NSDTR Club Champ Show - Bron Beast

Sunday saw us getting up at 5am much to the dogs amusement for the Toller Club Champ Show in leicester (these faces say it all - what time is THIS?)

 

Dawn & Gerald kindly allowed Bron and I to hitch a lift with the lovely Cooper as they only live about half an hour away, and together Bron & Cooper  sang beautifully (and loudly) to all of the neighbours just to let them know where they were going at 6.45am on a Sunday morning :-)

Lots of ginger dogs packed in to the hall, we arrived pretty much bang on opening time thinking we would get a place before anyone else but the hall was already jam packed!  Anyway we sat ringside and enjoyed watching the lovely dogs parading round and catching up with friends.  Bron and Cooper did plenty of singing for a bit, you know just to make sure everyone knew they were there....

 

I entered 3 classes hedging my bets knowing there would be a lot of entries (143 entries - 99 dogs!) and the competetion would be fierce.  First class was Junior Bitch which was ok but I didn't think Bron went round very well as there was a lot of food on the floor distracting her so she didn't run very straight, thought had blown it and we got 3rd place! qualifying for Crufts!

Next round was Post Grad Bitch with 12 entries and a lot of big girls so didn't expect anything at all. Bron went like a dream (well I thought she did anyway) ran lovely on a loose lead out in front of me and stood nicely, the judge came back and felt her shoulders again and we were shortlisted!  Then blow me down we were pulled for 2nd place! stunned and over the moon.


Well, after that it was straight in again for Limit bitch which I had entered by mistake (as only a novice and didn't realise at the time it was a class for the big girls!) so I felt a right pillock standing there among all the people with dogs that show abroad and are hardened showers that are well known, decided to chalk it up to experience and just use it as practice, having already asked early on if I could pull out and was told no!  Anyway again Bron went like a dream run well, stood lovely and the judge again came back and felt her shoulders and again we were shortlisted!  What happened next really was amazing - a hat trick!  We got a Reserve in a class of 19!  BIG GRINS.  I heard a couple of people shout 'Well Done Jane' as I came out but don't know who they were. Beastie did us proud!  It was worth getting soaked with that bath after all!


Vicky & Steve had come across from Norfolk to support us and Cooper too (I will let him give his news) they brought along Piri and Echo as well and will be coming to the next Champ Show in Stafford so will be needing helpers in the ring with the girls.  Let's help them too as their girls are looking great too.  The only downside was that Donna wasn't able to go last minute so I hope the news makes up for the disappointment of not going x

So proud of my little beastie beast Bron, she has changed so much over the last couple of months and is starting to (dare I say it) grow up a little.  Still a beast but lovable beast.  Pressure is off now so  it doesn't matter if we don't get placed again!

Rookie's Trip to Crufts

We've just about recovered from Crufts 2014 now, it was a brilliant day, but soooo tiring even for a bouncy spotty dog.

Great to meet the lovely Cooper and give him some chin scratches and a sneaky cuddle, what a handsome chap that boy is! Rookie would desperately loved to play chase and splat the toller with you but we were about to go in the ring! ;)

It was great to see everyone again, thoroughly enjoyed my cuddles with Trio and Maddie too, and meeting Yvie. She is a real little star, as I've said before there is something really special about those girls. Huge congratulations on everyone's success, a Crufts to beat, I'm sure.

I was thrilled with Rookie, he went really well in the ring and had a ball entertaining the public, posing for photos with them, having cuddles, and having a good old flirt with everyone! Just love spending time with this boy, he is a pleasure.

A few pics from that day and the one that followed.

Bit of a pose in the car park afterwards. Seahaven's Celtic Commander.

Was a long day!

Rookie and Yvie... all of the pics look like this :p

Rookie trying to put toller Tuzzi off her sit stay!

Maddie in the ring

Megane in the ring

Megane relaxing around the ring

Rookie and his sister Megane

Rookie and Maddie

Working the crowd!

