Day
0 - Thursday
Preparations were hectic.
I was working up until noon on Thursday, the plane left
at 1710. I quickly
wrote some cheques from our company account for last year’s
tax, and the accountants fees, and left them with him, packed by
bag in a rush, bringing far too many unnecessary clothes, and
got to the airport as Merv and Bev had reached the front of the
queue to check in at Qantas.
Having done that we relaxed in the lounge
and Merv bought duty free cigarettes for David McCullough who
was also on his way to the CKCS championship show in Malvern,
UK, and then to Crufts.
Day
1 - Friday
30 hours later we emerged from Heathrow in
a light green Fiat – having spent 30 minutes fighting with the
divided back seat in the hatch to fit our luggage in.
Me driving, while trying to look at the scenery, Bev
navigating, Merv sitting in the back holding his migrainy head
and bubbly tummy. We
got immediately lost, and ended up at Windsor in a café
overlooking the castle. Continuing
on we wend our way across various M roads, A roads, roundabouts,
junctions and overpasses to finally hit the gently rolling
Malvern hills in Gloustershire, somewhere north of Oxford, at
lunch time. Our
B&B was a delightful old stately home with 16 foot ceilings,
central staircase and feather beds.
Leaving Merv to recuperate, Bev and I explored Malvern
immediately checking out junk and antique shops alike and
sitting down to steak and kidney pie (Bev) and an asparagas and
cheese pancake (me) at the Bluebird Tea Rooms overlooking The
Abbey, for which Malvern is famous.
This is Elgar country (of the cello concerto) and there
are marked tours and walks (none of which we followed).
Napped for a few hours and got ready for
the pre-show dinner with the CKCS Club at The Abbey hotel back
in town.
Sat at a table of 12 with some lovely Club
members from the north of England, and an American couple who
had come to the UK two years previously and been devastated when
told on their arrival of the cancellation of the Club show and
Crufts due to foot and mouth. Caught up on all the goss from our new UK friends (Betty,
Bill, Catherine and Beryl) on shows attended and litters
planned.
The Americans retired mid-dinner when she
nearly passed out – too much alcohol on (quite a bit) of
medication for a cold. The
Parade of New Champions was held, and was delighted to see a
lovely tricolour ‘Sanickro Intuition’, and Virginia
Barwell’s dog ‘Charlottetown Trueman’, titled at 7 years
of age and looking great whom we are to visit during the week.
The 3rd new champion was ‘Volney Quest’
whom I had noted as a big winner throughout last year from
results on the internet (www.cavaliersuk.co.uk)
Our excitement mounts as we see some dogs, and realise this is
actually happening – tomorrow, the best of what there is for
us to see in Cavaliers! The
point scores are announced, a surprise for everyone as there are
no updates on positions throughout the year. Lorraine
Hughes (Lorankas) is asked to stay seated near the front after
her first award, and she has to return to the podium several
times. Mrs
Schillizi presents the trophies, and we see Mrs Burgess sitting
up at the top table. After
the dinner Betty insists on taking us up to the hotel bar and
showing us her 18 months old dog.
In fact all the dogs are staying with their owners in the
hotel rooms, and as we go up the stairs to the lobby, dozens of
Cavaliers and their owners and going to a quick toilet stop in
the graveyard or out to the carpark.
Betty’s Eliot is lovely and she insists I handle him
for a few minutes. He
heels and stands beautifully on a loose led, and is presented to
perfection – what else will we see tomorrow?
Bev and I return to Dell House at midnight,
Merv is looking less unwell, and we hope the night will see him
restored.
Day
2 - Saturday
We all wake at 6 – our body clocks are on
Melbourne time and none of us have slept well.
However, we expect that adrenaline will get us through
the day.
A FULL breakfast means two of everything on
an enormous plate and I am ready to go at 8.20.
The showgrounds are 2 minutes away down the hill in the
broad green valley overlooked by the church spires, stately
homes, and cottages of little Malvern, Malvern Wells, Malvern
and Great Malvern.
The show hall is a terrific venue –
better than I had imagined.
A large green tin shed from the outside, it is actually a
comfortable indoor arena with two large central rings marked out
by white rope, each surrounded by a single row of comfortable
blue chairs. At
either end of the hall are benches for dogs, all laid out
numerically (from 1 to 621).
On one side is a good quality buffet style dining area,
and the other has a series of about 20 trade stalls.
Minor bitches had started, there were 48 entries, so the
judge Brian Claydon was still moving the first has of the class
as we arrived. There
is so much quality here I realise I’m going to have to
concentrate very hard to pick my favourites.
