Thursday 29 January 2009

Bon Accord KA Open Show

Saturday saw Bon Accord Kennel Association's second open show at the new venue of Thainstone Mart - it doesn't seem a year since the last one. Some re-organising had been done to avoid last year's overcrowding and two rings were moved to a different hall, this seemed to work very well but it did make it a little harder to get photos of everyone.

It turned out to be a very good show for Spey Valley members with quite a few taking top honours. We had representatives in for BIS, BPIS and BVIS.

Joan's Bo is still riding high, he beat his brothers to take BOB and then the hound group and looked very impressive in the Best in Show line-up.

June's Benson is also still on the crest of a wave. He took Best of Breed, Group 3, Best Working Puppy and then Best Puppy in Show!! Rita's Danny was another in the Best Puppy line-up after he'd taken Best Toy Puppy.

Sue's Louis was Best Toy Veteran and then went on to Best Veteran in Show! This is the second year running that he has taken this award.

The other winners were:

In hounds, Nicky's Alfie won his class and then BOB, no group place unfortunately so he is still chasing 2 points for his ShCm (Good luck for Caledonian!). Liz's Poppy won her class and then took BOB and G4. The whippet entry was huge so this was a worthy win. (Sorry, no photos).

In terriers, Claire's Kya was BOB. Karen's Ceilidh was also BOB and then G3.......despite her obvious lack of coat! There is no truth in the rumour that Karen is developing a new breed called the Irish Hairless Terrier.

The only pastoral win that I know of was Katrina's Leo, he was still on form and won his Post Grad class.

In gundogs, Sue T's Logan won his class and BOB. Sue G's Jana won AV Gundog Yearling.

In Toys, Sue's Rosa won her class. Jill's Chico is another who just keeps on winning, he took the Toy NSC class and then G3.

It was a family affair for Morag's Logie when he took on his mother and sister in the Import Register class. He came out on top and was Best Import.

Junior Handlers - Glenn was 2nd and Ria 4th in the 6-11 years. Caitlin kept pace with her brother with her 2nd in the 12-16 years.

There was also adult handling and Morag was placed 3rd in the ladies class. This qualifies them for the final at Coventry LKA in March 2010.

Great results for Spey Valley!! Congratulations everyone.

Thanks very much to those of you who sent me photos.

Wednesday 28 January 2009

Bon Accord photos

Making friends

BIG puppy!


A few familiar faces amongst the spectators



Lady handlers in action

Junior Handling 6 - 11 years

Junior handling 12-16 years

Morag takes 3rd in the Adult Handling (ladies) class.

Logie - Best Import Register

Logan - Best of Breed


Toy group 1st - 3rd

Terrier group 1st - 4th

Terrier group being judged

Beagle judging

Alfie wins his class and Best of Breed



Bo - Best of Breed and G1

Best in Show line-up part 1

Best in Show line-up part 2
Best Puppy line-up


Best Puppy line-up part 2



Best Veteran line-up

Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show

Benson - Best Puppy in Show


Louis - Best Veteran in Show

Tuesday 27 January 2009

Seminar

Angus and Kincardine Canine Club are holding a 'Hands-on assessment and points of the dog' seminar on 15th February at Brechin. Eleanor Bothwell is the accredited trainer and the cost will be £15.

Places are limited so if anyone is interested in attending or would like more information, please speak to Karen Forbes. Tel: 01343 870281. Email: iainandkaren.forbes@btinternet.com

Karen is also hoping to organise a seminar for Junior Handlers. This will depend upon whether there is enough interest so please contact her if you would like to attend.

Friday 23 January 2009

Flyball - a new venture

The club has just acquired a flyball box and set of jumps and the dogs in the top class on Tuesday night were all having a go at it. Some caught on quicker than others, Skye the weimaraner is a natural - this is definitely her sport! Gladys's Danny is going to take a bit of convincing that this is actually fun because when he had his first go at it the ball caught him by surprise and hit him on the nose!

