Posts filed under ‘Observations’
Birthday Bash.
Hard to believe it, but our “little” girl is well and truly grown up now…To celebrate her 2nd Birthday we took advantage of some unseasonally warm and sunny weather to hit the beach where much canine/human romping was done:
A rare pensive moment.
Phoenix at full charge.
Calm and reserved, as always.
Surf hi-jinx.
Chase: Part 1.
Chase: Part 2.
Nearly airborne.
Of course there's always time to dig.
Deep concentration.
Heavy wagg-age.
Happy Birthday Phoenix!
Seasonal Tribulations.
The lonnnnnng absence of any new blog entries can be attributed to Phoenix coming into season – her second, just shy of her 2nd birthday, and almost exactly 12 months from her first. How very orderly.
The big difference this time ’round, though, was that she was no longer the only canine in the household. Entering into unknown territory with an intact male and female living together, Phoenix (somewhat unexpectedly!) came into season just 24 hrs. after being awarded 2nd Limit Bitch at the Gundog Society of Wales Champ show.
We had been as prepared as we could be for the whole male/female excitement interface, and the possibility of having to separate the dogs from one another for a while, but in the event it all went relatively easily, and aside from two occasions when Phoenix was caged to allow Mingus to get some daytime snoozing done, they remained together throughout the whole time. Having said that we didn’t take our eyes off them at any time when they were awake, and obviously they slept in different rooms too, but the howling/screaming/hysteria that we were expecting (and that’s just from the humans) never came to pass at all.
They ate and exercised together just as normal, and, as soon as they were out of the house, they were invariably both far more interested in food/running/tug-of-war/swimming/chasing stuff etc. etc.
Vole hunting = business as usual.
Phoenix herself was pretty unaffected in terms of mood, but once she entered her receptive phase Mingus became much more tense and unsettled, finding it difficult to relax or rest no matter where he was.
Although this only lasted for a few days unfortunately the very peak of the season coincided with Mingus’ final Champ show as a Puppy – Midland Counties – where our boy was incredibly and unusually needy (howling if Tim so much as glanced at another dog!) distracted & fidgety and as a result was very unsettled and lean-y in the ring, temporarily forgetting how to stand or move properly…we think that’s what judges refer to as “throwing it away on the day.”
Then, after just 19 days, it was all over, and, as if someone had flicked a switch to off, both dogs immediately returned to their normal patterns of behaviour.
Of course Mingus (now 11 months old) is just a young-ling, and no doubt things will be a tad more “intense” next time around, but show-ring appearance aside, it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. A big relief!
Day 7 of Phoenix' season - on the trail with Mingus.
Meadow Mingus.
Last year we were able to document Phoenix’ every show appearance, but the logistics of wrangling two dogs at a show mean that we’re rarely able to take pics of the dogs in the ring this year.
So to make up for the rather visually spartan Richmond write-up, here are some shots of Mingus enjoying himself in the meadow this morning. Since our boy will be 10 months old in 4 days it also seemed like the prefect time to document the evolution of his deep red wire coat, handsome head and ever-developing physique.
Stick-y business.
Heron watching - a serious business.
Ever attentive.
Wet whiskers.
Red Letter Day!
Phoenix in the sunlight.
Saturday was the National Gundog Championship, presided over by Terry Pearson from the Lanspar Kennel – one of the most knowledgeable and experienced HWV judges in the country. There was a fine entry and a very high quality of dogs in the ring, probably the best and most true-to-type selection we’ve seen at any show in fact. The ringside atmosphere was also quite excellent and many existing HWV friends were caught-up-with whilst several interesting new Wire connections were also made.
Team Belatarr was running at near full strength with Tim’s son Freddie manning the camera as well as assisting Adam with the dog-wrangling.
Mingus preparing for stacking....just the tail to go.
Mingus was first into the ring and, despite being a little fidgety, managed to take 1st Puppy Dog. Heading back into the ring later Mingus faced the winner of the very strong Puppy Bitch class and we were delighted and surprised in equal measure when he was awarded Best Puppy in Breed. His first Champ show BP at only his second attempt.
The judges critique for Mingus was:
“What a super puppy, hope he continues to develop as he is doing, but does not grow a deal larger. Moderate skull shape, melting expression, correct earset, good muscular neck into well laid shoulder placement, forequarters straight with chest reaching down to elbows, good topline held on move, great rear angulation & width to thigh, what a super harsh coat, moved with style & purpose, driving from the rear. Best Puppy“
Phoenix - waiting in the wings.
