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| Karla | Havoc | Amber |
17th December - Only 2 weeks since we took the youngsters for their hip xrays and already the scores are back from the BVA. Thankfully all 4 received good scores, in fact all within a point or two of each other and around the 7:7 mark.
14th December - Last show of 2014, Ladies Kennel Association at the NEC, Birmingham. Another good day for my girls - Whisper gaining first place in her Junior class and Scarlet coming home with the reserve CC - her 4th such award since returning to the ring this summer. Second place for Charlie and 4th for Peaches so all of us were in the cards. Plenty of time to do some shopping at the show and exchange Christmas cards. Won't be seeing every one now until the New Year.
7th December - Northern English Setter championship show at Elsecar near Barnsley. Well, last weekend Lizzy won her Junior Warrant and this weekend it was Whisper's turn! She won both of her classes and also the Jean Woods Memorial award and to finish off in style was shortlisted to the last 4 for the bitch CC!
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| Scarlet | Whisper |
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| Brendan with Robin |
2nd December - now that the youngsters are over 12months old it is time for hip scoring. Met up with Stuart & Yvonne with Charlie for the trip to the vets for the xrays and before we left home took the opportunity to get some photos of Charlie.
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| Wansleydale King's Magic - Charlie, 13 months old | Charlie - head study |
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| Flint (left) wins Res.Best Dog, centre Best Dog & BIS, right Best Puppy Dog | BIS line up with judge, David Shields - RBIS Lizzy is centre, flanked by BIS and BPIS winners. |
22nd November - close to home this weekend with the Nottingham Sherwood Foresters open show at Newark showground. Just Lizzy with me today as we try to win some open show points to complete her Junior Warrant award. We were in luck as she won her class and then went on to win Best of Breed.
16th November - from one end of the UK to the other! This weekend's show was the Southern English Setter Society's championship show held at Tadley near Aldermaston which necessitated a very early start but it turned out to be well worth the effort. Barbara & Logan started the day off in style by winning the veteran dog class and then the Best Veteran in Show award.
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| Logan, looking good at 8 years old | Logan - Best Veteran in Show at SESS 2014 |
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| Whisper winning her class | Memorial Stakes judge, Mrs J Trigwell, presenting Whisper the Suntop Award |
Robin at 12mths
9th November - Out early on the beach with all the dogs - 3 English, 3 Irish and Karla the GSP who had just come along for the ride. They all had a great time in the sea and rabbit hunting in the dunes - little Primrose was one tired puppy when she went home later that day.
8th November - Gundog Breeds championship show at Edinburgh. After the horrible drive up to Northumberland yesterday in the pouring rain it was relief that today was dry. A full car for the journey as Nigel, Jane and 3 of their Irish Setters have joined me for the weekend. A first and a second for Whisper in her classes but our star today was Scarlet who won the reserve CC - her 3rd such award this year.
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| Whisper bathed up ready for the show | Scarlet after winning the reserve CC |
2nd November - a trip out today to the Richecca Kennel at Stoke on Trent to look at their litter of 7 sired by Luke. Some lovely puppies, made me want to bring one home - particularly the tri dog and the 2 blue bitches shown below.
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| Tri dog puppy | Blue bitch | And another blue bitch |
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| Monty (on the left) and friends - what a car! | Rosie |
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| Myrtle at 15weeks | Myrtle with friend Mango - both looking like they have just been told off! |
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| Margaux on look out | Margaux remembering she's not so keen on swimming! |
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| Litter brothers Wilbury and Jack eyeing up their birthday cake | Jack & Wilbury - double the trouble! |
23rd October - I don't know where time goes but today was the last show that the pups were eligible for the puppy classes as they are 12months old at the end of October. It only seems 5minutes since they were making their show debuts back in the spring. Charlie was again Best Dog Puppy with Lizzie winning the puppy bitch class and sister Peaches taking the second spot. Lizzie finished up best Puppy in Breed ( her 6th such award) and I was amazed there was £20 prize money - what a bonus! Scarlet didn't let the side down- she won her Post Graduate class and from now on will have to be entered in Limit.
22nd October - really sad news today as I heard from Nigel that he has had to have Scarlet's sister, Lacie, put to sleep. This has come out of the blue as she only had a litter of puppies 14 weeks ago and hasn't really been ill. She was just unwell for a day or two - off her food and not her usual boisterous self but the vet could feel something in her abdomen and it turned out to be extensive bowel cancer. At only 3 years old you don't expect this and so it makes it all the more difficult to bear. Luckily Nigel and Jane have kept 2 of her puppies so they will always have a little bit of her with them.
21st October - It's been some time now since Havoc had her cruciate ligament repair surgery and at last the vet has given the OK for her to start a course of hydrotherapy. She was a little apprehensive at first but as she is such a strong swimmer and keen retriever she was soon enjoying herself.
