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In the meantime….
18 November 2024 | 
Author While I’m waiting for Charlaigne to give birth, I can update my website.
October 17 we went with two fully loaded cars, the caravan and a trailer with a quad, to Ronostrand in Een. We didn’t have to take care of a field at Rono with the CC2000 team this year, but we would have our CC2000 coursing the following weekend in Hoogeveen.
Initially, I had only entered Crumbaugh for the coursing, but because the two bitches that were to be entered would not be present anyway, both Crumbaugh and Cranston Argyll ran a training session on Friday and a trial run each on Saterday and Sunday. It didn’t matter to them, they had just as much fun!
Brandir always likes to scurry around, greet the acquaintances and see how stupid those hounds are to run after a piece of plastic.
Monday we left for Hoogeveen where we were very hospitably received at Camping Hollandscheveld. A beautiful location, adjacent to nature reserves where you could walk with the hounds. The coursing field was next to the campsite but not visible to the hounds and the quad was barely audible so it remained wonderfully quiet on the campsite.
After a wet start of the week, the weather cleared up so much that on the coursing day many people were walking around in a T-shirt. As a result, the joint lunch could be enjoyed outside under a bright sun.
Simon had been busy all week trying to figure out a good course. The field was a bit on the narrow side and completely bordered by tall trees. But in the end he managed to lay down a nice long and safe course. We had around 33 courses both in the morning and in the afternoon with most of the hounds running solo. I always like to have several hounds of different breeds running together and that’s why Crumbaugh ran together with Mika and Kimmi, the two Afghan males of John and Karin Alt. What fun and beautiful courses those were! Especially in the afternoon they were not inferior to each other and it was a chaotic gang of people at the finish who tried to grab the hounds while they tried to take the hare from each other and jumped around each other. At one point, Crumbaugh just dragged Mika along!! And all that without even once growling at each other!
Crumbaugh with Mika and Kimmi.
The old Brandir is also still going strong. I’m just saying that he would like to see the puppies, his great-grandchildren. He’s so good with puppies! I just hope he can enjoy them for a while.
Charlaigne in the whelping box with the traditional, crocheted puppy straps.
Yes, and now we have to wait for those puppies. It won’t be long and everything will be ready for delivery.
Fingers crossed that everything goes well!!
Posted in 2024, Lure coursing | 
Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | 
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Old life – new life.
Old life.
Our Brandir is still going strong. Of course he gets older every day, but it goes so slowly that it is almost unnoticeable. He still walks well, eats well, still gets up several times a day, still jumps in the car (sometimes it doesn’t go completely smoothly anymore) and is cheerful and happy. He still goes to hydrotherapy every week with Corinne Somers in Rucphen and once every 3 weeks he gets acupuncture and various Chinese herbal mixtures of Victoire Koperberg-Weijers (Acuvet).
Here he is lying in the late afternoon sun, the beautiful colors represent his colorful life.
But life goes on, so on August 6 we left for Hermannsburg where we spent a few nice, but warm days with Sonja. Sonja really didn’t expect to see Brandir again, and had already said goodbye to him in Tüttleben. So you see, the wonders are not out of the world yet!!
On Wednesday we went for a nice walk at the lakes where Brandir had so much fun as a young Deerhound together with his sister Bernice. I don’t know if he recognized it, but miraculously he even went into the water, something he never does!
From Sonja we went on to Göhlsdorf where we have to take care of the coursing for already many years. Unfortunately there was no show this year because it was the same date as Donaueschingen. Very strange because it is about 700 kilometers apart so they don’t have much competition from each other!! Just over 80 sighthounds had been entered for the coursing, 10 of which were Deerhounds. The course was not too long because of the warm weather but luckily there was a nice breeze so it was doable for the hounds. Charlaigne didn’t run well and finished eighth, Crumbaugh was sixth and miraculously Cranston Argyll was third!
It was again a very pleasant and sporty weekend.
Friday, August 23, for the first time in I think 13 or 14 years, we left for Leek. We had reserved “Landgoedcamping Nienoord” which is just around the corner from the coursing area. The problem is that you are no longer allowed to camp on the coursing grounds, not even the employees and the board, so you have to stand or park in the parking lot or drive back and forth to a campsite on the day. So we had chosen this nearby campsite which was also within a good walking distance through the forest, so that I could walk out the hounds well after the course, back to the campsite. Ideal!
The atmosphere and overall experience of Nienoord is no longer there. Everything has changed; the environment, the people, the terrain. In the past, there were always gigantic mud puddles on the coursing field, which resulted in the most spectacular images, but now the site was drained and there was not a puddle to be found. Very boring! But the hounds had a nice walk, there was a nice track and there was good turning.
The annoying thing was that Cranston and Crumbaugh were running together and at the end of the course they were at each other’s throats. Cranston has a problem with Crumbaugh while Crumbaugh has no harm in it, but when Cranston hurts him, he does react. So from now on, Cranston will only run training sessions and test runs to avoid a fight.
Crumbaugh was, as usual, first of the three.
New life?
Shortly after Leek Charlaigne went into heat, but the male I had initially selected was no longer available so I had to go to his father. Actually not so bad, because he is already 7 years old, has beautiful offspring and is doing well in terms of longevity. He is also good in the field of Factor VII, Hart and DEPOH.
After some back and forth writing, progesterone tests, I left on Wednesday morning, September 11, for Horley in England where we had the ‘date’ with Hyndsight Endlessflight in the course of the afternoon.
After a long day I ended up back at “The Black Horse Inn” near Maidstone around seven o’clock. What a lovely, cozy pub this is! Dogs are very welcome and they are really taken into account. This time I had left Charlaigne in the room before it would get really ‘cozy’!
In principle, I would go back again on Thursday and I had planned a nice route along the ‘Hever Castle’ where coincidentally a ‘Handcraft Fair’ was also held. You could walk beautifully around the lake and in the beautiful gardens and there were very beautiful and nice objects to admire at the many stalls of craftsmen. But on the way to the castle I got a call from Hector Heathcote that he was stranded on the Isle of Wight and that it could be very late tonight before he got home. If I could tomorrow. No, that wasn’t possible because my train was booked and I had to be back home by Friday evening. So now let’s hope that everything went well and that a nice litter will be born.
A bit difficult to carry but these larger than life hares, made of chicken wire!, were a lot of fun. In the end, the right hare made of sheet metal was allowed to go home.
We spent more than 3 hours in the gardens and between the stalls at the Hever Castle, a really nice location to spend an afternoon.
The house next to The Black Horse Inn is called Turnham Friars and is largely still in its original state. Most of the windows are still stained glass and even with all kinds of images. These windows are a gem!!
On the return journey, this beautiful old-timer was parked next to me at the French customs of the Eurotunnel.
On October 5, OWRV ‘t Haasje held its club championships. Cranston ran the training and Crumbaugh and Charlaigne the competition. As usual, Crumbaugh won and was captured on camera by Alisha Frijters.
And then it was October 9, a day with two extremes.
First thing in the morning I went with Charlaigne to the clinic for an ultrasound. Soon the puppies came into view. After counting several times, the doctor came up with 9 embryos, 1 of which had a heartbeat but looked a bit strange. So we’ll have to wait and see if that turns out to be something. But at least Charlaigne is pregnant and now let’s hope that everything goes well.
I had an appointment with Victoire for the afternoon. She has been treating Brandir for years with acupuncture and since his diagnosis of cancer in his liver on June 21 (16 weeks ago!!) also with Chinese herbs.
Together with the hydrotherapy that he has also been doing with Corinne for 2 years, these therapies have kept him going. But….. Now his body is really spent. Brandir is a bit short of breath and in pain, he is occasionally nauseous and does not feel well. Victoire was also very worried and we agreed that we will give Brandir his rest in the very near future. When is not yet known, but it is a matter of days.
At the end of the afternoon we had a bottle of bubbly, on Simon’s birthday, the puppies and on Brandir.
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The past six months.
After the last update in January, we have experienced quite a few things. To start with, Charlaigne had received an invitation for the Dog of the Year Show, so on February 24th we packed pur showbag and went to Dordrecht to run around the ring and then quickly go home again. No success.
On the 8th of March, Charlaigne and I left for Birmingham.
Since I didn’t want to drive back and forth in too much of a hurry, we had booked an Inn in Whitney, Bird in Hand. After settling in, we first went for a nice walk and then dived into the extremely atmospheric pub for a delicious pint of Bitter and a delicious meal.
The next morning, during the morning walk, when we came around the bend, we were surprised by a fallow deer. At first, the deer and Charlaigne looked at each other in amazement and then reacted; The deer ran in front of us but stopped every time to look back. This only made Charlaigne crazier and I could barely keep her. Hence the bad picture! The rest of the hike wasn’t exactly relaxed.