We sit next to Patti Fensterwalde (from the US)
who is delighted to meet our acquaintance.
I sit like an excited school kid with eyes bulging (and
then remember to put on my new glasses so I can see the detail
across the other side of the ring).
The judge pulls out 8 dogs or so, and the rest duck under
the ropes while the second half of the class meanders into the
ring from all sides. There
is no calling of numbers or lining up – everyone just gets on
with it. The judge
begins as several entrants are still arriving.
I catch the eye of one exhibitor and whisper to her
‘lovely bitch’, she is Stonepit Gala, and she wins the
class!
Miletree Simply A Dream, one of my
favourites.
Merv goes and checks out the trade stalls
early on so he can later relax and enjoy the dogs without
interruption. Bev and I are transfixed by the bitch ring, and the Puppies
do not disappoint. We
catch up with David and Darren Watson.
There are at least 120 seats around each ring all full at
any one time, plus groups standing behind chatting and watching.
The handling and presentation is a joy to
watch. Every dog is
on a loose lead, moving at a natural pace, obviously well
schooled. The dogs
are expected to have joire de vivre, and being happy while on
the stand with tails wagging, and the dogs move about and re-set
with plenty of room between exhibitors.
Coats are glamourous and eyes full of expression.
Class winners receive a rosette, card and 4
UK pounds; only BIS, RUBIS and OS won bottles of champagne as an
extra prize.
After Junior bitch we switch to Dogs, where
Lesley Jupp is judging. The
younger dogs appear more variable than the bitches in size –
but the judge has plenty to choose from in her shortlistings.
At one point a group of exhibitors sit in a corner of the
ring for the whole class, as the two wholes of the split class
are judged – they just sit there … we realise after about 45
minutes that they are dogs that had been judged in earlier
classes that were also entered in this later class.
They get up for a move around the ring before
shortlisting, then get promptly overlooked.
One major difference to home is that the
‘special’ classes are judged as part of the main show, and
the class winners join the challenge line up.
Fantastic (for me!) to see 25 or more tricolour bitches
in a tri bitch class, and then to see it as a real competitive
class for the challenge consideration. The class shows just how hard it is to breed good markings as
well as a good Cavaliers in all other respects (I can see this
is going to be my lifelong struggle in tricolours).
It is a great way to see the progress and standard of the
breed as a whole, it seems to us there is just as much variation
in quality within each colour as there is across the breed.
As we sit watching Dogs, Mrs Burgess (Crisdig)
sits next to us with a couple of seats between.
I nudge Merv to go and chat, as she had put up a puppy of
his at a Speciality in Melbourne many years ago.
Once introduced, Merv was blown away that she knew of him
and wanted to chat at length and see photos of his original
stock. What a
delightful woman. She
promptly fetched Mrs Amy Nugent (from Ireland, Tnegun) and both
insisted in sponsoring all 3 of us to join the UK Club.
(I then asked the Secretary to send my form back to me so
I had proof that I
had met these terrific ladies and doyens of the breed).
This was a real highlight of our visit.
Mrs’ Burgess and Nugent kept checking that we were
enjoying ourselves and introduced us to various people including
Mrs Schillizi. When
Mrs Nugent found out that Merv was a dairy farmer, she kept him
back at the end of the day and invited him to visit Ireland for
their St Patrick’s day show.
Merv
and Bev with Mrs Burgess and Mrs Nugent
The welcome and graciousness from all our
hosts at the show was wonderful.
As this was the 75th Anniversary show, there
was free champagne and specially decorated fruitcake for
afternoon tea for everyone.
After that the bitch and dog challenge line ups were
almost an anti-climax, but only almost…the drama of a
challenge bitch line up of 15 top quality and evenly typed girls
was breathtaking. The
judges agreed on BIS, the Dog Judyland Touch O Magic, with bitch
Chantismere Christianne runner up.
Having had no proper sleep for three days
now, we should be tired, but we are still hyped, and we eat
dinner at The Abbey in Malvern and chat to exhibitors.
We finally crash at about 11 pm but still can’t stop
thinking and dreaming dogs and fantasising about our future
breeding and showing plans.
Day
3 - Sunday
We try to sleep in but fail, my body clock
tells me it’s dinner time, so I have a huge cooked breakfast
in the lovely formal dining room looking through a bay window
through an overgrown garden to the valley below.
