NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
There are no Ch shows to report on this week, I do however have two articles sent to me by club members about activities they do with their dogs. Ironically the dogs are litter sisters and both articles involve scent training. The first one is from Alysha Branchflower with Knytshall Josephine. She writes-: “Recently Josephine and I ventured into a new activity –Tracking. Having previously done this workshop with another dog I work with, I knew that not only would Josephine love it, but also that tracking might help her with her confidence. Initially we taught the dogs to find and follow a track by adding treats along the way. Then we started to let them use their natural ability to follow the tracks to a jackpot reward at the end. These started as straight lines but by the end of the workshop all the dogs were able to navigate long and short tracks with corners, curves and serpentines. We then began teaching passive indication to an article. Tracking and scent work are perfect for nervous dogs or those with behaviour problems, because it helps them to ‘switch off’ their eyes from actively searching for threats. Overall both of us really enjoyed it and will be doing much more tracking in the future.”
Maureen and husband Brian have Knytshall Cora Sun Drop of Maubrea (Fern), Josephine’s sister who has been doing scent training for some months and has taken part in a competition. Maureen is waiting for a hip operation and writes. “At last I have a date for my opp, I shall be so pleased to be able to walk around the woods and fields again. Fern had her last training yesterday, it was one of her favourites, Tracking, only five of us there, the other three were on holiday. The trainer gets the dogs excited then runs off round the trees and bushes and they have to take it turns in locating him. The best of course is the Retriever closely followed by Fern who gets more and more excited as she gets closer to him. We had three tracks the last one of which he had climbed up one of the trees, it was good to watch the dogs track him then come to the tree and stop, sniffing then looking up, great excitement and lots of barking showing he had been located. The next seven-week course will be in September, so I have had to pass on that one, but hopefully will be back to do the next one on October. The second competition will be coming up about then as well, so I will do as much training at home as I can.” Thanks Maureen hope the operation goes well and that you will soon be running round the fields again with Fern.
I recently heard from Bev Hall who said she has a lovely long weekend camping at Haxey. There was a Rally training day on the Friday, followed by two days of Rally competition. Ailort Just the Ticket (Jay) earned his 2nd Level 4 excellent with a 3rd place in the class; he also had a qualifier in Level 5. Many congratulations.
Across on the other side of the world in Australia, Caroline Russell-Catt was thrilled to announce that Delarouche Freya of the Vanir is the second from the first litter that Caroline bred to become an Australian Champion. The proud parents are re Aus Ch Kimura Viking and N-UCH Rennedal’s Bryhilde Skolmoy.
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