2 August 2019

Finlay is now over 2 years old and coming along nicely.

He is without doubt the most lovely natured dog, he loves to meet people and other dogs. So many times out on walks Finlay works his magic, he will fix upon a stranger walking towards him with his cheeky smile, then as the person approaches he will stop and wag and get a goofy grin on his face. At this point only the most hard-hearted human can walk past without comment. Once they have stopped then they cannot resist saying hello to Finlay and another friend is made. Time after time.

At dog shows it is much the same, Finlay still loves going to the shows and now gets very excited as we enter the car park. He has a widening group of friends he meets now and every judge is a potential new best friend. The judge will certainly get a wag, but if they get close enough they will most certainly also get a kiss. Not all judges seem so keen on the kiss, but secretly I think they are fine with it.

In terms of meeting other dogs, Finlay does exhibit some nervousness on occasion. He was attacked when he was quite young, bitten underneath by a dog he had rolled over to trying to give the correct doggy body language but this dog bit him on the underside. This seems to have had a lasting effect, so sometimes he can't quite allow himself to say hello without a nervous growl. We sometimes meet a Tibetan Mastiff who Finlay has always been fine with, but the owner recently also got a big black Newfoundland called Sherlock. Finlay was initially a bit freaked out by Sherlock, but we met him on the beach and they were both off the lead, and after a bit of nervous running away (even Finlay isn't that daft to growl at a dog 10 times his size!) they soon ended up chasing each other madly around the beach, showing that given time his confidence builds. It is up to us to try and help him build that confidence, he is getting better.

I can take absolutely no credit for this next part of the story. Finlay achieved his Bronze Good Citizen Dog award, which we are so pleased about. This success was entirely down to Deb and Finlay and in the first couple of weeks at the training club, it seemed an impossible task. Now, my wife is not one to shy away from a challenge and she doesn't like to be beaten by something. A little know fact about Deb is that when she was very young she used to do obedience with her dog at the time, a Pomeranian called Shandy. I'm not sure which you would view as more challenging, obedience training a Pom or a Tibbie!! Deb persevered with Finlay and week by week he got better, one of his downfalls was his down stay, how can you get a hyper-alert waggy dog who so desperately wants to play with all the other dogs to stay still.....well they managed it in the end. This week, he even managed a 2 minute down-stay, which is at Silver award level. Deb hasn't decided whether to go for Silver yet.....It goes without saying that having a more obedient dog is a good thing to have, both when out and about and when in the show ring. That said, Finlay is a Tibetan Spaniel and that doesn't come without a bit of selected deafness from time to time. His recall is pretty reliable now, but that doesn't mean we can let him off-lead just anywhere!!

Finlay has also spent his first week in kennels whilst we went away on holiday. We weren't entirely sure how he would cope, we tried him for 2 trial stays and he was fine and in the event his weeks stay was also fine. The people that run the kennel loved looking after him and he got to socialise with the other small dogs (they separate out small and large dogs before they let them out into the secure paddock) and when he came out of the kennels, he was happy to see us but was quite happy to wander off with the kennel staff to sniff the surrounding area before coming to us to go home. That was nice to see, he didn't come running out of the kennel desperate to leave. He is not a clingy dog, so this was not unexpected and makes him an easy dog to live with....

On the show scene, Finlay finally got his very first Best Of Breed at the Southampton Open dog show. It was a lovely show right by Southampton water and it is only a 20 minute drive up the road, so couldn't not go there really. It clashed with the SEEATSS Champ show which was unfortunate, but it was a lovely day.

Here is Finlay with his Bronze Good Citizen Dog certificate, he couldn't quite bring himself to look at it, he seemed to have taken offence with it in fact. But he earned it, bless him.

We have had a lot of hot weather lately and whilst this isn't the best looking area of our house, the patio is always in the shade because our garden is nearly north-facing. So Finlay likes to 'sploot' out here on the cold stone. Doesn't look that comfortable, but he loves it.

Here is Finlay at the Southampton Open show, where he won Best of Breed, his very first.

19 May 2019

Finlay is now 23 months old, not far off his 2nd birthday, amazing!