After breakfast we left at our leisure. Along the way we took a nice walk in a very baggy off-leash area and a nature garden and then we drove to Birmingham via a beautiful shortcut.
Sunday Crufts day. Our judge was Bryan Doak of the Rosslyn Deerhounds. He was clearly looking for the heavier type of Deerhound but still thought Charlaigne was good enough for a fifth place out of the 11 bitches present in the Open Class. Not too bad.
We left early Monday morning for home but all in all we were on the road for more than 10 hours before we got home. The next trip we will do it differently.
On March 28, Sonja came to us for a few days and then we went to the Deerhound Jahresausstellung in Cologne. As judge we had Brit Schöne-Brodwall from Norway. A total of 51 Deerhounds were entered of which only 15 were males! I had entered Cytaugh in the veteran class and out of 5 old ladies she came third. Charlaigne was in the working dog class and was placed behind a dog that I wouldn’t want to have myself. To say the least, it was a very strange judging.
On the 18th of April Charlaigne and I left for England for the annual Breed Show which was held in Broughton. The Forest Pines Hotel is a beautiful with a gigantic golf course where you can take beautiful walks. The only problem is that it is full of squirrels which were used to people so just stay put when you approach them. There was also a large hare hopping around, which was of course quite a challenge!
On the Friday prior to the actual Breed Show, the first Deerhound Championship Show was organized. There were 58 Deerhounds entered for judge Miss Mary Ann Stuart of the Ollandsheart kennel. Charlaigne finished fifth in Open Bitch. Best male and BIS was Björn Fritz and Klaus Krüger’s Fritzens the Muthaiga Club, presented by Hector Heathcote, and best female was Vanessa Lucas’s Packway Smackfarthing.
On Saturday we had Clare Drew as judge. She grew up among the Lealla Deerhounds of her parents Tony and Mary Churchill. A total of 77 Deerhounds were entered, of which 24 were males and 53 females. Charlaigne finished third in her class. Best Male and BIS was Sam Taylor’s Ormanstar Dark Shadow and Best Female was again Packway Smackfarthing.
After the Champion Parade, which unfortunately no longer has what used to make it so beautiful, a real bagpiper, Sue Spring-Arnold judged the various Special Classes on Sunday. Charlaigne was entered in Special Coursing/Lure Chasing and finished third here, in the Special Bred By Exhibitor she was not placed.
My thanks to Mark Cannon for the beautiful photos!
After a nice and pleasant weekend we left for Folkestone on Monday. But this time we had booked a room in “The Black Horse” near Maidstone. It looked like a small holiday resort and the apartments were spread over the sloping terrain. A lovely spacious room with all the trimmings and nice and clean. The pub was very cozy and when I got there, completely packed. After a lovely walk in the beautiful surroundings, I went back and fortunately it was a bit quieter so that I could enjoy a very nice dinner with Charlaigne. Highly recommended this Inn.
This year we were again asked to take care of the coursing in Tüttleben. Since the Saluki Jahresausstellung was also held, many sighthounds were entered and the coursing was spread over two days. We left on the 15th of May to arrive in Tüttleben on the 16th with one overnight stay so that the men had the whole Friday to lay out a nice course.
On July 29, 2012 Sonja and I picked up Nimloth Brandir and his sister Bernice from Jill and Toby Smith in England and a few days later we set off again towards East Germany. It was Brandir’s first trip to Tüttleben! Now he celebrated his 12th birthday here on Friday!!
Nimloth Brandir, as a puppy with sister Bernice, and 12 years old!
Cranston, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne had never been to Tüttleben before and found it very interesting when the men were working at the coursingfield across the street.
On Saturday we had the CAC show where Charlaigne got the CAC but wasn’t good enough for BOB because she was a bit stiff. On Sunday, the youngsters were finally allowed to run. Charlaigne was assigned with Alyesha Under Sharp Hill from Gabriela Klenk. Somehow, she made a misstep that caused her to take quite a tumble. She recovered fairly quickly and gave chase again.
Crumbaugh was placed with Islay’s Quarterback Jim. When, after a few hundred meters, the hare came to a standstill due to technical failure, and Crumbaugh (under white) came second to the hare, Jim did not think long before plunging at Crumbaugh, resulting in a fierce brawl.
On the link below you can clearly see Crumbaugh’s surprised reaction, but he doesn’t let himself be upset and goes on the counterattack. Hopefully, this won’t have any nasty consequences for Crumbaugh.
Cranston ran alone, but the technique didn’t run smoothly either and he had a disturbed course that cost him a lot of energy.
But of course, because of Jim and Crumbaugh’s brawl, we didn’t let them run together anymore and they were taken out of the coursing, with Cranston finishing first!!
Around May 24, 1984, Meta Melser and her daughter Jaqueline brought two Deerhound puppies; Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden and Aragorn from the Market Garden. These were our first Deerhounds after we got our first Irish Wolfhound in 1979.
So we’ve had Deerhounds for 40 years now and they’ve gotten us everywhere we are today. They have enriched our lives with the show and coursing world in which we quickly became active then and still are today.
What delightful creatures they are, those Deerhounds, and it really is; once a Deerhound – always a Deerhound!!
On the 26th of May we had a show in Wieze (Belgium) where Charlaigne got her last needed CAC for the Belgian Championship under judge Doris Getzinger and became Best Working Dog under Johan Wulteputte.
Two weeks later at the outdoor show in Geldrop she became BOB again and second in the group thanks to André van den Broek.
And then there’s bad news and good news.
On June 21, Brandir had an ultrasound to see why he didn’t want to eat anymore and felt nauseous. It turned out that there are metastases in his liver of most likely a Hemangiosarcoma. His spleen is also enlarged.
So far everything is going fine, he eats well and still walks with us every walk but we only have a few weeks left to enjoy him and keep it as pleasant as possible for him.
The good news is that we are hoping for a litter from Charlaigne. If all goes well, we expect the puppies around mid-November (hopefully not another footballteam). Fingers crossed!!
Posted in 2024, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Top or not?
In the past year, Charlaigne O’Cockaigne has been to 7 Dutch and 5 foreign shows, with the number of participating Deerhounds varying from 2 to 38.
At every Dutch show (7) Charlaigne became Best of Breed and only at two Danish shows she became 2nd and 3rd best female. She was also Best in Show at two foreign sighthound shows and 2nd in the group at the Winner and the Christmas show.
So she did a very good job. If we now look at the top lists of respectively the Board of Directors, the WOW competition, and on the site of Windhondeninfo.nl, maintained by Ron Moerkerken, we see that they both have a different scoring system.
As top sighthound on Windhondeninfo.nl, Charlaigne is at the top with 197 points and second is the Italian Greyhound Fiefoerniek’s Falderie of Sandra and Lucien with 182 points out of 10 shows.
But if we look at the WOW competition, we see that Falderie is at the top with 240 points and Charlaigne in a nice second place with 225 points.
Isn’t it funny, two ‘top’ lists!
And what does Charlaigne think of it????
It will be her wowrst!!
(In other words, she doesn’t give a damn!)
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Just update.
After my last update in August, my laptop crashed and after missing it for weeks I got it back but it didn’t work then! It also turned out that there was almost nothing on the backup made!! All gone! Taken away again and after a month we were told that unfortunately it could no longer be repaired. All in all, it took several months before I got a new one and then it turned out that I couldn’t log in to my website anymore!!
This week I finally succeeded and now I could continue where I left off. Poop, poo!! But because of all the updates of my website, I have the biggest problems filling a page and it takes ages before it is to my liking. And it’s still not to my liking, but yes, I have to!
Let’s just start at the beginning of last year.
The first coursing of the year 2023 was on March 18 at the RONOstrand in Een. Since Cranston had been badly injured and Cytaugh was not in good shape at all, I only let Crumbaugh and Charlaigne run. Was actually so relaxed because you already have your hands full with this couple!
Charlaigne with her fast ears.
The following weekend, March 25th, we had our CC2000 coursing day. The weather forecast was fantastic but unfortunately they turned out not to be quite right on the day itself. The rain regularly poured down from the sky and in such quantities that everything became one big swamp. At the end of the day, when everything was cleaned up, the car, which was loaded with all coursing equipment, had to be pulled out of the mud by a tractor. He had sunk to his axles! But the people who had signed up were almost all present and had a nice day despite the weather. Hopefully they dare to come again next time!
On the 13th of April I left for Cumbernauld in Scotland to enjoy the Deerhound Breed Show. This is always a wonderful weekend with nice people and lots of Deerhounds, really enjoy!
Last year, in mid-October, Brandir started hydrotherapy. We drive weekly to Rucphen where Corinne Somers has her practice. Since there was a clear improvement in stability, and if we skipped a week a decline, we do this every week as much as possible. He now knows exactly what the order of treatments are; First massage and possibly some manipulation and then into the bath to then “swim” for 4 x 5 minutes. But… you can ask a lot of an old Deerhound as long as there is something in return, all this is not possible without pieces of cheese!