Phoenix, meanwhile, was up in the Graduate Bitch class, where she was the youngest amongst a strong entry of adult Wires. This was her second Champ show amongst the “big girls” and she stood to her usual rock-solid standard and luckily moved well too. Many people had commented to us outside the ring on how mature and beautifully-coated Phoenix was looking, but we were absolutely thrilled when she was awarded 1st Graduate Bitch, definitely her most senior award to date!
The judges critique of Phoenix was:
“well up to size but is beautifully put together, I just thought her lovely, possesses the prettiest of heads, of correct proportion, melting expression, lovely arch to neck, good reach of upper arm, straightest of fronts, with elbows well tucked in, good depth of chest, level topline, good rear angulation, excellent coat, moved so well, with plenty of drive”
Phoenix stacked for Graduate Bitch.
Phoenix - as seen from the front for a change.
Mingus then made his was into the Best Puppy in Show ring where he had the honour of representing the breed in front of a good sized audience of Gundog bigwigs. The weather forecast had said “rain all day”, but actually it had been dry and quite bright and breezy up to now. However, just as the 27 gundog puppies hit the ring, the enormous black cloud that had been looming ever closer decided it could wait no longer and it suddenly started to pour with rain.
Judges, stewards, competitors and audience all ran for it and eventually re-grouped in a new indoor ring. Here, some 11 hours after we’d set off for the show, Mingus managed to stand and move the best he’d done all day, demonstrating his stamina and, we hope, acting as a worthy ambassador for the breed.
Mingus stacked for Pest Puppy in Show - you might need to squint to see this one....
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.
Minehead: officially above water once again.
Last summer’s Minehead Open show was notable principally for the torrential rain and subsequent flooding that swept the show-ground, marquees and show rings. As vehicles were towed out of the showground one-by-one by a convoy of tractors, we assumed the entire area would probably sink, Atlantis-like, beneath the ever deepening sea of mud and water.
But no. Twelve months later the scene was very different and watched over by the magnificent Dunster Castle we dog-folks enjoyed what in the words of the song proved to be a: “Bright (bright) Bright (bright) sunshine-y daa-a-aay.”
Both of our beasts were out in action today. Mingus, though, was by no means at his best in a 10-strong NSC Graduate class, and, for the first time, failed to get placed, which was not a great surprise.
Phoenix, on the other hand, showed really nicely and was rewarded with 1st NSC Open and then Best NSC Gundog. She was also pulled-out & short-listed for Best Gundog in Show, for only the second time in her show career. Sterling work from Team Belatarr….
Steely focus from Phoenix & handler in the Gundog Group challenge, whilst fuzz-headed aliens noisily erect their chairs approx. two feet away.
This extra ring-time also allowed us to park Junior back in the “Belatarr Touring Motorhome”, enabling one of our crack-team of in-house photographers to nip back and take some pics of Phoenix in action.
One of our team principles also entered into a lively debate with our good friend Sam from Farlap Photography about the merits of using a remote-control device to correct future Belatarr handler errors. A bit like flying a model plane or performing key-hole surgery perhaps?
Further Weekend Antics…
After spending all of Saturday at a hot, crowded urban dog show, we thought it only fitting to head out to the beach – in this case Crow Point at Braunton Burrows – for some doggy (and human) down-time…
Mingus tries for lift-off using his newly retro-fitted "Helicopter Ears."
After combining forces to dig a huge sand-pit comes a rare moment of stillness.
Phoenix: sandy + wet = happy!
Mirror Phoenix.
Adam commands Phoenix with the power of his Blackberry...
Mingus shows that he can do sandy & wet just as well as Phoenix.
Adam teaches the dogs a new trick...
“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.
Once More Unto the Beach…
“Experts” tell us that today may be the last scorching hot day for the foreseeable, so the only possibly course of action was clear: head to the beach!
The scene of today's adventures - at Northam with the golden sand of Braunton Beach in the distance.
Mingus head shot.
Mingus sneaks up on some fast-moving seaweed.
Mingus self-stacking (sort of).
and Phoenix nearly manages the same trick.
Follow the leader.
The big boing!
Hungarian Wirehaired Sea Otter?
Phoenix at 18 Months.
Although she hasn’t had much blog attention since junior joined the pack, now that she’s reached the grand old age of 18 months Phoenix has never looked better.
When Mingus first arrived Phoenix decided that there were far more exciting things to do than eat, and she became decidedly “ribby” as a result. By now though everyone is in their well established feeding/eating/playing routines and Phoenix is both well muscled and properly filled out and it’s a real joy to watch her in full athletic action as she moves through the fields and woods.
To celebrate her leaving “Junior” category and becoming a fully fledged adult these are some typical Phoenix poses that we captured in the last of the low evening sun.
Phoenix silhouetted as she looks into the setting sun.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 
