Posts filed under ‘HWV Extended Family’
1st at Crufts!
The 3:15AM start could mean only one thing – it was the “Big Day”…..yep, Crufts had finally arrived.
A huge HWV entry of 104 – surely the largest gathering of the breed that has ever taken place outside Hungary? – converged on Birmingham’s NEC, with us amongst them.
Mingus hit the ring at around 09:15, keenly watched by his “Grandmas” (Jacqui of Morehay & Caroline of Starshot HWV’s) and did both them and us proud by winning his class and being awarded 1st Special Junior Dog, from a class of 6 dogs. All very exciting!
Another wonderful result to add to his tally, but also a real milestone in his Show career:
Mingus stacked in Special Junior Dog class.
Being awarded 1st in Class.
Mingus on the move
...and in the Best Dog Challenge.
The *Incredible* Weekend.
Tim & Mingus went to two shows over the course of this last weekend. Following some close-up photographic examination of Mingus’ movement & standing (and some very useful comments by Sam from Farlap) Tim made a decision to slightly alter the way that he moved and stacked Mingus.
This was the result:
DAY 1:
DAY 2:
A story told through commemorative car stickers – representing by far and away the most exciting, emotional and memorable 48 hrs of showing we’ve ever had!!
Mingus’ first day wins were exuberantly cheered on by a decent sized gang of fans/supporters/friends who together created a wonderful atmosphere that made the whole day doubly memorable. Over the course of the two shows, and particularly at the second – where news of his previous days’ remarkable wins had preceded him – many, many gundog folks who had never introduced themselves before came to congratulate and admire our fabulous boy.
All three of the judges who placed him so highly were keen to find out more about him. After awarding him Best Gundog in Show gundog expert Nicola Calvert said that Mingus had outmoved all of the adult gundogs and surely had a tremendous future ahead of him. When awarding Mingus BAVNSC, ahead of a recently made-up Champion Field Spaniel, GWP specialist Penny Sands said the Spaniel was indeed “lovely”, but that Mingus was: “just stunning!” praising his perfect shoulder placement and movement in particular.
We think it’s possible (and are currently seeking to find out as best as we can) that, at just 9 months of age, Mingus is the youngest HWV ever to win an adult group at a UK all-groups Open show. He’s also one of just a small handful of the breed (and again, possibly the youngest) to have ever won Best Puppy In Show at an all-groups UK Open show. Even more importantly to us he has also grown into the most stunningly handsome, wonderfully expressive and sweetest natured young dog we could have imagined. A total joy and continual delight both in and out of the ring.
Various portraits of Mingus, both official and unofficial, were done in conjunction with his wins, so we hope to bring some of those to the blog very shortly.
Camborne Redruth Canine Soc chose the most unconventional (but cutest!) of the pics taken to use on their site at:
http://camborneredruthcaninesociety.co.uk/2010Results.aspx
In the meantime, quite oblivious to all the fuss around him, our lovely (and now show winning!) lad has been busy unwinding today, romping in the woods and river, reunited with his “Big Sis” Phoenix.
Shows and Siblings.
A few results, some new pics, and some *hot news* definitely warrants a new blog entry.
A pair of moderate Champ show results for Mingus (both under less-than-favourable-to-our-type judges) were punctuated by a much more exciting third Best of Breed for our boy. This came at the Newton Abbot & South Devon Open, where Mingus gave what was probably his best ever performance in the ring, both standing and moving to perfection. As a result he was awarded 1st Open HWV, being placed above a 2 times Champ Show Best of Breed winner.
Last Sunday also saw the second Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Association show of the year, this time at the Kennel Club Building near Coventry. A 5 AM start (in total darkness) left both the dogs and the humans a bit discombobulated all round, and Mingus was evidently still a bit confused when he hit the show ring 4 and a half hours later since, at first, he appeared to entirely forget what the command “stand” was supposed to mean…a few gentle reminders from Tim eventually had him back on track and he trotted away with a respectable 2nd Puppy Dog award.
Phoenix stacked at the HWVA show.
Phoenix, as usual, had no problems whatsoever when it came to standing and she seemed positively delighted to be in the ring too, ending up with 3rd Graduate Bitch.
The judges examination...
...and the final stand.
Speaking of Phoenix, and saving the *hot news* to last…….drumroll please………….. we’re delighted to report that she now has 8 new full brothers and sisters, as mum Flo safely delivered 4 new boys and 4 girls back at Tarndair HQ on Saturday. Many congratulations to David, Jane & Flo as well as to proud Leiborschy Dad Mallard – we’re looking forward to watching these babies grow!
Paignton.