15th October. Gundog Society of Wales show - luckily for me not in Wales but at Malvern. Charlie started the day off well by winning both of his classes and then best puppy dog. Sonny was 2nd in a lovely limit class. Lizzy won best puppy bitch and then beat Charlie for the best puppy in breed award and to finish off a lovely day Scarlet was first in her class. At the moment I am house/dog sitting for Jennifer so couldn't wait for the competition for Best Puppy in Show.
11th October - South Wales championship show at Builth Wells. Far too far for me to travel after just coming back from holiay but Yvonne & Stuart made the long journey with Charlie and had a great day winning Best Puppy in Breed.
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| Male lion keeping an eye on us | Decided we were no threat - just like a big pussy cat really! |
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| Lioness relaxing in the sun | Off on the hunt |
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| Leopard with his breakfast - freshy killed warthog | Cheetah on look out |
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| White rhino -unfortunately didn't see a black rhino | The ever elegant giraffe |
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| Elephant browsing | Wait for me Mum! |
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| The beautiful marked zebra | Female kudu |
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| Saddlebilled Stork | Malachite Sunbird on Proteas | Orange winged Starling |
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| Ostrich | Yes it is a penguin - there are colonies that live near Cape Town |
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| Not ready for a show but still looking good | Talking dogs - as usual! |
September 12th - Off to South Africa today for a 3 week holiday starting in the national parks and finishing in Cape Town. No dog shows for me but Charlie won Best Puppy in Breed at Darlington, this time with Nicola handling - well done! Brendan made the long trip from Ireland with Robin to win the junior class - what a shame I wasn't there to watch as I haven't seen him since he was 9 weeks old. Hopefully he will come over for Crufts next year. Also a Best Puppy in Show for Charlie at English Setter Society of Wales.
September 7th - Long drive to Richmond show. Highlight today was Peaches winning the puppy bitch class beating litter sisters Lizzy and Star into 2nd and 3rd places. Sonny and Scarlet were both 5th in their classes.
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| Tosh at 10mths | Tosh - beautiful head and expression |
30th August - A visit today from George, one of Whisper's brothers. Haven't seen him since he was 8 weeks old and he has certainly grown into a fine young dog. One of the reasons for the visit was for a trim - his first real haircut and boy, does he have a full coat! Still, he was unbelievably good on the grooming table and looked very smart when finished.
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| George even let me "stand" him | George - 12 months old | George and Whisper |
28th August - sad news today as we heard that Lennox ( W. Free as a Bird ) has died. Over the last 12 months or so quite a few oldies have gone - Jester ( W. Fool's Gold), Lewi( W. Waterloo to Ingella), Finn( W.Huckleberry at Steeplow), Danny(Sh.Ch. W. Witchdoctor) and GSP Harry ( W. Zeus of Anlory) Doesn't seem 5 minutes since they were puppies. Special thanks to all concerned for looking after them so well.
24/27th August - More new experiences for Lizzy and also Whisper as this is their first trip to the coast. Along with Scarlet and Amber they all had a great time running on the beach and then the delights of rabbit hunting in the dunes.
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| Whisper pointing rabbits | Lizzy puzzled - where have all the rabbits have gone! |
23rd August - A few days break in Northumberland and the chance to easily get up to Edinburgh for the Scottish Kennel Club's championship show. We couldn't quite match Robin's Best of Breed awards in Ireland but Scarlet and Lizzy both won their classes; Scarlet was then awarded the reserve CC and Lizzy went on to win Best English Setter Puppy so a succesful show for us. Quite an interesting day up at the Royal Highland Showground as the dog show coincided with the Edinburgh Pipe Band Championships. This was a very noisy affair with 20 or more pipe bands all practising and then parading for judging along side the classes for the Scottish Dancing and the well known Highland Games such as tossing the caber. Lizzy seemed a little overawed at first seeing groups of of men in "skirts" blowing into "bags" and making such a noise but she liked the look of the girls dancing and had to be held on a very short lead to stop her joining in!. Luckily she wasn't close enough to get a good look at the caber tossing.
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19th to 23rd August - dates of the 4 shows that make up the " Munster Circuit" in Southern Ireland. A very succesful few days for Robin winning all of his classes and also another 2 Green Stars and Best of Breed awards. These wins bring his total to 8 Green Stars - sufficient to become an Irish Champion but under FCI rules he has to be 15mths old before he can claim that title so he has some time to wait. Still, with his Junior wins he is now officially Junior Champion Wansleydale Woodpecker at Berrywood so not bad going for a 9 month old puppy!
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| Robin at Sligo Show - 9 months old |
18th August - trip over to Nigel & Jane's to see Lacie's 7 week old puppies sired by Luke. They are lovely chunky puppies , and as Lacie is Scarlet's sister this is almost the same mating that produced Lizzy and her littermates - hopefully these pups will be as succesful when they hit the show ring.
