World Dog Show 2014 Helsinki

And so to the dog show.

Last weekend the World Dog Show 2014 was held at the Exhibition and Conference Centre in Helsinki.  In their planning, the Finnish team decided to offer free entry to the national breeds, and so they had record numbers of dogs entered for Finnish Spitz, Finnish Hounds, Lapponian Herders, Karelian Bear Dogs and, of course, Finnish Lapphunds, who had the biggest entry of all at 526 dogs entered.   I must say it was a bit of a treat to see a Karelian Bear Dog (several, in fact!), as it is a breed I've only ever seen in photos before.  They have fabulous two-tone tails.

When I heard about the show offering free entry for Lappies, I thought it too good an opportunity to miss, as with free entry there was sure to be an enormous number of dogs to see.  So a bunch of like-minded Lappy nuts from Britain decided to visit Helsinki for the show.


If you read my Helsinki sightseeing blog post, then you will know that I had to scrounge photos of the show from other people.   I did, in fact, get a few early pics, but I only know who some of these dogs are as I haven't yet had the opportunity to sit down with the programme to puzzle it all out.

Strong boy with lovely tri markings
Bear face








Lapinlumon Ilo
Lovely Eisenfest domino boy

Another nice tri
Brown bear
Lovely male I think I know







Pretty little bitch
Even a tiny pup was there
Smiley boy






It was a lovely surprise for Jane and I to get to meet Jaana's dad, Dagolas Ferrari.  And as I was otherwise engaged when I spotted him, I have to thank Liz for grabbing some photos of him.

Photo: Liz Mowatt

Photo: Liz Mowatt

So, what on earth could I have been doing that would interfere with getting photos from this once-in-a-lifetime event?  Well you may ask!

When the show entry deadline came and went, Jaana's breeder, Sarah from Lapinlumon, posted on Facebook that she had entered a large number of dogs and was looking for extra handlers.  I have always wanted the opportunity to show at a big FCI event like the World Dog Show, and so Jane & I wasted no time in volunteering for the job.   We packed our show suits and hit the Exhibition Centre bright and early ready for a crash course in European showing.   So while 5 rings were full of Lappies all day, I didn't get to see much of the actual showing. 

Jane showed Lapinlumon Qumina in an enormous Open Bitch class who was graded Excellent, and I showed Lapinlumon Gloria in Intermediate Bitch, where she was also awarded Excellent. 

Me showing Lapinlumon Gloria

Photo: Liz Mowatt

Photo: Liz Mowatt

The show style was very different to what we're used to in the UK.  For one thing, the dogs line up in the ring in numerical order.  I don't know how the numbers are allocated - they don't seem to be alphabetical as they are here.  I was very impressed and grateful at how well all the judges and stewards spoke English.  As always when I travel abroad, I was humbled by their skills and embarrassed by my single language.  They were all so patient with a neophyte like me.

As the classes were so enormous, each judge would call in the first 20 dogs, judge that group and then move on to the next 20 until all the dogs of the class were seen.  Each dog is given a verbal critique (and a written critique later) and then awarded a grade, shown to the spectators as a coloured card held aloft - red, blue, yellow and green for Excellent, Very Good, Good and Satisfactory.  I must admit that I'm not sure about the last 2 grades and I also can't remember which colour goes with them.  Very few dogs seemed to be sent out of the ring with no grade, although I think there were some.  Perhaps these were considered "unsatisfactory" for some reason.

After all the dogs are seen and judged, then all those awarded an Excellent grade pile back into the ring to be judged again.  In the UK a judge will look at a class of dogs then either pick out their 1-4 or 1-5 choices, perhaps immediately in order or perhaps in a short-list.  Then all the other dogs leave the ring.  I much prefer the European style.  The judge looked at all the dogs again, then shook the hand of each handler in turn of dogs who were at that point excused from the ring.  Then she considered those that were left, got everyone to move their dogs again and excused a few more.  This process is continued until there are only the last 4 left for placing.  It's a style that builds a lot of suspense for the spectator and the handler alike.  It's so much fun!

In the end, I was absolutely thrilled to place 3rd with Lapinlumon Gloria.  Quite a feat, I thought, as she wasn't keen on standing.  Or keeping her tail up.  Or, for that matter, moving.  Mainly she was a cuddle-dog rather than a show-dog, but she did me proud.  And Jane and I got to keep the lovely commemorative ring clips awarded to each dog who was graded Excellent, which you can see at the top of this post.

