Banff, Moray and Nairn CC

BMNCC held their second open show of the year at Lossiemouth Community Centre on 27th October and, going by the number of cars and busy hall, it seems to have attracted a very good entry.

Quite a few wins for club members, most notably Jock's westie, Chardonnay, who went Best in Show! Reserve went to the tibetan terrier. Heather's whippet was Best Veteran. Best Puppy was the great dane with the cocker Reserve.

Terriers - Sarah's Sasha was BOB and G4, Daveena's Inka was Best NSC and G2. Jock's Chardonnay was G1 of course.

Gundogs - the only win I'm aware of was Elizabeth's Bronni who took BOB.

Pastoral - Morag's Arran was BOB and G4.

Toys - Sue's Desmond, Pansy and Louis each won their class, Pansy took BOB and G2.

Hounds - Liz's Erin won her class, Joan's Bo won his and took BOB. Erica had a day to remember when both Willow and George won their classes, Willow then took BOB and went on to win the group! I think this was the biggest group of the day and it contained some stiff competition. Erica's face was a picture!

Well done to everyone.

Lossie photos

Willow BOB and G1

Hound G1 about to be awarded

Terrier group being judged



Terrier 1st - 4th



Pastoral group being judged





Toy 1st - 3rd






Gundog 1st - 4th

Dane Of The Year

Joanne travelled all the way down to Coventry for the Dane Of The Year show on 20th October. A long way to go but well worth it because Annie continued her run of success by winning yearling bitch. Congratulations!

Alex McCulloch

Sadly I have to report that Alex, husband of Gladys, died on Saturday after a short illness. Although he didn't come along to the club with Gladys, he was a behind-the-scenes supporter and was very proud of the achievements of their two dogs, Nikki and Danny.

A memorial service will be held at Birnie Kirk, Elgin at 12 noon on Monday 29th October. Our thoughts and sympathy are with Gladys and family.

Glenfound do the double

Last weekend the North of Scotland Sheepdog Society held an open show at Stonehaven. Katrina had a fantastic day - taking both best bitch and best dog and then best of breed with Riva. Congratulations!

Chance - Best dog

Riva - best bitch and best of breed

It's a dogs life

Spare a thought for the long-suffering Other Half, who, although he quite likes the dogs, does not share what some might call my 'obsession'.

Today is our 27th anniversary (yes I know you get less for murder and I quite agree that Other Half deserves a medal for lasting this long) but there will be no candlelit dinner for two at an intimate little restaurant for us. Instead, a certain papillon of the female persuasion is about to make Louis's day - he doesn't know it yet but he is her intended.

I won't go into details but I'm sure you'll have an idea of how our anniversary evening will be spent, Other Half will no doubt find alternative entertainment on the TV.

Who says romance is dead? Not Louis, that's for sure.

Louis - aka Cassanova

Belfast again

Joan's Maddie - BOB, Belfast

Lochaber

Lochaber and District CC put on probably one of the most friendly and enjoyable open shows. It is held in Fort William and the journey down there, although winding and car sick inducing, must be one of the most scenic - especially at this time of year when the trees and bracken are such beautiful colours. Early morning fog put paid to much of the view on the journey down this year but that all changed once the sun managed to break through and it turned into a glorious day.

The show is held in a large, carpeted hall and prizes are very generous - all best of breeds recieve prize money plus a Ben Nevis whisky miniature and group winners get larger bottles of whisky and a bag of dog food. The committee also lay on a hospitality table with a lovely selection of cakes and drinks, alcoholic included! I decided against the strong stuff, a bit early in the day for me, plus I was driving, but my breakfast of cake and juice went down very well.

Quite a few good results for Spey Valley.

Terriers - Karen's Fergus was BOB and G4 and Jock Wilson's home-bred westie, Toddy, did very well by going G1 and then RBIS. He is handled by Jock's daughter Ann.

Gundogs - Elizabeth's Bronni was BOB and G1.

Hounds - Dougie and Erica's Willow was BOB and G4. No photos of the group I'm afraid as I was in the ring at the same time.