Flyball will feature as part of the fun night held every first Tuesday of the month and it may also come out during other top classes. We'll see how it goes but it looks like it might be a lot of fun.








Thursday 22 January 2009

Manchester Championship Show

Manchester show was held at the New Bingley Hall, Stafford from Thursday 15th - Sunday 18th January. The prospect of bad weather at this time of year probably puts off a lot of northern exhibitors from entering and there were only a few club members who made the long journey south. However, despite the lack of members, I still have two very good wins to report.

June's Benson just keeps notching up the wins and junior warrent points. Hot on the heels of his big win at Boston, he won his Puppy class and was again declared Best Puppy in Breed.

Morag's Logie is another puppy on a roll. He won his Puppy class and then took Best Import Register Puppy and also Reserve Best Dog!

Big congratulations and keep it up!!

Now for an example of how things don't always go smoothly when you are travelling up and down the country.

Morag and Sue journeyed down with Elizabeth in her motorhome for a two night stay at the Stafford showground and, despite a fair bit of rain and wind, a good time was had by all. The vizsla judging was finished by noon on Sunday so it was a fairly early start to the return journey with an expected arrival back at Huntly of about 9pm.

After a stop at Tebay services for something to eat, refuel the van and a quick walk for dogs (in the rain!) all was going to schedule. However, this was soon to change. Elizabeth noticed a 'slight' noise coming from the engine, this turned into a very loud roar and smoke started to appear. Pulling onto the hard shoulder, everyone got out quickly to survey the damage. There was a lot of smoke pouring out but this did stop once the engine was turned off. The motorhome would not start again and recovery had to be organised.

This all happened in the most remote of places, on the M74 some miles from Beattock, and in the dark. Traffic whizzed by (very close to the hard shoulder!) but nobody stopped to offer help. Thank goodness for mobile phones! After quite some time waiting, a recovery van came out and the motorhome had to be towed some 10 miles to the nearest services. This is not an experience Elizabeth would like to repeat, as anyone who has ever been towed will no doubt understand. It was not helped by the fact that the van towing was considerably smaller than the motorhome, there were quite a few hills to climb and the driver pulled out in front of a large lorry at a roundabout!

More waiting ensued but at least not on the rather dangerous hard shoulder. A larger recovery truck was sent down from Huntly, which arrived around 2am, and the motorhome was loaded on to it......not without some difficulty. The journey continued up to Huntly with Elizabeth, Morag and Sue in the truck's cab and all the dogs remaining in the motorhome. Goodness knows what the dogs made of being winched aboard and everything else that went on but they seemed to take it all in their stride. In the end, a journey which should have taken around 8 hours actually took nearer 18!

So take care when you're going up and down the country to shows, make sure you have your mobile phone on you and also that all important breakdown cover. Elizabeth's motorhome is only two years old and you probably wouldn't expect such a thing to happen but you just never know. Better to be safe than sorry!
Line-up for Best Dog

Logie after winning Best Puppy Import Register and Reserve Best Dog

Wednesday 21 January 2009

Bo strikes a pose

Joan's Bo looking very handsome after his Reserve Best in Show win at Kilmarnock and District CC's open show.

Sunday 11 January 2009

New Year news

Happy New Year to everyone! Here's to a successful 2009 for all, whatever dog sport you're taking part in.

We may only be days into 2009 but we have news already. Joan and Jimmy were away over the festive period in their caravan and took in a couple of shows at the same time. At Livingston Open show on December 27th Bo won his NSC class but he went even better on January 3rd at Kilmarnock & District CC's Open show where he took BNSC, G1 and then Reserve Best in Show! This meant he also gained the final two points he needed for his Show Certificate of Merit. Great news, well done!!

This weekend Boston Championship show has been on and June was there on Thursday with Benson. I expect she's still floating on air because Benny kept up his great run of success by winning his puppy class and being declared Best Puppy in Breed (again) but not only that.......he also took the RCC!! Congratulations June and Benson!

Manchester is next weekend, good luck to all who are going.