On the 10th of May we left for Sweden where I had to judge the thirteenth in Hässleholm. Then we went back to Denmark where on the 19th was the sighthound show in Vejen and on the 21st the Euro Dog Show in Herning. Charlaigne showed well, became 2nd and 3rd best bitch but didn’t get any further.
Meanwhile, Brandir celebrated his 11th birthday on May 17 at the Flyvesandet campsite in Denmark. We had hoped that we would be able to walk on the mudflats again, but because of the storm that raged exactly the days we were there, the water was too high. Very unfortunate.
I did take some pictures and a video of Brandir but unfortunately my phone was stolen in a fancy restaurant and I lost everything.
At the end of June it went back to Sweden, this time for the World Championship Coursing in Kristianstad. On Thursday, June 29, it was the turn of the CSS class, Kirjojax Harris, Cranston and Crumbaugh were entered for this. Crumbaugh emerged as the winner. He can now call himself CSS World Winner.
On Sunday, Charlaigne was allowed to run. She wasn’t in great shape after her heat and wasted too much energy beforehand so she made a mess of it and finished in 14th place out of 22.
From Kristianstad we left via Gothenburg by ferry to Frederikshaven in Denmark where we had to prepare a field for the International Coursing in Nørresundby the weekend after the World Cup. On Saturday, July 8, the sighthound show was held where Charlaigne became Danish Champion and later in the day BIS. Judge was Agneta Doverholt.
On Sunday the coursing for which only Cytaugh, Cranston, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne were registered. After the first round, Charlaigne was in first place but again she messed up the second round and ended up third! I had withdrawn Cytaugh after the first round because of the heat.
On the 18th of August we left for Arnhem where the Deerhound Clubmatch and the Sighthound Show would be held that weekend. On Saturday the clubshow with 23 Deerhounds present for judge Carina Ekwall from Sweden. Charlaigne became BOB again and also on Sunday with only 8 Deerhounds present she became BOB under judge Kay Sneath from Australia. Cytaugh became Best Working Dog both days and on Sunday she also got the Reserve CAC!
Charlaigne was both days BOB.
From Arnhem we went to Göhlsdorf, east Germany, where on Saturday a National Leistungcoursing was held (provided by CC2000) and on Sunday the Jahresausstellung of the Deerhounds.
There were 2 males and 12 females entered for coursing. For the second round there were 11 left and Charlaigne was tied for 2nd and Crumbaugh for 3rd place. But Crumbaugh made a mess of it and finished in 6th place and Charlaigne was 3rd.
For the Jahresaustellung 25 Deerhounds were entered. The judge was Pascal Thiery from France. Cytaugh got the reserve CAC from the Working Dog class and Charlaigne became BOB and later in the day BIS!
But just like her mother in 2018, she also won the ‘Quodlibet Drambui Trophy’ for the combination of beauty and performance!
At the beginning of last year, there was a call from an American writer for a photo of an old Deerhound. Well, I have plenty of those!! After editing a Christmas photo with a.o. Amy and sending it to the author, Sky Blaine, she was very enthusiastic.
At the beginning of September, Simon flew to America for work and came back with the three books! Amy’s old face is featured on the cover of the third and final book of the series.
It’s a fantastic story and you can’t stop reading, highly recommended!
At the end of September we left for Brittany where Henriëtte has a cozy, small gite. We were able to park the caravan right on the property with her and the hounds had plenty of space to run and play on the large field. It is a beautiful area and there are many nice places to walk and cozy villages to visit. Mont Saint Michel is also around the corner and is of course very nice to go to.
Just have a look at her website: www.lepetitcoincosy.com
After doing some chores at Henriëtte’s we left after a few days to Gesves in Belgium for the coursing where Simon had to judge and the hounds could course.
On the 14th of October the German Deerhound Club organized its Open Club Show in Wickrath. The judge was Natalie Heathcote and there were 38 !! Deerhounds signed up for her. Charlaigne became BOB again.
The following weekend we were back at RONOstrand. It was Cytaugh’s last official coursing. Since Cranston has not been feeling well for a long time and is therefore not allowed to do coursing, only Charlaigne, Cytaugh and Crumbaugh were entered. And what was to be expected, happened, Cytaugh had to ran alone in the second round, really didn’t like that so didn’t run. She ended her coursing career with a dismissed!!!
Charlaigne won and received the CACNL with which she is now Dutch Champion for Beauty and Performance. She is the third O’Cockaigne Deerhound (and they are the only three) to carry this beautiful title.
On Friday 24 and Sunday 26 November, the Fryslân Cup and the Winner took place in Leeuwarden. We had rented a house in Appelscha for a long weekend so that I wouldn’t have to drive up and down that long way twice. Friday we had Rob Douma as judge and he had 5 Deerhounds to judge. Charlaigne became BOB and was selected in the group but did not advance.
Sunday we had the judge Jose Miguel Doval Sanchez from Spain and he had 7 Deerhounds to judge. He also did the final judging. Charlaigne was BOB again and in the ring of honour she was finally placed 2nd!
And then the last event of the year; the Christmas show in Gorinchem. André van den Broek judged the 4 entered Deerhounds and made Charlaigne BOB and in the mainring he placed her second!!
I was so proud of my little girl! The hard work on her confidence in the show ring has paid off. She now likes to go to the show which makes it so much fun. For next year there are already a few exciting, big things on the program such as Crufts, the Breed Show in England and the World Championship Coursing in Poland and a lot of fun smaller events. We won’t get bored!
Posted in Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
The test for DEPOH is available!
The genetic test for Delayed Post-Operative Hemorrhage (formerly called Delayed Bleeding Syndrome or hyperfibrinolysis) has recently become officially available through Washington State University in America. The study, http://doi.org/10.1111/jvim.16643, is published in the Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine.
It will be some time before it comes on the market in Europe, but breeders can order the test and apply it to their litters so that the status of the puppies is at least known to the puppy buyers.
This test tells us which dogs are affected by the genetic mutation that causes Delayed Post-Operative Hemorrhage (DEPOH), which is a disorder of coagulation stability, not clot formation. When it occurs, bleeding is usually (but not always) delayed, usually starting within 24-48 hours after surgery or major trauma. It is prevented or treated with aminocaproic acid or tranexamic acid. Deerhounds that are free of the mutation do not require medication. For Deerhounds that have one copy of the DEPOH mutation, the medication should be available if needed, and Deerhounds with two copies must be given the medication on the day of surgery and for five days after surgery.
DEPOH is a completely different problem than Factor VII deficiency – in fact it is possible for a dog to have both problems.
EVERY DEERHOUND OWNER SHOULD KNOW THE DEPOH STATUS OF THEIR DEERHOUND(S).
The test is inexpensive ($65) and is just a cheek swab, so it’s easy to do at home and cheap to mail.
Many thanks to dr. Court for leading this research and the literally dozens of volunteers who shared their experiences, DNA samples and vet records.
More information about DEPOH and Factor VII Deficiency can be found here.
RONOstrand and Ravels
Since we have been taking care of one of the fields for the Herfstcoursing on Ronostrand with our CC2000 team for a number of years, we left on Wednesday 19 October for Een, a very small village near Roden, just in Drenthe. It was lovely autumn weather and we decided on Thursday to take a good walk in an off-leash area nearby. A sprint was regularly pulled by the youngster’s and Cytaugh was also quite active. Until it went wrong. The youngster’s were playing at the end of a lane and Cytaugh ran from that group to us, turned around and ran back at full speed but couldn’t avoid Cranston and flipped into him head on. She literally slid together like a harmonica. We really thought she was going to drop dead, she pulled away completely crooked and spun around. Fortunately, we were close quickly and I was able to catch her. When she had calmed down a bit, she could not stand properly on her right front leg, but otherwise it turned out to be not too bad. After taking it easy for a while, she walked well again and acted as if nothing had happened.
Back at the caravan I immediately put her on the Traumeel and Novacam, but the next day it was clear that she had had a huge blow. She was stiff and, despite the Novacam, quite painful in her neck, shoulder, ribs and loins. Since she was entered for the coursing on Sunday, I withdraw her and asked if my other three could run together. Fortunately that was possible.
Sunday morning they ran in course 1. It was a very spectacular course because Cranston ran at full speed for half a lap between the ribbon barrier and the large play castle and just when we thought he was going to ran on and get out, he turned around and ran the same half circle back and then went after the hare again. We couldn’t stop laughing! How could he make it up!
In the afternoon they ran on the elongated narrow terrain where CC2000 was operating the lure. I had expected Cranston to make a huge cut here, not to run to the end of the field but to meet the hare halfway and then go straight to the finish. But once again he amazed us by tracking perfectly, even all the way to the back! He got the highest number of points of all three for this course which is really amazing for him. They had enjoyed the game again!
