NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I have always been fascinated how dogs and various farm animals have been bred down from the original wild animal. Not quite bred down from wild horses but one of the favourite quiz questions when I was in the Riding Club, was which 3 horses are behind the modern-day Thoroughbred. With dogs we all know that Wolves were the first animal species to be domesticated some 50,000 to 30,000 years ago. It is interesting that when several dogs’ skeletons were excavated from the Alpine Regions of Switzerland which were thought to be from around 70-200 AD, there was a mix of young and old dogs, small, medium, and large dogs. Three dogs had abnormally short legs and one interestingly had a brachycephalic skull. It also showed that they were plant and meat eating but with little variation. There are still wolves, and descendants from the early domesticated dogs such as the Australian Dingo, alive today and they have led to the various mixed breeds and of course now purebred dogs which are strictly bred, with dog breeding over thousands of generations there are now more than 350 recognised breeds looking surprisingly different, and with different behaviours and often some more prone to certain diseases. Dogs have become man’s best friend but have also provided unique opportunities for genetic research. Those of you that went to the AHT when they told us that that they had found the DNA test for Ataxia, will remember that all genome research in the last 15years relied heavily on a female Boxer called Tasha.
Canine research investigates various things including heritable diseases which can lead to cancer and other disease that closely resemble diseases in humans. The Norwegian Lundehund(Puffin dog ) has sadly suffered from extreme in breeding in the past which has led to health problems, so to increase the genetic diversity they have been crossed with Buhunds as they are of similar genetic type, this is done of course in a controlled experiment. The African Painted dog is highly endangered in the wild and to conserve the breed the genetic diversity is being looked at in American Zoos.
Our club Ch show was held on Sunday 22nd of Oct, you will of course all know that storm Babet rolled in several days earlier causing flooding and terrible conditions over many parts of the country. This did cause concern as the show was in Shirland Derbyshire which for several days was under a yellow weather alert. The other worry was for our judge Sue Sercombe who was coming over by ferry from her home in Northern Island. Sue of course is known for her kennel of Buhunds with the Trelowen Affix, even if you do not have a Trelowen dog one may well be in the pedigree in the past, as many of her breeding also went to the US and the Continent. Sue has judged the breed on several previous occasions the last being on 13th July 2013 at NW& PBS. Since moving to NI from Peterborough her dogs have continued to be shown in England with Trelowen Dizzy Rascal winning the bitch CC at Crufts in 2020, just before the pandemic shut everything down. Trelowen Aviator at Frostisen owned by the Frostisen Kennel is Top Buhund in Southern Ireland at the moment. In the end Sue and daughter Jacqui came over on the overnight ferry, and said they had one of the calmest crossings that they had ever had. Jacqui did a sterling job stewarding for her mother. I will give the main winners here but will talk about the rest of the show in next week’s notes, as with the show being on Sunday, I do not have much time to do a full write up on it, before having to send the notes into ‘Our Dogs’. BIS & BCC her 4th Michael Patrick and Leigh Ashman’s Ch Tapui Starla (Freya) she also has 5RCCS and is by Ch Koromandel Best Served Cold at Knytshall(Jamie) x Ch Kimura’s Vera At Tapui (Imp Nor)(Betty). RBIS &BVIS &RBCC her 4th she also has 3CCs was Kirsty Irvine’s Ch Kimura’s Vera At Tapui (Imp Nor) Betty she is by Nor Ch Kimura’s Per Gynt x Nor Ch Kimura’s Nelly. BOS & DCC his 10th he also has 4RCCS Jenny Shorer -Wheeler’s Ch Koromandel Tusen Takk (Muchly) by Multi Ch Trollheimens JR Made For Cascilius x Sturtmoor Ffascination With Koromandel. RDCC his 16th he also has 18th CCS Nancy Kent, Jacque & Michael Cobb’s Ch Koromandel Best Served Cold at Knytshall he is by Multi Ch Kyons’ Bold Norseman x Ch Maidofcopper For Koromandel JW (Imp Fin). You will see it was quite a family affair as Freya’s dam Betty was the RBCC winner and her sire Jamie was the RDCC winner. It was a very enjoyable day with a lovely atmosphere.
Now I finish with some very sad news, many of you will have known Nikki Davies nee Houston who showed Ch Arnscroft Di Hard very successfully for many years. Very tragically she collapsed on Wednesday 18th and despite all the medical attention she received, she never regained consciousness and died the next day, two days before her 47th Birthday. She leaves behind a heartbroken husband and two small daughters the eldest of which is seven. We send condolences to them and all her family. We had a minute’s silence at the club show to remember a lovely person.
Stay safe everyone.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com