Yvie relaxing around the ring

Watching Jeremy Kyle at the hotel. He couldn't believe his ears.

Most appropriately named pub to stay in!

The day after, Carol, who owns Libby, and I went for breakfast, then we took Rookie for a walk around Carol's local park. Libby couldn't come because quite selfishly she decided to come into season just before Crufts! And if I didn't know that, whilst I was in Carol's house Rookie decided to serenade us from the van just to tell me!!

Some pics from the walk.

Joined by a labrador called Timmy

Timmy got a bit inappropriate though.... things got rather more intimate after this pic but Rookie didn't mind, too interested in his tennis ball, and Timmy's owner came to retrieve him!!

A bit of heelwork in the park

And now for some pics of another beautiful Trio daughter- Libby. I have only met the two dogs from this litter but I think they are just wonderful, really lovely dogs. Libby is full of life and character, and just so sweet!

Two tennis balls.... talent!

Seahaven's Olympic Vindicat

Naughy Libby coming into season, still we'll go through the motions :)

Running to watch me go out the door, what a sweet girl!

Bye Libby!

 Hope we get to see you all again next year!

Jess and Rookie

CRUFTS 2014

Sorry for the delay, took some time to recover from Sunday!

Well an early start and a long day, but a sunny spring one!  Fantastic to walk to the halls in the sun, or at least walk part of the way. With four dogs and all of the paraphernalia we decided to hop on a bus, along with Megane and her family who we met up with in the car park.  This is the first time that the dogs had every been on  a bus, but they all took it in their stride even getting some attention on the journey.

Large Munsterlanders were being judged from 9.00 am in Hall 4 with the NSDTRs starting at 10.00am in Hall 4 so we decamped all dogs etc on the LM benching.  Sorted ourselves out and said a few hellos and managed to get to the ring to watch Rookie and Jess in the Post Graduate Dog class.  This was Rookie's first time in with the big boys, as he is now out of age restricted classes, Morry was entered in this class too but sadly couldn't be with us.

Rookie looked quite the part and gave a creditable performance and was awarded a Reserve in a strong class. He was then also awarded a 3rd in the Good Citizen Class!!

Rookie - Seahaven Celtic Commander

After this we took the tollers down to their hall and set Eleanor up with the dogs on benching before returning to the LMs.   The volume of people was enormous and we found it really difficult to move the dogs through the throngs of people without getting trodden on, so decided to keep the tollers on benching with Eleanor and we would bring the LMs down there when their judging had finished.

Maddie's class came around quite quickly, she was entered in Veteran for the first time at a Champ show. This was the biggest class of the day, and contained a number of champions sadly Maddie wasn't placed this time and she came home from Crufts without a card or rosette.

Trio - Seahaven Borrowed Heaven

Megane (Seahaven Celtic Cariad) & Yvie (Seahaven Olympic Uthopia) were entered in Post Graduate Bitch, Yvie just missing out on the Junior class by a matter of weeks!  At just 19 months Yvie won the class!!  Nicola's face was a picture when they were called in, we were all so thrilled.  Megane was rather over whelmed by the excitement and was a wriggly monkey for Hazel during judging.  Trio also returned to the ring partnered by Tasha and they gained a VHC in the Good Citizen class.  It was quite emotional seeing her look so good again, the last six months of work really paying off.

Yvie - Seahaven Olympic Uthopia

All unbeaten bitches returned to the ring for the challenge, and it was exciting to see Nicola & Yvie in with all the other winners.  It was so fantastic to see Yvie being awarded the Reserve Bitch CC!!  This will be the first Stud Book Number for us as breeders, and Nicola as owner.  So, so proud of them both!!

Quick exit down to the tollers, just in time to see the bitch judging start, and the judges lunch break!  At least this gave us an opportunity to have a bite to eat and chat to friends.

