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December 2015:

6th December - final show date in 2015 for me as an exhibitor. Venue today was the Elsecar Heritage Centre near Sheffield. This is a great place to visit as it has working steam trains running on a couple of miles of tracks and at this time of the year it is all decorated up for Christmas. Apart from the exhibition hall we use for the dog show the other old buildings house an array of craft type shops and quite a big antiques centre.

We finished the year in style - all coming home with red cards!

However our star today was Whisper who not only won her class but also the reserve bitch CC - her 4th such award from the 7 shows she has attended since this summer.


Arras after winning Junior Dog class	Charlie - 1st in Graduate Dog for Yvonne

Lizzy wins Graduate bitch class	Whisper winning Mid Limit Bitch class

Throughout the year I try to remember to acknowledge photographers but sometimes forget! So, many thanks to the breed clubs for the use of their photos and to Jill and Tereza for most of the other shows in 2015.

5th December - the start of a busy weekend.

A full day's judging for me today at the Coventry & District Gundog Society's show starting with the Pointer classes, followed by the Gundog variety classes and finally Best in Show.

A really enjoyable show with some lovely dogs for me to evaluate and every one appearing to enjoy their day out.

I was pleased to award Best in Show to a lovely Vizsla who is still only a puppy and I am sure that all of my major winners will go onto have very succesful show careers. I was particularly taken with many of the puppy winners and it was very hard to separate them in the Puppy Group competition.


Vizsla, BIS (automatically BPIS) & GSP, Reserve BPIS	Best Pointer puppy, 3rd in Puppy Group (photo C.O'Neill)

November 2015:

29th November - relatively close to home this weekend, Midland English Setter Society open show at Baginton near Coventry.

Only Arras to show today, but what a day - he won his 3 classes and was then awarded Best in Show!


Arras after winning his classes	Anlory Arras - Best in Show MESS Open Show, 2015

22nd November - the other end of the country this weekend as I head off to Swindon to judge at the Southern English Setter Society's breed championship show.
A very enjoyable day and some lovely dogs to assess - sure my co judge, Chris Sayers, will agree with me on that. We just both hope the exhibitors feel the same!


Best Bitch (BIS) & Best Dog	Best Puppy and Best Veteran

13th November - long drive up to Northumberland for a few days by the sea and a trip up to Edinburgh for the Gundog Breeds Association of Scotland's championship show. Just Lizzie and Whisper with me this time - the rest stayed at home, looked after by David!

A lovely day at the show made even better by the suprise arrival of wine and nibbles to celebrate my birthday. Thanks to Maggie & Frank for organising this along with David. As it turned out we had more than my birthday to celebrate as Whisper won the reserve CC, her 3rd such award to date. Maggie & Frank's bitch won the post graduate class with Lizzie coming 2nd and Star in third place.

7th November - Another trip to Stafford showground, this time for the Setter & Pointer championship show.

First prize today for Charlie in Graduate dog; Bella won her minor puppy bitch class and the best Puppy Bitch award; Whisper was 1st in Graduate and Star came 3rd in the Post Graduate class. So, all in all a good day!


Yvonne with Charlie	Whisper

Wansleydale Bellini ( Bella)	Tereza handling Star for Angela and Kerry

October 2015:

24th October - clock change tonight heralding the arrival of winter. Another sure sign that the temperature is changing is Mango - he has taken up his winter residence on top of the central heating boiler!

Mango can always find the warmest places to snooze!

23rd October - Midland Counties championship show at Stafford.

Show debut today for Amber's pup - Wansleydale Bellini. It didn't work out for Bella when she went off to her new home as a puppy and she was returned to us about 7 weeks ago. She has settled in very well with the bitch pup we kept from the litter - Wansleydale Margarita (Margo) . It has turned out that Bella is more mature than Margo and so ready for the showring earlier than her sister. Not sure yet which of these 2 girls will be staying with us.


Bella	Margo at 6 months, still very immature	Margo

Bath time yesterday was a very wet affair - I think I finished up wetter than Bella but she did look very nice when finally dried.

She behaved really well at the show and although a little overawed to start with she put in a good performance for her first show outing winning her class and also the Best Puppy bitch award.


Bella in the ring at Midland Counties	Bella winning her class

Lizzy also won her class and litter sister Peaches, on a rare show outing was third for owner Stella.

