NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Those of you who read these notes regularly will know that I love to hear about activities owners do with their Buhunds, often it is about showing but there are a number of other activities owners tell me about, often with dogs that have never been near a show ring, such as Buhund Bumbles which are great social events not just for owners but also the dogs, they are great as they show what a wonderful family pets Buhunds make. So please keep the news coming, these are your notes what you do with your dogs make them.
Here is news from Mary Dosson. ‘Saturday 15th January saw the first SW England and Wales Bumble of the year 8 owners attended with 6 Buhunds and Charlie an Honorary Buhund for the day. The walk took place along the beach at Burnham on Sea in Somerset. Burnham is at the southern end of the second longest strip of sand in Europe, stretching over 7 miles.Whilst we did not walk the whole length the dogs did 27,000 steps 12. 7km.Those that came along were Millie Lambert-Dovey with Sheira,Mae Owens with Eren, Sue Crocker with Noor and Charlie, Jacqui Cobb with Eloise, George Fielding and Jo with Loki and of course we had Teddy’. It was a dry day and very enjoyable, afterwards there was a trip to the local café for coffee and cake.’ Thanks Mary and looking at the photos of the Bumble everyone certainly had a great time with the dogs running loose along the beach, 2 Blacks and 4 Wheatens a great mix.
Now an article from Sarah Stonton telling of all the activities she has done with her Buhunds and how she started to do ‘Scent’ with them.
‘Many of you already know how much I enjoy working my Buhunds; over the years I have competed in Breed Showing, Agility, Rally and team Obreedience. Most recently I started doing Scentwork. Buhunds are clever dogs, they benefit at least mentally by being given “jobs” to do with positive reinforcement in the form of food or play. Scentwork certainly tires them far more than a 2 hour off the lead walk. It can be useful in calming hyperactive type dogs, but also helps anxious dogs to focus on a natural past time -sniffing.
Our agility trainer started competing and training, so I did a couple of taster classes prior to Covid. During the first lockdown I did an online course which gave the basics of the activity. It is something easy to start doing and then practice at home with minimal outlay, and training only takes a few minutes of time. You need a scent (often cloves, gun oil or truffle oil), bits of old material to take the scent and an old thoroughly cleaned jar to hold it in; then you only require a canine, some treats and possible a lightweight long lead (I started with a cheap house line from a pet shop costing £2). Later my weekly classes resumed, and I alternate which dog goes which week, but also do a bit of training at home some weeks. Loxy at ten and a half years old is now retired from agility but loves her new job. Encouragement both from our trainer and Margaret who had started to compete, meant I took the plunge too.
Our first Scentwork U.K trail was about 14 months ago. There were periods of no trials due to Covid then they restarted by being run in groups of 4-6 with results of groups being combined for result purposes. A couple of weeks ago Loxy did her first Level 3 trial. There are 4 searches each with clove and a gun oil scent to find; progressively things get more difficult as you ascend the levels by winning points to proceed. Loxy worked well, I made errors but despite this she gained a totally unexpected 2nd place.
Think about giving it a try; not only does it benefit our dogs, but it improves our understanding of them and how they communicate with us. Another bonus is getting to meet and form friendships with other competitors as it’s a small world, I have met people I knew from agility, a person who previously had a Buhund and another who now wants a Buhund for her next dog. From puppy to old age, it is suitable for all.’ Thank you, Sarah. You certainly can do it with any dog, I started doing it with Kiki who was blind (not breed related) and he loved it.
Last week I mentioned Ben Fogle’s New Series of ‘New Lives In the Wild’.
Five years ago, Helen Hart and her partner Jason Tilbury moved to a croft on Yell the second largest of the Shetland Islands with an area of 82 square miles. In May 2020 Helen became a Buhund club member and put herself on waiting lists for a puppy, having researched the breed, and decided it was the right one for her, she thought a Buhund would make a great sheep dog for the croft having the history of being a herding dog, and having lost her previous dog 4 years earlier. On 25th August 2020 Hjortr (Leggatts Theseus) was born, bred by Sue Crocker x Knytshall Noor UL Ain by Anne Smith’s Ch Arnscroft Never Say Di and in due time he travelled to Yell.
Helen says Ben Fogle’s series was such an inspiration for her moving to Shetland she really cannot believe that 5 months ago Ben was standing in their kitchen surrounded by a film crew, she goes onto says it was such an honour to be asked to be part of this series, which follows people who have given up their hectic modern lives to live a simpler, more remote life. The episode airs on Channel 5 on the 8th February at 9pm.
For club members if you have not received the most recent newsletter from our secretary Jenny Shorer-Wheeler please let her know.
Stay safe,
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