13th October 2017

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Busy time for Championship Dog shows.  The first show I have to report is Driffield.  From all reports it was a day of mud, glorious mud.  Dogs and owners were returning coated in the stuff.  There was a notification that one of the car parks had to be closed as it was so muddy.  Judging proceeded as normal with Jill Cross awarding CC for the first time.  Her DCC, BOB, Hound Group 2 was Jeannette and Alan Glaister’s Ch Classicus Cassander JW, Sh CM with the RDCC to Kevin and Michelle Goulden’s Ch Fernlarkl By Design JW.  BCC for her second CC went to Josh Duddell, Barry Mansell and Luke Johston’s Canerikie Catalina, with RBCC to Mary Sanders Parker’s Classicus Britannia JW.  Best Puppy was Mrs E Rooney’s Merenptah Wind.
 
The next show, on the schedule, was South Wales Championship Show.  Judging was Jan Pain. Her DCC, BOB went to Ch Classicus Cassander JW Sh CM owned by the Glaisters with the RDCC to his sire Ch Baghdad Karim Sh CM owned by the Ham, Brockman Chato, Elliot-Ross partnership.  BCC went to Fernlark Schussboomer owned by the Duddlell, Mansell, Johnston partnership with the RBCC to Classicus Britannia JW owned by Mary Sanders Parker.  Best Puppy was Waqiiq V’T Swartshof for Greatplains (IMP NDL) owned by Sue Rabey-Wilkinson.
 
Last Sunday the UK Sighthound Sport Showcase held their first Open Lure Coursing Competition.  It was a murky day with the weather not able to make up it’s mind if it wanted to rain or just be cold.  So it was both, dank and cold,  little did the dogs care.  It reminded me of the days of old when we would be out on the coursing field no matter what the weather conditions would be.  There were 11 Salukis entered, but for varied reasons only 5 ended up on the field. 
 
We were given very specific rules for running our dogs in this competition. I will not go through all the pages but a few items were that dogs had to be run in jackets.  On the coursing field we used either red or white collars, on the lure coursing field it had to be jackets.  This created a problem for the Saluki competitors as the person making the coats was ill and unable to make them.  Buying them online was impossible as the provider was is in the Czech Republic.  In the end we did find a lovely lady that produced four coats very quickly.  Another requirements was muzzles, none of the dogs seemed to mind this.  As Salukis can be quite unpredictable we all crossed our finger that they would run without mishap and be retrieved in a timely fashion.
 
All five competitors ran beautifully and the competition became quite heated in a friendly way.  Who won? Our judges were Masha Shaverneva and Laurence Winter, scoring was calculated on a points system.  The winner was by .5 of a point was Al Zubeyda Lena at Kasaque (IMP) with the runner up Velourias Viva Vivienne.  Diane Layton-Smith’s final comments were who has been keeping this (lure trials) a secret from us.  Hopefully we will see more participants at the next  UK Sighthound Sport Showcase.   A big congratulations and thanks to the organizers Sharon Dalgleish, Sarah Meadham and the committee of the Sporting Whippet Club.
SGHC Championship show will be held on Sunday 22nd October at the Kennel Club Building (West Hall),  Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire CV8 2LZ. Judging dogs is Mrs. Linda Scanlon (USA) and bitches, Mrs. Karen Fisher.  Best in Show judge in Mrs. Elaine Stanmore.
 
Entries for the SGHC Club show are 44 dogs and 45 Bitches.  A reminder that dog judging will commence at 9.30 am with bitches to follow and a 45 minute luncheon break.  Contributions for the silent auction would be appreciated and they need not be Saluki memorabilia.  The Welfare stand will be there, manned by Helena Haywood.  Hot and cold food will be available all day.