NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Pastoral and Working Day at Birmingham National all breed Ch show was Saturday May 10th; the show was held in its now permanent home of Bingley Hall on Stafford County Showground. When the show first started in 1859 it was held in Newcastle on Tyne then moving to the National Agricultural Centre, before moving again to Perry Park in the late 1980’s where it was when I first attended. Security issues there meant another move this time to the lovely Arbury Hall Nuneaton , but the vagaries of the summer weather meant the committee decided to move it indoors to the NEC for 2yrs, before moving to Stafford in 2002 where it has gone from strength to strength. It has of course stayed as an indoor show apart from 8 rings under a marquee by the grandstand, but this does mean that overall, the committee can run a super show without worrying about the weather. Stafford is fast becoming a dog show centre with 4 General Ch shows(three of them All Breed),several group shows and many open shows being held there, the only down side is in very wet weather is the car park is grass, but this is outweighed with the large inside space meaning that the 3 All Breed shows can accommodate every breed with large rings, green carpeted in the case of the National, and to my delight the show also had benches and chairs ! There is also a balcony for a large number of various trade stands, or in good weather they can be outside, and with the lovely weather this year the area was very busy so I hope the all the stands had a good day.
We were second in the ring but with only 24 St Bernards in front of us we knew we would be in about 10am or just after, which for some again meant overnight stops locally or early starts for others.
History was made as it was the first time a ramp was used at a general Ch show, with all the dogs happily going on it to be judged by Hazel Fitzgibbon who was giving CCs in the breed for the first time, she also gives CCs in 4 Hound breeds 13 Utility 6 Working & 7other Pastoral breeds. She found her BOB & DCC his 20th in Jacque & Michael Cobb and Nancy Kent’s Ch Koromandel Best Served Cold At Knytshall (Jamie) he also has 16 RCCs and is by Ch/Can Ch Kyon’s Bold Norseman x Ch Maidofcopper For Koromandel JW VW (Imp Fin). He was also BV although you would never know he is a Veteran. RDCC his 10th he also has 9CCs my Ch Rikarlo Gable JW(Time) he is by Jamie x Ch Kimura’s Vera With Tapui(Imp Nor). BPD & BP Cheryl Denham-Horton & Lorraine Bolton’s Tapui Haraldsson at Jjavacobe (Hogan)he was also BP at Crufts and is by Kimura’s Harald Harfagre x Ch Blackombe Bodil At Tapui (Imp Aus). BCC her first Anne-Marie Taylor ,Dave & Mary Taylor and Addreinne Frost- Treadwell’s Frostisen Blakk Zitter (Penny) as her names implies she is black, and is litter sister to the Crufts BOB being by Ir Ch Leggatts Fernando From Frostisen x Ir Ch Kyon’s Dronningen Av Frostizen (Imp Can), she was handled by Jacqui Walmsley as Anne -Marie had to work, .Jacqui left home at the silly o’clock of 3.45am but I am sure she felt it was worth it. RBCC her 10th she also has 8CCs Michael Patrick & Leigh Ashman’s Tapui Starla (Freya), she is Time sister but from a later litter. BPB & Best Special Beginners Penny & Tom Glibbery’s Tapui Haldis (Daisy) she is Hogan’s litter sister. It was lovely to have winners in every classification, by sadly this will the last time we will have a BP for a while as we have not had any litters born recently. We are a numerically small breed, and it is only due to having dedicated breeders bring in bitches from abroad, using dogs from abroad, AI as well as UK dogs that the breed can continue. It was interesting as all the principal winners have the dogs from the Kyon Kennels of Karin Klouman in Canada in their pedigree.
A different activity but the same day, further south and west Sue Crocker and Jasmine Freeborn decided not to get up at silly o’clock and drive 160 miles to the National and back, but to go 25 miles up the road for a Barn Hunt, where Noor aka Knytshall Noor Ul Ain and Franny aka Leggatts Superstition gained their RATI (Instinct) Titles, Noor now just needs her 3rd clean run for her RATN (novice) Title. Buhunds are classified as a herding breed but they seem to be proving themselves as sent dogs as well, whether it be mantrailing, barnhunt or searching for a hidden hide.
Those of you who have been in the breed for some time will remember Brenda Bethell and her husband Tony who is a very talented artist, they lived in Wales and were regulars at Ch shows in the UK and also showed on the continent. In the August 2018 they moved to Eire and are now active in the show scene over there. Very sadly at the beginning of May they had to say goodbye to Freddy and below is Brenda’s obituary for him. “This is a document I dreaded having to write but hopefully it will help us to put things into perspective. In May 2012 our first Norwegian Buhund, Arnscroft Glad Di Ola arrived in our lives and nothing would ever be the same again. However, one Buhund is never enough! Linda Lundstrom in Michigan US was kind enough to send a male Buhund across the pond to Wales in July 2013, Zodiac’s Featuring Fredrik at Taevas arrived unseen apart from videos. It was love at first sight for this 17week old puppy. He was a laid-back puppy with the most wonderful wheaten colour and the kindest of eyes. It is fair to say he never really enjoyed showing but did enjoy going to shows as he loved people! This was a pity as his structure and movement were sound. However, as his coat was richer in colour to other Buhunds being shown at the time in the UK he looked the ‘odd one out’. He was never awarded his RKC Stud Book Number which seems a pity. When shown outside of the UK he was always successful being awarded his Luxembourg and Irish Junior Champion Titles, his Irish Champion Title, 18 Green Stars with 16 BOB’s and 3 CACIB’s. After the Covid lockdowns we retired him. He had many pleasures in life, including enjoying his paddling pool, supervising the world from his favourite spot on the top of the wall or sunning himself. Food was important to him and he would always bark at Tony to tell him it was food time. He was very tolerant of all puppies that were around him where his Daddy / Uncle skills were noteworthy’. Even at the end he was still teaching the 18 week old GSP puppy. He did seem to particularly enjoy his duties as a ‘husband’ where he was always ‘the perfect gentleman.’ His name and legacy will go on in his offspring and the younger generation as there are Buhunds in Europe with Zodiac’s Featuring Fredrik at Taevas Of Minforst in their pedigrees. The end of his life came suddenly. He was generally showing signs of advancing years he was 12 yrs old and had a couple of minor nosebleeds with some difficulty in breathing. Our vet thought it was due to a tooth invading his nasal passage as at his age gums recede. An Xray showed a tooth need to be extracted but nothing else. Another nosebleed and this time the vet suggested a CTR scan which was done in Cork on the 28th April, with the results being passed to us on the 30th April, this showed a massive tumour which was filling one nasal passage. We agreed with the vet to carefully monitor his wellbeing until he gave us the sign. On Friday 2nd May that time came and he was given sleep. We loved him so much and he reciprocated that love. He loved our morning cuddles when he would hug in so hard. He loved people and hated their leaving. Our best boy came home a couple of weeks later”. So sorry Brenda, but I am sure he had the best life with you.
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