Posts tagged ‘Wirehaired Vizsla’
Hips-Hips Hooray.
Following the extreme weather over the tail end of last year 2011 has (so far) been fairly quiet with not too much excitement here in the Belatarr camp.
Mingus has continued to do very well in his first handful of shows as an adult, and has added another three very handy BOB/BNSC’s to his scores over the last few weeks.
This last weekend also definitely proved to be notable too, as Mingus’ hip-scores & X-ray arrived…actually, they almost didn’t arrive at all since our postie somehow delivered them to the wrong address altogether, but our near-neighbour kindly brought them round (thank goodness!!).
And the scores on the doors were: 4/3 (total of 7), which is an absolutely excellent score for an HWV, and puts Mingus very nicely amongst the best of the breed, hip-wise. Cue happy grins and wags all ’round.
Here he is (nearly)stacked at last weeks Plymouth & District Canine Society Open Show, somewhere between getting Best NSC Gundog and being short-listed for Best Gundog in the group:
Semi-stacked
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.
Stop Press: Big Birthday Bonanza!
Celebrating his birthday in considerable style today Mingus attended his final ever show as a puppy – The Plymouth & District Kennel Association Open.
After a couple of frankly so-so performances, resulting from the influence of Phoenix’ season, Mingus pulled out all the doggy-stops today and was well and truly back on form in the ring, being awarded:
– 1st Graduate NSC Gundog (from a class of 6, all but 1 of whom were adults)
– Best NSC Gundog Puppy
– Gundog Puppy Group 1 (his fourth!)
– Reserve Best Puppy in Show (his third!)
all of which, needless to say, made for an exciting and wonderfully memorable birthday!
Another Birthday Bash!
Break out the bunting… no longer a puppy, Mingus is 1 today!
Mingus in the meadow.
Deep red and ultra harsh, never stripped or trimmed - the near legendary(?!) Mingus coat.
Party time!
The thoughtful look.
"You Called?"
"Hmmm...this looks interesting."
Poised.
Misty morning log fetch.
Misty morning log retrieve.
Misty morning log/shin interface about to occur...
...sometime later.
Copper sun-glow.
Rapt.
Mingus in his element.
...and where it all began - a 6-week-old Mingus.
Happy 1st Birthday Mingus!
Birthday Bash.
Hard to believe it, but our “little” girl is well and truly grown up now…To celebrate her 2nd Birthday we took advantage of some unseasonally warm and sunny weather to hit the beach where much canine/human romping was done:
A rare pensive moment.
Phoenix at full charge.
Calm and reserved, as always.
Surf hi-jinx.
Chase: Part 1.
Chase: Part 2.
Nearly airborne.
Of course there's always time to dig.
Deep concentration.
Heavy wagg-age.
Happy Birthday Phoenix!
Seasonal Tribulations.
The lonnnnnng absence of any new blog entries can be attributed to Phoenix coming into season – her second, just shy of her 2nd birthday, and almost exactly 12 months from her first. How very orderly.
The big difference this time ’round, though, was that she was no longer the only canine in the household. Entering into unknown territory with an intact male and female living together, Phoenix (somewhat unexpectedly!) came into season just 24 hrs. after being awarded 2nd Limit Bitch at the Gundog Society of Wales Champ show.
We had been as prepared as we could be for the whole male/female excitement interface, and the possibility of having to separate the dogs from one another for a while, but in the event it all went relatively easily, and aside from two occasions when Phoenix was caged to allow Mingus to get some daytime snoozing done, they remained together throughout the whole time. Having said that we didn’t take our eyes off them at any time when they were awake, and obviously they slept in different rooms too, but the howling/screaming/hysteria that we were expecting (and that’s just from the humans) never came to pass at all.
They ate and exercised together just as normal, and, as soon as they were out of the house, they were invariably both far more interested in food/running/tug-of-war/swimming/chasing stuff etc. etc.
Vole hunting = business as usual.
Phoenix herself was pretty unaffected in terms of mood, but once she entered her receptive phase Mingus became much more tense and unsettled, finding it difficult to relax or rest no matter where he was.
Although this only lasted for a few days unfortunately the very peak of the season coincided with Mingus’ final Champ show as a Puppy – Midland Counties – where our boy was incredibly and unusually needy (howling if Tim so much as glanced at another dog!) distracted & fidgety and as a result was very unsettled and lean-y in the ring, temporarily forgetting how to stand or move properly…we think that’s what judges refer to as “throwing it away on the day.”
Then, after just 19 days, it was all over, and, as if someone had flicked a switch to off, both dogs immediately returned to their normal patterns of behaviour.
Of course Mingus (now 11 months old) is just a young-ling, and no doubt things will be a tad more “intense” next time around, but show-ring appearance aside, it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. A big relief!
Day 7 of Phoenix' season - on the trail with Mingus.
Critiques.
