Champ Show roundup!
As the newest Belatarr puppies settle into their new homes the older generations continue to win at this Spring’s Championships with lovely results from The National Dog Show, Bath and Southern Counties.
At the National Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM (Billie) was placed 1st from an entry of 9 in Open Bitch and then went on to take her 3rd RCC ticket under judge David Alcorn. His critique for her was:
“Shapely bitch & well angled at both ends. Liked very much her head proportions & balance. Great front assembly & strong bone. Excellent depth to brisket & well sprung ribs. Well angled hindquarter with good muscletone. Stands on very good feet & moves soundly, covers plenty of ground. Her many attributes & overall soundness earned her the RCC today.”
Meanwhile at Bath, under judge Fran Harper, Billie was again awarded Reserve Best Bitch, whilst it was the boys turn to shine at Southern Counties where Belatarr Hercules took 1st in Post Graduate Dog with his brother Belatarr Sculptor 2nd in the same class, whilst their older brother Belatarr Charlie Parker went one better and won Reserve Best Dog under judge Christine Ryan.
Belatarr’s newly extended family.
Phoenix and Mingus became grandparents this week as I’m delighted to welcome the safe arrival of 9 lovely new ginger babies to their daughter Belatarr Nina Simone (Ruby) who lives in the New Forest with her humans Beverly & Jeremy. 
Sired by Hillfern Manhattan (Spike) none of these pups are affected by the HUU mutation. We hope that the combination of parents and grand-parents to this litter should result in some lovely, typey pups and I look forward to meeting them all very soon! All of the puppies were reserved before birth and their progress can be followed at: http://jembel.simplesite.com/417326804 
Belatarr annual awards wins.
The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Association and the HWV Club of Great Britain both distributed their Annual Awards this month, with points awarded for show wins gained throughout the course of 2014.
The HWVA awards, given specifically for Championship Show successes, saw Belatarr Hercules as runner up Top Show Puppy Dog of 2014 whilst his older sister, Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM won the Arany Bowl for Top Bitch of 2014 and was also named the overall 2nd highest scoring show dog of the year.
The HWVCGB awards include points gained from at shows and here Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM took the The Wearvale Trophy, for Top Adult Show Bitch, along with The Lanspar Trophy for overall Top Show Adult of the year, whilst her beautiful brother Gryphon, Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie posthumously retained the very fine Haunsberg Bronze that he was also awarded last year and was, once again, named Top Adult Show Dog.
The Arany Bowl & Haunsberg Bronze.
Needless to say we are, as ever, immensely proud of the Belatarr babies and all that they have achieved in the showring thanks to the hard work and dedication of their adoring owners. 🙂
Belatarr Boys win at HWVA Championship!
A fabulous sunny day brought some equally fabulous and memorable results for Jenny & David’s Belatarr boys today at the world’s biggest gathering of HWV’s at the HWVA Championship, presided over by gundog and breed specialist Sharon Pinkerton.
First up was Belatarr Hercules who was placed 1st in Yearling Dog, followed, a few classes later, by his big brother Belatarr Chalies Parker who was also placed 1st (from an entry of 7) in Limit Dog.
Charlie at the HWVA Championship.
Herc in the HWVA Dog Challenge.
The two boys then went head to head in the Dog Challenge line-up and Jenny (and we!) were absolutely thrilled when Herc was awarded the Reserve Dog CC, gaining him his Stud Book number and qualifying him for Crufts for life, all at the tender age of just 20 months!
The critiques for the tow boys were:
BELATARR HERCULES
“Masculine dog with a lovely typical quality head, super expression, strong muzzle, strong neck of good length, lovely bones legs and good feet, super well sprung ribs, strong loins, correct topline, very good hindquarters including width of second thigh, excellent coat, moved really well covering the ground – delighted to,award him the RCC”
BELATARR CHARLIE PARKER
“Lovely headed dog with a kind expression from dark eyes, strong neck, clean shoulders but a little forward placed, lovely boned legs, very good ribs, strong topline, very good angulation behind, moved well.”