Fortunately, for Cytaugh I was able to make an appointment with the osteopath very quickly. Only then did it become clear what kind of blow she had made, almost her entire body was very painful, but in particular her neck, right shoulder, rib and loin section needed several treatments to recover.
Two weeks later, November 12, the coursing took place in Ravels, Belgium. Since the weather would be very nice, we decided, despite the fact that it is only 36 kilometers, to go with the caravan. So comfortable. For the hounds we had brought the stretchers so that they could lie in the sun and we sat in our T-shirt enjoying the exceptional temperature. But as soon as the sun disappeared behind the trees it got really cold and in the morning the grass was frozen.
On Ronostrand Crumbaugh had won convincingly with 12 points difference from Charlaigne, now it was Charlaigne who won with 12 points difference against Cranston because Crumbaugh really didn’t run well in the first round. Things went a lot better in the second round, but Crumbaugh couldn’t make up for it and he finished third.
This was the last coursing of the season. Crumbaugh and Charlaigne are real toppers and Cranston impresses with his enormous strength and stamina, a real pleasure to watch. Hopefully it stays that way for a while. With Cytaugh, we just have to wait and see how she goes into the upcoming season, for now we’ll just take it easy with her.
We wish everyone a very nice Christmas and a healthy and sporty 2023!
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Lure coursing | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne | Comments Closed
Göhlsdorf, Heteren and Oude Pekela
August 24 the caravan was clean and tidy again and we left for Göhlsdorf, near Berlin. CC2000 was asked to run the coursing on Saturday and so almost the entire team was present. On Thursday and Friday we still walked around in the shining sun in a T-shirt, but very bad weather was predicted for Saturday and we had to remove the rain gear out of the mothballs. Fortunately it was not that bad in the morning and also in the afternoon when the Deerhounds ran for the second time, it was still dry. Only later in the day it erupted and everyone was soaked in no time. There were 8 Deerhounds entered including my 4. It was quite a challenge to get Cranston and Crumbaugh to the start because it was at least 100 meters from the entrance of the site, walking neatly is not in their genes! After the first round, Charlaigne was first and Cytaugh last. Crumbaugh in a tie for the fourth place and Cranston was sixth. In the afternoon Charlaigne ran with Islay’s Rhiann from Silke Eichhorn a
nd this was a very nice course, the ladies were well matched but Charlaigne had lost too much energy before starting and lost a few points. She finished second, Crumbaugh fourth, Cranston sixth and Cytaugh last.
Sunday was the CAC show for which I only entered Charlaigne. Only three Deerhounds were entered; 1 male in the youth class, 1 female in the youth class and Charlaigne in the intermediate class. She did a good job and showed herself well. She became BOB and at the end of the afternoon she was selected among the three best in the group, despite not really wanting to show herself! With these two results of the coursing and the show, she obtained the title Schönheit und Leistung! She’s doing well, my little girl.
The following weekend we were at a campsite near Arnhem because Saturday was Swift’s coursing and Sunday was the Young Dogs/Veterans Day of the Stichting Rasgroep Windhonden (the Dutch Sighthound Foundation) in Heteren. Swift’s coursing went like a train and Maarten had laid out a nice course on which the Deerhounds could also run well. My complete foursome appeared at the start again and this time Crumbaugh took the credit.
Charlaigne and Brandir were entered for Sunday. I just really enjoyed showing such an old, fit male one more time, but I had promised him that this would really be his last show. There were 5 Deerhounds entered for the brand new Borsoi-judge Sybiel Schroeder but unfortunately only 3 were present. The young male, John Falstaff from Jan Scheer and Joke Groeneveld, Charlaigne and Brandir. Charlaigne became Best Young Dog and Brandir was logically Best Veteran. At the beginning of the afternoon all judgements were ready and we had to show up for the group. To my surprise Sybiel chose Charlaigne as Best Young Dog of the Day and when Brandir had to compete for Best Veteran, he won too!! Leon Scholten judged this group and he thought Brandir was so good for his age. And he is! I was so proud of him!!!
And then …… on September 17 there was finally, after 26 years, a Dutch Championship Coursing for the Deerhounds!!!!!
On October 26, 1996, the first NKC in Een, also the first competition that the current WvCNL, was organized on RONOstrand. We had 6 Deerhounds together so that the title could be forgiven. At that time, it was still customary for the participants to make the dividing themselves so that you could see beautiful equivalent courses. We had expected that this would also be possible with the Dutch National Championships, but unfortunately the committee decided that they would make the dividing and we did not agree with this because the males of Dick and Wil Bults and Jacqueline de Kok showed such aggressive behavior at the finish, that the Hawkins family and we were forced to withdraw our hounds. We absolutely did not want our hounds to become the bobbin of a fight! So we withdrew our Deerhounds with the result that no title could be awarded. Well, then the dolls were dancing!!!!
Dick, Wil and Jacqueline thought differently about aggression at the finish, they thought that was normal, so the two aggressive dogs ran their rounds that day and they made sure that about eight men were ready to catch their dogs after the course. What a display, I would be ashamed of myself!!!
Anyway, luckily the regulations both National and International have finally changed for the better, so that such antisocial, unacceptable behavior results in a fat disqualification. We hardly see any aggressive behavior at the finish nowadays, with any breed. Happy!
This year, on September 17th, 61 sighthounds were entered and 8 judges had to show up for the Dutch Championship Coursing in Oude Pekela. Each hound is judged by 6 different judges and it is always a puzzle to have the right judges judged at the right time, as they often have dogs at the start themselves. A few years ago, the Dutch regulations regarding the numbers that must appear at the start for a Championship were adjusted. It was realized that there would never be a National Championship for a number of breeds in the old way. So instead of 6, only 4 have to appear at the start and that worked for the first time this year with the Deerhounds!!
They were all four my hounds but I can’t help that and the battle was no less. The three youngsters are all very fanatic, so that results in beautiful courses. The enormous power with which Cranston thunders across the field, the interplay of Crumbaugh and Charlaigne and the displayed intelligence of Cytaugh (she was completely back after her heat) make it a real party. In the first round Cytaugh ran with Crumbaugh, not such a good combination. Cytaugh cuts the corners and only thinks while Crumbaugh goes after the hare diligently. Cranston and Charlaigne is also not a good match because Cranston also cuts a lot but also shows enormous strength and agility. After the first round, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne both had 257 points, Cytaugh 252 and Cranston 248.
In the afternoon Cytaugh and Cranston first ran, a nice combination for the lure operator! The one cuts even more than the other and it is very difficult to stay ahead with the lure. Crumbaugh and Charlaigne, on the other hand, show the interplay, beautiful to see! But Charlaigne had to lose out to her brother, with two points less she came off the field. And with this, Crumbaugh became the first Dutch Deerhound with the title Dutch Coursing Champion!!
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Tour of Sweden and Denmark
On July 23 we left for the north again. The first night was at the campsite between Bremen and Hamburg, always nice to wake up with a herd of fallow deer in the front yard. From here we continued to a campsite in Sweden where we would stay for two nights. But on arrival we were amazed, it looked like a dump of old caravans with sagging and broken awnings. The people who walked around didn’t look much like campers either. At the beginning of the evening a number of cats appeared and boldly sat a short distance to watch the hounds and a couple of large hedgehogs waddled past on the other side of the path. This was of course very exciting for the hounds but very difficult for us and in the end we decided to go into the caravan together. Partly because of this we left the next day to the next campsite where we would be three days. This was a very spacious campsite with a beautiful large forest next to it where you could walk for hours but it was also infested with ticks. Despite the hounds being treated against it, I picked dozens of ticks off them every day! On the last evening we were treated to ‘golden trees’, a very spectacular spectacle.
On July 28 we left for Västerås where on Friday and Saturday the Skokloster Summer Show and on Sunday the Swedish Deerhound Club Show took place. The campground we ended up on was a 20 minute drive from the showground and had a decent outlet area. Unfortunately, quite a lot of hares ran around here, which again required the necessary attention! Before Friday I only entered Charlaigne in the Intermediate class for judge Vlastislav Vojtek from Slovenia, she was the only one in this class, got an excellent and had to come back for Best Bitch. To my great surprise she became second Best Bitch out of a total of 14 bitches! Best bitch was Galerita’s Fiona van Mikael Nordström (husband of the breeder Cecilia Nordström and showed by Ylva, their daughter). I have always admired the Galeritas and this bitch was also lovely! So sound and well-balanced, while maintaining a beautiful topline during a very nice movement. Best of Breed was Grayrory’s Irresistible from Maria & Åke Käck.
