Today we travelled down to West of England Cocker Championship Show always a favourite of ours despite the long journey. As always the show was a great atmosphere and so well run. What a lovely, lovely day we had Travis was so well behaved and was awarded two 1st under breed specialist Mrs Yvonne Stonier (Rinots) This was the first time Wendy has had to go into the challenge at a Championship show – we were so proud of Travis who coped so well throughout the day. Dudley was awarded a reserve in his class.
It was also lovely to see Travis`s sire Lochranza For Your Eyes Only – Piers and what a thrill for us to see Dad and Son in the challenge together. Piers went on to get Best Veteran in Show – Well done guys.
This was a very busy month for us both personally and showing wise. Unfortunately David had quite a serious nasty accident, falling from our dog run roof during the gales, after a bit of patching up by the hospital and some time off work he has started to recover well.
Due to David`s accident we were only able to attend one championship show, Richmond, it was a lovely day and both Dudley and Travis did well. Travis was awarded a VHC in his first junior class and Dudley was awarded a VHC in his first Limit class.
The only open show we were able to attend was Bedford & District, Travis won his Junior Class, Dudley was second in his class and Bentley who only really went along for the ride but decided he had enough of the youngsters having the limelight showed them how it was done and won the Open class and boy did he show his socks off.
David had two judging appointments this month at either ends of the country. The first appointment was for Plymouth & District Premier Open Show, he had a lovely entry and awarded BP to Meaker`s Meakwood Sweet Melody whch went on to get Puppy Group 4 and BOB to Fran Bowman`s gold dog Bowman`s Asquanne’s Golsstein At Franaille ShCM.
See David`s critique here.
The following weekend David was judging up at Stafford & District what a super entry he had and so many lovely cockers to go over. David found his BP in Share-Jones`s Sharemead Utopia and his BOB was Clinton`s Oramiss Foreign Affair JW . David also judged American Cockers where he found his BP in Richard, Griffin & Crompton`s Afterglow Salazar and BOB was Glover’s Mickcal Silver Chaser who then went on to get Group 2.
See David`s critique here.
Not so many shows this month for us just a couple. At the beginning of August we travelled back down to Malvern to attend the National Gundog Association Champ show. Today cocker judge was a Mrs Eileen Gates. Travis was his very usual exuberant self and looking for mischief giving Wendy quite a hard time with handling. However the judge loved Travis and his mischievous personality and awarded him a 1st and a 3rd.
Only one open show for us this month. Milton Keynes & District. Both Travis and Dudley did well, Travis was placed 3rd in Junior and Dudley won the Post Graduate class, Our judge today was breed specialist Gary Green (Meloneras) his critique -
"masculine black dog, strong head and dark eye, nice straight front with good bone, super depth of chest and spring of rib, well angulated rear quarters with good bend of stifle, in profuse coat and feather, moved well."
This month we have been quite busy with championship shows. At the beginning of July we attended Windsor Champ show, always a favourite of ours, it was an especially nice day as it was Wendy’s birthday so we brought along cake and wine to share with our friends. Both Travis and Dudley did well, Travis was placed 3rd in Puppy and Dudley was Reserve in his class, our judge today was Mr Julian Barney.
The following weekend we went to our local championship show East of England. Always a busy weekend as David normally stewards for them. Team Luthame were in attendance on the Friday. Our judge today was Mr Tom Graham who awarded Travis a 3rd in Puppy and a 2ndin Maiden.
Malvern and its beautiful countryside was our venue for this weekend which was the cocker Spaniel Championship Show, always a favourite of ours in which we get to meet overseas friends. The cocker judge today was Mr Philip Young (Canyonn). Travis was handled today by Jess Carpenter who did a great job keeping Travis’s exuberance under control, he was awarded a 1st and a 3rd, and the first place qualified him for the Cocker Spaniel Puppy Challenge early next year. Thanks Jess for your excellent handling.
Today we went to Southern Counties the cocker judge was Mrs Eleanor Bothwell both boys did extremely well gaining 3rds in their classes. Travis as usual was very high spirited however we needn`t have worried as the judge was just not fazed by a naughty puppy.
