The club held a highly successful open show at Alva on the 23rd October 2021. Another great show with good weather for this time of year. We had a fantastic entry of 98 dogs for our judge Stephanie Perkins. The Club and exhibitors were very appreciative of CSJ for sponsoring our event.
The main results were:
Best In Show – Mr B Meissner & Mrs Z Gajda-Meissner – Saorsa Polar Star
RBIS & BOSIS – Mr A, Mrs M and Ms M Brown – Ramsayville Revolver
Best Puppy in Show – Mrs M A Percival – Wynfaul New Years Eve
Best Veteran in Show – Mr P and Mrs T McCrory – SH CH Millroseglen Make my Day with Meadovillabs
The club held a highly successful open show, the first show in Scotland since March 2020, at the Dumyat Centre in Menstrie. The weather was fabulous and it was great to see so many exhibitors. We had a fabulous entry of over 80 dogs for our judge Sadie Holliday. The Club and exhibitors were very appreciative of CSJ sponsoring our event.
The main results were:
Best In Show – Linda McGillivray – Woefdrams American Abbygail with Antonine (IMP NDL)
Hector has finished the year as a Show Champion with the icing on the cake being him gaining his 4th CC at the British Gordon Setter Club Ch. Show and Best Opposite Sex in show .
This weekend he has then gained his 5th CC and gone Reserve Best in Show and Best Opposite Sex at The Gordon Setter Club of Scotland’s Ch Sh and then topping it off by going Best in Show at their Open Show the following day.
A long and tiring weekend but amazing results for this special boy. Still on CP24 and CSJ Salmon oil 😊
The North Wales Sheepdog Nursery Final was held on Saturday, 19th November in Llanfair Caereinion by kind permission of the Bebb family with the standard of running high at the top.
A clock-wise course was set with, IMHO, the cross drive gates set in the perfect position for the handlers to be able to ‘see’ perfectly. Running was on 4 lambs that were ‘split’ before penning and were consistently good throughout the 36 runs although they were not easy. They generally behaved well as long as the dog did not upset them although the odd ones did challenge the dogs at the turn and then would take off down towards the drive. The dogs that had good turns and were ‘smooth’ excelled and this proved to be the case with the top three runs.
The competition really ‘started’ when Aled Owen went to the post with his recent acquisition, Jim 374162 (Sire: Madoc Mot (C Pritchard) 358982 Dam: Glenys (A L Owen) 304490): Drawn at no.6, Jim made a good start – maybe slightly short on his ‘lift’ but quickly had the sheep under control and guided them to put up a classy run with just a loss of 12 points. Based on this performance, this is going to be a very successful and ‘dangerous’ partnership for the future!
Just 3 runs later, one of the hot favourites, Medwyn Evans with one of his two bitches, Eryri Nan 375662 (Sire: Gary (Serge van der Zweep) 308277 Dam: Eryri Dot (A Roberts) 345456) took up the challenge set by Aled’s run and put up an even ‘better’ run dropping just 7pts. Again, Medwyn has had much successful with both his young bitches which have run consistently well in trials this season.
In hot pursuit, running immediate after Medwyn was another ‘hot favourite’, Hefin Jones with his dog, Llanfarian Mirk NL/370217 ( Sire: Mac (Serge van der Zweep) 333520 Dam: Mia (Serge van der Zweep) 330785. This is another really ‘dangerous’ partnership that has gained much success throughout the season and gained a lot of attention so, as ‘expected’, they put up yet another great run on the 4 lambs that looked deceptively ‘good’ as a result of Hefin’s clever handling and Mirk’s ‘method’ of work. So who had won? Medwyn or Hefin? The runs were so close that unsurprisingly, it came down to the difference of just one point.
Huge congratulations go to Hefin who becomes this year’s North Wales Nursery Champion and Captain of the North Wales team of 15 dogs that will go to compete in the All Wales Nursery Final being staged in South Wales next month.
All in all, a really enjoyable day was held by all.
We’re delighted to say that all three winners feed CSJ CP30. Aled Owen also feeds Champ!