At the end of all the showing, Jane and I then went into the Breeder Team competition with the Lapinlumon group.  It was quite impressive to see so very many teams of Lapphunds in one ring.  There were no fewer than 46 teams entered, although presumably not absolutely all of them turned up.  But take my word for it when I tell you there were a lot of them.  Truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience for a Lappy lover.  It was so exciting to place second amongst such venerable company.

2nd Place Lapinlumon Breeder Team - Photo Berit Koehler

Photo: Alice Fowler

One of the very great things about going to a show like this is the opportunity to see so many of the dogs that you only ever knew from photos before.  Another dog I was thrilled to get to meet was a long favorite of mine, Dagolas Qultapoju (Max), who is owned by Christian Lauluten at Kennel Vintervidda in Norway.  If you think I love him because he bears more than a passing resemblance to my Infindigo Taito, then you would be right!  And having met him, I can confirm that he has the same adorable chilled temperament too.  It's no coincidence that they are so alike - their pedigrees share many of the same dogs.

Gorgeous Dagolas Qultapoju (Max) getting brushed

 

Me photographing Max - photo Liz Mowatt

Another dog I have admired from afar for a long time is one of Max's sons, Ukkonen av Vintervidda (Ukko).  So when Christian was looking for handler to take Ukko into the challenge of the Open Dog class, I said "I'll get my jacket"!  There were apparently 91 really outstanding dogs in the Open Dog class and this number had been whittled down to, perhaps, a third of that for the challenge where all the dogs graded Excellent returned to the ring.

As with my previous experience with Gloria, each dog was examined by the judge again and then she moved to shake the hand of a few to excuse them from the ring.  Then she had another look at the dogs and excused a few more.  Then she got everyone to move again and excused yet more.  The audience was enormous and the atmosphere tense.  My own excitement was mounting with each cut that Ukko and I survived.  Although I was concentrating hard on Ukko and remembering the scrap of Norwegian to speak to him in, I was very aware of being one of only 4 or 5 left in the ring.  The judge moved me into second position and then got us all to run around the ring again, calling out her 1 - 2 - 3 - 4! as we ran.  It was unspeakably thrilling for me, so you can imagine how the other two people from England in that lineup felt with their own dogs.  That's right - I was 2nd after Toni Jackson with Elbereth Matkamies and before Elaine Short with Glenchess Ilolas, sire of my Riemu litter.  In 4th place was Sarah with Lapinlumon Elämänilo, Ilolas's dad.  

Me showing the magnificent Ukko

 

Open Dog First-Fourth Place - Photo Helena Bergstrom

Open Dog First-Third Place - photo Helena Bergstrom

Open Dog Second-Fourth Place - Photo Helena Bergstrom

I found it incalculably entertaining to have the 1st, 2nd and 3rd places in the strongly contested Open Dog class taken by British handlers; I was only sorry that Ukko did not belong to me!   The whole experience certainly made for an unforgettable day.

And now I know how to say "stand" in several European languages.  Well, it's a start.

a weekend in Finland

It wasn't my first trip to Finland, but it was the best.  For one thing the weather was spectacularly warm and mainly sunny.  I stayed in Helsinki this time and got to see some of the sights.  And then there was the dog show. 

But first, the sightseeing. 

A bunch of us stayed at the Best Western Hotel Haaga.  Great staff, comfy beds, nice pool & sauna and good food - I would definitely stay there again.  It was 10 minutes by taxi to the dog show and about 20 minutes by bus to the city centre.

We didn't want to waste a minute of our brief time in Finland, so as soon as we arrived at the hotel (sometime after 6 pm), we quickly changed into our swimming gear and hopped a bus then a tram to the harbour to catch a boat to Pihlajasaari, an outdoor recreation area located on an island about 10 minutes from the city centre.  I'm sure on a hot, sunny day this would be a wonderful location to hang out, swim, sunbathe and explore the island.  When we finally arrived there after getting caught in an enormous thunder shower, it was less than hot, less than sunny and closer to bedtime than sunbathing time.  We didn't let that deter us, however, and we had a snack in the restaurant (hello yummy chips and unfamiliar delicious spicy-mayo-like Finnish condiment) then a brief visit to the beach where some of our intrepid group even had a swim in the chilly Baltic Sea. 