For Best Intermediate Charlaigne had to compete with Ray Lindholm’s Necesse’s Faust Fortunatus. A beautiful male but he still needs some time; is still a bit loose in its movement. Charlaigne also won this battle. I was so proud of her!! the more so because she behaved well and allowed herself to be touched.
Saturday we had a rest day and that was a good thing, it was very hot, especially on the showground and that would have been unbearable for old Brandir. We had to break everything up again at the end of the day because we had to check out early on Sunday morning. So as late as possible, when the sun had already set behind other caravans and the temperature had dropped, the tent and awning dismantled again, packed and everything prepared for departure.
Sunday the Club Show. I entered everything except Cranston. The judge was Barbara Heidenreich from Canada and I really enjoyed it to show my hounds to her. A total of 21 males and 26 females were entered, of which 19 males and 24 females were present.
My 122 month old Brandir was the first to go into the ring, he did well but clearly showed that showing is still not his thing!
Second, Crumbaugh entered the ring along with 7 other males between the ages of 15 and 24 months. Despite the fact that he has never been shown he showed himself quite well and ran nicely. He found everything very interesting and wanted to greet everyone who sat at the ring. Barbara had a hard time with this class but in the end she made my Crumbaugh best!
Number two was Necesse’s Faust Fortunatus by Ray Lindholm, the male from which Charlaigne had won on Friday!
After judging all the male classes, Crumbaugh and the old Brandir had to come back for Best Male. Brandir of course stood for bacon and beans in the ring and was clearly disappointed but Crumbaugh loved it and showed himself to FIRST PLACE!! Best Male, who would have expected that???!!! 
After this it was Charlaigne’s turn, she misbehaved again but still ended up in second place behind another beautiful Galerita.
Finally, Cytaugh was alone in the class of 7 to 9 year old bitches. Not that hard to get first.
Best bitch eventually became Lawton’s Eqvizzical Exuviance from Stefan Hagstedt.
Several males and females entered the ring for the battle for Best of Breed. I don’t understand the Swedish judging system and certainly a Club Show has its own rules, all very complicated. Anyway, after a lot of deliberation, Lawton’s Eqvizzical Exuviance took Best of Breed and Crumbaugh came in second. A very nice achievement for such a young male!
After this judgement, Crumbaugh still had to come back for Best Intermediate, which he lost against …. a beautiful Galerita bitch, Galerita’s Athelas, who had won from Charlaigne. Charlaigne had to go back for Best Head but she wouldn’t show her head, she was constantly looking the other way. Brandir was Best Veteran and Cytaugh Best Senior and Best Working Dog. The Paar class with Charlaigne and Crumbaugh was also for O’Cockaigne! Unfortunately they had canceled the battle for Best Movement due to lack of time, which is a shame because Crumbaugh won every time also because of his movement.
We went home with a mountain of rosettes and four well-filled Goody Bags with very original gifts, it’s great how they do that there! All in all it was a very successful Club Show and it was very nice to talk to Barbara again.
After the show we had to drive another 200 kilometers to the south, to Olerum (who hasn’t heard about it?) where the coursing, for which Simon was invited to judge, would take place. We arrived around eight and quickly rebuilt everything.
Since my hounds were not allowed to participate because Simon had to stand there for two whole days in the field, Crumbaugh, Charlaigne and Cranston would do a test run. Cytaugh would run as a companion dog with the three officially entered Deerhounds. Before we walked to the coursing field on Monday morning with the three youngsters, Simon prepared Cranston’s slipline and put it on him. Unfortunately not quite according to the rules with the result that when I started him he ran off with me after him – the line didn’t slip! I made a huge thud to the ground and was dragged along. From now on it is forbidden for Simon to ever prepare a slip line again!!
Anyway, the hounds were restarted and again showed a beautiful spectacle, nothing more beautiful than three Deerhounds in ‘full speed’ over the field.
Cytaugh ran with a bitch later that morning but after a few hundred yards she stepped on a pulley and was done with it right away. Well, she was two weeks after her heat so it was understandable.
The next day the three monkey-heads did a test run twice, they had made up for the lack of free movement!
It were very nice days and we sat together under the party tent until the late hours, luckily the Swedes speak good English because you don’t understand anything about that Swedish!
Wednesday morning we packed up again and drove to Gothenburg. We stayed here until Friday morning and then took the ferry to Frederikshaven to cross. From there a short drive to Nørresundby where Simon again judged the coursing for two days. Here the hounds were officially allowed to participate and I had entered all four of them. Let’s hope Cytaugh would do a good job too!
We stood with the caravan close to a wild area where a herd of cows, Scottish Highlanders, Lakenvelders and their crosses, were walking around. The crosses were very special and resembled wire-haired Lakenvelders. One of the yearlings was very interested in Crumbaugh and he in her. She was also very beautiful and they stood looking at each other for minutes, there was clearly a Scottish click!
The hounds ran on Sunday and Hanne from the Eikica Sighthounds would help to start. Cranston and Cytaugh were the first to run and…. Cytaugh did run! She anticipated a lot and should have had the highest number of points for intelligence, but unfortunately this part has been deleted. In the second Deerhound course Crumbaugh and Charlaigne started and that was a really fantastic course! They followed the hare with devotion and Crumbaugh ran just a little better than Charlaigne but she did not show herself off and took 4 points more than Crumbaugh and 
took first place with the Certificate! Cranston was third and Cytaugh fourth. They had had a great run again and had come off the field without injury. It was again a super well organized coursing that ran like a train.
Monday August 8 we went to Camping Ringkøbing. We had been to this campsite twice before and it was great. Partly because of the large forest right next to the campsite where the hounds can run free, it is an ideal place to stand for a few days. And … we were lucky with the temperatures, not above 30°C!
On Thursday we went to the ‘Sandskulpturfestival’ in Søndervig. The impressive sand wall of 200 meters long and 7 meters high was decorated with the theme of the Middle Ages. Real works of art made by different people from many countries. i.a. a few Dutch, English, a Russian, Ukrainian, Belgians and Swedes had a great time in this huge sandbox with a beautiful result!
And yes, the sky really was that blue!
After a wonderfully relaxed week we returned home on Saturday 13 August. But not for long because at the end of August we had to be back in Göhlsdorf where Simon had to take care of the coursing together with Maarten and Willem. To be continued.
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Why It’s Important to Get Puppies Exercise
There are still breeders and owners who think that puppies should be protected by giving them or letting them take minimal exercise. A lot of research has been done in recent years and the opposite has now been proven.
When I see how many Deerhounds walk badly and have a wrong position, this can often be traced back to certain breeders who do not give their puppies the space they need. Puppies play and run for hours on end and then sleep for hours throughout the day. The space they need is of course dependent on their age, but you really can’t raise a puppy of 8 – 12 weeks on a piece of land of a few hundred square meters. Unlimited and unforced exercise is a ‘must’ for good, healthy Deerhounds.
This link with an interesting article about it comes from the Scottish Deerhound Learning Center facebook page;
A little bit of everything and a trip to Finland.
At the beginning of this year I sent DNA from Vision and her sons and from Cytaugh and her puppies to America for research on Post Operative Bleeding Syndrome because I suspected that Vision died from this. After several weeks I got the results and it turned out that Vision did indeed have the genotype SERPF2-VAR, meaning she had the highest risk, as much as 500 times higher than hounds that have no risk or the SERPF2-WT genotype. Due to the bleeding after her operation, the supply of oxygen was not sufficient for the organs and the nervous system and kidneys can be damaged very easily by too little oxygen; the haemorrhages were thus the cause of the eventual renal failure.
Her sons, Cranston and Callaghan both have SERPF2-HET, meaning they are 25 times more likely to have bleeding after surgery or an accident. It is therefore important that the vet has the right medication on the shelf. Unfortunately, it turns out that you are not allowed to have that medication under your own management, so if you are on the road you have a problem.
Also two of Cytaugh’s puppies have the SERPF2-HET variant while Cytaugh himself has SERPF2-WT. The owners have of course been informed immediately so that they can inform their vets and I have also informed the owner of the father of the puppies.
I am very pleased that, in addition to Factor VII Deficiency, we now also have the opportunity to test the hounds for this bleeding disorder, Delayed Bleeding Sydrome (DBS – also called hyperfibrinolysis)). You can avoid a lot of trouble with it.
The commercial test is not yet on the market, but if necessary one can simply send a swap to America for research. Unfortunately, there are still breeders who do not even test for Factor VII, which is very irresponsible as it carries great risks. I therefore recommend that when you want to buy a puppy, you ask the breeder whether it has been tested for Factor VII and DBS. You can read more about this via the following link, https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=20680.
We were finally able to remove the caravan from under the caravan port in mid-March and muck it out. In the course of the winter it always becomes a kind of storage place and before you have everything back in place and cleaned, you are a day further. But in the course of Thursday morning 17 March, we could then leave for Lelystad where the first CC2000 event would take place. More than 50 hounds were registered and it was a very pleasant day with perfect weather for the hounds. It was very nice to see Mackenzie (and of course Bert and Mariëtte who belong) again and also Simone and Marco with Finn and Kick.