21st/22nd October - the pups are off to their new homes - good luck to the new owners. Just the orange bitch still here with me, at least for the time being. We have called her Alice and she is enjoying being the only one and getting all the attention.

14th October - Gundog Society of Wales championship show at Malvern. A good day with Whisper winning her class and also the reserve CC. Lottie was 5th in a strong GSP limit class and Star won the Special Yearling English Setter class.
Sadly another show with no photos!

12th October - time to start assessing the pups. They are a lovely even litter so it is going to be a hard job.


Orange bitch puppy	Tri bitch puppy	Blue dog puppy

And the 3 orange boys

6th October - back to earth with a bang! Home from holiday and time to collect the dogs including Scarlet and her pups who are now 6 weeks old. They have been staying with Ingrid (Ingella English Setters) and she has had all the hard work of weaning them. Many thanks Ingrid for doing a grand job.

Scarlet's litter at 6 weeks old

September 2015:

15th September - dogs all settled with dogsitters and David & I head off to Heathrow to start our holiday to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

A really fabulous trip touring around Sri Lanka with visits to temples, national parks and tea plantations.


Indian Elephants in Udawalawe National Park	Peacocks are a fairly common wild bird in Sri Lanka - what a display

After a few days looking for birds and wildlife in the National Park we travelled to the hill country, 2 kilometre above sea level, visiting tea plantations. Had to have a go at tea picking - it is back breaking work as the collecting bag, which is supported by a band around your head soon becomes very heavy. Most of these teapickers, all were ladies, had been doing this work for many, many years. Don't know how they manage it!

My attempt at picking the tea leaves

After Sri Lanka it was off to the Maldives with the final part of the journey to our island by seaplane. Very exciting!

Aerial view of our island - Dhuni Kolhu in the Baa atoll


The tiny seaplanes buzz between the islands like bees	The lovely view from our Maldives beach chalet

Lots of time for swimming, sunbathing and snorkelling over the coral reef. I even managed to do some scuba diving but no doubt the highlight of this holiday was the boat trips out to sea to look for manta rays. We were so lucky as on Dhuni Kolhu island there is a resident marine biologist who is researching manta rays - she knew where they were likely to be and we were able to go with her. Every manta ray is identifiable as they each have individual markings on their underside - all are named by the researchers.

Many thanks to Chiara (marine biologist) for this photo of "Manola", a male manta ray she photographed on our trip.
Manola had a " wing span" of approx 3.5 metres and this the third time he had been spotted in the last 18months.

13th September - Richmond championship show. I only had GSP Lottie entered today and she failed to catch the judge's eye. However across in the English Setter ring Yvonne & Nicola's Charlie (Wanlseydale King's Magic) not only won his class but also the reserve dog CC, his first big award.

Tereza who normally shows litter sister Star had previously agreed to show someone else's bitch today and so I handled Star for owners Angela & Kerry.
First time I have handled this young lady but she behaved really well for me and we also won our class and then the reserve bitch CC, her second such award.
So nice that the litter mates both finished the day with such prestigious wins.

Star, far right in the bitch challenge at Richmond

We are so pleased to say that now 4 of Luke's offspring are reserve CC winners. Let's hope next year they can all go one better and win the Challenge certificates!

6th September - City of Birmingham championship show at Stonleigh Park. Lizzy was our main winner today - 1st in Graduate class and then awarded her first reserve CC. Arras was second in his class - he is still looking very immature as he has not regrown his coat yet and Star was second in Post Graduate.

Unfortunately no photos!

August 2015:

31st August - Scarlet has had her puppies, 2 bitches and 4 dogs. Pleased to say all went well with the whelping and although we have had a few problems over the last week Mum and all 6 babies are doing well.

27th August - Sad news today from Stella to let me know that Dora ( Wansleydale Sondbird at Bramstorm) who had just turned 13yrs old was pts. Dora had a very sucessful show career in her younger days - in fact I think she must be one of the unluckiest setters around. She was a consistent winner under all types of judge and won 1CC & 12 reserve CCs but never acheived her Show Champion title - such a shame as she surely deserved it.

19th August - Isn't this just a great photo!

These are Redhara puppies bred by Rebecca Goutorbe - many thanks Rebecca for letting me use this photo.

