Posts filed under ‘weather’
Big Belatarr wins at Bath.
The Belatarr youngsters continued their run of Championship Show successes today at Bath where the monsoon conditions failed to dampen (or, more to the point, wash away) spirits!
Three Belatarr’s were in action at the show and at 10 months and a day young Belatarr Sculptor (Kofi) was Best Puppy Dog and later won the puppy challenge to collect his first Champ Show Best Puppy award. His big brother Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie (Gryphon) was placed 2nd in Open Dog and went on to take Reserve Best Dog, whilst sister Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie) was 1st Open Bitch and Best Bitch before collecting her second Champ Show Best of Breed of the year.
Billie & Gryphon’s Bath winnings.
To round things off Billie & Gryphon then zipped off to another part of the showground where they were placed an excellent 4th out of the 19 entries in the Gundog Brace Class.
Belatarr Babies in the ring.
The Belatarr babies had another excellent show weekend, and all in blazing sunshine too…
First up on Saturday was Django who was awarded Best of Breed at the 3-day benched Royal Cornwall Show – another award previously bagged by his father 3 years earlier, and Django’s 6th consecutive Open Show BOB.
Following his win, and whilst seated on his bench, Django played host to a pretty much non-stop array of well-wishers (including brother Otis – Belatarr John Coltrane!) and fans, old and new, all of whom he was very happy to have provide their stroking/tickling and patting services…. although the continual attention, stifling heat and 4-hour wait combined to ensure that he was utterly exhausted by the time the Gundog group finally rolled around and he spent much of the time lying flat out on the grass in the Group ring whilst other Gundog BOB’s gamely trotted up and down.
One lovely show day was followed immediately by another and whilst Django snoozed his Sunday afternoon away siblings Billie, Gryphon & Charlie went into action at the Three Counties Championship.
Now 19 months of age the Belatarr youngsters are firmly up amongst the big boys and girls in Post Graduate. Charlie Parker & Gryphon went head to head, as usual, in a competitive Post Grad dog class and Gryphon (Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie) bagged 2nd place, with brother Charlie a solid 3rd. The judge was very keen to see Gryphon again to consider him for Reserve Best Dog, and waited for as long as she could, but to due *logistical complications* he was, unfortunately 5 mins away in the car park at by that time, and so sadly it was not to be…
The judges critique read:
“A soundly moving dog with many attractive attributes, excellent harsh coat, balanced front and rear angulations, deep and long ribs giving the correct body length, topline firm and held on the move.” Eileen Hughes
Sister Billie (Belatarr Mahalia Jackson) proved to be our biggest star of the day, though, and took an excellent 1st in a tough and large Post Graduate Bitch class.
Her critique read:
“It was difficult to separate the first two quality bitches. I preferred the firsts length of body and her coat; correct head and body proportions, good tight feet, very good topline and tail-set, she moved well.” Eileen Hughes
In the bitch line-up Billie then went head-to head with a previous Crufts Best of Breed winner (who had been called back after being placed 2nd in Open Bitch) and Billie emerged victorious to be awarded a terrific Reserve Best Bitch. An excellent day’s work, team!
Billies Three Counties wins.
Big Beach day out.
After seemingly endless rain the sun has finally made a return, so what better time to take everyone to the beach for a sandy romp! Little Django is now 9 months old (time certainly flies…) and is looking not so little and all-grown-up all of a sudden….looks can be deceptive, however!
Django in a rare moment of stillness.
This is a more usual pose.
Racing with dad.
…and with mum too.
The family emerges from the surf.
Django leads the charge.
A brief pause to pose with a stick.
…and swiftly back to bounce mode.
Strutting his stuff, showing off that awesome stick, whilst Phoenix looks on and hatches a plot.
In tandem with Mum…who, having hatched her plot, now has ownership of the stick.
So much sand, so little time.
And relax.
Mingus Vs. Jaws…
The gang had a quick (drizzly) trip to Northam Beach today to enjoy the massive several-mile-deep expanse of sand exposed at low-tide. Mingus also caught a shark!! (albeit only a young Small Spotted Catshark – a very common species in the waters around North Devon) which instantly became a very prized possession….plus we managed to get a couple of nice head shots of him too, despite the extremely low light levels:
A Dog and his Shark.
Django update.
It’s been ages since we’ve had a chance to update the blog and a mountain of pup images have accumulated over the last month or so, so this update is definitely long overdue.
At the ripe old age of 4 months Django is now very thoroughly integrated into the pack and into our daily routines. Like his parents he’s incredibly affectionate and, if anything, even smarter and quicker to learn than they were. Ringcraft and Obedience training both started a few weeks back and, as with everything else, he’s taken them in his stride. Confident, calm & ever-curious would probably be his key adjectives right now, as he explores his world and we take him on his little daily adventures in the garden & river and, just occasionally, the beach too:
Django, hunter-of-voles, stalking his prey.
After a few tentative first introductions to water (not helped by him plunging into an icy pool one freezing day at the beach) Django now shares his parents love of water and excitedly heads for (and into) the river on his short morning walks. He also regularly demonstrates his HPR qualities and likes to Hunt, Point & Retrieve whenever the opportunity presents itself:
On point.
...and again - no vole is safe!
At the riverside.
Managing to keep dry-ish at the beach.
A rare trip out into the garden with mum - who's usually too fast for Django's young joints.
Ever attentive!
Retrieving a gull wing at Crow Point.
...and retrieving a stick from the river.
In profile.
Unlike the rest of the UK we've only had a light dusting of snow, but it was still something new for Django to experience.
