Posts filed under ‘Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla’
The Belatarr reunion 2014.
An overcast but just-about-dry day greeted us all in the garden here at Belatarr HQ for our second Belatarr reunion. The wonderful turn-out included sixteen Belatarr babies along with their mum, Phoenix and Dad, Mingus, together with Copper the HWV and Oz the Lab.
Much splashy/hurtling/chasing mayhem ensued and all the dogs seemed to have a thoroughly good time exploring the river and the garden with one another. It was a wonderful day and we were, as ever, immensely proud of what beautiful and happy young dogs they have all grown into.
Many thanks to all who attended, and particularly to Sarah, Kathy & Vivien for sharing some of your photos of the day…mind you, getting all of the dogs (or even a large proportion of them!) together for a photograph or two proved a trickier prospect!
Belatarr Noctua (Kaia)
Her older sister, Belatarr Nina Simone (Ruby)
and Dad, Morehay Lars of Belatarr ShCM (Mingus)
Some of those who attended…take 1
…and a slightly more organised, take 2.
Belatarr Boys at Birmingham.
Today was the double show at the Kennel Club HQ in Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire. The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Association holds it’s second show of the year in the morning, whilst the Birmingham Championship Show classes are held in the afternoon, giving a long, but potentially productive day of showing.
The morning show was presided over by judge Marion Wadell and, now 13 months of age, Belatarr Hercules started the day by taking 1st in his first ever Junior Dog class. Shortly thereafter his big brother Belatarr Charlie Parker also took an excellent 1st in a highly competitive Limit Dog Class, also Charlie’s first step up into Limit.
Charlie in the ring.
Lovely trophies accompanied both wins – a memorable double for the boys and for Jenny & David.
Charlie, Hercules and proud mum Jenny amidst the days winnings.
Traditionally a completely different set of dogs win at the afternoon Birmingham Champ Show, and most followed this pattern today too, but young Hercules bucked that trend and took 1st once again in his debut Championship Junior Dog Class under judge Aideen Howes who’s super critique for Herc was:
“So pleasing in head with good furnishing on muzzle, clean fit neck to shoulder, has good bone, slope to pastern & oval feet, depth through body & ribbed well back, powerful quarters, good tailset, let down in hock, moving well” Aideen Howes
That wasn’t quite the end of proceedings, though, and, having also won the Breeders Competition for HWV’s, team Belatarr then headed off to the Gundog Breeders Group where the two boys, now joined by sister Belatarr Mahalia Jackson, took another 1st place under judge Tom Mather.
Team Belatarr win the Breeders Group.
Billie makes breed history!
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie) took best of breed and then Gundog Group 4 today at the Newton Abbot & South Devon Canine Society Open show under judge Mark Boswell. This gave her the final 2 points needed for her Kennel Club Show Certificate of Merit, an award that her brothers Belatarr Django Reinhardt and Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie have also both achieved this year. The boys were the first ever HWV brothers to gain their certificates and now with Billie having made the grade too this is the first time ever that three HWV siblings have achieved a ShCM.
Billie strides out (and wags!) – photo courtesy of Nick Carter.
Belatarr Best of Breed at Bournemouth.
Dodging endless ominous looking thunderstorms. all of which seemed to break just beyond the showground, Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie) scored another memorable win today under breed specialist Mike Lewin at the Bournemouth Championship Show.
Billie in the Bitch Challenge.
Billie in action in the Gundog Group ring. Photo courtesy of Katherine N. Gunstad.
Having won 1st in Limit Billie then beat the assembled Champions to take an excellent Best Bitch and was then awarded her 3rd Champ Show Best of Breed of 2014, further consolidating her place as the Top Scoring HWV bitch this year.
Billie and Irene share a moment in the Group Ring. Photo courtesy of Katherine N. Gunstad.
National Gundog Championship
A lovely bright and breezy day greeted exhibitors at this years National Gundog and the Belatarr clan also got off to a great start with Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie & his sister Belatarr Mahalia Jackson beating a huge entry of 30 pairs in the brace class to claim their first ever Championship Gundog Brace 1st place under judge Colin (Jock) McKay.
That brace win – photo by Alan V Walker.
There was also a lovely breed entry of 78 for HWV specialist Chris Guest, the third highest entry of the year after Crufts and the HWVA Championship. At a few days over 12 months Belatarr Sculptor (Kofi) stepped out into his first ever Junior Class and was awarded an excellent 2nd place, whilst his big sister, Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie) was also awarded 2nd in an extremely competitive Open Bitch class, and then excitingly went on to be awarded the Reserve Bitch CC – her second RCC in a row.
Billie at National Gundog.
Belatarr: Current Top HWV Kennel
We’ve just had an email from OurDogs saying:
“Congratulations you are Half Year Top Breeder in Hungarian Wire Haired Vizslas”
Whilst over at DogWorld:
Top Stud Dog 2014 Halfway leader:
Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla – Morehay Lars of Belatarr ShCM
Top Brood Bitch 2014 Halfway leader:
Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla – Tarndair Phoenix of Belatarr
All of which is extremely exciting and a great testament to everybody’s hard work and successes in the ring this year!
