Posts tagged ‘beach’
Django’s big win.
Following on from his brother Gryphon’s big result last weekend Django stepped up a gear today at the Plymouth & District Kennel Association Show where he won a large class in HWV Open and topped an all-Belatarr top 3 – with Brother Gryphon (Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie) 2nd and sister Belatarr Mahalia Jackson 3rd – before taking Best of Breed. This was Django’s 13th Best of Breed out of his last 15 shows, which is a pretty good score rate by any reckoning!
In a tough 17 strong line-up featuring many top dogs he then he went on to beat them all and be awarded a wonderful Gundog Group 1 (Best Gundog in Show) under judge Jane Lilley, prompting her to remark that “he does something to my heart” which was a lovely comment to hear. Her equally super critique was:
“Such a very high quality entry which, I was delighted to see, resulted in three siblings taking the first three spots. 1st Belatarr Django Reinhardt well balanced handsome and masculine, so good for make, shape, size and type. Here was quality combined with the best of construction and movement with excellent topline and tailset. A happy showman beautifully presented in hard condition and well textured coat. So very sound and effortless on the move, he looked as if he could go on all day with no trouble at all. Most impressive & should be even more so when fully mature. BOB G1“
Django’s Plymouth awards.
We took the gang out to the beach for a celebratory romp this morning and took the opportunity to capture a few new Django head-shots at the same time – very wet & very sandy – just the way he likes it!.
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.
Beach ‘n’ Bubbles.
Mingus - a sandy-nosed headshot.
Mingus - watery silhouette.
Bubblicious with Adam.
...and with Fred.
Phoenix & Freddie.
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...
Once More Unto the Beach…
“Experts” tell us that today may be the last scorching hot day for the foreseeable, so the only possibly course of action was clear: head to the beach!
The scene of today's adventures - at Northam with the golden sand of Braunton Beach in the distance.
Mingus head shot.
Mingus sneaks up on some fast-moving seaweed.
Mingus self-stacking (sort of).
and Phoenix nearly manages the same trick.
Follow the leader.
The big boing!
Hungarian Wirehaired Sea Otter?
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.
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.
Trip to the Sea.
Digging at the Beach.
Collecting Shells.
We are blessed here in North Devon to be located very near to several of the countries best beaches, and we figured that at 14 weeks old, it was about time that Phoenix was introduced to the joys of the sea and sand. With this in mind we headed to Saunton Sands on an unseasonably warm and sunny Winter’s afternoon (alongside half the working population of North Devon who had also bunked off work at the first hint of sunshine).
Striding on with Fred and Ad on an "overcrowded" beach.
Phoenix met lots of dogs (including a 12 week old Weimaraner boy, the world’s largest Labradoodle and an even larger and exceedingly bouncy, playful Bernese Mountain Dog) alongside many human admirers.
Into the Sea.
She enjoyed digging in the sand and hunting for shells, although she was a little more dubious about the icy cold Atlantic Ocean. Tim, Freddie and Phoenix all suffered chilly toe syndrome which took some time to recover from. Chips helped to chivvy along the cure…
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 