NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
If you read these notes regularly you will know how I love to hear about of the various activities, you do with your dogs. One of the activities is scent training which is based on the work the bomb disposal and drug detection dogs do. The dogs love working in this way, Kirsty does it with Blaze, Loxy and Jack enjoying training with Sarah, and Time and I head off on a Monday afternoon for our lessons. There is however another type of scent work the dogs do that is becoming very popular, and that is looking for people not objects, so I was thrilled to receive the article below from Lillian Rumsey.
“On a cold, wet and windy Sunday, Darcy and I headed off for our first ever session in “Mantrailing”
at Solway Aviation Museum. “Mantrailing” is when a dog uses its nose to find a person who is lost or maybe just for fun. Using just an article of clothing from the lost person, the dog can follow the scent trail and find that person. It’s also a great way to spend quality time with your dog and see how truly amazing they are. There were 5 dogs in our group, 2 experienced and 3 total novices like Darcy and I. In the morning, we did 3 trails each. A trail consisted of another one of our groups (the trail layer) leaving an article with their scent for the dog to sniff, then going to hide a distance away. They take with them 2 little pots of ‘reward’, treats, sausage etc whatever your dog likes. When the dog finds the lost person, they are rewarded with the pot of goodies and lots of attention. The trail layer then hides again for the dog to find, then 2nd pots of goodies and more attention. (This is one trail). The dog then takes a rest while another dog takes its turn. Only 1 dog at a time does the trail. Soon it was our turn. Liz was our trail layer. Darcy and I walked round Liz, she put her article down then went off to hide. I took Darcy to sniff the article, then gave the trail command and waited….to my amazement, she headed off in the direction Liz had taken. A bit hesitant, not quite sure, but she found Liz. The handler has to allow the dog to choose the route. No commands are given, and the lead is loose. Yippee, Darcy did it. No hesitation on her next 2 trails, nose to the ground, she was off. I took one very tired girl home afterwards. Mantrailing is an outside activity. You will need a harness, 7-10m long line and some ‘rewards’. Our trails were around the old airplanes at the airfield. To find an instructor near you, go to Mantrail UK.” Thanks Lillian sounds a really great way to exercise your dog. Darcy to her friends but is aka Kata Syndattir Av Fjeldvidda At Wheatshade(Imp NL) .
Last week I wrote about the shows that hopefully will take part in the first half of the year, this week it is the shows from July to December. I have listed the open shows that I know about but of course there may well be others in your area, and as I said last week even if the show does not have Buhund classes it will have AVNSC Pastoral which you can enter. There is also a Facebook page ‘UK open and Limited Dog shows’ where you can find shows, apart of course from Fosse Data and Higham Press.
At Windsor Ch show on Saturday 2nd July Fran Kaye (Danfrebek) will be awarding CCs for the first time in the breed. She has been associated with dogs since childhood and first started judging in 1982. East of England Ch show is Friday 8th July, there are no CCs but we have a very good classification, the judge is Cath Moffat who started judging in 2003 and gives CCs in a number of Pastoral Breeds. On Saturday 16th July Tim Ball (Kaitak) is judging National Working and Pastoral breeds at Malvern and is also giving CCs in the breed for the first time. He began judging in 1989 and gives CCs in over 20 breeds across the Utility, Toy, Working and Pastoral Groups. Mike Vines (Parvodene) is judging Leeds Ch show on Friday 22nd July he last awarded CCs in the breed at Windsor 2018, the show is held on the Harwood Estate in Leeds. The club is also holding its Open show in conjunction with Leeds, the judge is Caroline Friend-Rees (Amical) she is secretary of WELKS and gives CCs in a number of breeds. Friday 5th August is Pastoral Day at Paignton Ch show which is held at West Point Exeter, there are no CCs and the judge is Penny Roberts (Archaeus), she gives CCs in Samoyeds and German Spitz and has judged them in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Pikes Farm Organford Poole is the venue for Bournemouth Ch show, Pastoral Day is Saturday 13th August there are no CCs and the judge is Steve Bennett. If you are thinking of staying in the area, they are having an open show there on Friday 12th. The Welsh KC Ch show is held on the Royal Welsh showground at Builth Wells and is one of the all-breed shows that has CCs for the breeds that have them. It was not held last year due to covid. This year Pastoral Day is Friday 19th August and the judge is Paul Lawless (Revloch) from County Kildare in Eire. He judges Groups 1,2 &5 under F.C.I rules and has judged all over the World, but this is the first time he has given CCs to Buhunds in the UK. They are in FCI Group 5.
August 28th sees Lisa Strong (Draccus)judging at Horley Open show held at Ardingly on the South of England Show Ground. The next day which is Bank Holiday Monday Jenny Shorer-Wheeler (Koromandel) is judging at Leicester Open show, held at the Sky-Blue Connection Ryton On Dunsmore. The next Ch show is City of Birmingham on Saturday 3rd September at Stoneleigh there are no CCs and I have no information of a judge. Losely Park in Surrey hosts Richmond Ch show but surprisingly although it has CCs for the breed, no judge has been submitted at present. Darlington is another of the all-breed CC shows held on Ripon Racecourse, Pastoral day is 17th September, the judge is Jill Peak (Bayard) who has given CCs in the Breed on 3 previous occasions the last being at SKC in 2019, she gives CCs in breeds in all 7 groups. Wenna Wallbank (Dewin) will be judging our club show, she is a breed specialist having been a very successful breeder and exhibitor of Buhunds in the 80s and 90s and has awarded CCs on 13 occasions, the last time was at National Working and Pastoral Breeds in 2018. Working & Pastoral Breeds of Scotland is on 5th November we lost CCs there many years ago, the show was cancelled at the last-minute last year, I have no judge listed at the moment. The show last year was on the same day as the open show Coventry (Foleshill) Canine Assoc, the show has had breed classes for many years but I do not have an actual date at this time. The Nordic show for Spitz Breeds has sponsored classes by the club and is on Saturday 26th November at Ryton. Last but not least is LKA the last all breed CC shows of the year, the date is 10th December and the venue the NEC, our judge is Lynne Smith (nee Robson) (Alkola) also a successful breeder and exhibitor in the 80’s, she has awarded CCs in the breed on 10 occasions the last being at Birmingham National in 2019.
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