NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
In last week’s notes I wrote about the successful show season Millie Lambert and her home bred Gunna aka Sturtmoor’s Gon’n Dun It JW are having. They continued their winning ways at Chepstow and District Canine Society 2-day show, held at USK Equestrian Centre. Pastoral Day was the Saturday 13th June along with the Toy, Utility and Working Groups. Breed judge was Malinda Thomas who awarded Gunna BOB, he then won the Group under Martin Sanders. The show has a system whereby each day they have a BIS and a RBIS, then on the second day the two BIS dogs go head-to-head for overall BIS and the same for RBIS. Martin Sanders judged these competitions, and Gunna won BIS on the first day and I am thrilled to say he went onto win overall BIS on the Sunday. I think it is a good system for 2 day shows as it saves those who are not likely to get a higher award having to return on the second day, particularly with the price of fuel at the moment.
Now a couple of things that are not Bu related but might be of interest. Matt Baker is to front a new series on BBC2 called ‘Life With Dogs’ which is going to focus on the many different roles dogs provide for humans, from working farm dogs herding livestock, to therapy dogs, assistance dogs showing how dogs can be trained to alert their owners to impending seizures and those that can be trained to find the scent of people suffering from various diseases, some detecting the odour on the skin and some in urine. Then there are the dogs that work with people with disabilities and of course those that work with the military and police not forgetting the dogs that go into care homes to bring joy to those who meet them. As you know I do scent with Time for fun but there is a much more serious side that dogs do saving lives. The Medical Assistance dogs that use odour to help their owners. There was a case where the dog woke her owner up to find her whole body covered in hives and was very flushed, the dog fetched her owners medical bag so that she could take her IV Meds, which meant everything settled down in 30minutes. Without this intervention the owner was sure she would have ended up in hospital. Then there was the dog whose owner used to faint up to 40 times a day which was caused by an Autonomic disorder of the nervous system, she also suffered from other conditions, so could never be left on her own, as she had falls which had caused cuts, bruises and even broken bones. In the end the GP suggested that perhaps a Medical Detection Dog could help. She was matched with a dog who alerted for the initial cause of the fainting, but now also alerts for a number of other conditions doing a different behaviour for each. This has meant that the owner can now go to university to study law. Hopefully Matt’s programme will help to improve the negativity that so often surrounds dogs, when all the papers ever comment on is when someone is bitten, which of course is very sad but there are so many good things dogs do that are so often forgotten.
There are improvements coming to the Hip and Elbow certificates from the Canine Health Scheme (CHS), they are introducing an updated scheme to make results clearer and easier to understand for everyone involved in health testing. The updated certificates feature a refreshed design, and clearer presentation of hip scoring. One of the key enhancements is the introduction of separate reporting for Primary and Secondary Changes within hip scores, helping breeders, owners and the veterinary professionals better understand how scores are assessed and reported. These updates reflect the ongoing commitment to improve the CHS by supporting responsible breeding through clear, transparent health reporting. The updated certificates will be available through the online portal from 10th June. To find out more visit www.bva.co.uk/CHS.
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