The pups have almost the same pedigree as our Whisper. Like Whisper they are also sired by Luke and their mum is Redhara Crystal Cracker - Crystal is litter sister to Whisper's mum so these 3 will hopefully turn out just as lovely. They certainly look gorgeous!

18th August - it's always lovely to get photos of our puppies settling in to their new homes but extra special when the pup in question has gone to live abroad.

Amber's pup, Skye, made the long journey to Belgium just a few weeks ago but seems to have already got her new owners sorted out! Looks to me like she is one pampered puppy!


Skye and new owner, Jo	Settled for the night	Helping in the garden

8th August - well, if last weekend was busy this weekend was even more hectic!

Bournemouth championship show and with no one locally travelling down to give me a lift and no one to look after the dogs as David was still away in Brazil it looked likely I would have to give it a miss. However thanks to Jennifer who came and "dogsat" for me and Barbara who kindly let me stay with her & Graham, and did the 2 hour drive from their house in Clevedon to the showground near Poole and back, it all worked out brilliantly.

Lottie won her limit class and then was awarded the bitch CC - her first. How pleased was I that I had managed to get here!


Lottie winning her class	CC coming our way!	Resting in the sun

Later in the day Barbara was showing her youngster, Jason, who is litter brother to Arras and China ( Anlory Binche). He not only won his class and the Best Dog award but then went on to win Best of Breed! There may not have been Challenge Certificates on offer at this show but there was still a nice entry of English Setters with some good dogs there today, including Star, so quite an acheivement for this 14 month old boy.

A long wait in the very hot sunshine before the Gundog Group was judged. Jason put on a very good performance but, as expected, an immature setter is unlikely to catch the Group judge's eye at this level of competition but it was still a great end to the day for Barbara.


Jason in the ring	Barbara & Jason on the move	Star at Bournemouth

Robin is now back home in Southern Ireland and succesful today at the Coleraine show.

1st/2nd August - A busy weekend in the show calender - 2 championship shows this weekend and so I opted for the one closest to me, National Gundog held at Malvern on Sunday.

Barbara with Sonny and Angela/Tereza with Star flew the " Wansleydale flag" for us at the Saturday show at Paignton with both winning their classes.

Star on the move at Paignton - thanks to Laura Kolbach for the use of the photo

Sunday at National Gundog was such a busy day for me as I landed up showing 5 dogs!

First in the ring was Arras who won the Junior dog class followed by Sonny who was second in a strong Limit class.


Arras	Sonny


Sonny in the Limit class	Sonny showing his paces!

Next for me to show was Lizzy who won first in Special Yearling bitch and then it was a mad dash to the German Shorthaired Pointer ring where Lottie, on one of her rare show appearances, won a very good Limit class. By this time Whisper's class had already started so I tagged on at the end and was thrilled that she came first in the Graduate class.


Lizzy - 1st Special Yearling	Star - 2nd Special Yearling	Whisper - 1st Graduate

Also at the show today, over from Southern Ireland, was Brendan & Olive Carty with their youngster, Robin ( Irish Champion Wansleydale Woodpecker at Berrywood) It was so nice to meet up - I haven't seen Robin since he left me at 8 weeks old. Disappointed that I was so busy I hardly had chance to spend any time with them but I hope they enjoyed their trip.
Robin and Charlie were both in the Special Yearling class but unfortunately today they were not as succcesful as they usually are. That's dog showing!

Brendan with Robin and Yvonne with Charlie

Spoilt for choice which photos to use from this weekend - thanks to Tereza and Ingrid and also stepdaughter Rachel who came along with grandchildren Jess and Tilly.


Rachel, Jess, Me and Arras - as usual Tilly was off doing her own thing!	Logan - 2nd in veteran. Not the best quality photo but still looking good at 9 years old!

Special congratualtions must got to Sylvia Cole and Fran Grimsdell who both won their all important 3rd CCs and Show Champion titles this weekend. Sylvia with Yoda at Paignton and Fran with Frankel at National Gundog. Both Yoda & Frankel are sired by our Sh Ch Wansleydale Royal Flush - this brings Flint's total of champion offspring to 5.


Yoda- Sh Ch Sorbus Jedi Master	Frankel - Sh Ch Tattersett Frankel

July 2015:

28th July - seems a long time ago that Amber had her litter but today the last puppy leaves for her new home. "Skye" is going to live in Belgium so has had to stay here with mum Amber and sister Margo until her petpassport/ rabies jabs etc are all completed. New owners Jo & Ilse made the long journey to collect her and I am so pleased to hear that she is now safely back with them.