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17th August - no shows for me this weekend but Charlie kept the Wansleydale flag flying at the Welsh Kennel Club show by winning Best Puppy Dog.
2nd August - the start of a busy weekend of shows. Up at 4.30am this morning for a 6.00am rendevous with Stuart , Yvonne and their dog Charlie for the long drive to Paignton show. Luckily we managed to miss most of the holiday traffic that was travelling down to Devon and Cornwall and arrived in plenty of time - journey home was a different matter and it seemed to take for ever. Still a good day with red cards for Charlie, Scarlet and Lizzy - even better when Lizzy went on to win Best Puppy in Breed. A third in the puppy class for sister Star and a 4th in Limit for Barbara with Sonny 3rd August - not quite as far to travel today but still far enough after the tedious journey home yesterday. This time the venue was Malvern for the National Gundog Association championship show. Whisper was with me today - can't believe she is almost 12months old and this was her last puppy class. She hasn't been to may shows but always does well - today was no exception and she ended her puppy career on a high with another Best Puppy in Breed award. Another 1st prize for Charlie and also keeping in the cards was " cousin" Star with a 4th and Sonny with a VHC.
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| Lizzy winning Best Puppy at Paignton | Whisper winning Best Puppy at National Gundog Association |
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| Lizzy | Star | Peaches |
16th July - Took Luke today for his BAER hearing test - as I have had a few more enquiries about using him at stud I thought it best to get him tested and have official confirmation that his hearing is perfect. In the past when I have had adults tested they have been very restless and have had to be sedated. Luke however was unbelievably good and just sat still the whole of time - think it may have had something to do with the vet nurse bribing him with treats! Then on to my usual vet to have Havoc's stitches removed. She had to have a cruciate ligament repair 10 days ago - quite a big operation for an 11year old. She is recovering well but it is a lengthy process of rehabilitation - several weeks of cage rest and then hydrotherapy. Still a long way to go before she is back out galloping in the woods with the rest of the gang.
6th July - English Setter Association's open show . A new venue for this year's show - very close to J7 on the M5 and easy to find. A good sized venue and we had lovely weather so all judging was outside in the large grass ring. Star of the day today was Sonny who won his class and then took the Best Dog award- well done Barbara.
Litter sisters Lizzy and Peaches ( Wansleydale Faerie Queene at Bramstorm ) battled it out in Minor Puppy with Lizzy stealing the class today. Scarlet also came home with ared card so all in all a good day out.
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| Sonny and Barbara | Scarlet |
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| Lizzy | Stella with Peaches |
5th July - Another great day for Robin at the Bray & Dist. Championship show in Southern Ireland. Again he won Best of Breed, the Green Star ( his 3rd!) and this time he was also shortlisted in the group! Congratulations to the Carty family.
4th July - East of England championship show and a rare outing for Lottie as well as Scarlet and Lizzy. English Setters are second in the ring at this show and as judging of the GSPs started at 9.00am there was, for once, no chance of the classes clashing. An excellent start to the day - Lottie won the Limit class and then went on to be awarded the reserve CC. Later in the day the setters also did well- Scarlet gaining 2nd place in her class and Lizzy winning both of her classes and then being declared best Puppy in Breed.
9th June - the start of the long journey to Australia to visit old friends and family. First stop was Brisbane to stay with Sandra and Alan Farmer who showed the Bellesett setters for many years here in the UK before emigrating a few years ago. Although it is winter in Australia the weather was still good - reasonably warm in the day but getting quite cold at night. The lovely clear skies enabled stunning sunsets.
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| Fabulous sunset photgraphed from Sandra's garden in Noosa | Couldn't resist adding this photo of Sandra and Alan at the macadamia nut factory! |
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| A trip into the Australian Everglades - mesmerising water reflections | Patient at the "koala hospital"- almost ready now for releasing back into the wild. |
Saw lots of humpback whales on their migration north to their breeding grounds
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| Yvonne with Charlie | Barbara with Jack |
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| Sonny in lovely coat | Scarlet in lovely condition but still short of coat |
24/25th May - a really busy weekend with shows on Saturday and Sunday. Sunday - After the rain yesterday it was so nice to have better weather - in fact it was pleasant enough for judging to be outside in the large grass ring at the Midland English Setter Society show at Baginton , near Coventry. Today it was Whisper's turn and she had a great day finishing up as reserve best bitch and, the icing on the cake - Best Puppy in Show!
The Best in Show line-up for MESS 2014
Charlie also had a good day especially as he won the "Jill Christie Memorial Junior stakes" and the £10 first prize money!Charlie's sister Wansleydale Faerie Queen at Bramstorm ( Peaches) made her show debut today and was second in the minor puppy class for owner Stella (unfortunately no photo) Another first show for both owner and puppy - Whisper's sister Ascot Angel ( Darcy) had a lovely day and went home with several place cards including a red 1st prize.
