We have a car with air con, a cool mat and fans for Time’s bench on which he happily went to sleep. However, I personally think the show needs to look at its organisation whatever the weather. I had only been to the show once before with an Elkhound and Papillion, as it is only very recently that they have scheduled Buhunds, for which we are grateful as it gives us another show for the breed. Travelling down from London we arrived early to try and make sure we avoided any holiday traffic which we did. My husband has a disabled car pass and the disabled car park was great really near the entrance, we were asked for our passes no problem, but when we entered the show ground nowhere did it show tell you where your benching tent was, and it had not been on the pre-show advice either. There was no person, no board, no sign outside any of the 12 benching tents or on the benches themselves, it was a case of hunt your number something I have not had to do at a show for years, and I was joined by a number of other people doing the same thing. We were actually in the first tent so with the side off the tent others arriving could see us, and did not have the same problem. The rings were in the centre of the show ground, 6 rings under each of 4 marquees, with a covered area of the ring for the judge and for a small class to stay out of the heat or rain but not a big class. The other problem was that between the benching and the rings were the trade stands, so there was no way you could properly see what was going on in the ring and if you had several of the same breed as I have often done in the past, you could not go back and forward to the benching, so the area by the rings was very crowded. Shows often say the benches are not used well this is often why, but now most shows have the in /out rings in front of the benches which are then used. I have been in the past connected with horse shows and dog activities (although not dog shows), so I do appreciate how much effort goes into show organisations and the costs involved, but with the cost of fuel and of living in general, exhibitors need to feel that the show has done every thing to help them enjoy the day. My personal opinion is that Bournemouth needs more forward planning. Windsor used to have more or less the same layout but changed this year to the in/out layout, although this was probably more expensive.
After the show we spent the rest of the weekend with our daughter and husband who live in the New Forest which was always the plan, and on the Sunday ‘Time’ made his first visit to the sea and had a paddle to cool off. The same day we were at Bournemouth Sarah took Jack to a Level 3 Trial at Beancroft Farm Bedford where he just out missed on a rosette by coming fifth.
One of the most popular activities owners do with their Buhunds in the US are Barn Hunts. These were just starting up in the UK when Covid happened, now Jacqueline Tulip has announced on FB that Barn Hunt will soon be up and running again in the UK, she says she is in the progress of getting everything arranged. There is a website under construction and rules are being created for the UK, so if you are interested keep an eye open for more details.
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