December 2016 £5.00
Merry Christmas The official publication of the Kennel Club 1 KC December MC.indd 1
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THE LONDON INTERNATIONAL HORSE SHOW
13 th-19th DECEMBER 2016
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Contents
Contents Opinion View from a member of General Committee
4
There is lots to be positive about when it comes to the dog show scene, says Jeff Horswell
6
Viewpoint
Simon Parsons raises the issue of membership of the Kennel Club
7Letters & special news
December 2016
— a new 18Canicross canine activity
This fast-moving sport has been officially recognised by the Kennel Club
20The lifesavers
The remarkable work of Medical Detection Dogs
team at the FCI World 23Agility Championships
8
Mike Townsend
Team GB put on a credible display
What’s been happening in the dog world?
Professor Steve Dean explains why a vet’s work is never done — even at Christmas!
The stories behind some of the KC’s impressive trophies
ghton
12
H ou
Health matters Christmas tales from a vet
17
K it
Who reveals how dogs and cricket have played huge roles in his life and the lives of his family
Art & culture The silver models
:© tos
8
o Ph
People In conversation with Mike Townsend
34Book corner
The latest reads reviewed
Judges’ choice Dogue de Bordeaux
24
16
The London International Horse Show
The breed standard, plus breed experts pick their three favourite dogs
Special features Membership consultation
14
— The London 16Olympia International Horse Show
An amazing 30 per cent off selected performances for Kennel Club members
The Kennel Club, Clarges Street, London W1J 8AB www.thekennelclub.org.uk Chairman: Simon Luxmoore Vice Chairman: Steve Croxford Chief Executive: Rosemary Smart Secretary: Caroline Kisko Customer services: 01296 318540 Petlog Main Number: 01296 336579 Petlog Lost & Found: 01296 737600 Library/Gallery: 020 7518 1009 Insurance Enquiries: 0800 369 9445
Photo: ©Becky Swainston
The Kennel Club asks for feedback on its new proposals
24
The Dogue de Bordeaux
Editor: Carrie Thomas Editorial Co-ordinator: Sara Wilde Editorial Panel: Bill Moores (Chairman), Ian Gabriel, Philippa Gilbert, Robert Greaves, Revd Bill King, Gay Robertson Editorial enquiries: kennel.gazette@thekennelclub.org.uk The Kennel Club, Clarges Street, London W1J 8AB Subscriptions: 020 7518 1016 subs@kennelgazette.org.uk
To advertise contact Andrea Walters a.walters@bpgmedia.co.uk Printed by Warners Midlands Plc Kennel Gazette is the monthly publication of the Kennel Club. Views and opinions expressed within the Kennel Gazette are the personal opinions of the original authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Kennel Club. Cover photograph: Am Ch Thistleglen Margot Photographer: ©Lisa Croft-Elliott
Kennel Gazette is published monthly on behalf of the Kennel Club by BPG Media www.bpgmedia.co.uk
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Viewpoint
By Simon Parsons
T
Viewpoint
he General Committee of the Kennel Club — or the Board as we should now call it — has had plenty to occupy itself recently; the changes to the club’s governance, various property issues, the all-important future attitude to non-pedigree dogs and much, much more. But I’m glad that one even more fundamental issue is about to come off the back burner. That’s the very basic question of who may become a member of our sport’s governing body. During the early 2000s there was plenty of progress on this front. Doubling the maximum membership was a major development, and allowing associates of some years’ standing to progress to consideration for membership, without the need to be formally proposed, was another step forward. These were much the most significant changes since women were admitted in the very late 1970s (on reflection, how on earth did that take so long?). Then came the 2008 crisis when so much
needed to be done to re-establish the good name of the pedigree dog. Since then, with two changes of chairman, little more was heard of any extension of the membership. There was a recent suggestion that there should be ‘town’ and ‘country’ membership, with a lower fee for those who don’t actually make use of the Clarges Street premises, and then things went quiet on that. Now, I understand, progress in this area is resuming, and more can be read elsewhere in this issue of the Kennel Gazette (see page 14). During my years as editor of Dog World newspaper, and indeed since then, I did my best to promote the idea of a democratic governing body, and really did hope that we would see that in my lifetime. As I approach a significant birthday next year, I would love to think that’s not a vain hope. Some would argue that as the current membership ceiling has never been reached, there is not a significant demand for further change. That doesn’t take account of the expense involved in both joining and maintaining membership, which must surely put off many who would like to be involved but have to think twice about what they