We get in the car and drive around the Malvern Hills to
Ledbury, where we stroll around and shop, returning to write
postcards. We had
decided to stay another night at the Dell House in order to slow
down a bit. Simple
meal at a local pub and sleep (well….we tried).
Day 4 - Monday
Drove to London.
A 2 ½ trip
we managed to make 5 ½ , but we enjoyed the journey.
Driving in London is a nightmare and we expect to have
had our photos taken many times for the unpaid London Congestion
charge (like the tollway) but my wife is used to that.
Gresham hotel is a lovely private hotel in Bloomsbury
overlooking Bedford Square.
We brave the crowds at 5 pm to window shop down Oxford
street and discover a mutual obsession with shoes (although I
was the only one to use their credit card).
Gorgeous meal at the end of Regent Street at a wine bar
called “All Bar One”. We
arrive at 6 pm and leave at 9.30 amongst a crowd of Londoners
and students waiting for tables to become free.
We had seen so much at the show on Saturday we are still
debriefing, and a long way from finished talking dogs…and the
meaning of life!
Day
5 - Tuesday
We negotiate our way out of London to the
West and in the afternoon visit Veronica Hull who judged in
Melbourne last year. She
and husband Colin make us tea and we learnt about her breeding
program and were privileged enough to meet all her dogs
(including two delightful litters of puppies). As her American friend and professional handler was not able
to come to Crufts, Veronica asked might I be interested to
handle a dog for her if she brought him, because she had two
puppies qualified and due to be judged at the same time.
Would I!!!? We
had some lead work outside and ‘Dandy’ and me got the hang
of it together. She
hasn’t finally decided if he will be ready to take to Crufts
at the weekend, but it is just a big thrill to be asked, and to
have a dream at least for the next few days that it might
happen. [By now of
course Merv and Bev have us breeding dogs and bringing them back
to the Speciality show to exhibit in a few years time anyway, so
we think anything is possible!].
This was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime,
but already many more are being planned!
We are due at a party near Cambridge which
the Mynot’s (Honeybet) are holding for overseas visitors and
their hosts. Fortunately
Veronica has a GPS guided travelling system in her car, so she
and Bev chat as Merv and I try to keep up from behind in our
rented car – it’s good we don’t have to look at a map
because we are too tired to concentrate on one.
(The system says things like “get into the right hand
lane, in 500 metres turn to the left at the roundabout…and so
on – next time we rent a car its got to have one of those!)
A lovely party with lots of Americans.
French, Swedes as well as a host of UK well known exhibitors and
judges. It’s all
a bit overwhelming. We
plan to spend the night at
Peter and Ruta Towse’s (Milestree), having followed them home
at breakneck speed. Bev
and I politely accept a drink at midnight, and look at the show
dogs, we retire at 12.30 am, but our hosts start reading their
new Yearkbook and go to sleep well after 2!
Day
6 - Wednesday
This morning we visit Viginia Barwell
(Charlottetown) and the village of Bourn.
The Barwell’s live at King Alfred’s house, built in
1616 as a highway man’s public house.
It is a captivating setting for Cavaliers who are at home
sleeping in front of an old Aga in the kitchen.
Miniature portraits of her 5 champions going back 30
years sit above an enormous fireplace.
I am bending over so as not to hit my head on the waxed
wooden beams. It is
a true education to listen to Virginia’s experience in the
breed, and we are once again overawed by our welcome.
Virginia Barwell’s kitchen!
We drive home through picturesque St Neots,
and have lunch (at about 3!).
We spend the afternoon and evening with our hosts Peter
and Ruta over a take away Chinese.
It seems dog people never run out of conversation.
Ruta Towse has bred some of the best British Blue cats in
the UK and recently established a cattery.
Large wooden pens (for 95 cats) in a quandrangle face a
beautiful lawn and fountain.
Bulbs are pushing through the soil in pots.
Day 7 - Thursday
Breakfast and goodbyes take until lunchtime
and we head to Crufts half a day late.
We are so sleep deprived and on a high that we go around
one roundabout three times laughing hysterically because we
can’t work out which exit to leave on.
I stop and let Merv drive while I sleep in the back until
we reach the outskirts of Birmingham. We make it for the Gundog group judging and a gundog
exhibition, get our bearings in the 4 main halls, and do some
shopping. We settle
into a small private hotel, the Wentworth in Harborne, and try
to sleep. Crufts is
like a shopping mall and dog show in one, across 4 enormous
halls and no room to move.
How the dogs cope with the heightened atmosphere and
noise I don’t know.
