Siberian Husky
Breed Notes August 2017
It feels so very weird that the Dog World is no more, it has been there ever since we first started out with Siberians in 1969/70 when we lived just down the road from its headquarters in Ashford, Kent.
It was a very sound and balanced publication always and I hope that some of its excellent staff/editors are able to find good alternative jobs and I want to take this opportunity to wish them all well!!!
The last notes I did came out in the last Dog World and won the Breed Notes of the week, sponsored by Happy Dog, and we received our complimentary bag of their food and they were asking for a photo of myself and one of our Siberians to go in the next one, with the bag of food. This all made its demise seem even more sudden and it was a big shock. I for one never saw it coming at all.
The shows just keep coming and we have not been to any for a while, through July and much of August.
The first since Mels notes was Bournemouth and our breed was judged by K. Baldwin. He found his Dog CC and BOB in Pat Taylor and Helen Taylor Morris Ch Pelenrise Brite Knight JW, who then went on to take a Group 2. The reserve CC went to Sophie Whatsley Takoda, Winter Melody Perfect Trouble. These two dogs seem to be swapping places from show to show at the moment.
The bitch CC was Sarah Jane Heyes and Ellis Rees Amical Tory. This was her third and crowning CC so many congratulations to them. This is also the 18th Champion to be made up for the Amical affix.
The reserve CC went to Glynnis Camerons Jacalous Ice Diamond.
Best Puppy was Jo Sutton and Mr Kent's Lyfearon Blazing Heart who then went on to take third in the working puppy group so a super day for them.
At the WKC Breed Specialist Rebecca Kaye judged and she found her Dog CC and BOB in Dave and Carol Williams young boy Sibersong's Dark Sovereign For Salazka who has recently come in from the USA. This was a first CC for this fellow and I know Dave and Carol will be over the moon to have him on the way to his title. The Reserve CC went to Guy and Helen Redwoods Benny, Ch Rigrunner Slider.
Rebecca gave the Bitch CC to Steve and Norma Shaws Gabby, Norste Gazelle who also went Best Veteran, this was her first ticket and she won a reserve CC last year under Sarah Robinson.
The Reserve CC was a first green card for Naomi March's Janskoo Echoes In Eternity. Best Puppy went to Suzanne Hay's Hushwing Buttercup At Sura.
At the SKC Ken Warburton judged and he found his Dog CC and BOB in Linda and Shelley Wynne's
Glenbranter Summat Special At Mydisa JW.
His reserve Dog CC was Jo Sutton and Mr Kent's Lyfearon Blazing Heart, who was also Best Puppy.
The Bitch CC was Stephen Anderson's Ch Amical Liliac At Sabakazure with the reserve CC going to Pam Carmichael's Jacalous Careless Whisper By Glenbranter. Best Veteran was Anne Bryson's Malakye The Ruler Of Inukshuk, who then went on to go Working Veteran Group 4.
The following day the SSHC held its Championship Show and the Judges were breed specialists Barbara Stanier (Arctiktrek) doing Dogs and Dave Patterson (who used to be involved with the Gwahir affix) Bitches. Both judges had quality entries by all accounts and Barbara said afterwards that this was the best entry of males she has ever had. She was thrilled with the overall quality. Interestingly and for the first time in a long while, there were actually very slightly more dogs entered than bitches, 45 dogs and 42 bitches.
Barbara found her Dog CC in our Forstal's Tuff who also went Reserve BIS. This was a first green card for him who, at almost 4 years old has been typically slow to mature and partly for this reason and because he has been like a great big puppy, he has only been to a handful of shows to date. Tuff is a delightful playful and affectionate fellow who only becomes really serious once in harness. He is an excellent hard driving worker and has made our BSHRA Gold medal winning 6 dog team since his first season racing. He is out of Forstal's Shuska (Sooty) who has been one of our best leaders for many years and is by our Vargevass import Amarok Av Vargevass Of Forstal who is a really excellent worker as well. Rocky was one of a litter of 5 boys and his brothers are all competing in events overseas. The one Karsten and Eveline kept, a pure white named Puak has made their first string teams ever since he has been old enough to do the distances and often runs lead. Tuff's previous claim to fame, apart from practically always winning his class at the few shows he has been to, was winning BIS at the SHCGB Open Show under breed specialist Lynn Harrison a couple of years ago.