A big day for Mingus. At the age of 8 months, today was his first Champ Show. It also just happened to be our “local” Champ Show – a mere hour away, rather than the 7-hour-plus round trips that most other Championship Shows entail for us. Which was nice.
Mingus was in Junior Dog – there being no separate Puppy Classes at this show – and was the youngest in his class, but he stood well, and moved exceptionally well – indeed: “breathtaking movement” was the comment of one experienced onlooker. Which was nice too!
Mingus stacked at Paignton.
Mingus was rewarded with 2nd Junior Dog (beaten only by his uncle Herby – Amiryck Vega – who went on to take Reserve Best Dog…many congrats to Karen & Herby!) which was a very pleasing result for our boy, and means that he qualifies for Crufts at his very first attempt.
Phoenix had a big step up into her first Post-Graduate Bitch class, in amongst the “big girls” now. She stood very well and moved fairly well too, but unfortunately decided that she didn’t want the judge handling her tail end AT ALL!
The last, and only previous time that this happened, Phoenix came into season just 24 hrs later, so although she’s not due for another 3 months, we shall wait to see if history repeats itself….
Phoenix stacked at Paignton.
“Pretty Good for his 1st Show!”
So yesterday, along with tens of thousands of others, we ventured West to the Royal Cornwall Show for what was to be Mingus’ first ever show.
The day was extremely hot and the showground literally jammed with people, many of whom (seemingly) wanted to stop us and ask what breed Mingus was or to comment on his “adorable face” etc. This was a benched show, and lots of other gundog exhibitors had placed signs above their dogs saying: “Please don’t talk to or touch the dogs as they are hot and grumpy and might chew your arm off” (and variants thereof) but Mingus was happy to see and be seen by everyone, taking the scale of the event in his stride.
As we’ve previously established, Mingus really doesn’t like the heat at all. It’s not that he gets grumpy or bothered, more that he turns into a floppy-ball-of-panting-lollop, so we were keen to keep him in the relative cool of his benching marquee for as much time as possible and then zip him straight to the ring when the class time arrived. It took Tim the best part of 6 months to figure out exactly how best to prepare Phoenix for the ring, (and even then things don’t always go according to plan – see Crufts 2010!) so this was the first time for him to learn about Mingus’ ring-time foibles. As it was he moved really nicely (as commented on by many who were impressed by how fluid he was for one so young) and stood well too, happy to be examined by the judge, which was a big relief.
We were delighted to be awarded 1st in HWV Open and then take both Best Puppy in Breed and Best of Breed. The judge really seemed to like him quite a bit, so we were hopeful that she might still like him when the time came for the Gundog Groups. Trouble was that time turned out to be more than 6 hours later on, by which time Mingus was getting a tad frustrated by not being able to run around and “do-fun-stuff”.
Despite keeping him cool and rested the heat took it’s toll too, so in the Puppy Group (we skipped the adult Group in the hope of keeping Mingus fresh for the Puppy Challenge) he was less than keen to “perform”. At just 6 months Mingus was by far the youngest of the 10 puppies in the group, and still managed to move very well (again, attracting lots of positive comments) but definitely didn’t give his best when stacked, when he decided it might be good to start leaning backward or forwards or sideways….
Nevertheless, the judge pulled Mingus out for her short-list of 5, although he wasn’t awarded one of the 4 Group places…so he was judged 5th out of 10 Best Gundog Puppies in Breed. The judge shook Tim’s hand, grinned and said “Pretty good for his first show!” and we can’t say better than that really.
The 13 hour show day ended with a joyous romp in the foothills and streams of Cornwall’s Rough Tor, when Mingus could finally let off some steam and much fun was had by all.
Phoenix’ Swag.
What does everyone else do with their rosettes? That’s the question that we’ve been pondering, and the answer we’ve arrived at it to put the best from Phoenix’ first show year into a couple of poster frames for safekeeping:
and here are her Top Puppy of the Year & Top Puppy Bitch trophies:
River beds, Jazz names and Birmingham.
Mingus: pausing briefly before investigating another exciting dead thing (today's, rather randomly, was a mole).
First off, Mingus’ lovely mum, Anora (Starshot English Miss for Morehay) won another Championship Show Best of Breed at the National Dog Show in Birmingham last Sunday, against some very stiff competition from some very fine dogs.
The judges lovely critique read:
“At three years old she is mature and of excellent breed type. So well proportioned all thorough. Pleasing feminine head, excellent angulation both front and rear giving free sound movement where she excelled. It was a pleasure to watch her striding around the ring with reach and drive. Best Bitch. Best of Breed.”