Unfortunately Charlaigne was not allowed to walk, he was still in the rag basket but there were 6 Deerhounds walking that day! Mackenzie had to get used to it again but in the end ran very nicely. In the afternoon she walked with brother Crumbaugh and that went perfectly!! Also very nice courses from Cranston with the Afghan Kimi from John and Karin, and in the afternoon with the Barsoi from Anneke. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.
On April 11 I had Brandir’s heart tested again and it has improved again! By adding Carnitine, Taurine and Q10, his heart becomes more and more powerful and I no longer have to worry that the same thing will happen to him as Chidish. Cranston has also been tested for the first time and found to be fine. Nice to know before he starts his coursing career.
Cranston, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne have now obtained their coursing license and Cranston has already successfully completed a number of coursings.
The last major event was the World Coursing Championship on May 27, 28 and 29 in Kalajoki, Finland. We left on May 18 and had planned for a few weeks with a few days Flyvesandet in Denmark and a stop at Sonja on the way back. At Flyvesandet it was great fun again with the low water. Even Brandir, who in previous years was afraid of the tide, now walked freely and cheerfully. He even went crazy on a regular basis!
It is a lovely area and the hounds always enjoy it. It is also a great terrain for a good fitness training because walking through such a layer of muddy sand is quite hard!
On the way to Kalajoki we stayed at various campsites, including in Sweden, including a very nice nature campsite in a very beautiful environment.
On Wednesday 25 May we arrived in Kalajoki and were directed to our spot, a strip of asphalt in front of the caravan with a large sandbox next to it. We stood right on the beach, or rather on the beach, and looked out over the Gulf of Bothnia where the sea ice was still floating. A strange sensation as it was nice and warm those first days and everyone was walking around in T-shirts and shorts. The hounds loved the sandbox and we swept the sand outside every day.
The three coursing parcourses were also on the beach and all had a length of about 800 meters. This was long enough as it is of course very hard to run through the loose sand. On Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday Crumbaugh and Charlaigne were allowed to do a test run but on Thursday I saw afterwards that both had a total of 6 broken feet from the sand that had sanded away the skin at the bottom between the toes. A very painful condition that unfortunately was not cured quickly – so no more test run on Sunday.
Cranston was in CSS class on Friday with two Swedish females and one English male. I judged this male, Kirjojax Harris, at the Breed Show in England last year and it was very nice to see that he was suddenly a lot more mature and changed in a positive way. Beautiful male!
In the first round, Harris ran under red and Grayrory’s Kestrel under white. Harris started very well but halfway through Kestrel came by and after this Harris actually followed Kestrel and at one point he also touched her twice, in other words he disturbed her. He got a disqualification for this which is of course very sour when you come all the way from England.
In the second lap, Cranston ran under red with Gray Mountain Maggies Aileen. As a young girl, Aileen usually walked closely behind the hare, but also made an error of judgment every now and then. Cranston coursed more with his head he read the terrain and cut where necessary. Three times the turner went wrong, he misjudged Cranston’s speed and this caused Cranston to come into contact with the hare. Luckily he didn’t care about it. Unfortunately there was one judge who most likely swapped the points and placed Cranston in third place.
In the afternoon he had to walk alone and that was very disadvantageous for him. Such a large, heavy male cannot be compared with the course before it of two females. He eventually ended up in third place. It’s a shame it went like this but Cranston really ran very well and enjoyed it.
Saturday it was Cytaugh’s turn. There were 12 bitches (6 German bitches, 2 Czech, 2 Swedish, 1 Finnish and my Dutch Cytaugh) entered for the CACIL class and not a single male! Cytaugh started in the first course together with Islay’s Quickstep of Ira Johannsen (DE). Cytaugh got 243 points and Quickstep 230. Cytaugh was in a provisional fifth place!! In the second round, Islay’s Luck Penny from Ira ran with Crathlint Dwynwen Dee from Satu Hakanurmi, the only Finnish rider. Luck Penny got 228 points and ended up in provisional tenth place while Dwynwen Dee was disqualified. Fernhill’s Rose at Grayrory from Åke Kack (SE) ran a very nice course and earned 245 points and Islay’s Peekeboo from Ira got 232. In course four, Islay’s Oonagh from Ira and Cotherstone Angrboda from Ann-Marie Boyle (SE) and they got 247 and 229 points respectively. Course five was for Andrea Jahelková’s Ailis Under Sharp Hill and Islay’s Quinn by Silke Eichhorn, who tied for first place with 257 points. In the last course, Andrea’s Aisha Under Sharp Hill ran with Islay’s Luighseagh by Claudia Oeljeschläger (DE) with 237 and 179 points.
In the second round, Cytaugh had to compete against Aisha Under Sharp Hill in course 4. Aisha got 1 point more than Cytaugh but that wasn’t enough to beat her. Cytaugh eventually landed in fourth place.
I was quite proud of Cytaugh, with her over 7 years she has done well!
As said, on the way back we went to visit Sonja for a day. Very strange to find only two Galgas and Brandir and Cytaugh hadn’t expected this either. After a lovely lazy day, we drove home on Sunday to see our new cork floor. The floor is beautiful, but we also found leveling everywhere; on the terrace, against the walls, even the door handles were covered. So that became a return for the floor layers to clean things up. It just meant that we couldn’t immediately start clearing out our house because everything, really everything, was in the shed, on the porch and under the carport. Well, as long as we’re ready for Christmas.
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Deerhound in general, Lure coursing | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Nimloth Bernice
17 mei 2012 Nimloth Bernice 4 december 2021
On Sunday December 5th we received the in and in sad message from Sonja that Bernice passed away as a result of (probably) acute pneumonia in the night of December 4th.
This is an unbelievably hard blow for Sonja as she had to say goodbye to Vision 8 weeks earlier. Losing two beloved Deerhounds in such a short time….there are no words for that.
It was a sad year, too much sadness and too little fun with our hounds. Hopefully it will get better next year.
Liver shunt and health news from America
Recently I spoke to an Dutch Irish Wolfhound breeder who had imported a puppy from Germany. It turned out that this puppy had just been tested for liver shunt. Since I was told at the time that this test was not available in Germany, I inquired further.
The German Irish breeder had just had blood drawn from his puppies at his own vet and he did sent it to Laboklin. The next day the breeder had the results.
So if you want to get a puppy from Germany, the breeder can have it tested for liver shunt via Laboklin, insist on this, it can save you a lot of misery!
In the Claymore, the club magazine of the Scottish Deerhound Club of America, the Health and Genetics chapter appears in every issue. Always very interesting! In the latest edition (September/October 2021), Dr. Michael H. Court, researcher at the Pharmacogenomics Laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Washington State University, updates on the progress of studies on slow anesthesia recovery, perianesthetic stress hyperthermia (a stress-induced, life-threatening temperature elevation) and delayed postoperative bleeding. Below is an abbreviated version of his presentation at the National Specialty.
Slow anesthesia recovery
“The slow recovery of anesthesia after surgery or examination is a well-known phenomenon in Greyhounds and also occurs in other greyhounds. Usually it is after injected anesthetics such as thiopental and propofol (the latter to a lesser extent). This is related. with the low body fat content that greyhounds have.Normally the injected anesthetic passes out of the blood and into the body fat fairly quickly, allowing the dog to recover quickly, but due to the little body fat a greyhound has, a lot of anesthetic remains in the blood. , if first this blood is purified by the liver and that takes several hours. But there seems to be another factor involved and that is that the liver of greyhounds metabolize anesthetics more slowly than in other (non greyhound) breeds. There are two different mutations found in two different genes encoding enzymes crucial for the metabolism of pr opofol (CYP2B11-H3 and POR-H3). These mutations are most often found in Greyhounds and Deerhounds. Lab studies have shown that these mutations drastically reduce the metabolizing of propofol. The result of the latest study comparing Greyhounds with these mutations and Greyhounds without these mutations is still pending.
Perianesthetic stress hyperthermia
Another condition that has been studied is ‘stress hyperthermia’ which occurs in both Deerhounds and Greyhounds. Usually this is seen in conjunction with the anesthesia procedure before surgery. Signs are a very rapid temperature increase to above 41 C°, panting and deep red mucous membranes. Treatment consists of rapid cooling and the administration of sedatives and fluids. Stress hyperthermia can be prevented by judicious use of sedatives before an exhilarating experience (e.g. a vet visit) as well as taking steps to reduce stress.
Although stress hyperthermia is very serious and life-threatening, there have been no reports of fatal cases in the Deerhound. This is different from the malignant hyperthermia which is invariably fatal.