The reserve CC went to Brian, Julie and Tyler Collins Bifrost Merlot who has one CC and this is his third reserve CC to date I believe. He was also Best Veteran Dog.
Dave found his Bitch CC in our Ch Forstal's Kite who also went BIS, Kite gained her title last year and has not been out much this year, in fact she had only been to Crufts up until this show.
The reserve Bitch CC was Christine Anderson's Shamski EE'Laha Ronay At Uriakin. Best Puppy Bitch was Suzanne Hays Hushwing Buttercup Of Sura and Best Puppy In Show overall was the dog, Richard and Sharon Sargents Hushwing Wezztlee With Kerequel. These two lovely pups are littermates.
Best Veteran In Show was John and Dawn McInnes 13 plus year old Inneska Tauda. She will be 14 in December so very well done to this old lady.
As I understand it the referee Angela Gallacher was required for pretty much all the final decisions.
At Birmingham City the following weekend Mrs Anne Hardy judged our breed and she found her BOB in the bitch CC winner, Sophie Whatsley's Hyperborea Tantum Glittering Violet. The reserve bitch CC went to Kevin Whitehead's Jacalous Simply Magic.
The dog CC was Katrina Waterfield and Roxanne Simms recent import, Nitro, Dutch Ch Anuniaq No One Like You For Gercekask with the reserve CC going to Jessica and Valerie Wright's Kenzo, Pelenrise Brite Horizon JW, who also already has 2 CCs.
Best Puppy was Jess Allen's Siberiadrift Keep The Love For Zimavolk
Best Veteran was Erica Smith's Rajarani Lilia Anana.
Best Junior went to Jo Suttons and Mr Kents Lyfearon Blazing Heart who then went on to take 3rd in the Junior Working Group. Is it me or are there not more and more Groups being run at shows these days?!
We are looking forward to Eveline Koch from Vargevass coming over from Sweden very soon, over the BSHRA training weekend the 23rd/24th September. She is giving a talk on training/racing and life generally at Vargevass on the Saturday and also will be judging a Scandinavian style informal show on the Sunday, which will be fun and hopefully interesting for people taking part. The weekend will include several other varied and interesting talks, a separate first aid course, a fun match to be judged by Sally Hart and of course a chance to train on marked trails both mornings so it should be a really good weekend. This event is being run by Hugh and Pauline Syms with the assistance of Tim and Sally Hart who will be organizing the trails at Santon Downham and everyone is hoping the weather will be kind, cool enough to run dogs first thing and apart from this dry would be excellent! For more information go to the website www.huskyracing.org.uk. I believe entries close on 15/09/17.
As many of you will know Mel and I always like to put in a bit more about first time green card winners but it is down to you to provide us with any information you would like included. We are not going to chase you for it any more. Please send any information to Mel at her usual email address and/or to me at info@forstalsiberians.co.uk
Sally Leich
23.08.17
Life with Siberians is always a learning curve. I learned a lot last week but the main two things were; a) just because no one has done it yet, doesn’t mean no one ever will and b) Siberian Husky people are some of the best people in the world. Late one wet and windy evening, the unthinkable happened and one of my youngsters (who shall henceforth be known as Spider Dog as this story has a happy ending) climbed out of what I had believed was a secure garden. I’ve never had a climber before.
I’ve had diggers, tunnel makers and fence wreckers but not climbers.
He was last spotted running hell for leather down the lane opposite my house which is surrounded by open fields, at that time thigh high with wheat.
He picked his night.
After pouring down all day, the rain went up a notch and brought a howling wind. I drove around frantically in sideways rain trying to get a sighting but the light was quickly fading and I knew what Kite and I needed was reinforcements. Boy did we get them. One call asking if someone could put something out on Facebook, I suddenly had more than a dozen amazing people turn out in the rain, some of whom drove an hour to get to us.
I had a strong feeling he was still somewhere in the nearby fields and we concentrated our search in the immediate area, looking in farm buildings and gardens and ploughing on foot through muddy, waterlogged fields. It felt desperate. Then, after about three hours, I was in the middle of one of Lincolnshire’s enormous fields, trying to spot eyes glinting in my flashlight beam, when I got a phone call from a friend who had just arrived to say they had seen him come out onto the road and were currently in hot pursuit of him.