Sharon Pinkerton
Many congratulations to Jenny and David for such a great achievement with their super boys.
Post win Happiness.
Herc’s Reserve CC
Puppy Portraits – The Final Week!
A very big, exciting and emotional time this week as the pups leave us to begin their new lives in their new homes. All ten have already grown into very confident and outgoing youngsters – definitely no shrinking violets amongst them! – and we cannot wait to watch them grow and develop into beautiful adult dogs and bring much pleasure and delight to their new families. So, without further ado, and in alphabetical order…
THE BOYS
Belatarr North by Northwest – ‘North’ (Mr Red)
Belatarr Notorious – ‘Harvey’ (Mr Blue)
Belatarr Secret Agent – ‘Nevis’ (Mr Black)
Belatarr Vertigo – ‘Sabi‘ (Mr Bronze)
THE GIRLS
Belatarr Jamaica Inn – ‘Alba’ (Miss Yellow)
Belatarr Marnie – ‘Mouse’ (Miss Purple)
Belatarr Rebecca – ‘Luna’ (Miss Pink)
Belatarr Thirtynine Steps – ‘Matilda’ (Miss Mint)
Belatarr To Catch a Thief – ‘Ethel’ (Miss Green)
Belatarr Topaz – ‘Amber’ (Miss Orange)
Puppy Portraits: Week 6.
Last week’s drab and damp weather has given way to a wonderful week of Spring sunshine and the pups have been enjoying being outside every single day this week, where they have experienced tractors and low-flying aircraft and watched pigeons and numerous other birds (and cats) come and go about their Springtime routines.
The gang sunbathing in their outdoor run.
Monday saw their first attempt at tackling raw chicken wings – an essential step towards the chewing and chomping or raw bones that will mark their adult lives.
Mr Bronze gets stuck into some serious chicken-wing chomping.
The pups (and their now needle-sharp teeth) took to them with huge enthusiasm and quite a bit of curiosity, excited at the prospect, yet unskilled at how to tackle such a large prey item. Approx. 60 mins later they had figured out what to do and all meat had been stripped and consumed and all bones had been cracked and (mostly) swallowed. Time, then, for a long and satisfied snooze for all of the babies. By the end of the week, though, they had all grown considerably more savvy at tackling their new foodstuff, and today’s wings were dispatched within about 15 mins or so.
After many, many hours of watching, stacking and photographing these babies we can also now reveal their new, Kennel Club identities and formally introduce the Belatarr Hitchcock litter:
THE BOYS
Mr Black – Belatarr Secret Agent.
Mr Blue – Belatarr Notorious.
Mr Bronze – Belatarr Vertigo.
Mr Red – Belatarr North By Northwest.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green – Belatarr To Catch a Thief.
Miss Mint – Belatarr Thirtynine Steps.
Miss Orange – Belatarr Topaz
Miss Pink – Belatarr Rebecca.
Miss Purple – Belatarr Marnie.
Miss Yellow – Belatarr Jamaica Inn.
It’s tiring work being 6 weeks old.
Brother and sister – Belatarr Notorious & Belatarr Thirtynine Steps
Puppy Portraits – week 5.
After being spoiled by last weekend’s Spring sunshine and unseasonal warmth we’ve been plunged back into the more typical near-freezing wet and overcast English weather this week. We still wanted to take the pup portraits outdoors, but the poor mites were pretty chilly and less than impressed, and the resulting images certainly don’t have the sunny glow or depth/accuracy of colour that we captured last week. Still, the boys are girls are all coming on very nicely and have enjoyed a lovely week indoors near the fire whilst a succession of daily visitors arrive for those all important cuddles and snuggles socialization exercises. 🙂
THE BOYS
Mr Black – looking cold 😦
Mr Black – much happier!
Mr Blue
Mr Blue snuggles (more colour accurate too)
Mr Bronze.