Pihlajasaari

After that it was straight to one of the city's many wonderful outdoor cafe's for drinks and more snacks.  We happened more or less by accident upon the Karl Fazer cafe.  Let's just say it wasn't our last visit there.

Gorgeous displays at Fazer

Scrumptious treats at Fazer -  Pihlajasaari restaurant's famous homemade donuts

The next day a splinter group of 3 of us set off on a cruise through the archipelago to a 14th-century town on the Gulf of Finland 50km east of Helsinki called Porvoo, the second-oldest town in Finland.  There was just time for lunch and a wander around the shops and pretty cobbled streets before taking the boat back to Helsinki.  Oh, and then there was the ice creams as big as our heads, of course.  Not to mention the single licorice flavoured chocolate from the handmade chocolate factory. 

Pretty Porvoo

Views from boats

More views from boats - there were some VERY nice seafront houses

Lots of opportunities for selfies

Dinner for 9 in the hotel after the show

Any number of beautiful buildings around Helsinki

Then there was the dinner party suspended from a crane - a snip at 318 Euros per couple

Helsinki harbour - art exhibition promo - market - Lappies in the street!

It was a great weekend, but it was the dog show that made it a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  But that's a separate blog post, and one that will require a little more scrounging photos from other people.

happy birthday ...

... to the Monta puppies, aka the Devon Nine, who are 6 years old today!

I almost posted this a whole month early.  It wasn't that I forgot when their birthday is, it's just that I misplaced my grip on which month we were in.  Ahem.

First, here are their parents:

L: Neka age 10 yrs   -    R: Keskiyo age 8 yrs

This was Neka's second litter of puppies, an amazing bunch of NINE who remain, to this day, the largest litter ever born in the UK.  Neka did an absolutely stellar job of raising them, and all these years later I can still remember how exhausted I was with all the feeding, house training and socialising by the time they were 7 weeks old.  Oh, and did I mention that it rained just about every day those puppies lived here?  There was rather too much of the lugging them back and forth from the garden pen.

If you would like to check out what life was like with 9 puppies, go back to the first days of this blog which you can access via the archives list to the right.

In the meantime, here are the 6-year-olds and their 6-week-old selves - well most of them, anyway. 

Infindigo Monta Jaana
(Sybil)

Snoozing in the sun - Good morning bottom! - at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Tarmo
(Tarmo)

Chilling on the cool tiles - Cute head tilt - at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Maija
(Maija)

Funny upside down dog - good sitting girl - at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Rauhan
(Rauhan)

Posing at a show (photo (c) Mark Treasure)  -  pretty face  -  at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Sulo
(Kaija)

Looking a lot like dad  -  looking a lot like mum  -  at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Viivi
(Viivi)

Pretty posing girl - looking like her dad - at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Tarkka
(Tarkka)

Handsome Tarkka (photos (c) Joanne Ross)  -  at 6 weeks

Infindigo Monta Aurinko
(Inko)

Showing off her fluffy tail - showing off her fluffy feet! - at 6 weeks

happy birthday to the veterans

Well, well, well.  A few months ago I had the shock of realising that my puppy dog Neka had somehow reached the age of 10 years while I had my back turned.  Even greater than that, though, is to find that today her (and my) first litter of puppies turn 7 years old and become officially veterans. 

It really doesn't feel like 7 years since I first read The Book of Bitch cover to cover (3 times) in preparation for what was to come.  Nor does it seem like 7 years since I sat up 3 nights in a row with an increasingly-restless Neka as we both steeled ourselves for the big new adventure.  And it doesn't seem like 7 years since Neka shredded the sofa cushion, leaving the foam in chunks all over the floor, so that she had a nice comfy nest to give birth in.  (Don't worry - I did move her upstairs to her brand new and shiny whelping box.  I was just a bit tardy in doing so, apparently.)  These days I am much more in tune to the grunting of a bitch whose contractions have started.

So a very happy birthday to my gorgeous firstborns and the very first Infindigo veterans, in birth order, as always, at 7 weeks and 7 years (or as close to 7 years as I have).  I was a bit slow to request new pics of the new veterans, so if I get some more up-to-date photos, I'll update the blog post too.

