NORWEGIAN BUHUNDS
East Kent Open Show was held on Sunday 1st November at The Market Hall in Maidstone Kent, Buhunds were in ring 7 after 9 breeds with the show starting at 9am, but those of you who attend open shows regularly will know that does not mean you can have a lie in, especially when the order of judging is in the schedule. I learnt that lesson very early on in my showing career, I was at a show in Newmarket went down to the ring to see how they were getting on having left Okie in the car, only to discover the Buhunds had just entered the ring, they were very nice and waited for me! lesson learnt I always arrived before the show started after that, as sometimes breeds will have no entries or just one. The judge was Brooke Taylor who judged the Group and most of the Pastoral Breeds with the exception of the Corgis and Samoyeds, she found her BOB in Marie Corin and Adam Camm’s home bred Mazads Nom De Plume (Dexter) who was later PG3. RBOB and BP at his first show was Sue and Sam Crocker and Jasmine Freeborn’s Leggatts Midnight Rambler (Norman) he is Dexter’s son and was later 4th in the Pastoral Puppy Group so watch out Dexter. Dexter’s sire and Norman’s grandsire Marie and Adam’s Ch Kilgenthal Almuric ShCEx was 2nd on Open. Marie told me most of the judging was outside, and there is an interesting piece in the schedule that says, ‘should the weather be inclement the outside ring order will follow inside ring judging’.
Marie also said that if the weather forecast looks awful, she does not go, the one time it did happen it was chaos with standing room only and they had to wait for a ring to become free. It is very difficult for open shows as obviously they need to have enough entries to cover their costs and there are not so many halls that allow dogs that are large enough. Even halls like the Sky Blue Connection Coventry can find it difficult, I really enjoy stewarding but still remember the occasion there when I stewarding outside for the W&PBS open show in February, it was windy and wet all day, we were not moved inside as there was no room, trying to keep the paperwork dry and not letting it blow away was very difficult, shows how bad it was as I still remember it and it was a long time ago! I wonder how many of the owners and their dogs went back the next year.
I am sure by now that you know I compete with Time in scentwork competitions, last week we tried a new one. Detection Dog Trials (DDT) these are structured competitions where handler -dog teams are evaluated on their ability to locate specific scents across various environments, with the emphasis on teamwork, precision and communication, between dog and handler. They are scored across nine categories, that assess communication and decision-making. The trials are very popular in the US, and the marking and rules are the same wherever the trials are held. The trial can include multiple search environments such as rooms, vehicles, outdoor areas and industrial spaces with each element judged independently. There are number of levels and as with all trials they become harder as you move up. The first level is Prelim; we had 2 elements with a different judge for each. The trial was held on a large farm, and our first element was a large barn with several huge farm machines and one small tractor, we were allowed 5 mins to find one scent. I thought we were going to have a problem as Time would insist on carefully sniffing the wheels on the machinery, they obviously had some interesting smells from the fields they had been in, he did find the scent though with almost a minute to spare, it was hidden in pile of sacks and we gained 81%. The second element was in another barn this time open fronted with everything but the kitchen sink in it, plus a stack of straw but the dogs only had to search the two lower layers. Here we nearly ran out of time as he was very interested in the floor, I am sure as it was open fronted it probably had visits from wildlife during the night. The scent was in a bale on the bottom layer of the stack. We had another 81% so I was very pleased as we ended up Reserve overall in the Trial. It was not unlike the searches we do in National Nosework Competitions, but these are marked more on the dog finding the sent whereas here the marks were more on teamwork and how the dog found the scent.
Please remember these are your notes, so tell me of the things that you do your dog does not necessarily a show or activity ,could be a special walk or something different your dog has learnt .
I am pleased to say I can finish with a clear eye test for Time (Ch Rikarlo Gable JW) he is by Ch Koromandel Best Served Cold At Knytshall x Ch Kimura’s Vera With Tapui (Imp Nor).
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