Today's blog is some musings about both Finlay and dog showing. Not that long ago, I would have been largely ignorant of the massive number of dog shows that happen in the UK every weekend of the year. Some of them small dog shows and some of them very big dog shows. This weekend alone that I'm aware of, there were the following shows:
- Devon County show
- Redditch and District show
- Coventry and District show
- Christchurch and New Forest show
- Scottish Kennel Club Championship show

All of them had representation from Tibetan Spaniel exhibitors and even TS owners judging. But what is in it for the exhibitors, well.....largely just the fun of going and showing your dog off to the world and socialising with like-minded people. Since we've been showing Finlay we've probably won £30-£50 in prize money, there is never that much money on offer, so people aren't getting rich on it.

Today in Dorset at the Christchurch and New Forest Open show, it was a 'mixed weather' day. We arrived in the sunshine, it slowly clouded over and got very muggy and the weather forecast was exactly right with planned heavy rain. The heavens opened and it tipped down for a couple of hours. The very British weather brought out the very British spirit of smiling through all of this and carrying on, largely due to a friend of ours bringing along a massive gazebo for us all to shelter under.....well the Tibetan Spaniel people that is, not the whole show, it wasn't THAT big!! Yes it was a bit miserable for a while and such a contrast to earlier in the day, but "the show must go on". Organising a dog show through those conditions can't be massive fun, so a big well done to those that made it happen.

Finlay did pretty well today. For an open show, it was very stiff competition in his class and he came a creditable 2nd out of 5 entries and went on to win 'Best Opposite Sex'. Then got a 1st in AV Utility Open.....although only 1 in the class, due to some people not waiting around in the rain. But unplaced in an Open Stakes class....the only chance to win some money on the day.

Next week one of the 'big' dog shows, the Bath Championship dog show. An outdoor show like today, let's hope the weather holds out.

In other news this week, Finlay has had the best fun in his garden whilst we have our large conifer hedge ripped out to be replaced with a nice new fence. His new best buddy was Danny the tree surgeon, every day he went out for a big fuss before Danny got going. The love was mutual, Danny picked Finlay up for a big cuddle....and Danny was a very big man well over 6 foot tall, but Finlay still went in for the snog (and the wag of course). For the time being he can see into our neighbours garden, which is absolute heaven for him, because he can wag at our neighbour and therefore get even more attention. He's going to be gutted next week when the fence goes up, although no doubt he will befriend the fencing contractors!

This weeks spoils, the rosettes from his classes. Haven't had many 'Best Opposite Sex' rosettes, I think this is only his second. I'm pretty sure Finlay would agree he is the best looking opposite sex too :-)

Here is Finlay in the garden inspecting a big heap of felled conifer hedging, which has produced his largest stash of sticks ever! He'll be finding and fetching them for weeks to come....

Ohhh, sticks! Me want.....

Charity work....Deb occasionally does some collecting for our local RSPCA branch, so a couple of weekends ago, we stood outside a local pet shop and took Finlay along to help our cause. It is the first time he has done such a task, he certainly attracted the punters in. It was both a good ploy on our part, plus a good Tibetan Spaniel promotion event. The RSPCA have reported back on takings for our time there, it is safe to say the 'Finlay factor' paid dividends and proportionally we collected well above the average across the weekend. What a clever boy.

14 April 2019

Finlay is now 22 months old!

Just a few reflections this week on dog showing.....We said that this year we would not do as many shows as we did last year when we were trying to get Finlay's Junior Warrant, and it doesn't look like we have been entirely successful on that front. But the main thing is we are all still enjoying the experience. Since the last blog post about Cruft's we've done a couple of open shows and most recently the Crystal Palace Open show at South of England showground at Ardingly.

We like to enter Finlay into both the breed classes and some other classes, either AV/AVNSC or a Stakes class or two. If you are travelling 1 to 2 hours (or more) to get to a show, it seems a shame to go all that way just for one class. Plus Finlay enjoys the doing it and it gives Deb & Finlay experience with more classes and lots of different judges. We also feel it is nice to spread the Tibetan Spaniel love around because possibly some of these judges rarely get to see a Tibbie.

Now, I haven't got the slightest idea how to judge a dog, although everyone is a ringside judge from time to time! But there is the breed standard part of judging and then there is the personal preference part of judging. Even if you have a ring full of dogs with 10 out of 10 for breed standard/type, there will be a dog in the ring that "speaks" to the judge in some way, stands out and says "pick me". I totally get that, but we had the best example of two different judging experiences on the same day at Crystal Palace. The following is just an observation, nothing aimed at the judging at all, just two different judges, two different opinions.....

