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27th February 2023

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This weekend was the very popular NECGB Contest of Champions and AGM.

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The show is run as a head to head knockout competition in each class and the judge remains a secret until the day.

This year the judge was Vanessa McHugh.

 

The Classes are :

Puppy Challenge,

Special Yearling Challenge,

Veteran Challenge,

Special Beginners Challenge,

Stud Book Winner Challenge and the Contest of Champions.

 

There’s a class that everyone can enter and a lovely meal before the Contest of Champions.

The show follows on from the AGM.

 

The results were:-

 

Puppy D - Simms' Aftonlee Aros at Elverdal – Best Puppy
Puppy B - Callow & Davis  Whittemere Alright Bab

Special Yearling
Dog - Gold's Graythor at the Venetian with Llassah – Best Special Yearling
Bitch -   Mortimer’s Laakso Gunni

Veteran
Veteran Dog -   Tress's Ch Grasilva LIttle Rock avec Gilkaro JW Veteran Bitch - Middleton's  Ch Graythor Norwegian Lights Sh CM – Best Veteran

Special Beginner - Mrs A Stone’s Laakso Eike
no bitches

Stud Book
Dog – McMahon’s Seasara High flyer – Best Stud Book
Bitch - Tress’s Treskha Just The One

Champion of Champions
Dog - Cowper’s Ch Kestos Rex of Rothenborg-Champion of Champions
Bitch - Mrs J Brown’s Ch Laakso Cara

 

The raffle raised £155

Well done to Margaret Deuchar, show manager and to everyone who helped with the organisation.

 

Apologies that at the moment the Club Website is down due to a technical hitch. It will hopefully be fixed once everyone gets home from the weekend.

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There is another Open show with Elkhound Classes for those in the South. Chichester and District show at Bognor Regis is on March 26th. Entries close Today, February 27th on Fosse Data.

 

Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

 

 

 

 

 

12th February 2023

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There’s very little show news again this week and no one has sent any Open Show results so I thought I’d give you something to think about.

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What do you do about pet insurance and if you don't have it, do you have Public Liability Insurance ? Several people I know set up a bank account just for their dogs but if you do that you really do also need Public Liability cover. I know someone who has decided not to do health insurance but has taken out special public liability cover for only around £6 a month.

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Pet Insurance can be a minefield and very expensive. You need to work out what your possible vet fees may be and ensure the policy will cover that. Lifetime cover is really the only one to consider but that also means you can’t change company if your dog has a lifelong condition because no one else will cover pre-existing conditions. If your dog hasn’t been ill or has only had a minor problem you can get quotes from others. For instance a cyst. Treatment would be only for one specific cyst so you could argue that a different cyst is NOT the same condition. The original cyst has not come back therefore a new cyst is a new condition. A broken leg is also a one off condition but any after effects from it would not be covered. I’m not sure how you would get on with just a cyst, but it does seem to me to be a valid argument whereas the recurrence of the same cyst or something like pancreatitis would not be covered by a new company.

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I don’t intend to go into prices or differences between companies even though there’s one I will never recommend. Just remember, in the first two weeks of a policy you are not covered. Back in the 1980s , even though I’d had our female insured for two years, I was about 4 days late renewing it when my mum died. The dog was diagnosed with glaucoma during the following week and the company refused to pay at all claiming it was a new policy , not a renewal. Since then, I have shopped around and have been given quotes from £36 a month up to over £80 a month for the same lifetime cover. Obviously there are some small things I wouldn’t worry about if they were not covered, like a broken toe nail which is unlikely to ever happen again but no matter what you do about medical cover, every policy I’ve had has had generous public liability insurance as part of it.

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If you don’t want to use pet insurance, one option mentioned above, is to set up a bank account specifically for your dog and pay into it what you would pay for insurance. The only drawback is if a huge bill comes in early on. To help with this, most vets now have their own plans which cover vaccinations, health checks and give a generous reduction in charges but they still prefer clients to have insurance so available treatment isn’t restricted just because you can’t afford it.