Since not all Greyhounds and Deerhounds are sensitive to stress hyperthermia, it is thought to be a genetic predisposition. With the support of the SDCA, we identified a mutation in the RYR1 gene in dogs with a history of stress hyperthermia. This mutation appears to be a milder form than the mutation of the gene that causes malignant hyperthermia. Since we have only studied 8 Deerhounds and 1 Greyhound, the usefulness of the clinical trial for this mutation is unclear. Therefore, we continue to recruit cases to see if the RYR1 mutation can explain all cases. Please contact courtlab@vetmed.wsu.edu if you have a dog that has suffered from hyperthermia and would like to donate DNA.
Delayed postoperative bleeding
Finally, we worked on a problem initially identified in Greyhounds, delayed post-operative bleeding. The clinical picture of this condition concerns dogs that have undergone major orthopedic or abdominal surgery (castration/sterilisation). Although no bleeding occurred during surgery, bleeding was noted within the next 24 to 48 hours. Symptoms range from bruising around the surgical site to overt bleeding from the wound. For abdominal surgery, internal bleeding may go undetected until the dog is seriously ill. Treatment consists of blood transfusions and intravenous administration of anti-fibrinolytic medication (Amicar). These bleedings can also be prevented by administering these agents before the operation and for 5 days after the operation.
We have conducted several studies (funded in part by the SDCA) implying that a mutation of the SERPINF2 gene is the cause of the delayed bleeding. SERPINF2 stands for alpha-2 antiplasmin, which is essential for protecting against the premature breakdown of blood clots (hyperfibrinolysis).
A case-control study was conducted using information gathered from the SDCA health survey and DNA samples from bleeding and dead dogs. We found 7 dogs that had postoperative bleeding after surgery and 55 dogs that had surgery without postoperative bleeding. All dogs were genotyped for the SERPINF2 mutation. The result indicates that the risk for delayed bleeding is 40 times higher in dogs that have at least one copy of the mutation and 500 times higher in dogs that have two copies, compared to dogs without a mutation. Important; all affected dogs had this mutation while none of the dogs that did not have the mutation had delayed bleeding.
In another study in healthy Greyhounds, we showed that dogs with two copies of the SERPINF2 mutation had significantly lower levels of antiplasmin in their blood than dogs with one or no copies of the mutation.
Taken together, it shows that testing for the SERPINF2 mutation can be useful to identify dogs that may have an interest in prophylactically administering anti-fibrinolytic drugs (Amicar). And just as important; the test can also identify dogs that will not benefit from this medication.
The SERPINF2 test is available now (free of charge) by contacting courtlab@vertmed.wsu.edu and requesting a DNA sample pack.
Like all genetic testing, we realize that the post-operative bleeding test can and will be used by Deerhound breeders to inform themselves about breeding plans. The SDCA Health & Genetics Committee is preparing guidelines for breeders on how or how not to use the test .
In this regard, it is important to emphasize that breeders should not attempt to eliminate the SERPINF2 mutation from the breed or a particular breeding line, as the disease causing the mutation can be effectively prevented in dogs at risk.”
Holiday in England
Given the Corona vicissitudes, it was a very exciting adventure, our trip to England. We postponed booking the tests, campsites and the crossing in advance as long as possible, as there was of course the chance that we would turn ‘red’ on the English ‘Government site’ and then we would not enter England. We had already pushed our departure date forward in the hopes that the site update wouldn’t come before Monday 20th September, but the British government held a press conference on Wednesday the 15th and the chance of an update became earlier. We had to do the corona test on Thursday the 16th, otherwise we didn’t fall within the deadlines. I also had the hounds dewormed on Thursday and made sure that their passports were filled in correctly. This on the way to Werkendam where the Dutch Coursing Championship was held. On Friday I would drive back and forth home to do a few things, including putting the garbage on the road. But when I arrived, the garbage had already been collected and I could go up and down on Saturday to take it to the recycling center! Well, there was still plenty to do at home and the hounds were not bothered by the coursing noises. After I was back in Werkendam on Friday afternoon, the hounds were able to have a nice run. In the evening we would eat in the restaurant of the riding school and while we were waiting for our ‘dinner’, an update came from England…….luckily the Netherlands remained orange!! This is of course a purely commercial affair because they already have enough problems in England so putting the Netherlands on red would be very stupid but still, we were very relieved! More on this later.
Saturday at the end of the afternoon back home quickly, well that ‘quickly’ did not go, the mover of the caravan did not work! Fortunately Maarten is handy enough and managed to remove the rollers from the tires so that we could at least go home. We hoped that the mover would work again at home otherwise we would have a real problem getting off the site on Sunday morning. In the evening I put another few things in the caravan, Simon filled in all the papers and printed them (which of course was terribly disappointing and took several hours), I filled the freezers with meat for the hounds (I got about 45 kilos in it !) and we went to bed early.
Up early on Sunday morning, the last things in the caravan fridge and off. Fortunately, the mover did and we were able to start the journey without any further problems. This went very well and earlier than hoped we were in Calais and through the “Pet Control”. After this it went a little less smoothly because of the strict control of the passports, but we were still able to get on a train earlier than we had booked. Mid afternoon we arrived at the first campground, Tanner Farm Park. A campsite where Sonja and I had already been twice before and where you stay wonderfully quiet with good walking opportunities. Only we didn’t bring oversized Cranston with 
us then! It was impossible to pass under the gate that was part of a fence that you can go over as a human and go under as a small to medium-sized dog. Brandir and the girls crawled under it neatly but Crumbaugh and Cranston refused it absolutely. So because of this the walking possibilities were limited. But there was ‘excitement’ enough because it was bursting with squirrels and they just walked right past our hideout. Once there was one just below the open window of the caravan and I could just grab Crumbaugh’s hind legs before he started to jump out of the window! Furthermore, the hounds fortunately stayed neatly behind the fence when the squirrels jumped around. So good!!
According to the rules, we should do a COVID test on Tuesday. We also had ordered and paid for it, but the test never arrived at the campsite. Even after several emails and phone calls, we didn’t get any response. Then not, we’ll see.
On Wednesday we went to Scotney Castle. A ruin on a small island and a newer castle set in beautiful gardens many acres of sheep pastures and woodlands. We first made a big walk, between the sheep and especially Crumbaugh and Charlaigne could not resist the sheep poo. Afterwards we went to the old castle ruins to shoot a few pictures, a really nice ruin.
One of the problems that England now faces is that there are too few truck drivers to transport fuel, among other things! We experienced this when we wanted to fill up and there was no diesel (nor petrol) available at various filling stations. Fortunately we found another gas station in a small village where we could fill the tank.
On Thursday we left for a campsite near Telford where the Breed Show would take place and I would judge the Deerhounds on Sunday. Friday afternoon we went to the hotel to say hello to everyone and to give Liza and Sarah the chance to see Uther’s puppies. Unfortunately I was not allowed to attend on Saturday so we decided to go to Ironbridge. We first walked a bit with the hounds, then had lunch at a pub and then walked back towards ‘The Iron Bridge’. Well, when you walk across the bridge there isn’t much to it, it’s just impressive from a distance, especially when you consider the history.
But what we actually went for was of course ‘The Deerhound Table’ which is in the Coalbrook Museum of Iron. I didn’t think it would be this big! The Deerhounds that carry the table on their necks were really life-size. Very nice to see it in real life.
Here too, around Telford, we saw long lines of cars at gas stations waiting to fill up, only to see the next day that everything was sold out and there was no car left. After some searching on the internet Simon found a gas station where you could still fill up, but for no more than 25 pounds. Well that doesn’t work with a 90 liter tank! So after first having refueled for 25 Pounds, he drove around and filled the tank at the truck pump. In a normal passenger car, the nozzle does not fit in the tank opening, but fortunately that is no problem with us! There was no one to say anything about it and no comment at the checkout either. At a next gas station it was also said that it was allowed to refuel at such a pump. Good to know! Hopefully we can still fill up on the way back, otherwise we won’t make it to Folkestone and we won’t come home!
We also heard in the evening during dinner in the hotel (which we were fortunate to be able to attend) that various products were no longer available in the shops because they simply could not be delivered. What such a stupid virus can cause!
Sunday morning, up early and heading to the hotel. Fortunately the weather was great all week and also on this day it was great weather for a show. In total there were 83 Deerhounds entered for the show with 90 entries on the Saturday of which 30 were absent and 53 entries for the Sunday with 16 absent. Not as many entries as usual but that was to be expected in the current situation. It is a miracle in itself that a Breed Show took place with the enormous numbers of corona infections that are reported daily in England.