In the breed, we entered Finlay into the Post Graduate class and he came 3rd out of 3 dogs entered. No problem with that, Finlay and Deb didn't seem to do anything 'wrong', Finlay was his usual effervescent self and wagged his way through the whole affair. But clearly, the type of Tibetan Spaniel that Finlay is didn't do it for that judge. Certainly he was the larger of the 3 dogs there, but not overtly so. Then Finlay & Deb went on to do a Stakes class, and what a result it was.

There were about 23 dogs in the AV Yearling Stakes class, all shapes and sizes from Afghan Hound, German Shepherd, Tibetan Terrier, Lhasa Apso, Pointers....you name it. The initial aim for Deb is to get shortlisted, so having done his thing, the judge pulled out about 10 dogs for his shortlist and we were in it, hooray. At that point, we would have been happy enough to be considered in the top 'half' of the draw. But we continued. The judge got the dogs to move again and then further shortlisted down to his final 5. There was a bit of confusion because the final five thought he was doing the placings but no, the judge pointed out he was just making up his final placings. Deb was stood at the front of the queue and he looked at the dogs again, and did re-order them slightly but at the end Deb and Finlay remained in 1st place. We were just so surprised and overjoyed. In just over a year of showing Finlay this is his best placing in a Stakes class, and such a large class at that. He even won himself £10 into the bargain.

But what a contrast, as I said two different judges and two different views of Finlay. Not entirely a fair comparison, because one class was all Tibbies, the other was AV, so not comparing eggs with eggs. There were some great looking dogs in that Stakes class too. 

For me, the moral of the story is enter the classes and have fun and gain the experience. Don't not enter because you think you won't win, because you just never know. I take photos and video of Finlay at shows, and Deb watches these back and often sees things she'd like to improve. For instance Finlay doesn't always walk with his head up, partly this is due to many good smells on the ground, but partly it is due to training. Deb doesn't like "stringing" Finlay up on his lead though.....but on some days he does walk with his head up. So there is always something to work on, just like any competition. 

Then as I said before there is the social side, you get to meet up with like-minded people and put the world to rights over a cup of tea! We met a fellow exhibitor on Saturday who, although we knew each other, we've never properly chatted....so it is nice to make new friends too. Finlay made friends too, Tia was apparently a very good looking Tibetan Spaniel!

Here is Deb and Finlay in their final AV Yearling Stakes line up:

AV Yearling Stakes - winners!

Finlay's new girlfriend Tia, isn't she gorgeous!

I'm posing mum!

Keeping warm under her blanket

Another couple of shots I took on Saturday, I've realised I do rather enjoy dog photography. These two little monkeys were very difficult to photograph because they wouldn't keep still. But did OK in the end I think:

Looking a bit regal here....

Butter wouldn't melt.....

10 March 2019

Where to begin! 

Everyone has heard of Crufts, surely?! Either you are not into dogs but you've heard of Crufts, or you are into dogs and dog showing and maybe dream about one day showing your dog at Crufts. This became a reality for us in April 2018 when we won our class at the WELKS Championship dog show and someone said "that's it, you've qualified Finlay for Crufts now", it really hadn't occurred to us until that point. We booked our hotel room almost straight away, there was no chance we were going to miss our first opportunity to show our dog at Crufts. 

Thousands of dogs and their owners head to Crufts each year, and realistically your chances of winning Best In Show are minuscule. You'll know from your results during the year whether you've got a chance of winning your class, and probably you already know the top winning dogs from the year are likely to be your competition if you get any further than winning your class, so unless you are one of those top winning dogs, then it is down to how it goes on the day. Then even if you do win Best of Breed, you're into the group and you've got another 20-30 dogs to beat....all of whom are going to be very special dogs. So we went along dizzy with excitement at just being there with Finlay, a chance for him to show off to the world and have a fun day. Finlay treated it just like any other show, a place to meet people and dogs and say hello. Even though Deb and Finlay have only been showing for a year, they found themselves in the spotlight, so to speak. Through Finlay we have met so many lovely people, and no matter what you think of dog showing, if you like dogs you are in a building with thousands of other dogs and dog loving people, it is a win-win really.

It is hard to imagine that only one year before we came to Crufts to take part on the Discover Dogs stand. As for the actual dog showing, I'm not sure how much Deb took in because she was quite nervous, but on the day they both did incredibly well.