would actually get for their money. Some would like to see KC membership open to all, or to all who make use of the club’s services, such as registration. It’s an attractive idea but even I, as an advocate of ‘democracy’, can see the danger of a takeover by those who do not support the club’s aims and traditions. My own inclination has been towards earning the right to affordable membership by proving a genuine interest in dogs, perhaps via a number of years’ membership of a KC-recognised club. I hope that this issue of the Kennel Gazette provokes serious discussion on this topic and that some suitable criteria can be thought up, so that the KC will in the not too distant future genuinely be representative of those whose activities it governs. ●
SIMON PARSONS Simon Parsons has owned a variety of breeds but his first loves are the Corgis. He is associate editor of Dog World and awards Challenge Certificates in 13 breeds. In 2014 he instigated the revival of the Kennel Gazette
Photos: ©The Kennel Club
Have your say… if you have a question, comment, or viewpoint regarding any features or articles within the Kennel Gazette please contact the editor on kennel.gazette@thekennelclub.org.uk
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Health matters
Christmas tales from a vet
Among all the partying and festive celebrations, a vet’s work is never done! By Professor Steve Dean BVetMed MRCVS DVR
T
Photo: courtesy of Steve Dean
is an odd time of year when yuletide comes around. The world is in preparation for the festive season but veterinary life continues pretty much unchanged. Of course vets like to warn folks about seasonal dangers such as poisonings from grapes and raisins, electrocution from chewing tree light cables and inappropriate feeding of turkey giblets to dogs (full of nasty sharp bones that get stuck). In parallel, the charities take the opportunity to remind everyone that a dog is not a suitable Christmas present and start raising money to pay for the anticipated upsurge of unwanted pets in the new year.
Christmas welfare It has been quite a time since I worked at the veterinary coalface but one or two memorable days from my past life in general practice occurred around Christmas and New Year. Prior to one Christmas, a local publican told me she was retiring and selling the pub. Her problem was the parrot which lived in the bar. Her husband had declared “Either the bird goes or I will!”. She had thought about his offer for some time but decided perhaps she should part with the parrot. Full of feelings of Christmas good will I offered to give the bird a home and so Tooty came to live at the surgery. I had not bargained for the variety and colourfulness of his language, which was quite a talking point among our clients and required his frequent removal from the waiting room when children were present. One evening, the staff forgot to close his cage properly and he decided to reduce some very expensive armoured high-voltage cabling to a heap of copper bits on the floor. I was tipped off that the boss was on his way to wring the darling bird’s neck and managed to quit the premises, with the parrot in my car, a minute or two before the angry
executioner arrived. Tooty lived with my family for many decades thereafter but never in a low profile way.
24-hour service Vets love pranks, especially when aimed at friends and colleagues, so when the phone rang at around 2am on the 1st January and a high squeaky voice said: “Can you help me — I only have one arm” I confess, even to my sleep befuddled brain, this sounded suspicious. The caller went on to say: “My dog is lying at the bottom of the stairs and cannot get up.” Responses were evasive as to how the dog came to be at the bottom of the stairs or why he could not rise from where he lay, so after two or three minutes I said “Who is this? Is this a wind up?” “No,” he replied, “I only have one arm”. I left the house on a cold and frosty night to drive five miles to town, fully prepared to find the whole thing was a hoax. On arrival, the house was ablaze with
lights with a New Year party in full swing. Knocking on the door produced a man with a high-pitched squeaky voice who anxiously asked me to look at his dog and, yes, he only had one arm. At the bottom of the stairs lay a Sheltie looking terrified. Asking where the dog usually slept, I was shown a cupboard under the stairs. As the door opened the Sheltie leapt to his feet and ran to his bed. To a general cry of “The vet’s cured the dog”, the very merry party goers decided to have a whip round for the vet and the hat returned with about twice the fee owed. They sent me on my way with loud effusive thanks and even left me with the hat! Neither dog, nor the one-armed man, was ever seen again by our surgery.