Day
8 - Friday
Not willing to face the traffic and
navigating the web of Birmingham, Bev and I caught a taxi (20
pounds) to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC).
Merv decided to stay at home and get over an emerging
cold, so we shopped for aspirin, had a coffee and put him to bed
for the day. We
arrived at 2, and separated to look at Bearded Collies (me),
Corgis and Australian Shepherds (Bev).
In the main ring, the Agility final was exciting, and
then the groups for the day.
A Bearded Collie won the Pastoral Group over a lovely OES.
A stunning Newfoundland won the Working dogs.
Pizza in our hotel room watching Crufts on
telly. We had
processed 4 rolls of film and spent the next two hours matching
dogs to their catalogue numbers from the Champ. Show.
Mrs Hull hasn’t decided if her dog is coming to Crufts
yet, but if so I will
be handling him.
Day
9 – Saturday
Since we want to be in fine form for the
Cavalier judging on Sunday, we decide to have half a day only
watching Terriers and Hounds.
I watch large classes of Afghans for over an hour, and
decide to buy the Kennel Club hard cover book of Illustrated
Breed Standards (35 pounds, $105!)
because the toplines and movement are all so different
that they can’t all be correct.
I find myself sitting next to an elderly English
gentlemen who has bred Afghans for 25 years and discuss the
standard and watch dogs for another hour – very enlightening!
At 2, Bev drags me away, and we catch up on some sleep in
the afternoon getting ready for the big day.
Day
10 - Sunday
We leave our hotel at 7 am to get to the
NEC in plenty of time, because I am going to help Veronica
handle at the show and I want to be there in plenty of time to
work with the dog. Of
course there is no traffic on Sunday, so we arrive at 7.25, long
before most exhibitors. Anyway
we get some good seats between the dog and bitch rings. Veronica has a bitch in the ring at 8.30 and a dog at 9.00,
so I practise with the bitch for a while.
Plans change at 8.45 when no classes have started, so the
plan is for me to take the dog in the ring towards the back of
the class, and Veronica will take her bitch to the front the
class. After her
individual judging she will leave the bitch ring and swap dogs,
and take the dog around while I finish showing the bitch.
“Dandy” moves well for me in the first go around, and
then we swap rings and I take Krystiana. She spends the next 45 mints looking for Veronica who had
taken her into the ring ignoring her bait which she normally
loves, so the experience was hard work.
But, I had showed not one, but two dogs at Crufts!
After that, I was able to sit back and relax and watch
the bitch and dog judging simultaneously from the centre of the
two rings. I was planning to follow the catalogue closely and make notes
(because I had forgotten so much of what I had seen the week
before). However, a
week of Cavaliers had taken its toll, and it was all I could do
just to sit and admire them all.
We spend lots of time chatting to our old friends (of one
week!) and making new ones (Joachim from Hakensack kennels in
Sweden, Geoffrey Porter of Ringcreevy in Ireland amongst
others). A
highlight today was the final dog challenge line up – any of 8
dogs could have ‘got the ticket’ but today it was Lymrey
Roger, who has personality plus.
Bitch challenge was won by Ch Maibee Delicious, owned and
handled by Shealagh Waters’ who is judging our Championship
show in Melbourne this year.
The evening program had an amazing dog and
handler dancing to a Spanish bolero theme, with the dog finally
getting one up on the bullfighter, charging her and claiming
victory over her dead body.
The two groups were stunning, with the Pekingese taking
Toys and Standard Poodle the Utility group.
After all the drama of a four hour build up to Best in
Show (with flyball, agility, junior handlers and trumpets) the
Best in Show was all over in about 10 minutes.
The Newfoundland and Kerry Blue Terrier were the crowd
favourites, cheering every time they moved.
But it was the diminutive Pekingese (Ch Yakee A Dangerous
Liaison), rolling around the ring like a king, who even at 100
metres you could tell was something special, who took the day.
Paul with Telvara Krystianna
It
was going to be just another weekend of dog shows but turned out
quite differently.
You
may remember that I took a trip to Crufts and the Cavalier Parent
Club show in England in March 2003 with my good friends Beverley
Laing and Merv Burgmann (ND April 2003).
While there Beverley fell in love with an 8 week old
blenheim bitch. She
‘invited her’ to Australia, and thanks to Peter and Ruta Towse
she was able to come. Bev
named her ‘Bliss’, or Miletree By Invitation.
Bev was coaxed back into the show ring for the June
Cavalier Speciality in Melbourne in June, and was pulled out with
a minor puppy bitch of her own ‘Sanquhar’ prefix.