I was mindful that Skye needed to have lots of socialisation before she made this journey so for the past few weeks David and I have been taking her out and about on her own to ensure she was confident and outgoing.

This included taking her to cockerpoo Melvyn's 1st birthday party ( they even had a party organiser!) and a fundog show at the local riding club!


David and Skye relaxing at Melvyn's party	Skye meeting a bulldog pup at the show

25th July - A girls day out as Jennifer and Ingrid joined me for the trip to Leeds Championship show at Harewood House.

Well, today saw another young bitch winning her first reserve CC. This time it's our Wetherby Whisper to Wansleydale JW!

Whisper in her class at Leeds - thanks to Ingrid for the photo

11th July - East of England show, a lovely show that is held in conjunction with the "Just Dogs Live" event so lots of canine activities to watch such as obedience and agility as well as many more trade stands to spend your money at!

Now over 12mths old this was first time for Arras in the Junior class and although he was the youngest he put in an excellent performance to take first prize.

Arras at 12mths old

Star of the day today though was "Star" ( Wansleydale Star Queen of Glenmaurangi) who won the Yearling class ( beating Lizzie into 2nd place) and then went on to win her first reserve CC. I am so pleased for owners Angela and Kerry ( and of course Tereza who handles her so beautifully). To see others win with a pup that I have bred and sold to them as a promising show prospect is so satisfying. Lets hope her first " big green card" is soon coming!

Star, handled by Tereza at East of England after winning the reserve CC

4th July - Windsor Championship show - I am not entered at this one but litter mates Charlie and Star won their respective Special Yearling classes so got the month off to a good start!

June 2015:

27th June - a trip to Blackpool show with Nigel. I am only showing Arras today as my bitches are in season so cannot compete. This is the last show for Arras as a puppy as he is now 12mths and nice that he came home with a first place card. He was beaten for the Best Puppy in Breed award by his sister China ( Anlory Binche) - well done Nigel!

Well - I don't know where all the time has gone! It has been hectic here with the pups going off to their new homes and 5 of my bitches coming into season one after the other. Since being used at stud, Luke gets quite worked up when the bitches are in season and so to save the neighbours having to listen to him howl he was sent to stay with friends Trev and Cath who live at Bolsover. He settled so well that we have decided to leave him with them. Trev and Cath are experienced setter owners - they have adopted 2 of my oldies in the past - Sh Ch Wansleydale Lucky Star and more recently Wansleydale Free as a Bird ( Lennox) who they sadly lost last year. So, Luke is filling the void left by Lennox and enjoying life as an " only one"

He will still be available at stud but as he now lives a 30 minute drive away prior notice is much more important.

No shows for me since MESS open in May, but Barbara and Sonny have had some nice wins at Southern Counties and Three Counties as has Star who is now usually handled by Tereza.

May 2015:

24th May - much closer to home today, Coventry for the Midland English Setter Society open show.

Shame it rained on and off today which meant that some of the judging had to be indoors. Always a lovely show with lots of delicious cakes for sale!

Delighted to say that Lizzy took the top spot today finishing up as Best in Show and, making it an " all girl affair", China won Best Puppy in Show. Whisper was second in her class and Arras won both of his classses.

This is one of the few shows with prize money on offer so that was a real bonus!

Best in Show lineup - Midland English Setter Society May 2015

left to right - Best Veteran; Reserve Best Bitch & RBIS, Lizzy- Best Bitch & Best in Show; Best Dog; Nigel with China- Best Puppy in Show


Lizzy in her class	Arras after winning Puppy Dog, 10 months old

23rd May - Another long journey made worse by bank holiday traffic. Thankfully Nigel was driving. This time to Bath but again it was worth the effort as we all had a succesful day.

Arras and his litter sister Anlory Binche ( China) both won their puppy classes but today Best Puppy in Breed went to their half brother Richecca Breaking Dawn over Bushbane (Clancy) - in fact all 4 puppy classes were won by Luke's offspring as Minor Puppy bitch was won by Breaking Dawn's litter sister, Richeca Midnight Melody.


Arras and Clancy challenging for Best Puppy Dog award	Charlie winning his class ( Wansleydale King's Magic JW)

In the later classes Charlie won Graduate Dog with his litter sister Star (W.Star Queen of Glenmaurangi handled beautifully by Tereza) winning the Graduate Bitch class.