The working dog It was 4pm on Boxing Day and getting dark when the doorbell rang. I was off duty (which was never a reliable condition in agricultural practice). Outside was a local shepherd and I assumed he had a ewe in the back of his van. It was quite traditional for local sheep farmers to bring their ewes to us to save the call out fee. He looked at me oddly when I said “It’s a bit early for lambing,” as I walked to his vehicle. “It’s not a yow” (translation: ewe) he said, and he opened the door to reveal one of his collies lying in a deep bed of straw.
‘Full of feelings of Christmas good will I offered to give the bird a home and so Tooty came to live at the surgery’
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Health matters
Christmas hristmas comes early — or late It was July, the weather was hot and Golden Retriever triever Harvey sat on my examination table ble looking a very sorry dog. Quite thin, an unkempt kempt lustreless coat, he was vomiting daily ily and had done so for very many weeks. Hee would vomit bile, food or water. In fact he kept very little food down and his owners were re in despair. We admitted Harvey and were given permission rmission to open him up in an attempt to seee what was going on but first we submitted Harvey arvey for X-rays before proceeding to surgery. rgery. The X-rays suggested something ominous minous most probably in his stomach. We feared ared the worst and proceeded with the operation. eration. Once exposed, the stomach wall feltt thickened and then I felt the contents and d smiled. Harvey had a foreign body, which, as it emerged merged from the incision, proved to be Santa nta in a sleigh full of presents. Harvey had d consumed a plastic bauble from the Christmas hristmas tree the previous Christmas and that at is how, showing little sign of wear and tear, ar, Santa made a surprise visit to our surgery during ring summertime, having caused havoc to Harvey’s arvey’s health and development and nearly resulted sulted in his early death. Then we did not have the sophisticated techniques chniques and equipment we have today — even owning an X-ray machine was a major advance back then, but eventually we succeeded for Harvey and his family. We received ceived regular pictures of Harvey for many any years thereafter. That is one of the joys ys of being a vet, when it all goes right righ htt for once. ● h
Photo: ©OnEdition/The Kennel Club
She was having trouble whelping. Now the back of a van is hardly the place I would have chosen to play mid-wife. Nevertheless a quick examination revealed a poorly presented puppy blocking the way out and some relatively straightforward manipulation aided the delivery of a dead pup. She rapidly produced two more and I recommended he return home and put her back in her whelping accommodation to settle her. “Well she is in it” he replied, “she likes to be in the back of the van and she chose her own place to whelp.” So, his van sat in my drive and we supervised the whelping of her litter. When she was finished he went on his way home having refused cups of tea or any offer of coming into the house to get warm. Strangely, this was the collie that always attempted to nip my heels or backside when I was on the farm and yet she never once attempted to stop me assisting her. In fact, she was very welcoming and friendly and this continued when I called by the next day to check her and the pups. She welcomed me thereafter each time I visited the farm and admired her brood. So when I returned in the spring to look at a group of lambs she saw me, barked and took off at a flat out run. I assumed she had gone to alert the shepherd that her new friend was here but no she ran right around the large barn and caught me out by nipping my back side when I was not looking. “It’s good to see her back to her normal self,” the shepherd said as he came around the corner of the barn.
STEVE DEAN Steve Dean is a vet who is well known, with his wife Karen, for the Tyrian Border Terriers. Although retired, Steve is Chairman of the KC Charitable Trust and the Retired Greyhound Trust. His current interest is attempting to train his Labrador Retriever to compete in gundog tests and field trialling. He also writes a weekly veterinary column for Our Dogs
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Book reviews
Book off the shelf If you’ve read a dog book that you would like to tell our readers about, please let our editor know.