Lyra’s first birthday.
Our little baby, Belatarr Lyra, is 1 year old today!
Lyra in her typical, muddy-nosed pose!
A very rare/brief/fleeting moment of calm.
A very happy birthday to all other 11 of the ‘Constellation Litter’ brothers and sisters too: Ava, Cooroo, Fergus, Gertie, Halle, Hercules, Kaia, Kofi, Percy, Rusty & Twiglet…we can’t wait until the Belatarr reunion in Sept to see you again!
Lyra’s brother, the gorgeous Belatarr Hercules.
East of England Championship.
Hot on the heels of Windsor, the next in the Championship round was today’s East of England show just outside Peterborough. Belatarr’s (somewhat!) more easterly contingent were out in action in the ring today, and young Belatarr Hercules was our star of the day.
Hercules started by winning 1st in Puppy Dog and Best Puppy Dog, maintaining his 100% record – this was his 6th such win out of the 6 Champ shows that he has so far attended. This was also Herc’s final Champ Show as a puppy and so he now graduates into Junior having been unbeaten in all his Champ show classes. His big brother Charlie Parker then took 1st in Post Graduate Dog and the brothers took their place in the Dog Challenge, with Hercules awarded an excellent Reserve Best Dog…not bad for 11 months! Once the bitch judging was complete Herc then lined up against the Best Puppy Bitch and came away with another Best Puppy in Breed award.
Belatarr Hercules with his East of England winnings.
Belatarr Charlie Parker – 1st Post Graduate.
Many congratulations to David & Jenny for their multiple wins today and what a wonderful start Hercules has made already this year – exciting times lie ahead!
Windsor Wins.
Team Belatarr had another memorable day at the Windsor Championship where the (mostly) bright and breezy weather and huge outdoor ring made for ideal show conditions.
First up Gryphon & Billie took a turn in the Dog World Brace Class and ended up taking an excellent 3rd place out of some 20 gundog pairs entered, even winning £15 in prize money for their efforts!
Gryphon & Billie in the Brace class.
Awaiting the judge!
Over in the breed ring young Belatarr Sculptor (Kofi) won himself another 1st place in the Puppy Dog class, and was also awarded Best Puppy Dog:
Belatarr Sculptor – Best Puppy Dog at Windsor.
Next up was his big brother, Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie (Gryphon), who was placed 2nd in Open Dog and went on to be awarded Reserve Best Dog. This result earned Gryphon his Kennel Club Stud Book number, joining his brother, Django and sister, Billie as the third from this litter to earn their number since April of this year and that in turn means that, like them, Gryphon is now Crufts qualified for life.
His critique was:
“I love this boy’s head, it is so well furnished with dense eyebrows under which sits his almost human looking eyes with their lively & intelligent expression. It is well proportioned with a broad nose, moderate stop, slightly rounded skull & medium set thin leathers. He has a great pro-sternum, return of upper arm, level topline & moderate bend of stifle. He wears a harsh golden sand jacket with undercoat. He moves very well but could not match the performance of the winner. RBD“
Christine Morgan
Gryphon – Reserve Best Dog.
Then the action heated up further as Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie) beat a formidable line-up of bitches to take 1st Open Bitch and then Best Bitch. Unfortunately Windsor is one of two shows where the breed is only allocated one CC (for Best of Breed) and Billie just missed out this time around, but instead went head to head with her brother Gryphon for the single Reserve CC, which she won in great style.
The judge’s critique for her was:
“I fully understand why the KC introduced the single CC but I am not sorry that there will be no more after this year. As a judge it saddened me that I could not award the lovely best bitch the CC of which she more than deserves. Just like her brother who was RBD, she has a beautiful head & expression with the furnishings to give it a very striking & square appearance. She has strength of neck & body, is well off for bone & substance & very well muscled throughout. Her shoulders are well laid & ribs moderately sprung & carried well back. She has a nice big bum to propel her round the ring on a free & easy stride & her tail carriage is excellent. Her golden sand coat is of good texture with an undercoat. I was sorry that there was only one CC on offer & so she had to settle for BB & RCC“
Christine Morgan
Finally the Belatarr team won another Breeders Class (our 5th such win of the year) and zipped immediately over to the Breeders Group to represent the breed in front of the big audience gathered around the Best in Show ring, where we were also awarded Best Breeder in Group – cue the arrival of photographers from the Dog Press to capture the moment!
Breeders Group win rosette.
Some of the winning cards (and prize money!)
A very long, but wonderful day for everyone, with three 1st places and another Best of Sex win to add to our running total for the year!
Gertie and Jack: the continuing adventures of a boy and his dog.
The ingredients:
1 x Belatarr Musca (10 months old)
1 x Jack (5 years old)
1 x Glorious Cornish Coastline
1 x Summer Sunshine
mix well and enjoy:
With many thanks to Sarah for the wonderful images and happy memories.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 