Unfortunately we weren’t at the show, but if we had been we’d have been hopping up and down with excitement….which is pretty much what we did anyway on hearing the news. We’re absolutely thrilled for Anora, Jacqui & handler Emma.
Mingus stands to attention on hearing news of mum's latest big win.
Down here in Devon we’re in the midst of an almost-drought. Bits and bobs of rain have come to nothing, and the river has virtually disappeared altogether, exposing the slate river bed with just a small funnel of water off to one side.
Phoenix picks her way across what's left of our river.
Mingus continues to develop rapidly. He seems to have pretty much settled into his shape and proportions now and looks like an almost exact blend of each of his parents, which is just fine with us!
Mingus on point.
When we chose his name we (mistakenly, as it turns out!) thought that:
1) Charlie Mingus was pretty much a household name
and
2) That our favourite hippy chick musician Joni Mitchell‘s Jazz influenced 70’s album “Mingus” was almost as well known….
Instead out we find ourselves explaining anywhere between 1 and 100 times every day what our boy is called and why.
In the reeds.
Still, we’ve recently learned that we’re in good company. Danish supermodel Helena Christensen‘s son is also named Mingus, as are a select handful of other online dogs around the world, including a Vizsla. There’s even a highly successful Beagle and Foxhound breeder & show judge in Australia who’s kennel name is Mingus. On that basis we’re pretty sure that by this time next year everyone will want to be called Mingus….possibly.
Venturing forth with a captive stick.
Toothsome.
A Mingus in the grass is worth two in the hedge.
Like most dogs Mingus has always enjoyed a good old chew, but now, as his final adult teeth come through, he’s become possessed with the need to fill 95% of his waking time with chewing.
So, much like Phoenix before him, Mingus has now got into the habit of bringing a bone along with him for his walks, but is never too busy with that to pass up the chance to chew, and preferably run around with, something more interesting… leading to some ambitious projects:
Now that's what I call a log.
The Ever Changing Mingus.
When we first met (and show stacked!) Mingus at the tender age of 4 weeks he was very compact and stocky, beautifully and correctly proportioned. At around 3 months he looked very long-bodied and short in height, no longer stocky at all. By 4 months he suddenly looked very tall and giraffe-like, neither compact nor stocky. Then, at 5 months, everything started to come back together again, but he was all frame and no body. Now, at 5 and a bit months, he is once again starting to look compact and stocky as he gradually fills out – such are the ways of puppy growth – so we just wait for those deep ribs to spring to complete the picture.
Mingus surveys his kingdom.
This week at ringcraft everyone commented on how big he’d gotten and for the first time he was a fair bit taller than the adult female English Setter there. Judging by his knuckles he’s certainly going to finish larger than both of his parents, but still be moderate in size…which is just what we were hoping for.
A while back, whilst trotting around and investigating the pond, Mingus found himself on the opposite side of the water to us. Rather than trot back the way he’d come he simply plunged into the water and swam directly across to us (the pond is 6 foot deep and 150 foot long…) He’d never previously gone more than about ankle deep in water, so it came as something of a surprise to us – as well as to him – that he could indeed swim so well. On arriving at the other side he looked enormously pleased with himself and has been pretty keen to get wet in the pond and the river ever since.
The mysteries of the deep.
Top Puppy 2009/2010!!
TARNDAIR PHOENIX OF BELATARR
HWVA TOP PUPPY BITCH 2009/10
HWVA TOP PUPPY 2009/10
Yesterday was the HWVA Annual Awards and Open Show. An awesome day, with 79 HWV’s present in glorious sunshine, and a day we’re never likely to forget.
In the crowning achievement of her show year Phoenix was awarded both Top Puppy Bitch of the year and (following in the paw-steps of both her grandfather Harris, Moricroft Methuen, who won the same award in 2001, and half-brother Leiborschy Ylai, who won it last year) overall Top Puppy of the year, receiving the Leiborschy Goblet and the Leiborschy Flask trophies respectively. We’ve never been more proud of our lovely girl!
Phoenix standing whilst Tim & judge Margaret Hathaway share a joke.
Being awarded the Leiborschy Goblet.
And then the Leiborschy Flask for Top Puppy.
Mingus was also in attendance and was very much admired, with a number of respected and prominent HWV folks casting many complimentary remarks in his direction. Our boy also had a mini family reunion as he met up with his mother, Anora – who was herself awarded 1st Limit Bitch at the show – and his sister Love for the first time since leaving the nest.
Mingus & Phoenix, covering all angles.
Viewing the action.
And...."Watch!"
All ears.
Mum Anora, on her way to winning 1st Limit Bitch.
Anora with the kids - Mingus and Love.
Family portrait, take 2.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 