NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
I hope you all had a good Christmas; we now look forward to a new decade and a new show season which will soon be in full swing.
In the meantime, I thought you might be interested to know how breeders choose their Affix (Registered Kennel Name). Some of course are obvious, like my Fizz whose pedigree name is Tonylynn’s Charles Lafitte, with the late Lynn Isaac using her and her husband Tony’s first names as the affix. Some are handed down through the generations, Treena Maun who breeds Elkhounds has the affix of Bowerhinton and that was the affix of her grandmother, the mother of the late Elisabeth Coleopy who bred the Fullani Buhunds.
So in no particular order as is so often said! I start with Millie Lambert (Sturtmoor) who told me: “Some may know when I first started out in Buhunds, I didn’t have my own Affix. My mum (Marcia Dovey) had her own kennels which were under the Sturtmoor affix, but the Buhunds were my own dogs therefore I wanted my own kennel name (I was 10yrs old at the time). In those days, you had to qualify to gain the right to apply for an affix, I believe you had to win 1st place at a championship show with CCs, in Post Graduate or above with a dog you had bred. I was extremely proud of the day when I won this award with my own Atlantis Power Prince from my very first litter (born in 1984). This was back in the days when we would regularly see 60 + Buhunds at every Championship show, so a much bigger entry than it is nowadays. I was so happy, it meant the world to me, and then Michael Cobb shattered my illusions-when he informed me that you no longer needed to qualify to gain the right to an affix! Oh well, at least I did it the hard way –I earned my Affix! At that time I had two bitches, and of course Lanty from my first litter, the bitches were Adoram Christmas Rose (Christie) and Adoram Holly (Yanna).Putting the names of these three dogs to-gether, I came up with Yannista and the only Buhund litter bred under this affix was in 1986, this produced Yannista Bibiana(Bibbi)and Yannista Barak(Tan), I ran these two on as I could not decide which to keep. Bibbi did very well in the show ring but after re homing her she was not shown much, as her owner wasn’t really into showing at that time, she brought her to a few shows but then it stopped altogether. She did win a Res CC under breed specialist Win Stanbury. Tan on the other hand, I owned and showed until he left me at almost 12yrs old. Some of you may remember he was one that would win his class quite easily, but when it came to the challenge, he would stop using his ears and they would look like aeroplane wings!! Several judges came to me and said they would have loved to award him a CC, but they couldn’t because he wouldn’t use his ears. I can’t blame them either! Tan was my heart dog, and King has a very similar temperament, he is the first dog that I have had since losing Tan that comes close to replacing him. After several years of showing ‘other’ breeds and learning a lot more about dogs in general, I still used the Yannista affix for some time. Then some years later, Mum asked my sister (Amy Kinsey) and I if we would like to be given a separate interest in her Sturtmoor Affix. Well of course we jumped at the chance! The Sturtmoor Affix is world famous for its Estrala Mountain Dogs (there were a few Pyrenean Mountain dogs to start with), so we were honoured to be asked by Mum to share her affix. My sister and I have been a part of Sturtmoor ever since (Amy has Smooth Collies) and although I don’t breed very often, I am always proud to have another Sturtmoor litter to carry on the kennel, started by Mum and Dad back in the early 70’s”.Thanks Millie very interesting.
When the ‘Our Dogs’ Top Dog Awards have been confirmed I will go into them in detail.
Remember online entries for Crufts close on 20th January; we are first in the Ring on the Saturday for Judge Kerry Frost.
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.
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