Infindigo Kultainen (Koda)

Koda 7 Weeks

Koda 7 Years

Infindigo Taika (Taika)

Taika 7 Weeks

Baby Taika with baby Jamie

Taika 7 Years - Beach Dog

Happy rolling dog

Infindigo Pikkukarhu (Karhu)

Karhu 7 Weeks

Karhu 7 Years - Another Beach Dog

Another happy rolling dog - I can see a pattern developing here

Infindigo Seppo (Diesel)

Diesel 7 Weeks

Diesel 3 Years - Yet another beach dog

Infindigo Taito (Taito)

Taito 7 Weeks

Taito 7 Years - Photo (c) Mark Treasure

Infindigo Keksi (Keksi)

Keksi 7 Weeks

Keksi (left) 7 Years with her son Kuura (right)

Infindigo Tuuri (Torvi)

Torvi 7 Weeks

Torvi 6.5 Years

a mixed bag

Last week Emmi was scanned to see (a) whether she was pregnant; and (b) how many puppies she was likely to have.  I was quite convinced she was in whelp, and I wasn't the only one - after all, she was showing all the signs, including getting round in the belly.  But somehow she fooled us all and I got the dreadful news that the much anticipated and enormously expensive AI mating didn't work. 

I was so shocked that I actually took Emmi to a second place for another ultrasound because I needed a second opinion.  Sadly, the second opinion was the same as the first:  no puppies.

One of the great joys of breeding puppies is making families so happy when they get their new puppy.  One of the saddest jobs I've ever had is telling waiting families that the puppy they thought would be born in a few weeks doesn't even exist. 

I've been lucky, really, because this happened to me only once before, and that time we had not even accomplished a mating, so I didn't have the same few weeks of expecting puppies before getting the bad news.  Bitches failing to get pregnant is far from a rare event, so I don't really have a lot to complain about, having been successful every other time.  It doesn't make it any easier to pass on the sad news, though. 

So when Emmi's next season rolls around we will be trying again.  Not the AI route this time, which means a different sire.  Who he will be is yet to be determined, but I have a few ideas up my sleeve. 

After the heartbreaking job of reporting the mating failure, I distracted myself from my disappointment with a trip to the Southern Counties Championship show where we had a lot of dogs entered under Finnish judge Pekka Teini.  The last time we went under this judge, 5 years ago, Taito was Reserve Best Dog behind his father who was Best of Breed and Rauhan was Best Puppy.   We didn't fare quite so well this time around, but I had a terrific day anyway and managed to win Best Breeder, being the only one to enter a team.  The judge did say to me they were a very nice group and he very much liked their Finnish names.  You can see all the results from the day here.

It was the very first show for Tito and I am so grateful to his family for letting me steal him away from their holiday in Cornwall to take him.  He didn't place this time around, but he did behave extremely well for his first time.  I had intended to get lots of wonderful photos, having several Infindigo dogs in attendance.  For one thing, as well as Taito being there, so was his dad Kimmi and his own kids Tito and Talvi.  Unfortunately my big plans just didn't happen and I only got a couple of quick phone shots of each of the puppies with Taito.  I didn't even manage to make these half-decent photos because I had somehow inadvertently switched on a strange filter so the quality is very poor.  But, better than no record of the day at all.  Er, maybe.

Taito & daughter Talvi, 7 months

Taito (right) with his mini-me son Tito, 7 months

Does anyone actually use those terrible filters on iPhones cameras by choice or only ever by accident?

After the show a large group of us met at a nearby pub and sat in the garden in the sun to have a wonderful lunch.  Shout out to The Swan Inn in Newtown, Newbury, for their helpfulness and hospitality with our large group of people & dogs as well as for really terrific food.  Socialising with friends is what dog shows are all about for me, really.  It was a good day.

Back at home again, my own dogs are enjoying their days in the long grass of the field where we frequently walk. 

Tuuli (front) & Maija running through the long grass

L-R: Maija, Keskiyo, Tuuli

I love this time of year in the field.  The pros of letting them run in the long grass:  (1) They love it, (2) It's really excellent exercise, (3) They are much less likely to disappear because they can't see anything that might take their fancy, including pheasants, other dogs or people.  The cons:  just one - ticks.  Later in the year we'll have to worry about grass seeds embedding in skin or ears too, but for now the only real problem with grass fun is they almost invariably pick up ticks.  Horrid things (the ticks, not the dogs).

an adventure of a different kind

The search for a compatible stud dog for one's bitch can certainly lead down new, unexpected and interesting paths. 