We also had a chance to find out how Cooper got on with Dawn in Post Graduate Dog.  Cooper went really well, and was awarded Reserve.  He then gained another Reserve in the Good Citizen class, well done Cooper some big classes there and stiff competition.

Trio, Eve & Maddie (Tilly was in the ring at the time of the photo)

Judging soon resumed and Eleanor was in with Eve in the Junior and then Yearling Class, gaining a VHC in both of the classes.  She was so well behaved for Eleanor, showing herself so well but does need to mature more compared to others in the class.  Lucy was in the next class Post Graduate Bitch with Milly, being placed 3rd and qualifying for Crufts 2015!  Milly looks better and better each time we see her, keep it up Lucy.  Eleanor swopped dogs and took Tilly in for the Limit class where they gained a VHC, and had another VHC in the Good Citizen class.  Was great to see Milly win this class!!!

There was no time for shopping or visiting other rings due to being so busy, and the venue being so busy. Roll on next year when Gundogs will be on a Thursday, allowing us a weekend of shopping!!

Sorry for the quality of the pics, the light was awful in the NEC due to the sun shinning!

Results

Large Munsterlanders

Rookie      Seahaven Celtic Commander     Post Grad Reserve
                                                                   GCD 3rd
Yvie          Seahaven Olympic Uthopia        Post Grad   1st
                                                                  Reserve Bitch CC
Trio           Seahaven Borrowed Heaven     GC  VHC

NSDTRs

Cooper    Seahaven Galatic Storm              Post Grad Reserve
                                                                  GC Reserve
Eve         Seahaven Parish Bell                    Junior VHC
Milly       Seahaven Red Andromeda           Post Grad 3rd
                                                                  GC 1st
Tilly        Dinaskarrek's Red Vixena at         Limit VHC
              Seahaven                                      GC  VHC

Welsh Team at OJAC

Well last weekend was OJAC with the girls and dogs representing the Welsh junior agility team.  A long drive to Cambridgeshire, and we managed a stop en route to visit Carol with Libby (Trio's daughter).  Was lovely to see them both, we hadn't managed to meet up since August when Libby qualified for Crufts at Paignton champ show.  As I'm due to handle her this weekend I thought that it might be a good opportunity to have a bit of a practice.  Considering how excited she was to see us she managed to stand quite well and hope that this is a good omen for Crufts this weekend.

OJAC started bright and early on the Saturday morning with the opening ceremony at 7.30 am!  It was great to see all the countries kitted out and flying their flags, banners etc there really was a fantastic atmosphere.

Saturday was the day of the jumping rounds for both teams and individuals, both girls were in the Over 12 team.  In the morning Tasha managed a clear with Maddie, and Eleanor was sadly eliminated.  Later in the day the girls had individual runs and Eleanor ran in the Under 12s and having a bit more confidence picked up a few faults but was thrilled with her round.  Tasha then had her run again with Maddie to pick up another clear round.  The final scores for the day saw their team 12th out of 29, a fantastic result!

Sunday again was an early start with course walking at 7.45 am!  Again the team runs were in the morning and the girls were in the same teams of O12s.  Eleanor was really growing in confidence and just picked up a few faults but there were some fantastic bits of work from her and Tilly.  Again Tasha managed a clear round!  Later on in the day they had their individual runs, Eleanor managed her first clear round of the event with Tilly in the U12s!  Sadly Tasha was caught out and Maddie got a bit full of herself and decided on jumping an extra jump at the beginning of the course resulting in an elimination.  Silly dog that she is, she then managed to get right the difficult bits of the course, but that's agility for you!

The girls had such a fantastic experience, the team spirit was fantastic and their was no pressure other than to go out and do their best and have fun!  They all looked great in their Welsh strip, and on the Sunday afternoon swopped tops with members of the Irish team members!  Huge thanks to Martin Cavill and Emma Haines who coached and managed the team.  Also thanks to Genesis dog food who kindly donated samples of their dog food - the dogs have really enjoyed this!

