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.
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
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!
Beach ‘n’ Bubbles.
Mingus - a sandy-nosed headshot.
Mingus - watery silhouette.
Bubblicious with Adam.
...and with Fred.
Phoenix & Freddie.
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?
Return to Liskeard.
Exactly 12 months ago Phoenix scored her first really good result at what was her third show – the Liskeard & District Premier Open in neighbouring Cornwall – and today we were back at that same show with both Phoenix & the now-7-month-old Mingus.
It proved to be another fun & pretty successful trip for all. We only had a very short wait before hitting the ring, judging was quick, efficient and decisive and our pair did all that was asked of them without any fuss or trouble.
Phoenix was awarded 1st Open NSC Gundog and Reserve Best NSC Gundog whilst Mingus, at what was his third show too, received Best NSC Gundog Puppy and then took Gundog Puppy Group 4, and all before lunch! If only all shows were this civilized…..
A 20 minute drive back East took us all to Rough Tor – one of our favourite Cornish spots – where much hurtling on the moors and slpooooshing in the river took place – the ideal post-show wind-down!
Being new to the whole two-dogs-at-one-show routine the one thing we didn’t quite manage to figure out is how to take photos of the ring activity whilst juggling two bouncy Gundogs…luckily Sam from Farlap was at the ringside and very kindly took this pic of Phoenix:
Thanks Sam!
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...
Weekend Antics…
Yesterday saw Mingus’ 2nd show – the Exeter & County Canine Soc Open. By the time the HWV classes came around the originally promisingly-cool-and-cloudy weather had given way to baking hot sun, which was less than ideal.
Judge & HWV owner Lesley Trow attracted a large entry of Wires, of which Mingus was the youngest. Despite the odds apparently being stacked well against him Mingus was awarded 1st Open, Best Puppy, and Best of Breed once again, which was pretty awesome going!
The, err, rather minimal judges critique read:
“Good coat, good straight front and feet. Best of Breed. Best Puppy in Breed.“
Hot dog Mingus.
The very large Gundog Group took the best part of 45 mins to judge, which, (coming on top of three visits to the breed ring) added up to a long time for Mingus to be out in such a hot ring, alleviated a little by lots of sprays of water. The Puppy Group, and more hot ring-time followed but Mingus kept himself together and performed admirably… then things started to get a little odd.
Mingus was chosen for Puppy Group 2 – which was an incredible result – but due to some ermmm…confusion, and ummmm… argy bargy in the ring he got recorded as Puppy Group 4 instead – much to Tim’s considerable bewilderment/frustration….which unfortunately kind-of put the dampener on what should have been (and which by any standards still was) a really great result…but so it was.
So, two shows and two Best of Breeds at 6 months old – couldn’t be a better start in the ring for our li’l lad!
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 