Barbara had a good time with her 3 exhibits - puppy Jason ( Anlory Burano via Jolymore ) was second in the puppy class, Sonny was 5th in Limit and Logan was 2nd in the Veteran Class.

To finish off the day Scarlet was second in her class.


Scarlet in the ring at Bath - shame about the tent pole!	This show biz gets very tiring!

22nd May - pups are 7 weeks old now and looking really cute! Photos of 3 of them below curtesy of Ingrid.

15th May - back to Scotland via our holiday home in Northumberland for the Scottish Kennel Club championship show at Edinburgh. Joining me for this trip was Chris Jennings ( Canteris English Setters) and her bitch Wispa. It was a lucky day for us as we both won our classes and then went on to win the top awards - Chris winning the bitch CC and Scarlet gaining the reserve CC. For once Lottie actually made it into the showring - not with me handling because yet agin the English Setter and German Shorthaired Pointer classes clashed. Today Heather Rose kindly showed her for me and came back with a credible 3rd place in her limit class.

10th May - Our lastest Show Champion (subject to KC confirmation)

Sh Ch Wansleydale Scarlet Ribbon JW photo - "Photocall"

10th May - Birmingham National show at Stafford and a great day for us as Scarlet won that all important 3rd CC to become our 25th champion.

Our other top winner today was Scarlet's nephew, 10 month old Arras - first in his classes, Best Puppy in Breed and then went on to win the Gundog Puppy Group 2 award in the big ring.


Scarlet	Arras

Whisper was second in yearling bitch with Star (Wansleydale Star Queen of Glenmaurangi) coming 4th.


Whisper	Star

Thanks, as usual, to Tereza & Jill for the photos

Back in April 2012 I was judging at Windsor Gundog's Society premier show. It was a very cold , wet day - judging was outside so it certainly wasn't an ideal start for puppies to begin their show careers. My best Pointer puppy that day was a beautiful young bitch, Sharnphilly Juici Culture, but when it came to the BPIS award she was so wet and cold that she wouldn't stop shivering and just didn't want to show. This cost her the top spot - I gave the award to a precocious English Springer Spaniel dog puppy, Peasblossom Jester, who seemed oblivious to the weather.
It was so lovely today to see these 2, mature now at 3 years old, competing in the Gundog group after winning BOB in their respective breeds. Both are now champions and today it was the Pointer who came out top - winner of the Gundog Group (and also Reserve Best in Show ) just beating the ESS who was placed runner up in the Group.

7th May - visit from Ingrid ( Ingella setters) to play with the pups. I think we tired them out too much as by the time we were ready to take photos they were all falling asleep. Today Mango decided to join in and help ( or hinder) the photo efforts!


4 orange bitch puppies - and Mango!	Mango in the way as usual


Orange dog and tri & orange bitches	Tried to take photo of dog pup on kitchen worktop but he just fell asleep!

3rd May - pups are 4.5 weeks old now and really finding their feet.


Deep in thought!	Getting tired	Mango keeping his distance


Settling down in the Pointers bed	All asleep

April 2015:

26th April - long journey to Dumfries for the English Setter Society of Scotland's championship show. Thankfully Nigel was driving!
We had a great day making it all worth while - Arras winning 2 second places, litter sister China winning the puppy bitch class, Whisper 2nd in Yearling but taking the limelight today was Scarlet who won her 2nd CC and the Best in Show award.

I thought we had travelled a long way to the show but the Best Puppy in Show winner was the McKiernan's Richecca Breaking Dawn for Bushbane who had come all the way from N.Ireland. This puppy is a son of Luke's and is the 3rd of his offspring to win the prestigious Best Puppy in Show award at a breed championship show in 2015. Anlory Binche (China) at MESS, Anlory Arras at ESA and now Clancy at ESSS.

thanks to ESSS for the use of their club photos

Meantime down in Malvern at the WELKS show Scarlet's daughter, Phillips & Bryant's Wansleydale Star Queen of Glenmaurangi, was taking centre stage. Star won Best of Breed from the junior class - well done, we hope to see more of her at the shows now she is in coat.

thanks to Jill & Tereza for the photos

25th April - bath time for Scarlet and Whisper in preparation for the show tomorrow.