We’re just starting to receive the first of the judges Critiques from Mingus’ recent wins, and very pleasing reading they are too:
“Superb 10 months male. I could have taken him home. Expressive head, strong neck, shoulders well laid, deep chest, good bone, well angulated backend that produced a strong rear driving action. This was all topped off with a good harsh jacket. Pleased to award him Puppy Group 1 and Best Puppy in Show. A super boy, I shall watch his progress with interest.”
CAMBORNE REDRUTH CANINE SOCIETY OPEN – judge: Penny Sands
“A superb representative of the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla carrying many of the characteristics the breed demands, nice biddable, expressive well-worked head, correct size, well-balanced in every department, covering the ground with purposeful, accurate ground-covering movement. I also awarded him Gundog Group 2 and Puppy Gundog Group 1.”
OKEHAMPTON & DISTRICT CANINE SOCIETY OPEN – judge: Mike Bryant
“Puppy of 10 months. Head with good beard, body well ribbed back with dark coat of correct texture. Moved well and really is at one with his handler. Best Puppy. Reserve Best of Breed & pleased to see him go Reserve Best Puppy in Show.”
CORNWALL GUN DOG CLUB OPEN – judge: Mike Lewin
“A promising 10 month old dog puppy with an excellent coat and head furnishings. Angulations good and balance each other. Correct height and length ratio in body. Deep chest, short and strong over loin. Moved soundly and with drive to win Best of Breed & Best Not Separately Classified Puppy & later PG2”
TAVISTOCK & DISTRICT OPEN judge: Eileen Hughes
Best Puppy in Show.
Pics from Mingus’ Best Puppy in Show win at Camborne Redruth Open show – as you can see, they went with the cute, rather than the formal poses..still, at least Mingus got to show off his natty, Puppy Gurus trained “paw shake”:
–
Tavistock Trip.
The Royal Cornwall Showground at Wadebridge in Cornwall is starting to feel like a second home now after Mingus has been to 3 shows there over the last 16 days. The latest canine extravaganza to be hosted at the venue was today’s Tavistock & District Canine Society Open Show.
A last minute judge change saw Eileen Hughes instated as judge for Mingus’ AVNSC class. Given that she had awarded Mingus 1st Puppy Dog at the Richmond Champ Show just last month, this seemed to auger pretty well. Still, it was very pleasing when our boy was awarded 1st Junior NSC and then beat the Graduate & Open class winners to go Best NSC Gundog & Best NSC Gundog Puppy, gaining another point toward his Show Certificate of Merit in the process.
Mingus - stacked (perfectly!) in the Gundog Group.
A swift enlargement of the ring brought us immediately to the Gundog Group, judged by the Spinone specialist Shona MacPherson. We were delighted to be shortlisted for Best Gundog out of the 15 BOB’s in the adult group, and even more so when Mingus was placed 2nd in the subsequent Gundog Puppy Group – the fifth show in a row for Mingus to be awarded either 1st or 2nd best Gundog Puppy in show.
We also (finally) managed to get a few pics on Mingus in action in the ring – hurrah!
...and stacked (not quite so well!) for the Gundog Puppy Group.
OMG…
Another double-show weekend for young Mingus brought another double-whammy of huge wins too:
The weekend's rosette haul.
Saturday was the Cornwall Gun Dog Show down at our favourite venue – the Royal Cornwall Showground – with it’s huge, under-cover rings and almost unlimited space to exercise dogs off lead. All of which seemed to work well for our boy and from a very large puppy group (and in a repeat of his win just 7 days earlier) Mingus was awarded Reserve Best Puppy In Show and Best Opposite Sex Puppy in Show – huzzah!
So then, following three very big wins from three consecutive shows, our expectations were that Mingus’ run must surely come to a halt the following day at the Okehampton & District Open.
Phoenix had a fantastic show here in 2009 and was awarded Best Gundog Puppy, but in the event Mingus did even better than his big sis and far better than we could possibly have imagined, winning best AVNSC Gundog, Best Gundog Puppy (Gundog Puppy Group 1) and, most incredibly of all, adult Gundog Group 2. In fact the only gundog to beat Mingus all day was a marvellous adult Cocker who went on to take Best in Show. It was a particular thrill to be awarded Best Gundog puppy at the same show in two consecutive years.
The judges critique read:
“A superb representative of the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla carrying many of the characteristics the breed demands, nice biddable, expressive well-worked head, correct size, well-balanced in every department, covering the ground with purposeful, accurate ground-covering movement. I also awarded him Gundog Group 2 and Puppy Gundog Group 1.”
So now, with four huge wins in a row from five very different judges, the scale of our boys’ recent achievements is just beginning to sink in. Not the least of which are:
1) a phenomenal 282 points (earned in just 9 days) towards his already large puppy-of-the-year-competition points total
2) more than half of the points required for a show certificate of merit, including ALL of the adult group place points.
and all at just 10 months and 5 days old!
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 