He was tracked onto a caravan site and cornered under a kid’s trampoline, terrified and soaking. I can honestly say it was the single absolute best phone call I have ever received in my life.
It was an awful night but truly amazing things happened.
I will never forget and always be thankful for the fantastic response from Sibe people; the ones who were able to come over and also the friends much further away who contacted police, radio stations and shared, shared, shared the message that he was lost (which would have been absolutely vital if we had not caught him that night).
This is an amazing breed but there are nightmare aspects those of us love them understand, including their wanderlust, lack of regard for their own safety and their ability to cover ridiculous amounts of ground in a short time. Kite was very definitely looked after that night. I feel incredibly blessed he was kept safe from harm until our amazing posse was able to catch him.
The last notes saw me cover a few shows ending with Windsor. The RBCC winner at that show was Jenna Cooper’s homebred youngster Janskcoo’s Strength N’ Honour. The show also saw Tundra gain the points she needed to earn her Junior Warrant and Jenna is understandably over the moon.
“At the beginning of Tundra’s show career, Junior Warrant wasn’t something that we had considering going for,” Jenna explained. “Tundra was quite a shy little girl and I just wanted to get her out as much as I could to bring her out of her shell, at first she was always over shadowed by her brother Leo, He always had the sparkle and seemed to enjoy showing much more. However, once Tundra got the hang of things and started to really enjoy showing and started to win more and more, I asked some questions and did some research and decided to try for the JW.
“Tundra quickly over took Leo in terms of points, she took best puppy bitch at Crufts and went on to win Best Puppy in Show at the SHCGB Championship Show. These were very special moments for us. I started to double up classes more at shows. Waiting for those final points was more nerve wracking and stressful than was waiting for her mum Luna’s crowning CC!!!!
“Tundra gained her final 6 points at Windsor Champ Show. It was an extremely special day for us. Leo won both his classes, Tundra won both hers and topped it off by taking the RCC. What I set out to achieve was for her to grow in confidence and she has come on in leaps and bounds.
“When I picked Tundra as one of my keepers, I didn’t pick her for her conformation and show quality. She chose us, she reminded me of my late Janska, she pulled at my heart strings and she was going nowhere. Tundra’s KC name represents Janska who was very special. She is working incredibly hard in harness and we can't wait for the colder months to come.”
At East of England, Marinda Taylor-Smith found her BOB in my own Ch Charoite Raven’s Brew. This is Spook’s 5th CC, hard to believe he will be 7 in a few weeks as he still looks, runs and acts like a youngster. RDCC was a second green card for Kim and Michael Porritt’s Skimarque Winter Frost at Blizzard Run JW.
BCC was a second big green card for Forstal Kittila which has come hot on the heels of her first at Border Union earlier in the summer. You can read all about Kitty in the previous notes. RBCC was another green card for Toesie, Hushwing Happy Feet at Inneska JW who belongs to John and Dawn McInnes. BP was Canadian import Shaytaan's Upyours At Icynights who is owned by Sharon Jones and Gary Mihulka.
National Working and Pastoral Breeds and the Siberian Husky Club Open Show happen on the same weekend so a lot of people make a nice weekend out of it. It’s always interesting to see what happens in terms of respective entries when one is officiated by a multi-breed judge and the other a breed judge.
Jack Bispham judged NWPB. His BP Jess Allen’s Siberiadrift Keep the Love for Zimavolk took fourth in the working puppy group. Pat Taylor and Helen Taylor Morris’ Ch Siberiaskye Brite Borealis Of Pelenrise JW Sh.C was awarded BVIB and went 2nd in the Working Veteran Group.
BOB was the BCC winner. This was a first green card for Pippin, Shelley and Linda Wynne’s homebred Mydisa Golden Deelishus. Aged just 16 months, Pippin followed this up quickly with a second CC and BOB at Paignton under John Carter. Her owners must be absolutely delighted. RBCC went to Sophie Whatsley’s Polish import Winter Melody She Wolf. DCC was another big green card for Pat and Helen’s Sparki, Ch Pelenrise Brite Knight JW Sh.CM with the RDCC going to Danielle Seward’s Elleonia Silver Bullet.