Django & Mingus absolutely adore one another and when all the fun, games and training are over they often snuggle up together on the sofa.
Puppy Portraits – The Final Week!
Where has the time gone?? This is the last week for the Belatarr babies before most head to their new homes and start their lives away from the pack. Sadly the appalling weather (incredibly low-light levels, freezing temps, endless hail sleet & rain) meant that the final week head-shots were very tricky to get, and not very high quality and very washed-out when we did get them, with pups (and us) shivering and looking rather glum in the driving sleet…but at least we have something to represent them as they were at 7 weeks old and before they all change once again into mature young dogs.
So, dozens of refuse bags full of soiled bedding, weeks of missed sleep, much cuddling and hundreds of chicken wings later, these are Phoenix and Mingus’ dozen, all now with their Kennel Names (Jazz themed, to follow on from Mingus) just before they leave us:
THE BOYS (minus one)
Belatarr Art Tatum (Finley)
Belatarr Charlie Parker
Belatarr Dave Brubeck (Otto)
Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie (Gryphon)
Belatarr John Coltrane (Otis)
Belatarr Miles Davis (Huxley)
Belatarr Oscar Peterson (Digby)
Belatarr Thelonius Monk
(pic forthcoming…)
THE GIRLS
Belatarr Ella Fitzgerald (Ella)
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie)
Belatarr Nina Simone (Nina)
Final Week Shots from the Dog Sofa (whilst Mum & Dad are out for a walk)
A Snoozy Ella Fitzgerald, with her fabulous (fathers) coat.
...nearly asleep...
Under scrutiny.
A very intense Thelonius Monk.
Adam & friends.
Puppy Pile-up.
Twin-Level Puppy Pile-up.
Complete take-over.
Tim & co.
Puppy portraits: Week 6!
The gang have really grown-up during this very busy week – bounding around their run and (when given the chance) the living room, wagging like crazy and giving little puppy barks. They’ve also braved the atrocious/freezing/wet weather to take three supervised trips to “the great outdoors” where, with great confidence and excitement, they encountered such wonderous new things as grass, leaves, herbs, puddles, rain and, of course, mud all for the first time:
Exploration!
Being called back uphill to return home.
Meanwhile Tim started stacking the puppies into their show stands to start to assess their potential:
Tim explains the stacking process to an attentive Mr. Indigo.
A 5-week-old Mr. Grey in action.
The Kennel Club approved all of their pedigree names (more of which anon) and we’ve begun the very exciting process of matching puppies to their waiting new homes.
No longer squish-nosed babies, by 6-weeks the Belatarr dozen have become proper young dogs:
THE BOYS
Mr. Grey.
Mr. Indigo.
Mr. Green.
Mr. Red & White.
Mr. Red & Blue.
Mr. Blue.
Mr. Brown.
Mr. Red.
Mr. Black.
THE GIRLS
Miss Orange.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
Snowbeards.
Mingus at the river.
Phoenix contemplates the new snowiverse.
Yes, like the whole of the rest of the UK, the snow has finally arrived here in Wolfvalley. Approx 6 inches fell overnight with mild drifting creating around a foot of depth in places, rendering the road/lane impassable (no change there then…) and once again transforming our valley garden into a “Winter Wonderland”; to whit:
Early morning sun across the garden valley.
The bottom of the garden.
The lane - a dog-only zone for today.
Arctic romp.
At the garden gate heading into the woodland.
Phoenix waiting at the gate...
Phoenix in a snowy point.
Phoenix catching snowballs.
Mingus makes snowy progress.
Mingus the Snowbeard.
My, what snowy eyebrows you have.
It's never too snowy to dig for voles.
But this is the result - A Yeti? or a small breed of Highland Cattle perhaps?
Phoenix in the Redwood Grove.
Our river - almost monochromatic today.
The weir & water glinting blue in the sunlight, as viewed through the trees from the bridge at the bottom of the garden.
Birch trunk in the snow.
Richmond, take two.
Last Sunday saw us heading back to the Richmond Championship Show, held at Loseley Park, a venue deep in the heart of Surrey that is famous (to us at least) as the origin of Loseley Ice Cream (yum). This was also the scene of one of Phoenix’ Best Puppy awards in 2009, and 2010 saw the HWV classes judged by Eileen Hughes, who had awarded Phoenix another of her Champ Show Best Puppy awards last year….all of which seemed to bode well for Phoenix, at least.
The cold, breezy morning that we left behind in Devon had been transformed into a bright, sunny and rather-too-hot show day by the time we landed in the Far East (well, the environs of Guildford). Luckily the benching marquees were pretty cool and also featured very large, under-cover exercise areas, so, for once the heat was no problem at all for either dog – though the same can’t be said for their handler who became a mite over-heated after trotting round the hot ring all be-suited.
Mingus was first up and thrilled the crowds* with his excellent movement and nifty standing – this last being much improved over the previous weeks efforts in Birmingham. He was rewarded with 1st Puppy Dog, which was very pleasing.
Some time later Phoenix took to the ring in the Post-Graduate Bitch class and looked particularly commanding* stacked in the ring, resulting in the judge awarding her 1st place too, which was even more pleasing. This result pips her 1st Graduate Bitch at last months National Gundog to become Phoenix’ newest most-senior-award-at-a-Champ-Show-so-far.
What’s more the whole shindig was all wrapped up by lunchtime – how very civilized. So we headed for home elated, well fed and in daylight too! All in all an excellent show day for team Belatarr.
* probably
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....
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 