NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
The 1st of September already, during the pandemic when most of us were at home, time seemed to go so slowly but now this year with things almost back to normal the year seems to be flying by.
Sadly, during the past months, we have lost several Buhunds, some owners have sent me their obituary, others feel they just really cannot do that just yet. Nancy Kent has sent me an obituary for Knythall Diamond Ted who went over the Rainbow Bridge on 24th April this year. Nancy wrote “he was my show dog, bred for me, born on Christmas eve 2012, I called him Knytshall Diamond Ted because he was my diamond birthday gift to myself.
I then had Bill and Ted together, what wonderful fun and adventures we had when he was young and half of the Bill & Ted Show. We would go up on the golf course, in the summer at the crack of dawn and they would run free. Ted had a hunter’s instinct and happily dispatched many sickly bunnies the year myxomatosis crippled them. I wonder if he knew they would have died of thirst or starvation without his early intervention Ted was so athletic, we tried agility together but sadly I was far less athletic. We did some scent work which he enjoyed. We walked and walked, walking with a dog is so much nicer than just walking and gives you an excuse for a bit of neighbourhood sightseeing. We did Discover Dogs together in his youth. We went to lots of shows together, I enjoyed it, not sure about him. He won a CC when he went Best in Show at the Club Championship Show under Kerry Frost, he also gained his Silver Good Citizens Award. I loved him, both the good side and bad. He was mine; I miss him so. He and Elske produced a lovely Diamond litter: Noor Ul Ain. Black Orlov, Star of Josephine, and Cora Sundrop. His sisters Star and Angel are lovely petite girls, still very much alive and loved. Of course, now I have his sunny grandson Toby to carry on. Ted was with me through some of the most difficult times of my life. You’re not alone when you have a Buhund, they take such a big place in your heart, and with Ted, a big corner of my bed. That spot is empty now, so very empty.” Thank you, Nancy, I remember Ted so well, they are never with us long enough.
The Munster Dog Show Circuit in Southern Ireland is held every year in August (except the year of the Foot & Mouth crisis and over the Pandemic) and consists of a series of four All Breed Championship Shows run under Irish Kennel Club rules, who are now members of the FCI. The shows are held every second day with a days’ break in between. When I first started showing some 30yrs ago, the Irish KC was not FCI and had its own system of making up champions, you had to have 40points and 4 Majors, it also depended on how many dogs in the breed that were being shown, so not easy in a numerically small breed. It was more like the system in the US. There were no Buhunds living in Ireland that were shown at the time, and it had taken the late Elizabeth Coleopy and the late Gail Hussey some time to persuade shows to put on classes for the breed. A group of us did the Circuit every year and had a lot of fun in the process. Elizabeth her daughter Treena and granddaughter Georgie(Elkhounds ), Gail and Ian Hussey with Debbie and Sue Avery often joining the group, Elisabeth calling the group ‘BuElks on Tour’.Gail made up the first Irish Buhund Dog Ch and Elizabeth the first Irish Bitch Ch. I then made up Okie to be Ch/Ir Ch Wolfen Just in Time and our Elkhound to be Ch /Ir Ch Fullani Silent Thought..Debbie and I even did Agility and Obedience over there , flying the dogs over on a couple of occasions as it is a long way from London to Dublin by car and sea .The last time I went to Ireland was for a show in December 2000 as I needed 1point for Okie’s title ,which luckily we gained as the following year it was the Foot and Mouth crisis ,and no dog from England could travel to Ireland unless the owner had a home there. It was a bit odd as the Irish Dogs could attend dog shows over here, I never went back as we started showing on the Continent, but I have very fond memories of attending shows there and the Munster Circuit in particular.
Now of course it is very different The Irish Kennel Club is member of the FCI and Buhunds are group 5 Spitz and Primitive Breeds, there are 10 groups and now with Brexit visiting dogs must have a passport or the like. There are two breeders in Ireland the Frostisen Kennel of Fritz and Kerry Frost Addreine Frost Treadwell and Jacqui Walmsley and the Trelowen Kennel in Northern Ireland of Sue and Jacqui Avery, Brenda and Tony Bethell who live in the south also show but do not breed any more. The first show in the circuit was Clonmel on the August 20th which turned out to be one of those days to remember that I talked about last week, for Addrienne Fost Treadwell, whose Ir Ch Trelowen Aviator at Frostisen JNR Ch aka Maggit was BOB, G1 and then RBIS. Addriene wrote, “a huge thanks to Clonmel and District Canine Club and the wonderful judges Lokodi Csaba Zsolt for giving Maggit BOB and our girl, Frostisen Zsa Zsa her third Green Star, our group judge Mr George Kostopoulos and the BIS judge Mrs T Jenkins. I have been showing for 45 years and I have been incredibly lucky over the years to have had 6 group wins and several group places but never above that level, RBIS in show at a General Championship show came as a lovely surprise, more so because it was my own dog who has not been to an Irish since last October. There is so much negativity in the dog world at times, I have always had the mindset that winning does not matter , if someone beats you fair due to them, if you want to beat them, breed better, present better, an exceptional dog cannot be ignored ,and my wee Maggit is definitely proof that if you deserve to win there is nothing stopping you .Thank you so much for your support and lovely words of congratulations, I am very touched”. The next show was Killarney & District on the Tuesday where under Mr J Bond Maggit was again BOB with Zsa Zsa winning her 4th Green Star. Then on Thursday it was Limerick and District with Maggit again taking BOB, but Addreine said there was no luck with Zsa Zsa, she won open but could not go any further as she was only graded very good. She said he was a tough judge he was down grading Champion dogs left right and centre, he wanted a 100% which in her opinion was great. She said it is important that people realise it’s not always easy to win in Ireland. Zsa Zsa was downgraded on her behaviour she didn’t show perfectly she pulled mum round the ring and would not stand. The judge was Maekku Kapina from Finland. Maggit was bred by Sue Avery and is by Ch Trelowen Conar Tun x Trelowen Lola. Zsa Zsa is by Kynons Dronning av Frostisen x Leggets Fernando from Frostisen.
A Green Star is like our CC and a dog must have seven Green Stars from seven different judges to be an Irish Ch one of these must be warded after the dog is 15 months of age and it must have been graded excellent to go forward for the Green Star.
I finish with the good news that Neil Hood’s Draccus Diamond Day O’Buhcafrey has a hip score of 4:6 -10
Stay safe everyone.
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