Breed specialist Sharon McNicol had a lovely entry of at the SHCGB Open Show of 44 dogs and 65 bitches and by all accounts it was a long but enjoyable day. Best in Show was Julie Platt's Sparky, Rykalov's Sparks at Wightflight. RBIS and BVIS was Shaws’ Norste Gazelle. Best Puppy in Show was Bowering and Evans' Penkhala's Kaska.
Moving on to Leeds and all-rounder Keith Nathan found his BOB in Sophie Whatsley’s import Winter Melody Perfect Trouble. This was Takoda’s first big green card although in another recent good run of shows for one dog, this was not to remain his only CC for long. I watched a video on Facebook of the Dog Challenge and Sophie’s dog never stopped wagging his tail, what a happy boy. RDCC was Ch Pelenrise Brite Knight who was upstaged by his mother Ch Siberiaskye Brite Borealis of Pelenrise who took the BCC out of veteran. RBCC went to Kevin and Elsie Whitehead’s Jacalous Simply Magic. It was another BP and another Puppy Group 4 for Jess Allen’s Siberiadrift Keep The Love For Zimavolk.
Down at Paignton, Jess and Akela’s good run continued with another BP and, this time, a 3rd place in the Working Puppy Group. Akela is doing really well on the Open Show front too, for example, collecting RBPIS at Chesterfield and Pinxton. Jess must be thrilled to bits with her boy.
I mentioned earlier John Carter’s BOB was the Wynne’s Mydisa Golden Deelishus. He also gave another dog a big green card hot on the heels of his first in the shape of Takoda, Sophie Whatsley’s Winter Melody Perfect Trouble. RDCC went to Kerstin Tinker’s Zaltana Midnight Express At Lolotea (Imp). RBCC was a first green card for Huw and Barbara Morris’ Winter Melody Desert Rose Avec Cwnhapus who is a Polish Champion.
Phew, I’m exhausted now and I only went to one of the shows listed above! Both Sally and I love to include more information about your dogs than just their name and award so please, if you win a green card and we haven’t written about them before, send us some fun facts about your dog and we will include them here.
You can always message me any news on Facebook or send an email to melhannam@btinternet.com or to Sally Leich on info@forstalsiberians.co.uk.
So, I find myself with a massive backlog of shows to write about so will cover a marathon four shows in these notes and continue later and hopefully will catch up soon! This is partly due to me meeting myself coming backwards (as usual) and partly due to Sally and I trying to decide what to do about the breed notes going forward with the demise of Dog World.
We talk a lot in our breed about Dual Purpose dogs. This means slightly different things to different people and is something I will write about in more length at some point. However, if you’re one of those to whom it means training methodically and racing competitively (at least some extent) then I’m sure you’ll understand why both Sally and I have struggled at times to be as regular with the breed notes as we might like to be. Training sled dogs is an enormous time and energy commitment, especially if you keep going during the summer months when mornings get ever earlier to catch the cooler temperatures. Unless you’re extremely lucky, there’s the small matter of the day job too…
However, rather than see our different slant on things Siberian disappear, we have decided to do our best within our limited resources and see how it goes and where the new Dog World-less world takes us all.
As Sally explained in her last “official” set of notes, we have both tried to always write something special about new green card winners or champions. However, it is sometimes difficult getting things out of people who we understand are also all very busy. How we’ve left it is if people want something special including about their winner (or indeed for any other reason) then they can always drop us a line. I’m easily contactable on Facebook and Sally can be emailed. We both really love hearing about your dogs, what activities you share and what they are like as “people”.
Three Counties saw breed specialist Sarah Robinson (Rigrunner) at the judge’s table. Her critique has been published on Facebook and, as hers always are, is well worth a read for those seeking a greater understand of Siberians.
Her BOB was the BCC winner (her first), Roger Cruden and Becky Kaye’s homebred Amical Juliet for Shamsky. Islay is now six years old and was bred by Ant and Caroline Rees out of Jedeye Nemo of Manitou at Sassicaia and Ch Amical Lilli for Saltarello. She has 1 RCC also from Sarah.
RBCC was a first green card for Adele Shelford’s Joy Av Vargevass (Imp). Adele tells me that Eija, who came from the Vargevass kennel of Karsten Gronas and Eveline Koch in Sweden, is a kind and gentle natured girl who loves everyone she meets and in turn, everyone loves her.
