Super Southern Flatcoat Show

We've been quiet for a while, but attended our last show outing for the year. On Sunday we went to the Southern Flatcoated Retriever Club Open Show in Whitchurch, Hampshire. Always love this show, as the club colours are always proudly on display, in the form of a beautiful Christmas tree !!

We had such a lovely day, the judge was Hannah Higginbotham (Howlingale) who braved the horrendous Cumbria weather to make it down to Hampshire ! The girls did well, all being in the cards, Cookie was 4th in Junior, Tuva 2nd in Post Graduate, but the star of the day was Jive who was 1st in Veteran Bitch and Best Veteran In Show !!!! So proud of my Bunny Dog !!

Our beautiful rosette and trophy !

The Hip Score is in !!

In August we took Cookie to have her hips x-rayed. We have just had the results and we are thrilled to announce that her score is 3/2 = 5 This is our lowest score ever, so to say we are happy is an understatement !!

In other news, we have attended a couple of shows in the past two months. At the beginning of September we were at Richmond Championship show. This is always a favourite seeing as it's our local show at a mere 20 minutes (compared to the normal 2 and a half hours for a normal show!) In attendance was Jive and Cookie under breed specialist Graham Lambert. Jive was awarded 5th in Veteran bitch, a tough class, as there are some true golden oldies. Then Cookie took to the stage and was awarded 4th in Junior bitch. Always a lovely atmosphere at the show, and good ice cream !

At the weekend we attended South of England Gundog at the South of England Showground. We had two judges, David McCubbin doing dogs, and Alex Webster-Newton proceeding over the bitches. All the girls were entered, which made for an entertaining change over between classes !! The results were ..... Cookie 3rd in Junior Bitch, Tuva 2nd in Post Graduate Bitch, Jive 1st Open Bitch, Reserve Best Bitch and Reserve Best of Breed. Massive well done to all the other winners, we celebrated with an M&S sandwich from the service station on the way home ... we know how to live !!!

Cookie is on a roll !

We have had a good couple of shows recently. Firstly we attended the Flatcoated Retriever Society Open Show in Leicestershire. It was a very damp day, made worse by a tiny hall for the show, such a shame as the grounds outside were beautiful. Good news for next year though as the show will be moving to the Kennel Club building at Stoneleigh, which is a lovely venue with lots of space and good catering !!!!!!! But we had a lovely day despite the weather and venue, the bitch judge was Helen Osborne-Brown, Jive was 5th in Veteran, Tuva 4th in Post Graduate and Cookie was 1st in Puppy Bitch ! So a lovely collection of rosettes !!

Yesterday we attended Southampton Open Show which is held in the Royal Victoria Country park in Netley Abby right next to the beach. Such a lovely venue, so much space and a very relaxed atmosphere. Our judge was all rounder John Taylor (Tannadice) he awarded Cookie 1st in Puppy and Jive 2nd in Open. Cookie then went on to be shortlisted in the Gundog Puppy Group under Lyn Strudwick (Burpham). We had such a lovely day with friends at the show. We took our picnic chairs and table, and had a lovely lunch in the sunshine.

Cookie & Tuva Crufts Qualified !

Well what a good couple of shows for Team Harlistream ! First was the Birmingham National Show under Jan Erik Ek. Cookie and Tuva were in attendance, it was a very windy day, with the ring full of smells and long grass, all making for a recipe of disaster with a head strong Flatcoat puppy ! Cookie certainly enjoyed herself in the ring (I'm not sure I did!). You know your in for a bad time, when even the judge can't stop laughing, and notes "she certainly enjoys life" ... Well miraculously Cookie was placed 2nd in Puppy Bitch (really not sure how we managed that!) and therefore qualified for Crufts 2016. Tuva performed brilliantly in Post Graduate, but no place that day.

Next up was Bath Championship show under Karen Joyce, always a favourite of ours due to the excellent ground and ring size, this year was no different. First up was Cookie, due to last weeks performance we were all very hesitant, however she decided to behave and listen to me (I know !!!!) She was a different puppy, it was glorious sunshine, no wind, and very short grass, maybe all these things helped !?! Anyway she was a star, and was awarded 3rd in Puppy Bitch. Tuva was entered in Post Graduate bitch, predictably the largest class of the day, she was on a mission to run around the ring as fast as she could ! She thoroughly enjoyed herself, and I really struggled to keep up with her ! We were so happy when she was awarded 2nd, and therefore qualified for Crufts 2016 ! This was only her second show of the year after a long break last year to mature, and I am so proud of her !

So understandably we are thrilled that the full team will be at Crufts next year, Cookie, Tuva and of course Jive who is qualified for life ! Now we have a relaxing summer of shows with the girls to look forward to !

2015 Round-Up !

I haven't been very good at updating the blog, so I shall start from the beginning of the year. Not much happened in January Cookie was 6 months at the end of the month, so February saw the start of a few Open Shows. We haven't done many Open shows for such a long time, we'd forgotten how nice it was to be at a show which was within an hour of home ! We really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere around the Open ring, which is a little lacking at the Championship shows. We must hold our hands up the fact that Open entries are dwindling, I myself have only just started entering Opens again as they are excellent practice for Championships shows for puppies. I know this attitude is not helpful, however it has made me realise that Opens are fun ! Something I think you forget when you show so much at Championship shows. I will now make much more of a concerted effort to support my local Opens. Cookie has done well at the Open Shows, having many placings, inlcuding Best Puppy In Breed at Hampshire Gundog Open Show under Stella Oliver.

Proud Cookie and her Best Puppy rosette

March saw CRUFTS, the biggest show in the showing calendar. We had such a fantastic time, it's such a unique show, we saw friends from all over the world, it was so lovely to catch up ! It was a quiet show for us this year. We took only Jive who was in Veteran Bitch, typically she was in one of the biggest classes of nearly 30 bitches ! We are so proud of her though, she made it through the cuts and got down to the final 7 but was unplaced, she was a superstar ! Love my Bunny Dog !

April saw a big event, Cookie's first eye test including gonioscopy, the lovely Ian Mason tested her, and thankfully she passed with flying colours. So Cookie has clear eyes, such a relief !! Just have to get through the hip scoring later in the year !