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Whatever you choose to do about health insurance, everyone must have public liability insurance. You may find that your home insurance covers your dog but do check. If your dog were to injure someone even accidentally, you could be taken to court. Modern laws even say you could be liable even if your dog barks and scares someone, grabs a letter from the postman and accidentally bites him, snaps at someone at the door; gets loose and causes an accident, breaks something in a friend’s house or has an accident on their carpet, scratches a child or knocks one over. There are hundreds of possible scenarios where your dog could be blamed. Just think how many injuries you yourself have sustained that were caused by your dogs. I can personally name a broken leg, a punctured eyeball, a herniated disc, numerous scratches from dewclaws, ruined carpets, chewed up woodwork, broken ornaments, bites when breaking up a fight. All of them accidents but if they were to happen to someone else, they could claim. These are all covered as part of your pet insurance but if you don’t have that, do make sure you have public liability insurance either as part of your house policy or as a separate item and pray you will never need it.

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Crufts is creeping up on us rapidly. Good luck to everyone who is going. The entry is excellent. I can barely remember when we had such a good entry but of course the judge is Mr K. Järvinen from Finland. Scandinavian judges always draw a good entry but 58 dogs making 62 entries must be a record for recent years. There are 25 males and 33 bitches.

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The Contest of Champions has also drawn a nice entry of 33.

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Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

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3oth Jan 2023

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This week the notes are all notifications of shows where we have classes so get your Calendars out and make a not of them all.

I’ve been asked to notify everyone of the following big Open show. IT’s quite early so please do mark it on your calendar.

 

Horley & District Dog Show Society:

Just to advise you and remind you that our schedule for 2023 premier open show will be available soon. Obviously we will keep you updated on this. The date is Sunday 27th August 23.

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We meant what we said last year, this year is our first premier show and we are scheduling classes for EVERY breed that are recognised in the UK, including import classes for every group, with puppy classes in every breed.

We have our usual RBOB competition judged on the group system, and new for this year we are doing a Best Special Beginner in Show. This is also judged on the group system with winners of each AV Special Beginners group going into the main ring for best special beginner in show.

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More prizes, FABULOUS rosettes aplenty (and we all know that chief steward Neil loves a rosette), fantastic judges including breed specialists, Crufts group judges and champ show BIS judges.

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There will be more catering and the PA system issue has been addressed. We are good to go. If you can spread the word to make everyone aware that all breeds are scheduled. Would be lovely to see nice, full group rings.

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Some breeds are being supported by club shows and some breeds rosettes have been donated. If you would like to sponsor a breed please contact chief steward Neil Hood. It will be acknowledged in the schedule, catalogue and on the rosettes.

If you would like a stall on the day can you please contact our show manager Gary on 07803 084852. If you would like to sponsor a breed or steward for us can you contact Neil on 07890 242083. On both these numbers no anonymous calls and no calls after 9pm please.

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So spread the word, Horley is getting bigger, better and it will be all about celebrating you, the exhibitor and your dogs.”

 

A little closer in time (June 2023) and another for your Calendar is The Royal Cheshire Show who said:

 “We are one of the largest Agricultural Shows in the country and hold a 2 day Premier Open Show each year. Over the last few years we have been growing the show and this year we are hoping to make it bigger and better than ever. With this in mind we have decided to classify every Kennel Club Registered Breed with, of course, Import Register classes for the appropriate Breeds.

This means that we will holding classes for your breed.

 

The show takes place at our showground near Knutsford just off the M6 Junction 19 on Tuesday 20th June (Sporting breeds) and Wednesday 21st June (Non Sporting breeds and a Junior Warrant Competition heat). Postal entries close 9th May with online closing on Fosse Data on 14th May.

 

As our Premier Open Show is within the Agricultural Show admission to the Show On the day is £30. However, for each dog entered at £9.50 you receive an admission pass to get a person into the show free of charge (up to a maximum of 4 people). We also have an offer of 6 or more dogs for £50. NFC does not receive an admission pass. Extra admission passes can be bought with entries at £15 each.