Deb had decided to put Finlay into the Post Graduate class and there were 9 dogs present from an entry of 10. Right from the start a placing was going to be tough. Finlay did his usual performance and proved to be the happiest Tibetan Spaniel, wagging his way through the whole affair. Our judge Liz Scoates decided that Finlay was worthy of a third place in our class, which was amazing. To get a placing at Crufts at the first time of asking, an achievement we couldn't have imagined. It makes me wonder, I've said many times that we didn't intend to show Finlay, but fell into it and got hooked. How many other 'pet' Tibetan Spaniels are out there that could do well at shows? An entry for Crufts of 160-odd dogs is fantastic, but how many more would it be if we could persuade more people into the showing life which really isn't so bad after all. All of this took place on the last Sunday of Crufts, but Finlay was there on Friday as well, for a different competition.....

The Breeders Competition. I've seen this on the TV before in previous years, it never occurred to me that Deb and Finlay would ever be taking part. But Aileen asked Deb and Finlay during 2018 to be part of the Balgay team and she also asked them to take part in the final, amazing! 40 teams of 3 or 4 dogs reach the Crufts final and all (potentially) 160 dogs are in the ring at the same time. When I say ring, I mean the Best In Show main arena, it is quite a spectacle. The team along with Deb and Finlay made their way around the ring looking like they had done it 100 times before, Finlay wasn't in the least bit intimidated by the big ring (none of the dogs were). I know Aileen really wanted to get shortlisted like they did last year, and they did. But to then get Group 4 was just brilliant. It was a fantastic day, it was a long day, and it was a very special day. I really love my chosen breed, and every opportunity to get the Tibetan Spaniel noticed a little bit more is a good thing in my book.

The photo's begin with what you'd expect, the lovely rosettes!

Breeders Competition rosettes

Third at Crufts, can't be bad

I leave you with the 'effervescent' Finlay (thank you Maureen for coining this phrase), not actually taken at Crufts but taken at the South West Tibetan Spaniel Club show the week before Crufts. All the time Finlay is doing this at a dog show, we know all is well. He is always so eager to please.

The wagger

4 March 2019

Finlay is nearly 21 months old now.....

Crufts - there is a really big deal coming up for team Finlay, the biggest dog show we've ever been to, the biggest dog show in the world. Deb and I have been going to Crufts since the mid-1990's as spectators and last year we went with Finlay to the Discover Dogs stand. But this year Finlay will be in the ring, qualified for Crufts and his first time in the Crufts ring (and for Deb). We cannot wait. I think probably for many exhibitors of Tibetan Spaniels it is something fairly routine, something they've done many times before....can you remember your first time? 

This year it isn't like we're only doing Crufts once, we're going twice. We are in the Team Balgay Tibetan Spaniel Breeders competition. I know Deb is really proud to represent Finlay's breeder Aileen in this special event. We are going on Friday for the judging, and all 40 teams that qualified will get their moment in the main arena, how special is that. No pressure whatsoever.....

Day to day life - although at dog shows mostly people will just see the happiest Tibbie with the biggest wag, inevitably when you are with a dog 24/7 you get to see their whole character. Finlay is a young adolescent dog, and he is also pretty headstrong and likes to be in charge. Although most dogs he meets with he is instantly friends with, he is a bit stand-offish with larger dogs who stare at him and at the moment young puppies seem to need to be brought in line with a stiff talking to. He forgets that it wasn't that long ago he was the mad puppy in everyone's faces. He is very different at a Tibbie show though, much more tolerant.....I know other Tibbie owners have said this, but they really DO know their own kind.

Finlay also gets a bit freaked out by the silliest things, he doesn't like his walking harness despite being trained on it from a young puppy. He makes a right fuss about getting it put on and then once it is on he couldn't care less about it, the same with his dog raincoat. It is almost a fear reaction, but we're working on it. 

Also he is a noisy little devil. He does like to woof a lot in the garden, particularly at night. Sometimes it is woofing because another dog is woofing, but other times it just seems to be because he enjoys woofing. I don't think there is anything he is trying to warn us about. We haven't had any neighbours knocking at our door yet, so it can't be too bad.

Weave! I published a video a while back showing Finlay doing some weaving between Deb's legs, he can still do this and he has progressed to weaving as Deb walks forwards. If we could be bothered I'm convinced that he could learn a lot more. Our other 2 Tibbies were both very intelligent (one intelligent and up for the challenge, the other intelligent but far too lazy) but neither were as clever as Finlay.....we're yet to figure out if this is entirely a good thing!! He learns new things VERY quickly, sometimes even before we realise we've taught him something. We will do more with him, next on the list is the Good Citizen dog scheme I think.

