NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I cannot believe that when you read these notes it will be September, and we will have had out last Bank Holiday before Christmas. Here in the South-East, we finally had several hours of rain, and everything is already looking so much greener. I know several you will have taken part in various canine activities over the weekend, but as it is Bank Holiday these notes must be in before the weekend, so I will have to catch up with them later. However, for the first time in all the years that I have been writing these notes, I am thrilled to be able to write about the Young Kennel Club summer camp. Several of our members started out as members of the Young Kennel club and many were very successful Junior handlers, and some are now successful Adult handlers and Judges.
This was sent to me by Johanna and Nicolas Guillod -Rees and is entitled: – ‘The Guillod-Rees gang at summer camp in Rutland’! “Having had Ruby (Draccus Obsidian) for almost a year now, and she being fully grown, it was time to try some new adventures. While at Crufts, back in March, the kids were in awe watching amazing displays of agility, scent work and heelwork to music, Debbie Deuchar suggested we signed the kids up for The Young Kennel Club (YKC), as they offer various training throughout the year and promised many of these activities at the big summer camp. The long wait ended, the kids helped pack, mostly treats and toys for the dogs and no consideration for clothes for cooler nights! Fortunately, the first few days were warm, and a good thing we brought both dogs allowing each a turn and a well-deserved rest in between sessions of the action-packed programme. Ruby and Bethany tried agility, handling, man trailing (scent work), obedience, hoopers, and grooming, all of which she really enjoyed and did surprisingly well for her first time, just demonstrating the incredible versatility of the breed. She also did the Silver Good Citizen Test and would have passed had Sam and Razza not come bounding over to the ringside celebrating their hoopers win, 1 min 40 sec into her 2 min distance stay, other than that she did us proud! Ruby also joined us for some of the social events, including afternoon tea and loved all the attention! There were also provisions for parents and siblings such as Adult Handling, being a Judge, and 50points of a dog test. We all appreciated the really encouraging feedback from the panel of trainers for both dogs and handlers. Of course, camping is not an experience without some sort of disaster, we experienced a local tornado which ripped a few awnings off caravans and uprooted a few crates with dogs aboard, but happily the dogs remained calm and unhurt.
This was the first time I had camped (in a 4-man tent) for a week with 2dogs and 2kids and certainly it will not be the last! We all enjoyed it very much never a dull moment good balance of training and social events, so much so our youngest daughter is also keen to take part in full, all we need is another Bu! Sam who has a Sproker said after the camp that the most important thing he learned during the camp, was the trust and friendship he gained with his dog. Bethany said she enjoyed YKC camp as she was able to try new activities with Ruby”
Thanks very much sounds great.
The camp ran from 31st July to Friday 5th August on the Rutland Showground, members attending must be aged 7-16 years.
The YKC owes its existence to Daphne MacDougall who in the1980’s convinced the KC that young people needed a club and a voice of their own within the KC. It was originally called the Kennel Club Junior Organisation and was founded in 1985.
Discover Dogs is being held on 15th/16th October at the Excel if any of you fancy helping on the breed booth on either of the days or even half a day, please pm Lisa or myself.
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