Posts filed under ‘Trips Out’
Sister Act.
Just a few days shy of their 9 month birthday, Phoenix met up with Thirza, her litter sister, along with Thirza’s human companions Sue and Henry. This was the first time that the two pups had met since they were 7 1/2 weeks old, as Thirza and family were away when the litter reunion took place back in May. As might be expected from the getting together of two exuberant 9 month-old’s, the meeting was conducted with a calm, quiet and dignified formality….as the pictures below will hopefully illustrate.
Show number 4…
So, out we all ventured once more, this time to the Dorset County Canine Society Open Show set in the sweeping parkland grounds of the Kingston Maurward College. Unlike virtually all other shows our class was right at the start of the day so we arrived bright and early to set up our virtual stall and settle Phoenix into the show surroundings.
Our class today was Any Variety Not Separately Classified Gundog Puppy. There were six of us in the class: A Curly-Coated Retriever, plus American Cocker, Clumber, Sussex & Irish Water Spaniels. Phoenix stood absolutely beautifully and moved as well as could be expected in the rather undersized ring….we were really pleased with how she showed today – definitely the best so far, very focused and controlled but with all the spirit and life that makes her movement so strong – hopefully indicative that she’s well and truly into her show groove.
Stacked at Dorset County show.
Judge Jill Holgate awarded us 1st Place in the class, and then, after the other classes had been judged, we came back into the ring and were awarded Best AVNSC Gundog Puppy.
Teeth exam.
Standing beautifully for The Examination.
At this point we had planned to head off to check out the Jurassic Coast beaches of Dorset, but now instead began the wait for all the other breed classes to be judged, a process that eventually took nearly 7 more hours…. at which point it started to pour with rain, so we all decamped into the wet-weather marquee where we lined up alongside all the other Best Puppies in Breed to compete for Best Gundog Puppy in Show.
This time we had a much larger area in which to move and do our stuff, and this allowed Phoenix to really stretch out properly and go at full pace – which, with her & Tim’s equally big strides is best described as fast.
A really spectacular and beautifully handled Pointer bitch won 1st place (and subsequently went on to win Best Puppy in Show) and then, after a hushed pause, Phoenix was awarded second (Gundog Puppy Group 2) which was another fantastic result against some really top dogs!
Phoenix & the Pointer stood perfectly, poised and symmetrical nose to nose whilst the judge wrote her critiques. The excitement then got a little too much for all concerned and the subsequent lap of honour is best described as “ragged”! but a great day was had, some new friends made and as a practice run for the upcoming Championship shows it could hardly have gone better.
The Judge’s critique report on Phoenix said:
“Good wire coat, deep rich colour. Lean head with a noble expression. Straight in front and good quarters for her age. Hocks well let down. Tight Feet. Was pleased to give her Puppy Group 2 where she settled better on the move.“
Full Wire Jacket (…Almost)
Phoenix is now 8 months old and her wire coat has suddenly started to develop really nicely – something that we realised we haven’t really managed to capture or document properly – so today we took advantage of a brief break in the endless July rain to head out to Crow Point armed with a camera…
As soon as we hit the beach we met up with two local Vizsla girls and their human companion, so we all had a good chin-wag about all things Vizsla whilst the three girls had an extended sandy romp. Then it was on to the main business of the day: sloshing through sea puddles, lots of digging and hunting for driftwood, watching seabirds in the distance and all the while wondering why the salt water tastes so odd.
Bright sun, strong breeze, sandy nose.
Sandy-wet-wiry muzzle.
Taking a break from digging and stalking gulls.
On the trail of something super interesting.
Showtime!
Result: Reserve Best of Breed.
Today was Phoenix’s long-awaited show debut at the Taunton and District Canine Association Open Show at the Royal Bath and West Showground. It was blisteringly hot and we had to wait the best part of five hours for our class to come around. By this time we were all severely wilting in the heat. Despite this, Phoenix showed admirably and did all that was asked of her without fuss or complaint. We were lucky enough to come away with a reserve best of breed rosette. For some reason (blame the heat and its effect on our brains) we forgot take any pictures…
Gale Force Day at the Beach.
Ears-A-Flying.
Paddling.
It was so windy on the beach it felt like we were on Tatooine, Luke Skywalker’s home planet in Star Wars; sand was blowing everywhere and formed small columns on the beach that scattered towards the sea. Phoenix seems to like crunching sand.
Litter Reunion.
6/8th's of the Tarndair litter: Maize, Pogo, Noah, Sparky, Phoenix, Dolly.
With Pogo at the water trough.
Magnetic attraction to H2O.
Meeting brother Sparky.
Romping with sister Dolly.
...and Noah joins in the chase.
The (Half) Sisters.
Phoenix met up with her half-sister Henna (Ebeegeebees Razzie) together with her breeder and human companion Catherine today. Henna is almost a month to the day older than Phoenix but the two pups are more or less the same size and look incredibly similar to one another. After much bouncing ‘n’ boinging at one another on-lead – and much to their delight – we let them both off their leads where they proceeded to have a good old tear-around. One of the things that was really interesting to see is how the two “girls” completely tuned into one another and reacted to everything as one pup-unit, something that we’ve not observed Phoenix do with any other puppy. Somehow both pups knew that they were with another of their own kind….but can you spot which is which in the above pictures????
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 