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https://www.fossedata.co.uk/shows/The-Royal-Cheshire-County-Show-June-2023.aspx

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Kind regards

Alastair Moss

Royal Cheshire Show Dog Section Secretary”

 

Two more shows with Classes for us ( thanks Elaine) are

Retford CS open show, 3 classes, Newark & Notts showground 19th March, entries close 28th Feb, on Fosse Data.

And the Houndshow Open Sunday 26th March, 3 classes, judge Mr M Ord, postal entries close 20th Feb on Higham Press. The show is at the Sports Connexion Ryton.

 

Most importantly don’t forget Postal entries for the NECGB Golden Anniversary Ch Show close March 13th and online on March 20th on Fosse Data.

 

Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

Please note we have had an intermittent fault on our phone for a month now so do keep trying. 3 engineers so far have failed to fix it.

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Jan 23rd 2023

 

I hope no one had plans spoiled by the snow and ice this week and no injuries. We had quite a bit of snow and my dental appointment had to be postponed and lots of cars abandoned on the main road as it was never gritted. Our road is still like a skating rink, although it thaws in bits on an afternoon then freezes up again. Otta’s missed a few walks because we just couldn’t get out.

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Last week I wrote a reminder about the NECGB Ch Show in April. I mentioned that it’s the Golden Anniversary Show for the Club and a special event but what I didn’t mention and many people probably don’t realise is that 2023 is also 100 years since an Elkhound Club was first formed in the UK in 1923.

 

It was the start of organised planning and breeding of the breed in this country when the types of Elkhound still varied wildly. In Norway prior to 1923, travel was very difficult and dogs were bred to others within their own small area specifically to be able to hunt in whatever terrain they were used which could be deeply forested, mountainous or even moorland so one area might prefer shorter legs or longer bodies to cope with the ground conditions. Many were a generalised spitz type combining Jamthunds and what we know as Elkhounds. Breeders in Norway worked hard to standardise the breed and it was the results of these efforts that were imported into the UK. By 1918, 203 Elkhounds were entered at Crufts and the breed was steadily improving thanks to the work of those early breeders.

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SO when you enter the show and celebrate the 50 years of Club Shows, don’t forget the work that was done during those 100 years to produce the beautiful breed we have now which has changed very little and is still fit to do the job they were originally bred for.

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The show is on Sunday April 16th at Corley Village Hall and the Judge is the highly respected Liz Cartledge. There will be a gift for each exhibitor plus cake and bubbles, a free catalogue for each exhibitor containing a 3 generation pedigree of each dog.

The Robert Greaves Memorial Stakes will be judged by Rodney Price.

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There may be a few extra catalogues for sale at £2 each. Postal Entries Close: Monday, 13 March 2023 at 23:59 and Online entries close Monday, 20 March 2023 at 23:59.  Please note, Postal entries and fees must be sent to the Show Manager: Sarah Middleton; 5 Edge End Lane, Nelson, Lancashire BB9 0PR : E-mail: kalluc@hotmail.co.uk. Online entries are on Fosse Data.

 

 

The Show season restarted for us last week with Manchester; next stop Crufts, so why not enter the Contest of Champions to get some practice in for Crufts?

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 Remember there are classes for all; even complete beginners who have never shown a dog before. Entry forms and details were sent out with the Magazine which members should have received very shortly after Christmas if not before. NOTE Entries must be sent to the show manager Margaret Deuchar (margaretdeuchar@gmail.com ) who can also send out entry forms. Entries close very soon on February 4th. The cost per person is £30 which includes a 2 course buffet lunch and coffee. It’s £35 for non members who may enter but obviously cannot attend the AGM before the Contest. The judge remains a secret until the day.

 

Never shown before? Now’s your chance. There will be plenty of people to help you. Haven’t yet got an Elkhound? This is the perfect place to see the breed and meet people. Everyone is very welcoming. Our breed has a reputation at shows for good showmanship, supporting each other and friendliness.

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Almost everyone who had entered Manchester managed to get there despite the snow and ice but I was very sad to hear that Vanessa had to look after Maureen Horner who wasn’t well. Get well soon Maureen. Thinking of you.