Wansleydale Scarlet Ribbon JW	Wetherby Whisper to Wansleydale JW

24th April - pups are now 3 weeks old and starting to explore. Today they were " inspected " by the GSPs, Lottie and Karla.


Playtime - at this age it only lasts a few minutes	Aunties Lottie & Karla meeting the pups for the first time.

19th April - early start for the English Setter Association's championship show at Stoneleigh. Being a committee member means helping with the running of the show as well as exhibiting my dogs so a busy day. Scarlet and Arras with me today - Scarlet came second in Mid Limit and Arras won all 3 of his classes. Yvonne with Charlie and Barbara with Sonny both had 3rd places. Definitively our star today was Arras - after winning his classes he then went on to win the Best Puppy in Show award!

ESA line up - left to right, Best Puppy in Show, Best dog & Best in Show, Best Bitch & reserve BIS, Best Veteran

16th April - very pleased to receive confirmation from the Kennel Club that my nomination for the highest award in their Assured Breeders Scheme - "Accolade of Excellence" has been approved.

2/3rd April - following on so soon after the loss of Havoc more trauma this week as Amber has problems delivering her litter. Eventually a C section was necessary which unfortunately was not straight forward but the outcome, thankfully, was good. She is now proud mum to a litter of 7; 6 bitches and 1 dog and all but 1 look to be orange!

Amber and her pups - don't know where pup number 7 is hiding.

March 2015:

31st March - a very sad day as we had to have Havoc pts. Always a favourite of mine she will be sorely missed - so wished we could have had her for longer.


Sh Ch Barleyarch Ostria at Wansleydale JW	Havoc as a veteran

29th March - English Setter Society of Wales championship show at Welshpool. Today was a day of second places! Scarlet, Whisper, Charlie, Arras and his litter sister, China, all came home with blue prize cards. Highlight today was seeing 3 of Luke's puppies make their show debuts. The Richecca puppies won minor puppy dog and minor puppy bitch and the Pheldor puppy was second in minor puppy bitch - so all 3 qualified for Crufts the first time out. A lovely start to their show careers - Well done!


Kelly's Richecca Midnight Melody	Mortimor's Phlerdor Heart of Gold	Anlory Arras

27th March - A trip out today to Boston to see Luke's latest litter - Tawneymeade puppies. Their breeder, Sheree, has really reared them well and they were chunky, happy pups and into everything! They are off to their new homes over Easter so good luck to them and their new owners.

22nd March - only the 3rd day of spring but we already have sunshine! As usual the GSPs like to make the most of it.


Havoc, Lottie and Karla snoozing	Luke always prefers the shade

15th March - while I was enjoying the West African sunshine Robin was winning his Irish title at the Celtic Winners Show - well done the Carty family!.

Irish Kennel Club rules state that to become a champion at least one of the qualifying Green Stars must be won after the dog has reached the age of 15mths.
Robin had already won more than enough Green Stars but had to wait until now - the first show since he turned 15mths to win that all important one.

So subject to IKC approval, Robin will now be know as Ch Wansleydale Woodpecker at Berrywood, Jun Ch Celtic Junior Winner 2015, Celtic Winner 2015!!!

9th March - Off to The Gambia for a week of sun. Need to get my strength up as in a few weeks time Amber is due to whelp and so that will mean at least a few sleepless nights.

Last year on holiday in South Africa I was sunbathing with warthogs and kudu feeding alongside me - in The Gambia it was monkeys!


My sunbathing companion - a green vervet monkey	The more aloof Red Colobus monkey keeps watch from the poolside gardens.

6th March - Post Crufts get together at Lynne & Bob Sketchley's (Kerrimere English & Irish Setters) A lovely evening and the chance to catch up with Zbigniew Dzionek who was over from Poland. Zbi is the owner of Johny ( Sh Ch Wansleydale Orszak Prince) and breeds English and Irish Setters.

Loved these photos of Johny (who is 9 this year) demonstrating what a tolerant nature he has!


		Peace at last - thought they would never go to sleep!

5th March - Crufts. Well what a day! Arras was first in the ring - we knew he would go home with a red card as at 7 months old he was the only entrant in Minor Puppy Dog! So pleased that the noise and atmosphere did not unsettle him and he showed really well. Next up was Yvonne with Charlie who won the Junior dog class.