Pastoral - Katrina's Cosmo was BOB as was Morag's Arran.

Toys - Sue's Pansy was BOB and G2, she also won the open bitch stakes class, which included £10 prize money!

I don't think there were any winners in Utility and Working but please let me know if I'm wrong.

Apologies for the photo quality but the lighting in the hall is not the best.

BIS & RBIS

Bronni goes G1

Gundog group 1st - 4th

Terrier group judging

Toy group judging

It's not often the top of Ben Nevis can be seen

Jay wins again

Steve's Jay was still on top form for last weeks Open Trial held at Longniddry, where he won another CD class. Congratulations and keep it up!

The Belfast Experience

Belfast Championship show is popular with many Scottish exhibitors who make the long journey 'abroad' each year, most travelling across by ferry from Stranraer. I should think the majority of passengers are dog people, all travelling with high hopes, and it makes for a good atmosphere.

At a ridiculously early hour (2am!) on Sunday September 30th, whilst waiting to board the ferry, we were to be found wandering around a dark car park urging dogs to relieve themselves, these same dogs thought we'd lost the plot because they knew fine well that we should all be tucked up in bed at that hour. We really ought to know better.

Great expense, hours of driving, very little sleep, the risk of a choppy crossing and days needed to recover afterwards - all in the hope of winning a piece of card! As non-doggy people no doubt say - 'we must be mad'.

Perhaps the easiest way to travel is to go over the day before and stay overnight in a B&B or hotel......but that's for softies! We did it the fun way - three people plus eight dogs in a large, white van. There and back in 36 hours, allowing for a few stops on the way (Dundee Tesco at 3am was a strange experience) and a sleep in a lay-by. Most of the driving was done by Katrina and she did a great job, especially negotiating the extensive road works and lack of signs in Belfast.

There were only a few club members at the show (most had more sense) but they did well. Joan was there the day before us and got Best of Breed with Maddie, Katrina's Cosmo won his post grad class but Linda and Vic's Gino did the best by winning his minor puppy class and then taking best pup in breed. Unfortunately, we had to leave to catch the evening ferry home and so he couldn't compete for best pup in group; who knows what might have been?

I finally got home and into bed at 7am and slept like a log. It was a long, tiring trip and we all say 'never again' but no doubt we'll be doing it all over again next year.

Cosmo - 1st PGD

Gino - Best Pup in breed

Banged up

The van - our transport, sleeping arrangement & changing room.

Loaded up

Handy place to change

Some folk go by bus

The main hall

Katrina handles Gino in the ring

Waiting for the ferry

Homeward bound

Snatch some sleep when you can

Goodbye Belfast

Nethybridge Companion show

Thanks to Jenny for the following photos from the show at Nethybridge, which is possibly unique in being held on tennis courts. The weather stayed fine, food was really good and quite a few club members were well placed. Well done in particular to June and Barney, who went Reserve Best In Show, Alec and Jake, who won the advanced obedience and Jenny and Brint who came second.

BIS, RBIS, BP & BV

Intermediate obedience winners

Advanced obedience winners

Good cakes!

Obedience weekend with Fiona Rowe

The club will be holding an obedience training weekend on Saturday 20th and Sunday 21st October. Fiona Rowe will be coming to pass on her considerable knowledge and experience. Club members who attended a previous training session with her found it to be extremely worthwhile.

Training will take place in the hall and starts at 10am each day, ending at approx. 5pm. The cost is £45 for handler and one dog for the weekend, £25 for handler and one dog for one day, or £10 per day for a spectator.

Tea and coffee will be available all day but please bring a packed lunch.

If you are interested please contact Hilary Hirst on 01466 771328 or email hilary@avawaga.freeserve.co.uk

Homeopathy evening

We would like to thank Ian Swann for giving us an entertaining talk on homeopathy on Tuesday night. Opinions are often divided on just how effective homeopathy is but even the sceptics amongst us found it interesting and quite possibly useful. We had a question and answer session in which Ian not only had advice on dog treatment but also managed a few helpful hints on humans too. Perhaps we're not so different to our dogs!