I brought a dog who was a lock down puppy, collected at 6 weeks from the breeder and sold to a family that had never had a dog let alone a springer.
Six months down the line she was fat, crazy and not a happy dog.
Six months on, she has started her training and moved onto CSJ food. When she came to us, she didn’t like food she was given human food that wasn’t appropriate.
Look how much she loves CSJ. She follows us to the kitchen and sits there smiling until we feed her. en amazing, our latest edition is another lab who adores it too. I’m so glad we stuck with CSJ.
First trial of the season at Upton Pyne and wow what a trial, plenty of game and the ground was perfect for spaniels, all thanks to Paul Bowyer the keeper for all his hard work getting it ready for our trials.
Thank you to the judges: Nick Davies and David Gregory
I’d planned to continue writing about goal setting and ideas for conducting annual reviews this month. That was until I watched One Man and his Dog on Countryfile recently. I felt moved to write about the incredible people and their dogs at this year’s finals.
Watching dogs work sheep has always fascinated me
I appreciate the hundreds of hours of training and dedication that must go into working a dog at the top level of the sport.
Karen and I went on a trialing taster day many years ago, we enjoyed it. The dogs we had at the time were hilarious. Millie couldn’t see the sheep, she was totally fixated on us, and Deacon my Border Collie, was apparently a natural, not on sheep though, maybe cows, or Buffalo! he was far too strong for sheep – I think the trainer was being polite and meant unruly!
This year’s young handlers put on an amazing show of professionalism and dedication while competing at this high level. Even when things didn’t go to plan, they continued to focus on the objective and worked with their dogs – I was impressed.
And then there was the judge, our very own Ceri
Karen and I were shouting at the TV “Hey, we know Ceri, she’s famous, we know her!”.
For me, this competition demonstrated top human and dog performers working in unknown and testing conditions – including a motley bunch of sheep, and under the pressure of TV and fellow competitors.
After the immediate ‘wow’ I got from watching these dogs and handlers, my brain flicked into sports psychology mode. I started wondering how the competitors prepare for these events, how do they warm-up (all that whistling must play havoc with your lips), do they visualise the outrun, the drive, how they’re going to pen the sheep. And how do they maintain focus when the performers (sheep and dogs) are working so far away. These questions and many others went over in my mind.
Congratulations to this year’s finalists who were all fantastic and a credit to the sport.
This year’s event saw the welcomed return of the Four Nations Challenge competition. Three Spaniels and three Retrievers made up the International teams from Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales. From the outset the warm, dry, still weather conditions was going to cause scenting problems, despite the fact that the event was being held some three months later than usual, it still felt like it was being staged in mid July.
The Welsh running order of Aled Jones with Brynambor Blaze of Barcudwen , Rhys Carpenter with Lynchside Shikra and Nathan Quinn with Whitebeam Warbler made up the Spaniel team, Aled having to substitute Barcudwen Molly for his young dog. The Retriever team was Alan Rees with Fendawood Ecclestone at Delfryd, Andrew Fisher with Kaliture Rooster and Nigel Probert with F.T.Ch. Stauntonvale Buckwheat of Llangynidr.
This year’s event proved to be one of the closest fought international competitions at Scone Palace, Scotland and Ireland battling it out for the top two places respectively with England and Wales in a close battle for third and fourth. Three dogs returned a top score of 114, Drew Allen, Scottish Retriever and Spaniels, Ireland’s Raymond Wilson and Wales’ Rhys Carpenter .
The International competition turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag with Scotland registering a win after their fourth place at the Game Fair, England in third place after their previous win at the Game Fair and Wales and Ireland reversing their positions.
Despite the disappointing result at Scone Palace, the Team has shown its resilience, consistency and development, each team member personally supporting each other. This can only bode well for future competition.
It was fantastic to have Ceri and Phil, of CSJ K9, at the event with us supporting the Welsh team. A huge thank you to you both for your generosity and continued support.
May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a successful up and coming trialing season.
CSJ blog 