A new breeding program was planned and future stud dogs
sought after.
But
the wonderful trip turned to tragedy when Bev was diagnosed with
ovarian cancer in July just 3 months later.
Bev had great plans for ‘Bliss’ and we began a show
campaign with more determination.
We managed a reserve challenge at 8 months and many class
wins, including placings at the Adelaide and Melbourne
specialities in the highly competitive Junior class.
After surgery and extensive chemotherapy, Bev declined
fairly rapidly and ended up in the palliative care unit at Monash
Medical Centre at Easter this year.
I
was enormously privileged to spend these few weeks reliving
Bev’s enjoyment of over twenty years with Cavaliers.
Carefully drawn up plans were made for the Sanquhar dogs,
including campaigning Bliss and selecting potential stud dogs,
organising care for Bliss and placement of pups.
During this time, long time friend Greg Browne provided
enormous service taking in Bev’s dogs at a moment’s notice and
driving in to the hospital several times a week.
A
will was finally drawn up by a solicitor and signed by witnesses
once Bev felt all the arrangements had been made exactly as she
wished, and those of us entrusted to caring for the dogs
understood perfectly her intentions – most particularly that
Bliss be shown under Bev’s name and the litters bred from
Sanquhar bitches carried the Sanquhar prefix.
Fortunately the solicitor was able to reassure us that
Bev’s affairs could continue to be managed under Bev’s estate
by three people with an ‘enduring power of attorney’ type
arrangement for the dogs.
As
an aside, given I was not a family member but just a trusted
friend, this was a stressful time for me, trying to help but not
interfere yet not having any ‘next of kin’ status with the
hospital or the solicitor – and Bev’s wishes were quite
complicated and needed to be understood by dog people.
For those of you who haven’t, please get your affairs in
order long before you need to, so your family and friends have
clear instructions and don’t get embroiled in potentially
difficult situations!
When
Bev was ready, and Bliss had returned from a successful Adelaide
specialty, I was called in with Bev’s oldest and closest
non-doggy friends and Bev passed away quietly without pain or
suffering. As she
wanted, Bliss was in her arms and that special bond between them
was cemented forever.
Although Bev had not shown much for the
last 5 or so years, her Sanquhar prefix has left a lasting legacy
in the breed. Bev
had the great fortune to import Salador Country Squire (known as
Johnny), who had come from the UK via NZ, where he got his NZ
title. She showed him
to his Australia title, and he became the corner stone of the
Sanquhar breeding program. All
her dogs are related to him and her foundation bitches from the
Bayadere kennels in NZ. Her
Australian champions included S. Crighton, S. Coriolanus, S.
Audrey, S. Summer Breeze, and Old Rowley Beatrix, and NZ Ch
Bayadere Helluine. Little
known is that Bev also bred one of the first Australian Cavaliers
to be shown in America, NZ Ch S. High Time – who went to America
and back with her friends Bill and Bronwyn Murdoch from NZ.
Bliss
attended Bev’s funeral, one of only two Cavaliers there.
A very wise Cavalier Club member had suggested that ‘less
is more’ when it comes to dogs at funerals.
Too many can cause disruption and disturb the reflection of
family members not so keen on the doggy life.
At first Bliss came to live with me and my family, which
includes 6 year old Alexander and 4 year old Natasha who are
brilliant with dogs and helped her settle in.
We
showed regularly and although we had regular class wins, we also
had been placed 3rd out of 3 one day…I felt like
giving up. Given
family and work commitments, I can’t get to shows every weekend
all over the countryside. “Don’t you dare give up” said Jacquie Weeks (Melloway),
she is a beautiful bitch!
Jacquie, owner of Pet Network, is of course a group
judge and handler par excellence – I hope I can be as good as
her someday, and I watch everything she does!
But to fulfil Bev’s wishes of Bliss getting her title
before having a litter, we decided to campaign Bliss out of the
highly competitive Melbourne scene.
Jodie
Wright from Queensland was ready for the challenge, and her mother
Bev Genders capably took care of Bliss.
I flew to Brisbane for the Royal with plans to leave her
for a few months. Joy,
joy, joy when I handled Bliss for her first CC at the Brisbane
Royal in good competition. The next week Jodie then took her to Runner Up in Show at the
Toy Dog Club Show in Queensland and consecutive Best of Breeds in
the coming weeks. With her title firmly in hand, Bliss came back
to Melbourne to settle in at Merv’s house and live a quiet life
before being ready for a litter.