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Brian Middleton was in the Centre of the ring this time and, for his DCC and BOB, he chose Elaine and Nev Simms’ Ch Seasara Earl Grey. Res DCC went to Jill Cowper and Gill Bingham’s Ch Kestos Rex of Rothenborg. Bitch CC was Mr Southall’s Seasara Hermione and Res BCC was Tanja Mortimer’s Laakso Helli. Best Veteran went to Gilbert’s Rothenborg Nanya for Balsemasi and Best Special Beginner was Saint’s Ravenheim's Tor Vildenvaer.

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It was nice to see two other Elkhound people doing well with their other breeds. Margaret and Debbie Deuchar’s Ch Rikarlo Gable JW won DCC and BOB in Buhunds and our Treasurer Stuart Byrne’s Emma won the BCC in Finnish Spitz.

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Well done all.

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In Our Dogs, top Stud Dog in the breed has been confirmed as Ch Bowerhinton Bellino at Dekris .

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Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

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16th Jan 2023

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Although we have no classes or CCs at Boston CH Show, two intrepid exhibitors still entered in the AVNSC Classes. Winner of the AVNSC Junior Bitch class and then best AVNSC Hound Bitchwas Callow and Davis’s Whittimere Alright Bab JW. Winner of the Open Class and Best AVNSC Hound was Treena Maun’s Ch Bowerhinton Bassanio. I’m afraid I haven’t been told whether he was short listed in the Group. Treena also entered Bowerhinton Bright Lady in AVNSC Open Bitch where she came 2nd.

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Lichfield entries have now closed but there’s another Open Show to enter. Cheltenham & Dist Open Show is on 26th February,the day after our Contest of Champions and AGM. It will be held at Stoneleigh. The judge is Wendy Threadgold. Entries close online on Fosse Data on 6th February.

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Don’t forget to get your entries in for the Contest. Entries to Margaret Deuchar by Feb 4th. ( not to the secretary)The entry forms were in with your magazine. Also don’t forget to renew your Club membership by Feb 1st direct to The treasurer Stuart Byrne, not to the secretary.

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I see the temperature is to drop this week with snow forecast for some areas so safe journey to all of you going to Manchester and good luck.

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Before I start nagging more people in person, I’m looking for a volunteer to write a short news piece in the Club Magazine next Christmas covering the middle of the UK. It should cover an area from Wales, through the Midlands to Lincolnshire. You might think I’m somewhat early but finding someone now gives them the chance to make notes of any news during the year so they don’t struggle to remember everything in a year’s time. Although significant show wins like groups and BIS should be mentioned, the news should cover events outside of showing like walks, meetings, new babies, illnesses; litters (not advertising) or losses.

 

If you are interested and have any questions please email me or phone the number in any journal (after we hopefully get our phone fixed this week). It’s not a huge job and shouldn’t take more than an hour at most to write it up in 12 months’ time.

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I could also do with someone from the South of England to do the same.

 

Are you a new exhibitor in the south?

We need you!

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Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

 

 

 

 

 

 

9th January  2023

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I thought there wouldn’t be much in the way of news this week since our first Ch show of the year isn’t until Jan 19th but I was wrong.

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The first shock news is the disappearance of East of England Show after this year. It had been announced that the E of E Showground is to be sold and this year the show will move to Rutland Showground but after 2023 the show itself will cease to exist. I can’t remember when the last All Breed Ch Show vanished and it’s many years since Border Counties Hound lost its Ch Show status.

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The statement from East of England secretary reads. “It is with great sadness the EOE Agricultural Society have decided they can no longer hold a Dog Show within their Charitable brief. With this in mind the 2023 Championship show to be held at the Rutland Showground will be the last EOE Ch Show. The Committee would like to thank all the exhibitors and the many helpers over the years who have supported the show.

 Pat Dufty Secretary”.

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Manchester entry has been announced but not yet the order of judging. 28 dogs have made 32 entries.

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Last week Our Dogs printed the final standings in their 2022 Top Puppy and Top dog competitions:

Top Elkhound Puppy for 2022 was Whittimere Alright Bab. She was also equal 4th top hound puppy, beaten only by the Whippet, Afghan and LH Dachshund.