David was judging on 12th June at South West Essex Canine Society, it was a lovely day with some nice cockers to go over. You can view David’s critique here.
Today we were at Home Counties Open show. We loaded up the car with the all the sponsorship items and off we went not to the usual Home Counties Venue but a different one; it was a lovely day with lovely food. Both Travis and Dudley did well by winning both their classes.
At the beginning of May we took the long journey to Cheshire Cocker. Travis was very high spirited today (nothing new there!). Both boys did well under judge Marion Sweeney (Marionswood). After running out of the ring in his first class Travis was placed 2nd in Puppy (red) & 3rd in Any Colour Puppy thereby qualify him for Crufts 2012 (better get some ringcraft practice in before then).
The end of May saw us making another long journey to Bath for the championship show our first time (although we have been showing for 8 years) at this show. Both boys did well today. Travis was awarded a Reserve (and yes he did behave for once) and Dudley was awarded a 3rd in Yearling. The next day we attended a local open show (Edwinstowe & District) where Travis was awarded BP and Dudley RBOB under judge S Roffey (Autunmwood).
Always a busy month for us as its “Crufts Time”. The weekend before Crufts we attended a local Open show. It was Travis’s first open show and we were delighted when he was awarded Best Puppy in Breed and Group 3. Dudley was awarded RBOB.
By the time you read this Crufts would have been and gone. We had a lovely time at Crufts, it was special this year as it was to be Bentley’s last championship show he now will take a back seat and lets the younger members of the Luthame Team fly the flag. Hopefully Bentley will return when he is a veteran. He will still be seen at shows as he will accompany Dudley and Travis to oversee the proceedings. Both Dudley and Bentley loved their day at Crufts, Dudley was shortlisted in a large yearling class. Below is a picture taken of Dudley for us by Chelsea Herd:-
Dudley at Crufts
We attended a few open shows this month where both Travis and Dudley did well.
Travis – BP and Group 3
Dudley – RBOB
Travis – BP and Group 4
Dudley – RBOB
Below are a couple of pictures taken of Travis (aged 7 months) by a friend of ours:-
Travis free standing
Travis on the tableWe have only attended a couple of shows this month. On Saturday 12th we attended the Parti-colour Championship show, it was a lovely show with a very large entry so it was a long day. The judge today was Mr Frank Kane; Dudley was placed well in a large junior class. Travis made his début and was not fazed by the experience; again he did us proud by being short-listed in a very large class of 16 minor puppies not bad for a puppy who was just 6 months by a few days. The next day we attended Home Counties Cocker, again a show with a very large entry. Dudley won his class and Travis was placed 2nd in Minor Puppy so a good day all round.
On 27th we attended a dog whispering course run by Liz Dunhill which we thoroughly enjoyed, it was both informative and I felt I learnt a great deal, just got to practice my handling now with Travis.
Well the year has started well for Dudley. At the beginning of this month we went to Dukeries Gundog, where Dudley was awarded a RBOB under breed specialist Mrs K Siviter (Trentshome).
The following weekend saw us at Boston Championship Show; Dudley did us proud by winning the Junior Stakes under Judge
Mrs B Taylor [Brentville]. Below is a picture which appeared in the Our Dogs Newspaper – Well done Dudley we are proud of you.
Dudley with Judge Mrs B TaylorOn Sunday the 16th, we attended an Open show where Dudley was awarded BOB and Group 4 under Judge Mr S Crisp (Genavieve) and the proceeded to awarded Group 4; not bad for a boy who is only 16 months.
Travis continues to do well, we had a lovely visit by Georgia (Luthame Truly scrumptious) one of the puppies we bred with Kay, it was so lovely to see her and her new mum has done a great job with her. Wendy is hoping to show Georgia and we wish her all the luck in the world and hope she enjoys the experience. Below are some pictures of Georgia [Truly Scrumptious], Travis and Ruby [Luthame My Lady].
Ruby, Georgia and Travis
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