I had it easy for my first two litters.  The dogs were right here in the UK; in fact, in the case of the second litter, the dog was right here in the same house.  And in each instance I had help trying to figure out how to accomplish a mating.  (Oh, did you think it was easy to get two dogs to mate?  If they were neighbourhood mutts then I have no doubt it would be easy as pie.  I'm sure it would be a matter of turn your back and - bam! - a litter of 12 or 14 more little mutts on the way in 2 months' time.    Take two prized pedigree dogs, their ancestors all pairings carefully chosen and planned for many generations over many years to maximize looks, health and character, and try to get nature to take its course - see how far you get without a little experience and knowhow.  Uh huh.) 

For the next two litters I cast my eye abroad in search of dogs unrelated to mine and to specific lines I was interested in crossing with mine.  In each case I took the bitch and dragged her to France at the appointed time.  It wasn't exactly simple on those occasions - oh no.  The first trip to France started well enough on time and with the stud dog in question accomplishing his task with the least pomp & circumstance you could imagine.  The trip home, in contrast, was hair-raising involving way too much snow and summer-grade tyres on the car.

The second visit to France was also a little more "interesting" than I would have preferred.  The French ferry workers were striking on and off with little or no warning so I took off very early in the bitch's cycle and waited it out safely within driving distance of the stud dog.  In the end we were away from home for a whole week and I had a complicated return home with an unscheduled drive south to a ferry that actually was running. 

That was followed by two more relatively straightforward matings with dogs located here at home.

My next planned litter will be a whole new adventure in dog mating.  The planned sire is the gorgeous Uni, aka Dk Ch Lapinlumon Noiadi.  You can see some more photos of him on my website here.

Uni - Dk Ch Lapinlumon Noaidi - pretty blinking boy

Uni - Dk Ch Lapinlumon Noaidi

The first intended stud dog was one of those conveniently-located-here-in-the-UK types.  In the end, though, I had to change my arrangements, which just goes to show that even an apparently straightforward plan can go haywire for one reason or another.  By contrast, Uni is not living here in the UK.  He's not even living a simple ferry ride away in western France.  Nope.  He is in Sweden.  And there's nothing simple about getting to Sweden for a mating.  Particularly so when one's bitch doesn't have a passport.  

So what's a breeder to do?

Artificial insemination, that's what.

And so it begins.  First of all it's absolutely imperative to know exactly when the bitch ovulates so that you know exactly when to inseminate.  Of course, it is also absolutely imperative that the semen of the stud dog is collected at exactly the right time so that it can be chilled and sent off by courier for nextday delivery to the waiting bitch.  (Did you know that the drivers for Fedex, TNT and the rest have in their vans canisters of semen from various species?  Bet you didn't.  Next time you receive a bag of clothing from your favorite online retailer, have a sneaky peak into the delivery van.  Those big metal urns?  Yup.  You're welcome.)

Having established that the timing is crucial, you can be certain that the bitch's season will coincide with the longest holiday it possibly can to make getting blood tests tricky.  Enter Easter.

However, the gods of Finnish Lapphund puppy breeding were smiling on me this week because somehow everything went brilliantly.  The timing worked, the blood tests were done, the results discovered in good time, the stud dog delivered the goods, said "goods" made it to the UK in tiptop condition, and so the deed was done.

"The deed" was very different from the usual "deed" that results in puppies, though.  It involved Jane and I setting off with Emmi (and Jaana for company), and heading 3 hours up the motorway to Surrey where a very nice vet at UK Clone was waiting with the Uni juice on ice.  A little root around to find Emmi's cervix with a scope of some sort (ok, a big root around that took several minutes that felt like hours to the one kneeling on the floor holding Emmi still).  Then in went the juice, then a few minutes' wait as the vet held Emmi's altogether together in a somewhat undignified manner.  Then his hand cramped and so we were free to go.  

All in all it was much less traumatic for the bitch, in my experience, than their first mating.  I do worry, though, that not having gone through the mating process, Emmi will wonder where the puppies are coming from.  But then, maiden bitches always seem to have no idea why puppies are popping out of them anyway.  Luckily hormones take over and all is well, so I'm sure it will be a similar experience for Emmi.

No, there are no photos of Emmi in flagrante delicto with the scope.  And if you are wondering how the boy-juice is obtained from the stud dog, I'm not telling you.  Suffice to say I wish I had never asked.  

And now it's a waiting game for a month or so to get Emmi scanned by ultrasound and find out whether this was all worth it.