As usual - many thanks to Tereza & Jill for the photos.


Arras - don't know why this photo is B/W, looks like the 1970s!	Charlie

Then a longish wait until bitch judging started; at least it gave us time for lunch and the opportunity to chat to the many visitors who were interested in the dogs.

Lizzy's turn next - her and sister Star ( W.Star Queen at Glenmaurangi) were in the Junior bitch class. The atmosphere did get to Lizzy and she was a real fidget but she behaved well enough to win the class with Star coming 5th. It was so nice to see Star again as she hasn't been shown very often due to her owner's family illness. She looked great today - maturing nicely and in lovely coat.


Lizzy - fidgeting, only 3 feet on the floor!	Star - ready for the ring

Final class for me was Mid Limit with Scarlet - delighted that she won first prize and then, somewhat suprised but certainly thrilled that she went on to win the top bitch award.
Many congratulations to Tereza with Josh (Sh Ch Mariglen Snowdrift at Hayworth) who had earlier in the day won the dog CC, was eventually declared BOB and looked very good as he represented the breed in the Gundog Group later that afternoon.

Crufts 2015 - Dog CC Josh and Bitch CC Scarlet with judge, Mrs Linda Harris

Crufts is starting to look like a lucky show for us as over the last few years Wansleydale dogs, in addition to winning their classes have also taken some of the top awards:
2008, Sh Ch Wansleydale Royal Flush ( Flint) wins the Dog CC
2009, Sh Ch Wansleydale Witchdoctor ( Danny) wins Dog CC and Best of Breed
2010, Sh Ch Wansleydale Rowanberry of Valset (owned by Joe & Val Watkins) wins Reserve Dog CC
2012, Sh Ch Moorbrook Golden Girl of Wansleydale (Amber) wins Bitch CC
2014, Sh Ch Wansleydale Royal Flush ( Flint) wins Reserve Dog CC
2015, Wansleydale Scarlet Ribbon ( Scarlet) wins Bitch CC

Long may it continue!!

February 2015:

15th Feb - Today was Charlie's day. He won his junior class, Best of Breed and also Gundog Group 3 at Matlock open show giving him the final point for his Junior Warrant award. Many congratulations to Yvonne, Stuart & Nicola and of course Wansleydale King's Magic JW!


Charlie at 8 weeks	Charlie - winning his first 1st prize at just 6 mths	Charlie at 15mths

6th Feb - good news today from Sheree, Tawnymeade English Setters, that her bitch Elkie who was mated to Luke last December has had her puppies. She had 9 but sadly one died at birth so she has a lovely litter of 8 - 2 bitches and 6 dogs. The pups were all a good size and all are doing well.

Contact details for Sheree can be found on "Studs & Puppies page" - there may be one or two dog puppies from this litter available.

3rd Feb - After much deliberation over the last few months I had finally decided to mate Amber to Luke. The blood test results showed that today was the " right day" and I was sure, as Luke is a keen stud dog, we would have no problems. How wrong could I be - they appear to have decided that as they have grown up together they are just "friends" and there was no way that they were going to mate. This necessitated some quick thinking and luckily I was able to rush over to the Mariglen kennel and try their young unproven dog, Mariglen Audi.

Amber certainly appreciated this change of suitor and was only to pleased to accept him. We had a bit of a false start due to over exhuberance and lack of experience on the dog's part but he soon got his act together and looks to have the makings of an enthusiatic and capable stud. Hopefully we will have a nice litter of pups in 9 weeks time.


Amber and Audi	Audi - a very glamorous young dog

2nd Feb - a visit today from Fran and Steve who live quite close to me and have the two 13mth litter brothers, Wilbury & Jack, from Amber's last litter. Always hard work with two - and these are no exception as they egg each other on all the time. Neither are very keen to stand still for grooming and triming so it's not an easy task but we managed it in the end. Think we all felt like we had done a few rounds in the boxing ring with Mike Tyson by the time we had finished! Both boys looked much smarter after a hair cut.

1st Feb - the first breed championship show of the year, Midland English Setter Society held at Stoneleigh. We had a lovely day out with all " team" members (and close relatives!) in the cards.

First in the ring was Arras, now just 7 months old and in the minor puppy dog class along with his litter brother Jason ( Anlory Burano via Jolymore) who is owned by Barbara & Graham. Both pups behaved so well and took 1st and 2nd place earning them both Crufts qualification for 2016.


