NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I hope none of you suffered badly from storm Dudley, Eunice, or Franklin. Very tragically there was loss of life and injuries both here in the UK and on the Continent, nature can be so beautiful but also be very cruel. There was a lucky escape for the couple and their dog when a lorry blew over onto their car. I also read that sadly 16 guns dogs were electrocuted when power lines came down on their kennels, and these we not the only animals that distressingly suffered this way, in the US a herd of dairy cows were killed when power lines came down on their barn, devastating their owners in both cases. I remember the Hurricane we had in 1987 we had horses at the time and I had to climb over fallen trees to get to the stables, one of the stable walls had fallen in but happily none of the horses were hurt.
I am sitting writing these notes on Friday afternoon with Time by my feet watching the poor birds trying to cope with the wind, to get to the bird feeders. We should be at a Level 3 scent trail but with a Red Weather warning here in London I decided to give it a miss, especially as it would have been a two-hour journey up the M1 & M6 certainly not worth the risk.
On a much more positive note, hopefully the Ch show season with go ahead as planned. There are of course open shows but not that many have Buhund classes now compared to when I started in the breed, but all open shows and Ch shows without Buhund classes have AVNSC Pastoral classes which you can enter. I am sure all of you that have entered Crufts know that we are in Hall 4 after 77 Samoyeds who have a late start of 10. 30am.I assume that as usual we will not be able to leave till 4pm, so that will be about right! Our judge is Judy Hearson (Jumasue) who last judged the breed at LKA in 2017, she also gives CCs in BSDs, and had the top winning Buhund, Ch Rikarlo Skylark From Jumasue who she co-owned with June and George Purves. The next Ch show with classes but no CCs is on Saturday 16th April, Working and Pastoral Breeds Assoc of Wales, held on the Royal Welsh showground at Builth Wells. The judge is Mrs Loraine Ratler(Seafar) who gives CCs in 3 workings breeds and judges a number of other breeds including several in the Pastoral Group. The next Ch show with classes but again no CCs is WELKS held on the Three Counties show ground Malvern on Saturday 23rd April, the judge is Krystyan Greenland who stood in for Jenny Shorer-Wheeler at the Nordic when snow prevented Jenny from judging. The really good news is that the club is also having a Ch show at WELKS with our own Jacqui Cobb (Knytshall) in the hot seat, she last judged the breed at WELKS in 2018 when we had CCs there. Clubs that missed having a Ch show in 2020 were allowed to have 2 Ch shows in 2021 but because of the very busy show scene once it started, we decided to have only one, so we can now have two this year so long as one is with another show. So, it will be at WELKS with another in the Autumn as our own show. Debbie Penniston Fleming (Ailort) last judged the breed at Driffield in 2018 before we lost the CCs there, this year she will be awarding CCs on Saturday 8th May Birmingham National held on the Staffordshire County Show ground. Sue Bird (Bridus) is judging the Scottish Kennel Club show held on the Royal Highland Show Ground on Saturday 21st May this is her first time of giving CCs in the breed, but she has judged the breed on a number occasions including Boston Ch show in 2020, she also awards CCs in a number of pastoral breeds. At the other end of the country on Sunday 29th May Neil Hood (Buhcafrey) is awarding CCs for the first time at Bath Ch show, he has also judged the breeds on several occasions the last time being the Breed Club Open Show in 2020.Three Counties Ch Show on the Three Counties Show Ground has no CCs but has a very good classification for the breed, Pastoral day is Saturday 11th June, the judge is Richard Kinsey (Kitam) who gives CCs in a number of breeds in the Pastoral & Working Groups. The next show with classes is not a Ch show but an open show, in the dog section of the 2-day Royal Cheshire County Show at Tabley, Knutsford, Cheshire. Buhunds are on the first day 21st June classified as non-working, the judge is Glen Woolley (Aratika) he judges a number of breeds in the Pastoral Group, the group judge at this show is Chris Chapman (Bukris). Pastoral day at Blackpool Show which is held at Redwood Park Inskip Preston, is Sunday June 26th the judge is Barrie Croft who is also doing the Veteran Group, and he judged BIS at Bath 2017.
The schedules for all the above shows are on line and entries are open.
The judges that are judging at the Ch shows without CCs and the Open show are all on our A3 or B list of judges, which means that they have judged the breed before and will be giving CCs in the breed once they have had more experience of judging the breed. It has been a difficult 2years for judges to gain experience. It is an advantage for a long-lived breed such as ours to have more judges, as it means that there can be a longer gap between judging appointments. I know it is not always easy but please support the shows with breed classes if you can. I will detail the shows from July to December next week.
One date that is not a show but is an important one, is the AGM and Fun Day on April 2nd at Shirland Village Hall Derbyshire, details will be sent out nearer the time but please put the date in your diary now.
Stay safe everyone.
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