“She fitted straight into our small kennel,” said Adele. “Although Eija loves her showing she excels when she is working, show her a harness and she will change from a chilled, relaxed Siberian to a dog that really knows her purpose in life, she works relentlessly like a Trojan. Showing or working she enjoys everything and always gives 100%.”
DCC went to my Ch Charoite Raven’s Brew (this was Spook’s 4th CC) and RDCC to Andy and Chris Grisbroke’s young Ch Azgard Glock. BP went to Penny Evans and Alan Bowering’s Penkhala’s Kaska.
Another breed specialist in the form of Linda Pritchett did the honours at Border Union. Her BOB was again the BCC winner, this time in the shape of first time CC winner Forstal’s Kittila who belongs to Sally and Sheril Leich and Ali Koops.
“Kitty is a really special girl in so many ways,” says Sally. “She is by our Swedish import boy Rocky (Amarok Av Vagevass of Forstal) and out of Forstal’s Kikia (Moley) who is line bred on our Ch Forstal Kaliznik (Cubby, who is sadly no longer with us). Right from the start in harness we could tell that she had lead potential and in fact she lead our competitive Gold Medal winning 6 and/or 4 dog teams all last season, which was her first racing season. She turned 2 years in March this year! She knew her turns from the first time she ran in lead and has phenomenal drive and focus. We could not be more pleased with her.
“She was shown only a few times last year and managed to win Best Puppy at her first Champ show under Penny Evans and a Reserve CC at her second Champ show, under Sharon Sargent, We were thrilled when she won the CC and BOB at her fifth Champ show, Border Union earlier this month.
“She has a delightful temperament and is very easy going, kind and playful in the pack. She really likes her comforts and always grabs a place on the most comfortable bed, a duvet in one of the corners of the dog room, every evening. Her only quirk is that she hates metal bowls on a hard floor, which is clearly a hereditary trait as her mother is just the same. They both have to have plastic bowls because, if expected to eat out of a metal bowl, as soon as it moves and/or makes a noise they will both jump back and look at the bowl with deep suspicion! They are so funny and comical with this behaviour!”
RBCC was another green card for Penny Evans and Alan Bowering’s Ch Penkhala’s Kyra out of veteran.
DCC was a fourth big green card for Ch Icynight’s Uigeadail who belongs to Lindsay Sutherland and RDCC went to Roger Cruden and Becky Kaye’s Icynights All Black for Shamsky. BP went to Penny and Alan’s Penkhala’s Kaska.
Blackpool saw two Siberians get a nod in the working group. Pat and Helen Taylor’s Ch Pelenrise Brite Knight was fourth in the adult group and Jess Allen’s Siberiadrift Keep The Love For Zimavolk took fourth in the puppy group.
All-rounder Jan Rual officiated in the breed ring. DCC (his 12th) and BOB was Pat and Helen’s Sparki (as above). RDCC went to Kat Waterfield’s imported Anuniaq No One Like You for Gercekask.
BCC was a fourth CC for Lara, Stephen Anderson’s Ch Amical Liliac for Sabakazure. who took her crowning ticket at WELKS this year. RBCC went to Kelly Hughes’ Ch Jacalous Keepsake for Siberiadrift JW SH.CM.
BP was Jess Allen’s Akela as above. He seems to be popping up in a few puppy groups lately and his owner must be really proud.
Breed specialist Yricka Gardner gave her first set of tickets at Windsor. Her BOB was the BCC winner Sharon Jones and Gary Mihulka’s Icynights Too Hot to Handle JW. This was Ziva’s crowning ticket and I know Sharon is over the moon with her latest champion.
RBCC was a first green card for Jenna Cooper’s homebred Janskcoo’s Strength n Honour. Tundra is just 15 months and is out of Jenna’s Ch Snoqualmie Luna Breeze and by Forstal’s Suggen. This must have been a fabulous moment for Jenna as this is her first litter.
The DCC came out of veteran in the form of Kim and Roy Beirne’s Ch Penkhalas Nashobah. RDCC was a third RCC for Phil and Yvonne Davis’ Zen, Amical Morticon JW, SH.CM. BP was the Beirne’s Penkhalas Itaska.
I’ll continue the catch up in the next lot of notes!
If you would like to send any info about your green card winner, please message me on FB or send an email to melhannam@btinternet.com.
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