Kennels. He has had a single night trials in some local-ish kennels and he did ok. The plan was he was going to be in a 'social kennel' because he is a generally social dog. However, he was a bit to 'social' and ended up trying to hump every dog he met. So the kennel decided that it was best if Finlay was in a kennel on his own. Oh well. So he is booked for a 2 night stay later this month and then maybe a full week so we can go away somewhere abroad on holiday. I'm sure he will be fine, he didn't seem at all distressed by his first night away. We'll see how it works out.

A few photo's as usual

How many Tibbie owners get this view, quite a few I'd wager. This is Finlay's relaxed position, sometimes referred to as a "sploot"

What a view.....

Something I know applies to many Tibetan Spaniels, a love of climbing. Why walk around a pile of logs when you can climb to the top of them. Finlay does get a lot of long walks and walks around lots of interesting places. One of the many things I love about him is his agility, he just bounces up obstacles and back down so easily. It will get him into trouble one day!

Gotta climb to the top

One of Finlay's favourite places in the garden is the 'rocking-bench'. It swings back and forth, and Finlay loves to lay there....it is so much better than the cold damp grass don't you know!

My chair now....

28 January 2019

Finlay is now 19 months old, he is a growing lad. Although mentally he really still is a puppy.

The showing
We have done two dog shows this year, he has been placed in both, nothing outstanding so far, but he is still maturing. Visually he is coming along, his coat is starting to look more adult, he is getting a nice shawl and starting to get ear-feathering. His movement is very nice and most often gets picked up in critiques from judges. Deb still has her hands full with him when getting him to present calmly. Quite a few other exhibitors have told us we have the ideal problem, a show dog that is over-exuberant and loves to show, rather than a plodder who really doesn't want to be shown. For Deb that can mean reining in the little devil as he is set to sprint across the ring, or wag furiously and kiss the judge. We wouldn't have him any other way though, maybe he will suddenly mature one day, or maybe he won't!

The close friends
Every Wednesday he meets with a Border Terrier called Dream, he has known her since he was a puppy. My wife walks Dream for the Cinnamon Trust. Dream can be a bit reactive with other dogs, but has always been fine with Finlay only giving him a reasonable telling off if he gets a bit personal (and who wouldn't!). Dream spent the day with us recently, and the two of them got on like a house on fire, it was lovely to see them together.

Even more than Dream though, he has his number 1 bestest pal Jinpa the Tibetan Spaniel. When these two boys meet there are fireworks. It sounds daft to say the word "love", but I truly think these two dogs are in love, they adore one another. So much so that we cannot now say "Jinpa" to Finlay casually because he immediately knows the word and its context, and starts searching for him. Now Jinpa is simply known as "he who must not be named". These boys were meant to be together I think, and they enjoy every second they spend with one another.

Day to day
Finlay is a morning dog. He loves it when we are up early, so he can get out and patrol his patch. Having a lie in does not suit Finlay. He loves the cold, harsh frosty mornings, biting winds, all taken in his stride. He is starting to be a bit more of a loving dog, he will join us on the sofa from time to time, but is equally happy in the hallway on his own. But he is spending more time with us now. 

He is a constant source of entertainment, always managing to raise a smile. When he wants attention, he brings you a toy and dumps it on your feet, then another toy.....until you get the message. He loves chasing balls unlike any of our previous Tibbies. 

As for meeting people and other dogs, Finlay insists on it. He has this knack of fixating on someone when he wants to say hello. From some distance he stares, then freezes staring at them until they look at him. Then the tail wags, the goofy look appears on his face.....and then the other person is hooked and reeled in. The amount of people we end up saying hello to is staggering.....if they also have a dog this is a bonus. Finlay isn't always 100% friends with every dog he meets, he seems to think young dogs need to be brought in line for some reason. Although this is not the case with young Tibbies, who like every other living being, must be loved and wagged at, and kissed.

He loves his limited time spent upstairs and on our bed. We have a stair gate to restrict his movements upstairs, so when he gets the all clear, he bounds around exploring what has happened since his last visit. He would without a doubt spend the night with us, but he has always been more than happy downstairs in his own space. So we are all happy!

Some photos as usual

Here Finlay is at the Chichester Open dog show, doing a proper show dog stand

At the same show, here is is trying to seduce a Chihuahua.....I mean really, what chance did he stand, a Chihuahua!!

Unusually for Finlay, he posed for this photo, he loves our bed and I think he was sending us a message

This is MY bed now