NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
Well, you can imagine these are not the notes I was expecting to write this week. I am sure that we would all like to thank the Windsor Committee for making the very hard decision to cancel the show because of the extreme heat and humidity, putting the welfare of the dogs first. Some may have been coming from a distance not in the amber /red area and might well not have realised quite how bad the conditions were. They tried their best when the heat was meant to peak on Thursday, they moved the groups scheduled for that day to Saturday and Sunday. Then it became clear that an amber warning would still be in place over the Friday and into Saturday, so at 2pm on the Wednesday came the announcement that the show was cancelled, there really was no other choice for the wellbeing of the dogs and all concerned. As I write these notes on the Thursday it has been announced that the red alert will stay over Friday which of course covers Windsor. The committee has worked so hard over recent years with improvements to its layout and innovations to increase entries, and his year they won the ‘Pawscars Ch show’ award, and only the previous week they were commended for being one of the few shows to have increased their entries, and also for having a number of foreign exhibitors, so this is a very hard blow for them as they had no insurance for cancelling the show and the show was all set up with all the costs involved. The knock-on effects of cancelling a show of this size are immense, the cost of course and how it effects exhibitors many of whom will have booked accommodating especially the overseas exhibitors, which will also have had ferries booked. The clubs who were having their partner shows with them, Thame show has offered these clubs a place without charging them. Then of course the caterers who will have bought in extra food, and the many trade stands which are always so poplar at Windsor, some of which will had arrived early having travelled a long way before the show was cancelled, some are now offering free delivery for products that had been ordered to be picked up at the show. Fosse data say that online catalogues are still available if those that ordered them wants them.
My dear late mother used to say ‘a day is a long time in politics’ well that has certainly been true recently but has also applied to the weather, with the week starting hot but bearable, but then each day the heat became more intense with schools shutting, people being told not to travel unless absolutely necessary and a number being taken ill on the M25 after a crashes caused a hold ups for some time. Virtually all canine activities were cancelled and yet only 2 weeks ago I had a scent workshop cancelled which was due to be held outside, why? due to heavy rain!
There was one time when a day was cancelled that had nothing to do with the weather, that was in 1997 after the very sad death of Diana Princess of Wales, her funeral was on the Saturday September 6th Working Day (there was no pastoral group in those days) at Richmond Ch show, the show at that time was held on Ascot Racecourse. They moved the Working and Terrier groups to Sunday and took out all the benching to accommodate the four groups.
What will happen now? The Windsor committee they say they are working closely with the RKC and are exploring every possible options. In August 24 Driffield Ch show was hit by a storm just as exhibitors were about to arrive decimating much of the showground, the whole show was cancelled, and they ran 2 shows together the next year as SKC do. Some years before that Pastoral Day at Blackpool was cancelled due to stormy weather and I remember many years ago working Day (no pastoral group then) being cancelled at a show I was at, we were in the benching marquee when we were told to get out quickly, I am not sure which show it was but I remember the late Elisabeth Coleopy, Pat Williams, Di Stirling and myself being there and I am sure many others, it could have been South Wales Kennel Association which was held in the summer in those days. They also had problems in July 2008, the fields they were going to use flooded a few days before the show and they moved the whole show to Newbury showground, the next year it was held in October indoors at Builth Wells.
Carolyn Soloman said of course it is not just dogs, this year the third day of the Royal Cornwell show was cancelled due to strong winds destroying marquess, tents etc so this affected the traders’ stallholders and farmers as it would have been the busiest day.
In some countries they have their shows in the evening to cope with the heat but that would not help with storms, so perhaps they all need to go inside like SKC, which would be a shame, and also I am not sure that there are enough large indoor venues around the country, certainly not with air con for the hot days.
In my notes of June 19th, I mentioned the improvements to the Hip and Elbow certificates that were starting from 10th June. I think that Mary and David Dosson’s Ola (Kimura’s Ola Norman Jr Nor Ch) has to be one of the first with the new certificate, showing an excellent hip score of 4/4 making a total score of 8.
Margaret Deuchar margaretdeuchar@gmail.com
Any 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