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Top Dog and 3rd equal top Hound was Ch Kestos Rex of Rothenborg, beaten only by the Irish Wolfhound and LH Dachshund.

Very well done to both.

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Exhibitors are reminded that postal entries for Crufts close on Monday 9 January (postmarked) and online entries on Monday 23 January (up until midnight) for dogs which have qualified for the show.  To enter online and/or view the Crufts schedule, please visit crufts.org.uk/entries

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Our Secretary was asked to publish the following announcement by the Breed Health Watch team.

“Dear secretary, 

We are writing to you as a breed club secretary, please share this information with the members of your breed club. 

We would like to invite you to our interactive webinar being held on Thursday 9 February 2023 at 6:30pm - 7:30pm. This will give you an opportunity to refresh your knowledge of the Breed Watch. You can subscribe to this event for free.

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We would like to make those within the dog showing community aware of the work we are undertaking to ensure that Breed Watch is the best possible system it can be for monitoring and highlighting the importance of the health and welfare of show dogs. Further, we want to enhance and evolve Breed Watch to enable us to all work together as judges, exhibitors, show organisers and vets to ensure we protect the future of pedigree dogs and dog showing.

During 2023 we will be working with members of the Dog Health Group’s Breed Standards and Conformation sub-group, which includes experienced judges, vets and exhibitors, to consider new measures to enhance and evolve Breed Watch. Consideration will be given to the following areas

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 What veterinary checks are required before and during shows and what Kennel Club guidance and training is required for the vets involved

 What educational materials are needed to better support judges and exhibitors

 What training would better support judges when recognising breed-specific health problems

 How we receive health information from judges to improve upon our existing reporting and monitoring process

 How we can better support breed clubs and exhibitors with access to health data from shows

 How we highlight dog showing as a positive lever for change when considering health and welfare”

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Anyone interested is welcome to attend.

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Finally, Barbara Stokes has been quite ill with flu but is slowly starting to recover. However , anyone trying to contact her should be aware that her phone is faulty yet again and so far Openreach has failed to keep their appointment to repair it. It works for a minute or two then makes a horrible noise.

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We too are still having problems. Our electricity went off yet again for half a day on Friday; the 5th time since Christmas day. I have been told it’s an intermittent fault on an underground cable that they can’t locate exactly until it either goes completely or gets to the stage of going off 4 or 5 times a day. We will continue to lose power until then. Not acceptable. This has been causing problems for 10 years but never as bad as now. We just have no idea whether we will wake up with power or not or if it will go off in the middle of cooking or doing the washing but when it does we have no phones, no lights, no heating and no cooker until they come out and look and either try to reset a fuse or find the location of the break. They tried to blame it on more people charging electric cars but it’s simply lack of maintenance and a refusal to pay for proper repairs.

 

So if you can’t contact me, try again 6 or so hours later. I often don’t hear my mobile.

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A quick reminder, your Club membership fees are due.

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Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

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2nd Jan 2023

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Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year with good health and happiness. I’m afraid for a couple of people it has started badly so best wishes to Sarah Thomas’s and Karen Gold’s mums who are both in hospital again and to Karen herself who is in a lot of pain.

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Ours didn’t start well, with yet another power cut. We’d had 3 on Christmas day but this one started at 1am and only affected our house, so we had a phone call that dragged us out of bed, for an engineer to call at 2am and he planned on getting a team out to fit a generator at around 5am until they could dig up the road. Thankfully he managed to connect us to a different cable which so far, has worked. We had the water off for a full day just 3 weeks ago. I do wish they would upgrade the systems.

 

For the first time in my life, I have a dog that would actually open her own presents at Christmas but chose to open first, a toy rather than a very stinky salmon treat. No I haven’t changed breed!

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Our Club Secretary has had an email from Lichfield Canine Society about their Premier Open Show, it is on Saturday 28th January at Bingley hall, Stafford.  Online entries close Thursday 12th Jan and postal on Friday 6th Jan.

 

They only have 2 Elkhounds entered at the moment, so if you are interested and within reach, do support the classes.

 

Happy new Year to all.

 

Diana Hudson (norderhove@gmail.com)

 

 

 

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