Just one last hurrah we thought, since the Canberra
specialty weekend was the ideal place for me to hand Bliss over to
Merv for her spell from the show ring.
Getting
to this show weekend was no mean feat.
I had to be in Jakarta for work on the Monday afterwards,
and my wife was working in Canberra on the Friday.
I had four dogs and two kids to get to the airport by
myself, plus logistics to get dogs and bags home without me, while
I collected new luggage for the working week.
On the morning of my departure, my oldest Cavalier who has
been ailing stopped eating altogether, and I couldn’t leave her
with anyone else. The
day before I couldn’t face the decision to have her put down as
she was still fairly comfortable and not in pain, although had
very laboured breathing. I
nearly cancelled the weekend away to stay home with her, but a
more objective friend told me the time had come.
I left the kids with the friend while I paid my last visit
to the Vet’s with my beloved Chloe.
I drove to the airport with very mixed emotions and a heavy
heart. We arrived in
Canberra during the worst spring storms seen for some time.
“Will I bother bathing the dogs again”, I thought,
“they’ll just get drenched anyway”.
I did, not willing to risk exhibiting a dog not looking
its best.
On
the day of the show, the sun peeked through the clouds.
I was getting progressively more nervous and sick with
tension through the day. Miletree
bred baby puppies were 1st, 2nd and 3rd
in the Baby dog sweepstakes.
Ryan Armstrong’s Ch Inverglen Pocket Rocket (bred by Merv)
won Aust. Bred dog class and Reserve CC while his son, my own
Dunsfold Pocket Protégé was placed 5th in Junior.
The stunning new import, Egan and Weeks’ Ch Lymrey Hi
Treason won Challenge Dog from Junior class.
Bliss’s half sister Miletree Maona (one point from her
title) won Intermediate bitch class out of a strong class of 23.
Bliss
was first in the ring for Open Bitch and just hit her straps.
Her tail wagged and her eyes shone.
First place!
Going
in for Challenge was a dream come true.
A line up of beautiful bitches, an international judge
(Geoffrey Porter from Northern Ireland, Ringcreevy) and the sun
still shining though rain had threatened through the day.
Bitch challenge to Bliss! Reserve to Gr Ch Melloway
Bewitching. A great
day for Jacquie Weeks and Jenny Egan.
Now,
while I have shown Cavaliers for over ten years, I’ve only ever
won two challenges – Brisbane Royal and now a Specialty, and
with a very special girl who I handle in memory of my dear friend
and mentor in the breed. If
only she were here to see – but of course, as just before we
went in against the dog – I was reminded that Bev is watching,
and somehow, she knows.
Best
in Show.
Cheers
and congratulations, a very popular win, for the dog, for Bev’s
memory, and for the high quality of the entry of over 200.
Sunday
morning I can’t sleep. So
I get up at 5 am and let the dogs run in the bush by the hotel for
an hour. This means
completely re-washing all the dogs including Bliss, whose
beautiful silky fine coat usually needs a day and a half to settle
and shine from a wash, or else she can look a little plump as she
is a solid girl on a very restricted diet!
So what, I tell myself, they’ve been in crates for 3 days
now already – they need to relax and have fun!
The
day started well. My
own Miletree bred boy, Dunsfold Dreaming On (by Miletree Distant
Dream owned by David McCulloch), wins Baby Puppy Sweepstakes under
Annette Jones, our second English judge for the weekend.
All
the dog classes bar one are won by different dogs to the day
before. Dog challenge
to Ch Phrenchy Patric Le Beau, owned by Sally Elliott and bred by
Roy Patterson who is visiting from England to be in the crowd
watching. Amazingly
my Dunsfold Magloire (out of a Sanquhar bitch) wins Puppy bitch,
the only Ruby put up over the two days.
Bliss’s half sister is disappointingly overlooked in
Intermediate bitch. No
matter, let’s just have fun – the weekend has already been
wonderful.
Open
bitch class and Bliss is third into the ring today. It’s been hot all day and the tent a bit stuffy.
Not too much walking about and being petted and touched by
people congratulating her from the day before.
I thought she’d be tired
– but she is raring to go.
Open bitch! In
the line up – from being a relative newcomer to the breed – I
now have a handler taking one of my dogs in for Challenge.
Bethany Van Geyzel takes D. Magloire and shows her
elegantly. A
beautiful line up. But
Bliss takes Bitch challenge....and her second Best in Show.
Reserve CC to Caribelle Kennels’ Gramarye Heaven Can Wait
(Imp NZ), and RUIS to Phrenchy Patric Le Beau.
