NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Ch show dates are planned several years advance and unless something happens suddenly to warrant a change, they stay the same. I understand that when the date of the Coronation was announced Birmingham National decided to stay with the same dates but would have a television in the main hall so that anyone who wanted could watch the Coronation, they also encouraged breeds to have celebration picnics and every exhibitor had a celebrator pen. There were many sporting activities planned for the Coronation weekend some like Badminton Horse Trials decided to change things around a bit, by starting a day later so that X Country Day was the Sunday not the Saturday as usual, which as it happened helped as the Saturday was so wet.
Birmingham National Ch show is held in Bingley Hall on the Staffordshire County Showground, this year it was their 164 show, and the show society is the oldest in the country. Pastoral day was Thursday, so being a weekday unfortunately we were short of some regular exhibitors. We were first in the ring at 9am, some exhibitors stayed overnight locally, others left home at silly o’clock. Our ring was in the main hall and hosted all numerically small breeds, this was great as it meant that breeds did not have to wait till after a numerically large breed has been judged, as so often happens. The rings were all a good size and were covered in green carpet surrounded by white picket fencing. The ring was just opposite the steward’s office so Jenny Shorer -Wheeler could keep a watchful eye on proceedings, Jenny is our secretary and is on the National committee and does the announcing for the groups every day. Our judge was Britt Marie Young who gives CCs in 12 breeds across 3 groups and was giving CCs in Buhunds for the first time. She found her BOB. BV and DCC his 13th in Sarah Stonton’s Ch Arnscroft In Di Ana Jack RL1 L4ex he also has 9RCCs and is by Ch Arnscroft Di To Be A Sailor x Ch Arnscroft Di Or Comply. RDCC his 7th was my and daughter Debbie’s Ch Rikarlo Gable JW L5ex (Time) handled by Debbie he also has 7CCs and is by Ch Koromandel Best Served Cold at Knytshall x Ch Kimura’s Vera with Tapui (ImpNor). BCC her 2nd Michael Patrick & Leigh Ashman’s Tapui Starla (Freya) she also has 4RCCs and is Time’s younger sister. RBCC her 2nd Kirsty Irvine Blackcombe Bodil At Tapui (Imp Aus)(Bodi)she also has 2CCs and is by Ch Kynon’s Urban Legand x Nor/Aus Ch Rennedal’s Brynhild Skoldmoy. BP Nancy Kent and Jacque & Michael Cobb’s Leggatts Dakota at Knytshall (Toby) he is by Time x Knytshall Noor Ul Ain.
Mary & David Dosson’s Kligenthal Bran Mak Morn (Teddy)who is by Ch Arnscroft Di Na Mo Farrah x Ch Kormandel Gild The Lily, was 5th in The Meriel Hathaway Memorial Open Stakes, for Any Variety Working/ Pastoral, Dog /Bitch, he has 3RCCS.
Obviously, any comments written in these notes are my thoughts on things and only my thoughts. I was quite concerned when reading an article in Our Dogs 28th April written by Ronnie Irving, who is a past chairman on the KC and whose breed is Border Terriers, which is one of the numerical larger breeds. He was writing about the new allocation of CCs from 2024 -2028, when we will lose Richmond but will be able to have 2 Ch shows of our own. Apparently, the CC allocation will be reviewed again in 2026.Ronnie obviously feels the CCs allocation is too generous with falling entries, he goes onto list 11 breeds which have the lowest entries, the list includes Buhunds. He goes onto say and I quote, “Clearly some of the breeds are somehow going to have to find a way of increasing their entries in the next couple of years or there is going to be something of bloodbath when it come next time to making the new CC allocations”. Only one of the breeds he lists is a UK breed and is on the vulnerable list, which of course we would be if we were a UK breed. Not sure how we are meant to increase our numbers, we have a group of dedicated breeders, who to keep the gene pool viable, have imported dogs and bitches and more recently used AI, but this often means the litters are small and this year we have had two singletons born by AI ,which will help the gene pool in the future but not increase the dogs being shown at the moment, and also means the bitches are not shown for some months. I have been in the breed for over 30 years and I think over that time, there have only been 4 litters of nine, 3-5 is much more common with occasionally 6 or 7. We are also in the midst of a cost of living crises, the cost of fuel is high, and exhibitors are spread all over the country so are unlikely to go to every show. In the past I did every Ch show that had Bu classes with 3 dogs. Those days are long gone, I only have one dog and can certainly not afford to go to every Ch show, yes, I do another activity with him but only go to activities that are not more than an hour and half away. Pastoral days are often weekday, and some exhibitors cannot take time of work. When breeders have a litter, it is often because they want to keep a puppy but whether they do or not, their main concern is that all the puppies go to forever homes. They may hope that owners will show, but showing is a mind set and not for everyone, and often people that show have been in dogs in one way or another for many years. I showed my first dog when I was 12yrs old at Exemption shows (now companions shows). Since Ronnie Irving wrote that article the KC have announced that from 1st July this year only 2CCs and 5RCCs under 7 different judges will be required for a dog to become a Champion. At the time of writing these notes the negative comments about this outweigh the positive ones, with most of the comments talking about cheap champions. I have no idea how everything will work out regarding CCs in the breed, I will say though that my second Buhund Ch Fullani Flekkjord had 16 RCCS to Ch Olpenden D’ Zimba who ended up as the breed record holder and is still the Dog Breed Record Holder. Flekke did manage to get 5CCs but only if D’Zimba wasn’t there. I really enjoy showing, and D’Zimba was a lovely dog but only winning RCCs can be quite demoralising, so we started showing abroad and Flekke became the first International Champion in the breed, who was bred and lived in the UK. He also became a multi-Ch abroad and was BOB at the World show in Germany so that outweighed all the RCCs, so if he had only 2CCs and 16RCCs would he have been a cheap Ch? There is an American Cocker dog who has just won his 35th CC, which although lovely for the dog, must mean that there are a number of dogs with RCCs. With the new rules the dog must still win 2CCs so I can’t see how it is cheap Champions, and I think it has probably been brought in to try and encourage people to keep showing, as some of the numerically large breeds have also reduced entries, but with them it is not so obvious as with Buhunds.
The weekend 13/14 May was a busy one for exhibitors and their dogs living in the North of the country. On the Saturday, Kirsty Irvine took Blackcombe Bodil At Tapui (Imp Aus)(Bodi) to Colne Nelson & District Canine Society Premier show held on the Great Harwood Show ground, where Bodi was BOB and PG2 under Richard Bott, gaining another all-important JW point. Jenny took Ch Koromadel Tusen Takk (ai) JW(Muchly) and Ch Maidofcopper for Koromandel (Imp Fin) JW (Piika)to Chesterfield & Pinxton KA held at Alfreton Leisure Centre where Muchly was BAVNSC & PG3 under Julian Barney and Piika was 3rd AVP Veteran. The next day Kirsty and Bodi went to Stockport Canine Show at Dixons Brooklands Academy where Bodi gained 2 firsts and was BAVNSC and again PG2 under Hazel Fitzgibbon, gaining another valuable JW point. Nancy Kent also took Leggatts Dakota At Knytshall to Stockport and he was BAVNSC puppy, PPG 1 and 4th in BPIS under judge C Moore. Jenny took Muchly and Piika to Pollard Canine Society Show at Locke Park Kersforth where Muchly was BOB and G2 and Piika was RBOB G4 and AV Veteran 4 under Jayne Clegram-Chapman. What a fantastic weekend for you all.
Muchly and Piika also had clear eye tests at Birmingham National.
Stay safe, two of my friends have just tested positive for Covid.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchat@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