NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
This spring we have had several litters of puppies born which has been great, one of these was a litter born to Lillian Rumsey’s Kata Syndattir Av Fjeldvidda At Wheratshade (Imp NLD)aka Darcy, by Sarah Stonton’s Ch Arnscroft In Di Ana Jack (L7 Ex RL2) and Sarah could not wait to have one of the puppies, here she tells of the first few weeks of her training with the puppy.“ Time flies by while socialising and training a puppy in that all important window of opportunity between 8 and 12 weeks of age. Wheatshade Snow Dreamer “Pixie” has come to live with her sire Ch Arnscroft In Di Ana Jack “Jack” and has brought so much fun to our house. Many of you know how passionate I am about enjoying various activities with my dogs past and present; regardless of whether we would like to compete or just have a companion dog at home, socialisation and ongoing training are imperative. Initially she was carried to the nearby primary school to watch children leaving school, or just simply sat on my lap somewhere watching traffic, pedestrians, bin men etc. Multiple short trips in the car en route to mini excursions such as sitting in a café with friends, and the pet shop meant she quickly adjusted to car travel, happily then travelled a bit further to see friends/family an hour away, explore their homes and the stable yard meeting horses. Meanwhile numerous friends have visited, and she has met and watched the window cleaner, satellite dish being replaced and ‘helped’ the cable provider upgrade my phone line to digital. Pixie has gone along to 3 scent trials so far, to cheer on her dad whilst happily getting cuddles from so many people, watching the ‘goings on’ while chilling out in the car and more recently been able to experience all sorts of surfaces to walk on – shiny wooden floor, tiling, slippery table tops flat on the ground, a horse box ramp and plastic ramp obviously only slightly raised. It is incredible how many things can be available when you politely ask the organiser. Yesterday we went to a Scentwork UK level 7 trial at a dog training centre near Waltham in the Wolds, Leics. Jack worked hard and well, coping with sudden noises which startled him but he immediately got back to his job each time, searched in an area outside where lots of dogs toilet and ignored those environment smells, then on the final search worked for over a minute just getting to the source of one odour under a couple of tables – dedication! All those factors made it fantastic but then he was awarded 1st place having found 10 of 12 hides, the resultant points means he now has his L7 Excellence so now has to work at L8.Meanwhile Pixie did little bits of training in and around the car park, lovely attention when I said her name to distract from a chicken repeatedly walking around the area (what a super useful exercise I wasn’t expecting to have provided for us!) and had a look at a few sheep and alpacas over a fence. All being well, given ongoing socialisation, training etc, Pixie will remain a confident outgoing pup who continues to love to do things with me” Thank you Sarah looking forward to having more cuddles with her, and watching her grow up.
I have been in the breed 32yrs, and Border Union Ch Dog show has never had breed classes during that time. I judged Elkhounds there some years ago and it is a lovely show, a mix between a country show and a Ch show. It is part of Border Union Agricultural Society based in Kelso which was formed in 1813 and holds major events each year including their Agricultural Show and the important Kelso Ram Sales. In 1975 it held its first Championship Dog Show which has been held every year since, apart from the year of the foot and mouth outbreak in 2001 and during the pandemic. The Chief Steward and Show Manager decided at the first show there were some things about Ch shows the did not like, this led to the same system which is still used to day, but which at that time was wasn’t used by many Ch shows, with parking behind the benching tents, and the benching areas as close to the rings as possible, with the wet weather rings in the benching tents if required. Now that LKA has moved to 4days, Border Union is the only remaining 2-day Ch show and prides itself on being exhibitor friendly and encourages exhibitors to come with caravans/motorhomes for the week before the show as there are numerous attractions in Kelso. Over the years Buhund exhibitors have entered the AVNSC Pastoral classes. This year the year the show ran over 15/16th June at Springwood Park, Kelso with Pastoral day being the Saturday. Jenny Shorer Wheeler took Ch Koromandel Tusen Takk JW (ai) (Muchly) who was Best Dog under Nicola Spencer, Best Bitch & BOB AVNSC was Lucy Mottram’s Polish Lowland Sheepdog Ch My Beards Hera who later won the Pastoral Group under Cath Moffat. Jenny’s Ch Maidofcopper for Koromandel JW (Imp Fin) (Pikka) was also 2nd in D/B Veteran AVNSC.
The same day but very much further south it was Pastoral Day at Taunton & District Canine Association 2day show, held at the Wellsprings Leisure Centre Taunton Somerset no breed classes, but Mary & Coralie Dosson’s 7th month old Leggatts Part Time Lover (Barnaby) continued his winning ways, he was BP AVNSC and then Pastoral PG 3 under Richard Gunn. The next day it was Pastoral day at Chepstow & District Canine Society 2-day show held at USK Equestrian Centre, USK, again no breed classes but Barnaby put his best paw forward and was BP AVNSC and PG 2 under Brian Aubrey, he was handled by Coralie at both shows. Congratulations.
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