Mr Red.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green
Miss Mint.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss Yellow.
Pupalanche!
Puppy Portraits – week 4.
The last two days have seen some wonderful Spring sunshine arrive in Devon allowing us to get the pups outside to experience the big wide world for the first time. The thermometer showed 70 degrees F in the sunshine and the pups were able to spend 4 hours in the fresh air on two successive afternoons. Sadly the forthcoming weather forecast suggests that they may not have another opportunity to get outdoors again for the foreseeable future, but we were just delighted to see them frolic in the fresh air and were also able to take this weeks portraits outside too.
THE BOYS
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Bronze, again.
Mr Red.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green (sleepy!)
Miss Mint.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss Yellow.
The gang get their first taste of the outdoors!
Mr Bronze takes a nap in the sunshine.
…and has a snoozy snuggle.
When indoors and out the pups love nothing more than to pile into one or other of their cat-carrier dens, which have been equally enjoyed by all of their older brothers and sisters before them.
The gang pile into their micro-den (note the chew marks from previous pup inhabitants!)
For the last week we have also been weaning the pups onto their solid food diet. Starting with Royal Canin weaning mousse the kids went absolutely nuts with excitement at their first sniff of the solid stuff and within a few days were lapping very efficiently. From mid-week they were old and tidy enough to be fed from their super-duper Weena-Feeder and by this weekend they have been transferred onto their raw food diet – essentially the same as their mum eats, but put through a food processor to remove all of the chunks and lumps.
Meanwhile teeth are erupting and everyone wants to chew everything, so new rubber chew toys and plastic bottles are going down a treat, when human arms, toes and ears are not available. Their nails are still being filed regularly too, and, when they are sleepy enough, each pup can be gently wiggled upside-down on your lap whilst having their teeny-tiny toes attended to, as beautifully illustrated below by a gently snoozing Mr Blue.
Mr Blue gets his nails filed
Belatarr at Crufts 2015
A brief day off from puppy duties saw a terrific and very memorable (historic, even!) day for us at Crufts 2015. Belatarr was one of only 6 Gundog kennels to qualify for the final of what was to be the last ever Kennel Club Breeders Competition. It was a great honour to be invited to take our place in front of a big crowd in the Crufts main arena today, where we were very proud to represent the breed alongside over 200 other dogs from all of the other groups.
The Breeders Competition was in the evening, but prior to that came the breed judging, and the Belatarr boys really did us proud today too. Young Belatarr Hercules was now just out of Junior and in his very first Post Graduate Dog class, where he was placed 3rd out of an entry of 10 – a very nice result which also automatically qualifies him for Crufts 2016.
His big brother Belatarr Charlie Parker was unquestionably the star of the day though, and we were thrilled, and delighted for Jenny and David, to see Charlie awarded 1st Limit Dog from a very classy line up of males.
Belatarr Charlie Parker stacked in the Limit Dog Class.
The examination.
And 1st place!
Belatarr Hercules – examined in the Post Graduate Dog Class.
Charlie & Herc with their Crufts winnings!
Billie, Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM, was the third member of our Breeders Team today, and she didn’t go home empty handed, picking up Reserve in another very high quality Open Bitch Class.
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM – stacked in the Open Bitch class.
Puppy Portraits – week 3
Huge changes in the pups this last week – they can now see, hear and bark/growl/chirrup (in a comically squeaky way) and have started playing and interacting with one another and with their environment. Nails have been filed twice more and they have quadrupled their birth weight in just 21 days. Phoenix has been producing vast quantities of milk so weaning has not been started as yet, but the little’un’s will get their first taste of solid food this weekend – much mess and mayhem is sure to ensue!
THE BOYS
Mr Black
Mr Blue (ears up)
Mr Blue (ears down)
Mr Bronze
Mr Red
THE GIRLS
Miss Green
Miss Mint
Miss Orange
Miss Pink
Miss Purple
Miss Yellow
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 