Arras after winning his class	Jason in the ring at MESS

Yvonne with Charlie were next, winning Junior dog and then the Junior Stakes class. Later in the day Sonny was 3rd in a strong Limit class.


Yvonne with Charlie	Barbara with Sonny


Yvonne with Charlie	Charlie in his class	Sonny - do I have to get up!

Across in the bitch ring Lizzy gained 3rd in Junior with litter sister Peaches ( W. Fairie Queene at Bramstorm) coming 4th but Peaches did go on to win the Maiden class for Stella. Scarlet was again in 2nd place behind the bitch that eventually was awarded Best Bitch in Show.


Lizzy after judging	Stella with Peaches

However, the star of the day, was China ( Anlory Binche) who is owned by Nigel and Jane and is litter sister to Arras. She showed her socks off to not only win her Minor Puppy bitch class, but also the Best Puppy Bitch award and finished the day in style by ending up as Best Puppy in Show. What an achievement! Luke is certainly siring some lovely puppies.


Nigel with China at MESS, BPIS at only 7 months old	China - taken just before the show

Another " Luke" puppy was taking the opportunity of just having a look around at the show. Bred at the Tattersett kennels this 14 week old boy is pictured here having some " show practice" with breeder Fran.


Learning the "show stand"	Looking alert	But soon overtaken by sleep!

19th January - change of scene today, a lovely long walk in Clumber Park. Just as we were ending our walk and gathering the dogs on leads it started to snow.

No - the spaniel isn't mine!. English Setters and German Shorthaired Pointers are quite enough for me. The spaniels actually belong to a lady who had English Setters many years ago ( bred by Jean Woods) - some will remember her, Pam Bedford.

18th January - Manchester championship show - first show of 2015 for me and first ever big show appearance for Arras. He was somewhat overwhelmed by it all finding the hall noisy and very crowded but stood quite well for me during judging although he was a little unsettled on the move.

There were only 4 in his class and he looked the real baby as the other 3 were a couple of months older than him and with more experience, which is a big advantage at this age. We were very pleased when he was awarded 3rd place as this gives him qualification for Crufts later this spring.

Arras (far right) 6 mths old at his first Championship Show - not a good quality photo but still clear enough to show off his lovely shape and balance

Nigel showed his litter sister China - she was much more confident and was placed 4 in a good class of 8 minor puppy bitches. Charlie and Yvonne were next in the ring gaining 2 second places, again beaten by dogs much more mature than him.

Later in the day Lizzy came second in Junior bitch and Scarlet 3rd in Limit so once again we were all " in the cards".

Special congratulations must go to Tattersett Frankel (Bred and owned by Fran & Tony Grimsdell) on winning her first CC today. Frankel is a daughter of our Sh Ch Wansleydale Royal Flush (Flint).

15th January - Introducing the new kid on the block for 2015 - Anlory Arras.


Anlory Arras - almost 6 months	Arras - head study

Arras, bred by Nigel Naylor & Jane Morrison, is a tri dog puppy from Lacie's( Wansleydale Ribbons n' Lace over Anlory ) litter sired by Luke. This litter is very special to Nigel & Jayne as sadly, when the pups were only 16 weeks old, Lacie died suddenly and unexpectedly from cancer.

Nigel and Jayne kept Arras and his litter sister China as their show prospects from the litter - however, as they also have Irish Setter youngsters of the same age they asked me if I would help them out and show Arras if they were not available.

Apart from campaigning Polish Champion Wansleydale Orszak Prince ( Johny) to his UK title a few years ago it has been over 30 years since I have handled a tricolour male in the show ring and so I was more than happy to agree. Imagine my delight when Nigel offered to make me a joint owner!

He is only just 6 months old and a real baby but he has a few shows coming up in the next few months so fingers crossed he does well. He will certainly have some competition as Barbara has the orange litter brother and he already has a first prize from his first show under his belt!

8th January - just heard today from Sheree Parrish (Tawneymeade English Setters) that her bitch, Elkie, who was mated to Luke 4 weeks ago has been scanned and confirmed in whelp - possibly 10 puppies!

4th January - A quiet start to 2015 show wise for me but Barbara & Sonny and Yvonne & Charlie started off well with both gaining Best of Breed awards at their first Open Shows of the year, well done!.

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