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.
Show number 3….
An amazing day was had today as we all headed off to the Liskeard & District Premier Open Show in deepest Cornwall. Thinking that we’d be on late in the show, and certainly after lunch, we arrived at 12:00 noon, only to find that our class was up in about 20 mins., which didn’t give too much time for “settling in”.
The show was held in an aircraft-hanger-like giant agricultural building, and the atmosphere (and volume level) was best described as cacophonous and claustrophobic, somewhat resembling a Moroccan bazaar minus the carpet-sellers (although they may have been tucked away in a corner for all we knew) with absolutely no space to move around. Despite this Phoenix was completely unphased and instead displayed her usual mixture of excitement and curiosity at all the sights, sounds and smells.
There were no classes for HWV’s at the show so we were up in AVNSC (Any Variety Not Seperately Classified: Gundog). When our class came she trotted beautifully into the ring and stood like a dream….which turned out to be the first and last time she would be performing this feat as trained…each subsequent “stand” was accompanied by a variety of dancing, backing-up and lurching sideways, leading the judge to ask her: “are you going to make life difficult for your Daddy today?” (the answer to which was a big fat yes!)
Despite this we managed to win Best AVNSC Puppy and received a fine rosette and a photo session with the marvellous Sam from Farlap Canine Photography.
Standing for Best AVNSC Puppy.
Then came a 3 hour-or-so wait for all the other Gundog breeds to finish judging, by which point the building was almost empty of people, dogs and hubbub, with only the best of breed winners remaining. Eventually all the winning gundog puppies were called back for the judging of the Gundog Puppy Group, and Phoenix (who was almost asleep by this time) & Tim entered the now much enlarged arena to line up amongst the Spaniels, Retrievers, Pointers, Setters etc.
Being judged for Best Gundog Puppy - that's Phoenix in the centre with the judge examining her.
We had thought that being roused from a state of unconsciousness might take the edge of excitability off our l’il gal, but instead she performed just as she had in the previous round, moving with huge enthusiasm and drive, head up and tail up with a big grin on her face – which was great – but then trying to buck and twist out of her stands – which was less than great…
The best Gundog Puppy in show was awarded to the Golden Retriever, but then, and to our complete delight and some astonishment, we were awarded second place (AKA: Gundog Puppy Group 2) accompanied by an even bigger rosette, at which point Phoenix’ and Tim’s excitement levels must have gone into overdrive since she (and probably he too) started bouncing about 4 feet in the air!!!
A lap of honour of the ring for the top 4 puppies followed, and then we were out to absorb what had just occurred. Several other exhibitors came up to congratulate us and say was a lovely dog they thought she was. One Irish Setter exhibitor said that she thought Phoenix was the best dog in the whole show…which was very nice.
So, a fantastic result, and the gaiting problems of the last show now seem to be a thing of the past, but instead we have her new unwillingness to stand to work on. The next “warm-up” show in is two weeks, and then, come August, we’re into her proper show campaign, so we’ve got a few more weeks to strike a balance between Phoenix’ joyous spirit (that judges happily seem to like!) and the element of control that we need….
First thing tomorrow morning it’s back to pup boot camp!
Crufts Qualified!!
A big, big day today… it was Phoenix’ first Championship show, the Three Counties, and we were really expecting it to be no more than a practise/dress rehearsal for the forthcoming Champ shows in Aug, Sept & Oct. We also knew that we were up against some older, more mature and much more experienced dogs and handlers in our class but, despite this, we managed to be placed third by senior judge Zena Thorn-Andrews, which in turn means that Phoenix has Qualified for entry to Crufts 2010 at her and our very first attempt!! (Also, one of the dogs that we beat then went on to take Best Junior Bitch, which we would have won had we entered that class…doh!)
Phoenix stood beautifully for the judge, and in the line-up, but when it came to gaiting she was like a coiled spring and was literally bouncing around the ring, so we really thought we’d have no chance of success, making the result both exciting and altogether unexpected.
We’re showing at another 6 or 7 Champ shows and about a dozen Open Shows this year, whilst Phoenix is still classified as a puppy (under 12 months old) so hopefully we can build on that success as she matures…. and also figure out how best to get her “sparkly” but not “manic” in the showring.
Sadly once again no photographs were taken of this momentous occasion due to ….erm….operator malfunction…next time though!
With Honours…
Graduate.
Graduate.
It was the end of an era today as we attended our last ever Puppy Gurus session: the advanced doggy test. Phoenix is just entering the “difficult” Teen-Wolf years and has decided that Puppy Gurus is the place to test the boundaries and play up, albeit only a little bit. After a slightly dodgy start (where we couldn’t get her to sit, wait or actually pay any attention at all) she clicked into training mode and we managed to pass the exam with relative ease. She was particularly excellent with the tricky-to-perfect Long-Distance-Instant-Down as well as the Walking-To-Heel-Past-Seated-Trainers-Who-Are-Distractingly-Eating-Pizza (a Puppy Guru’s speciality move it seems) and managed all of the other tasks too, so all’s well that ends well.
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.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 