Book corner
The Kennel Club Library is Europe’s largest collection of ca canine i literature and these three books are recent additions to its shelves When man meets dog
By Chris Blazina PhD (Hubble & Hattie)
I Ideal Christmas stocking fillers st
Reviewed by Robert I Greaves In his book, When man meets dog, psychologist Dr Christopher Blazina explains the importance of the special bond between men and dogs. Written in conversational form, it enables readers to experience the bond through the eyes of the author from his own experience. The writer takes us on a journey through emotions and the role dogs have played in his life, sharing his very personal story of how two rescue dogs not only changed the direction of his life, but also how he defines what it means to be a man. Along the way he analyses the interactions and the important part dogs play. Our relationships with companion animals are very important and have a huge impact on our whole lives. This book explores the male state into adulthood which may often lead to a degree of emotional
detachment. For men, the connection with dogs bypasses familiar male barriers, which keep so many others at a distance, and this book helps us understand the challenges men face in making bonds, and why ties with canine companions offset many of these difficulties. It demonstrates how canine companions can be a unique source of comfort to men working through change. Equally covered along with attachment is the loss of a dog. And this is probably the first book to discuss men’s continuing bonds with a lost animal companion. Reviewing the book at a time of my own loss of Odin, my Norwegian Elkhound, meant I could relate precisely to how the book explained male emotions and grief. For me, there were three aspects here: firstly, the book cited that grief is often over a period of months but can occasionally reappear over years; secondly,
that 85 per cent of men identified that losing a dog was like losing a close friend or relative; thirdly, there is a mixture of head and heart grieving i i styles. l I can endorse totally the writer’s assessment and understanding here and as I re-read the pages I can hear myself saying: “Yes, that’s me”. Until I had to deal with Odin’s loss I didn’t wholly appreciate the precision of the author’s words. But for me, grief in the masculine world could not have been more accurately stated. When man meets dog, it leads to a unique friendship, one that can change men's lives. A must read for anyone who wants to more fully understand and enrich their bonds with animals but equally to understand themselves and male emotions.
The quite very actual adventures of Worzel Wooface & Worzel Wooface the quite very actual terribibble twos! By Catherine Pickles (Hubble & Hattie) Reviewed by Gay Robertson Originally a blog written to update Hounds First Sighthound Rescue on the progress of her Lurcher puppy, Catherine Pickles’ diary of Worzel Wooface gathered many followers and developed a life of its own. It includes many useful tips on overcoming the issues that rescue dogs may bring with them and gives some insight into how a dog may see the family and five cats that share his new home. Written in Worzel’s own voice with some pretty baffling spelling (it took many pages for me to realise that fusy-tastic was Worzel-speak for enthusiastic), the language could be a bit irritating for some but the
story of family life moves at a good pace and Worzel’s liberal use of his favourite words very, quite and actual, sometimes in the middle of other words reminded me of Dirk Bogarde’s title for his least favourite film, 'How Very Dare They.' Worzel’s family has a boat which is a bit of a challenge for a Lurcher puppy and even more of a challenge for the family when the first trip is to Greenwich to see historic tall ships, spending the night in Limehouse Marina in the City of London. All goes well and the lesson of the book is that preparation is key for smooth encounters with the unusual.
The second book covers co er ers the nearly adult Worzel continuing through life, losing his ‘gentleman bits’, eating blue pills left around by a careless teenager, learning home alone and staying away and the 12 rules of Christmas. Worzel’s introduction gives a recap on the first year but I would endorse his recommendation that people read the first book first.
The Kennel Club Library is happy to welcome visitors and help with research. It holds information on every Kennel Club recognised breed and also covers a whole host of dog topics, such as training, breeding, shows, field trials, and other activities, health and veterinary care, dogs in art, and even dogs in literature. Opening hours by appointment: Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 4.30pm. Contact us: library@thekennelclub.org.uk
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