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| Charlie | The beautifully presented Darcy | The terrible two! |
Wansleydale Queen Bee at Bath (6.5 mths)
Many thanks Brenda for this lovely photo - because of the weather conditions both the day before the show and the day after we never got a chance at home to get a photo of her all bathed and trimmed for her first show.18th May - heard today from Holland that Dutch Champion Vanquish Gentle Rose has had her puppies ( sired by Luke). Rose had 8 pups but sadly lost 2 at birth but hopefully the other 6 will continue to thrive.
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| A contented Rose with her new born pups | All 6 together |
10th May - Birmingham Championship show at Stafford. A good day for the new pups - Charlie ( W. King's Magic) was second in his minor puppy dog class, looking a real baby against the much more mature class winner. His litter sister, Star ( Wansleydale Star Queen of Glenmaurangi) started her show career with a third in minor puppy bitch and Whisper, in the same class, was second.
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| Whisper | Star |
4th May - Northern English Setter Society's open show at Warrington. A disappointingly low entry but still some quality dogs entered. We had another good day with Whisper - she won her 3 breed classes and finished up Reserve Best Puppy in Show. Travelling with her today was Yvonne & Nicola's Wansleydale King's Magic. Charlie (from Luke & Scarlet's litter) is just a few days over 6mths and this was his first show. Unfortunately he was the only one in his class but he showed and moved really well and certainly caught the attention of many people there.
Wansleydale King's Magic - Charlie at 6mths
Across in Ireland, following on from his wins in the "baby puppy" classes, Robin - Wansleydale Woodpecker at Berrywood ( from Amber and Pudsey's litter) was continuing to make a name for himself. Yesterday he won Best Puppy Dog in Breed at the Fermoy Int Ch Show, and today at the English Setter Club of Ireland Ch Show he not only won Best Puppy in Show, but took Green Star Dog and Best in Show. Not bad for 6months old!
Robin relaxing with his dad at the Show
And down in the South West, Jack ( W.Frosty Jack at Jolymore) was making his show debut - no breed classes at his show today but he was 3rd in the Any Variety Gundog puppy class , only being beaten by a Viszla and an Irish Water Spaniel who were both almost 12months old.
Wansleydale Frosty Jack at Jolymore - Jack at just 6months old
3rd May - Trim and bath today for Whisper before tomorrow's show - she is growing some coat now and her tricolour markings look really beautiful in the sunshine.
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Dutch Champion Vanquish Gentle Rose
6th April - Another pup off to their first show today . This time it's our 7 month old Whisper who is making her show debut. A long journey for her - all the way to Wales with her grandfather Flint to keep her company. She hasn't been the best of travellers but today she was fine and arrived clean and dry and raring to go! She behaved so well, and obviously caught the judge's eye as she won all 3 classes entered and then finished off in style by winning Best Puppy in Show. What a start to her show career!
Only 2 in the Veteran class and today Flint was second to the dog that ended up Reserve Best in Show so no disgrace there!
Such a baby - what long legs!
9th March - Crufts! After rushing around the NEC last year trying to show the 2 breeds I decided just to stick with the English Setters this year. As Amber & Scarlet had puppies only a few months ago I knew they wouldn't be in coat to compete here and I wasn't sure with being away on holiday immediately before the show that Luke would be in tip top condition so I made the decision to only enter the old boy, Flint, in the veteran class. Well, he continued his winning streak from 2013, won his class and then went on to win reserve best dog. He really enjoyed his day out, and at 8years old he continues to look really well and fit, and can still certainly show the younger dogs how to move!
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| Lovely photo - thanks Rebecca | On the move - still with a perfect topline and tailset. |
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24th Feb - back home after a 3week cruise so nice to see all the dogs again. At last the weather is improving and Havoc finds her favourite spot - on the sofa with the sun streaming in through the window and the added bonus of being able to keep an eye on the road to see what's what!
Mid Feb - lovely time on holiday and spent some of the time looking at the local wildlife!
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| Stunning birds in Trinidad | It may look like a huge grey blob but it is actually a full sized stingray! These are not in captivity but wild in the sea around Antigua. As they are fed regularly by the boatmen they have become very friendly so long as you have a piece of raw squid in your hand! |
2nd Feb - A trip to Stoneleigh to judge English Setter bitches at Midland English Setter Society's championship show today; a super entry of over 70 bitches. This is always one of my favourite shows - one of the first of the year and with a lovely, friendly relaxed atmosphere. Some lovely setters here today and I had some difficult choices to make but a very enjoyable day and and I was very pleased with my final line up.
l-r: Best Dog, Best Bitch, Best Veteran & Best Puppy After a long day of judging it was off home to finish the packing ready for a 3.30am start on our trip to the Caribbean.
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