The team finished 11th on Sunday, moving up one place.  Individually Tasha was highly placed, but the final results haven't yet been published.  They both came away with a certificate and rosette from the event and hope to make the team again next year.

Now to think about Crufts!

Cooper goes to Mid Western Gundog

So tired I can barely type this. Mam woke me up 5.30am - not a happy Toller. We were booked into Mid Western Gundog Show at Worcester. It was so early I refused to eat my breakfast.

My usual toilet stop at Neath Canal - which took a lot longer than normal because I hadn't eaten, then back in the cage for a long journey. Not a bad venue at all - a Leisure Centre but stacks of free parking and acres of fields that I wasn't allowed on but only because I've got white paws and it was muddy. The bacon butties weren't a patch on those in the Toller Club Show though - but I'm up there in March so don't have to wait too long.

Judging delayed for 15 minutes but tollers were first in. Dad went out - I went in. Dad came back in as I came out - with a red rosette! First in Post Graduate. So Dad had to go again - good job it hadn't started raining. So into Best of Breed against Open winner - the Junior winner wasn't eligible because he'd entered PG as well and came second to me. Unbelievably good day - judge must have liked me because I got BoB. Both Mam and Dad were very pleased I'd behaved myself.

We then hung around until mid-afternoon for Best in Show. Up against 26 others here - it was too big a task. I was bombed out in the first whittling down - judge pulled 7 out - 19 other dogs skulked out of the ring, tail between their legs after hanging around all day just to be told - you're not good enough!

Lovely day though apart from Dad having a row with the Sat-Nav in Worcester. He reckons it tells lies so Dad hit it off the windscreen. Now it won't turn itself off - serves him right!

Welsh Junior 2014

The first of three busy weekends with Welsh Junior of the Year held at the Royal Welsh Showground today.

Again the Welsh KC gave this event a real sense of occasion, the rings beautifully laid out and three very well respected judges for the event.  Marina Scott, renowned former junior handler & author for the handling, Lee Cox and Andrew Brace for the Welsh Junior, judged in two parts.

Eleanor & Eve receiving their prize from judge Marina Scott

The handling was first on with the younger age group first in the ring, beginning with a parade of handlers and dogs with some commentary on each pair taking part. Handlers have to go in number order and with both girls being early in the alphabet were first in the ring for both age categories.

Eleanor did a fantastic job with Eve, who was quite a fidget in the ring, not too surprising as she hasn't been out to a show since LKA and these babies do forget things quite easily.  Eleanor managed to keep her cool and dealt with her confidently and patiently which paid off with a 2nd in her class.

After another parade of the older age class Tasha was in the ring with Trio.  It was lovely to see these to back together again after such a long break, and we really didn't know what to expect of Trio at all after her time up.  Well she didn't let Tasha down and went really well in a strong class sadly not placed but so pleased with how she looked in the ring.

Trio making a come back!

We also supported our friend Jan who had qualified Eve's friend Ianto, who was sadly knocked out in the second round but looked fabulous.  He's hoping to qualify again for next years competition, as is Eve.  Eve will go in to Junior classes now, so hoping that she'll have a place at this prestigious event next year.

We had a delicious lunch and watched the other Junior dogs competing and we all applauded the lovely bearded collie that won.

A break and an opportunity for some pics outside

Our raffle was drawn with the winning ticket being number 98, a work colleague of mine who will have the hamper delivered to her this coming week!

Now OJAC next weekend!!

Paignton Champ Show 2012

Someone gave me this video yesterday of Rookie's first show, also featuring brother Morry! They were 6 months old here, Rookie placed first and Morry second. The best bit is watching them trying to keep still for the critique!

So funny watching it back as I have no recollection of what the judge was saying to me and can see how confused I was! Excuse the terrible handling- cringey but hopefully this means I've learnt a lot since....

 

And some pics just cause!