Anyway, I was very satisfied with my numbers and loved to get so many Deerhounds in my hands again. The quality was very different but I had a couple of very nice hounds including a young male of 23 months who made it very difficult by either not wanting to trot or to go at a pace but…..when he trotted, he showed the best movement whatever you could imagine, dancing beautifully with a long, flowing stride, low to the ground and at a good pace. The best gait of the day. Furthermore, he was a male who was really ‘Fit for function’ and could really do his job. Also a male and female, brother and sister, 20 months young, stood out in type, movement, beautiful small ears and very dark eyes. Yes, and then those adorable hounds; who really want to cuddle with you intensely or that old bitch of 11.5 years who was still so fit and trotted active through the ring, they touch you in the depths of your soul and it always brings tears to my eyes.
On Monday morning we left for Dartmoor. We had booked a ‘dog friendly’ campsite but when we arrived and were directed to our spot, it turned out that it was not allowed to put up our fence, which would mean that the hounds only had to stay in the caravan and awning. No way! So we turned around and looked for another campsite – easier said than done as it turned out that many were not allowed more than 2 dogs or that the place was flooded due to the enormous amount of rain that had fallen last night. Via, via we ended up at a campsite along a moderately busy road but with direct access to the Moors and a very cozy pub! Tuesday it came pouring out of the sky again and at one point a soaked robin flew through the awning. Fortunately we had all the hounds in the caravan and I let the bird rest for a while before opening the tent door. It stayed on the ground for a while and after about ten minutes it flew away again….. or not? More on this later.
Parody of “Wishful Thinking”.
When it would remain ‘dry’ in the afternoon, we quickly set out with the hounds. Through the gigantic meadows, where the sheep and ponies graze, ‘Public Footpaths’ ran in all directions. So plenty of walking options, you had to close the gates behind you of course. When we walked a few hundred meters on one of those fields, suddenly about 10 ponies came running towards us from very far away. Simon said jokingly; “They’re going to surround us.” Well, they did and one of them didn’t look very friendly. This mare was clearly the leader and didn’t think it was good that we were walking here with five Deerhounds. She became more and more threatening and on a few occasions she turned to us and at one point she slammed backwards. Against Brandir! Fortunately, he is no longer very stable on his legs and he immediately fell over which probably saved his life. When he got up, he squeaked and stood on three legs for a while, but that soon got better. As I was struggling with Crumbaugh and Charlaigne to contain them (they wanted to chase those ponies away!), I couldn’t do anything, just try 
to keep things as calm as possible and try to get off the field as quickly as possible. For the first part we were still chased by the herd of ponies but the closer we got to the fence the more they kept their distance before finally turning around and galloping away. What a terribly bad experience this was and especially for poor Brandir, that he in his old age has to go through such a thing. Fortunately it turned out to be not too bad with him, I couldn’t discover anything about him and he just walked with us for the rest of the walk. In the meantime it had started to rain again so we didn’t have much fun and after the hounds had done everything we turned back towards the caravan to drown the fright. We preferred to have a very large pony steak on our plate in the evening in the pub!! But unfortunately they didn’t have it.
We were fed up with Dartmoor right away and on Wednesday we packed up all the wet stuff again and drove to The New Forest where we had booked a very quiet campsite, The Red Shoot, in the middle of the nature reserve. Fortunately, we were also able to arrive earlier than agreed. In The New Forest the ponies, cows, pigs, donkeys and deer just run loose throughout the area and a confrontation with them is not inconceivable but we were well warned by the bad incident in Dartmoor and left the cattle behind. The weather was beautiful here and in a radiant sun we set things up again and drank a beer in the sun.
Thursday – rain – we had decided to go to Stonehenge but when we got there we could either walk 2 kilometers or take a shuttle bus. Well with 5 Deerhounds in a shuttle bus we didn’t like it so we just walk. Of course, to get a little closer to the stones you had to buy a ticket – 21 Pounds per person!! Now we are real culture barbarians and are not willing to pay for a look at old stones up close, so taking some pictures from a slightly greater distance was okay. Simon also said; “They’re probably saving up for new bricks.” Well, with such amounts that is easily saved!
Fortunately, it was dry during the walk there, but there was a strong wind. At one point a hare crossed the road right in front of us. The only one who saw him was Crumbaugh and he is the worst thing to get back in line! Only when we were far past the ‘hare pass point’ on the way back, he was able to walk a bit normally again.
We drove to Burley on Friday. This should be a nice old village but it was not what I expected. The walk that was plotted in the area and we walked, was also a bit disappointing. Large stretches on tarmac roads. There weren’t many cars driving, but if possible Brandir runs loose so he can set his own pace. That didn’t work here and then it’s a lot more tiring for him. The surroundings were beautiful and the ponies would occasionally let us go round as they were in the middle of the road or grazing next to it. 
We now look out for them and don’t trust them at all! When we drove back to the campsite, we ended up in a ‘traffic jam’ because of a herd of donkeys walking across the road. Yes, and then you really have to be patient.
Saturday it rained all day, and not just a little! In the afternoon we agreed with Gill and Toby to show Brandir. As one of their bitches was in season we couldn’t take him inside so all five of them stayed neatly in the car. Well neat…. when we came back to get Brandir out, it turned out that the puppies had retouched the mattress cover. The whole car was covered with foam flakes!
Sunday was a rest day, just a nice walk in the area which was already strenuous enough by meeting a lame deer that did not disappear so quickly in the forest. At the end of the afternoon, when it had cooled down quite a bit, there was a heavy downpour of rain and we had closed the awning, suddenly a robin was flying around in the awning again! Accidentally rolled up in the awning? Those animals crawl through the smallest cracks and into the tent under the caravan. That is really guts!
On Monday we took another beautiful, strenuous walk in the northwest of the New Forest. At the start of the walk there were a few cows along the path but luckily they had little interest in us. Steep, slippery slopes, overgrown with ferns, up and down in the pouring rain. Luckily we didn’t encounter any ponies or cows there!
Tuesday morning we packed up again and drove to Tanner Farm Park where we would spend the night before traveling back home. We never did our second corona test and we had already prepared ourselves for a hefty fine for this, but when we arrived in Folkestone, nothing was said or asked and after all the checks regarding the hounds we could get on the train. Once on the train we were sure that no angry Englishman with a fine would come after us and we could breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, we also received bad news from Sonja that day. In the week before, she had already reported that Vision was not doing well after she was neutered, but there was no improvement at all, on the contrary, she had to decide to put Vision to sleep. In and in sad, still so young and completely fit again after her fake pregnancy, she couldn’t get up after the operation and eventually her kidneys gave out. An unbelievably hard blow for everyone involved. But especially for Sonja of course.
Pyefleet Vision, mother of Cranston Argyll and Gallaghan Argyll, was only allowed to live to be 5 years, 9 months and 5 days.
Posted in 2021, Abroad | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
On the road again!
On Wednesday, August 25, we left for Göhlsdorf near Berlin, where Simon would take care of the International coursing for the sighthound racing club Phoenix. It was the first time for Crumbaugh and Charlaigne to make such a long trip with the caravan, but they adapted well and found it very exciting to arrive and walk in a different, unknown location each time.
After we had set up everything on Thursday and had a nice walk with the hounds, we found a beer stand opposite us when we returned. They were still working on some things but as soon as they were done we could come and get a beer. Well don’t let that tell you twice! On Friday Simon built up the course and Cytaugh, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne were able to stretch their legs. The three of them thundered across the field, beautiful to watch. Cytaugh is still the fastest but Crumbaugh was nearly as fast as his mother!
A total of about 100 sighthounds were entered for the coursing on Saturday, but because it didn’t go very smooth in the morning, it was around six o’clock before all courses were run! I hadn’t entered Cytaugh for the official coursing, but luckily she was allowed to do a round of coursing with Crumbaugh and Charlaigne afterwards. They enjoyed it again! Crumbaugh in particular was so fanatical and wanted to get on the field every time so badly that he couldn’t get past the field during normal walks, very difficult!
On Sunday was the CAC show and I had entered Charlaigne for this. It had been nice weather every day before, on Sunday the rain came pouring down from the sky. There was 1 veteran bitch, 3 youth bitches (of which Charlaigne was the youngest) and 1 open class bitch entered by judge Hanna Wozna-Gil from Poland. The moment I entered the ring it was dry and Charlaigne showed exemplary. She walked along nicely without acting crazy and also stood still reasonably well, amazing! She finished first!! But when she had to come back to compete for BOB, it came crashing down again and she wanted nothing more than to go back to the caravan! Initially we were supposed to leave again on Monday, but as the weather forecast did not predict better weather, we decided to pack up and leave during an hour when it was dry.
No sooner said than done, but against expectations it was very busy on the road and we did not arrive at our overnight place until late in the afternoon. Monday afternoon we were back home.
The following weekend, Simon should have judged a coursing in France, but it was canceled due to a too low number of entered hounds. Too bad, it would be nice to do some coursing in France again. Then again next year. But this canceled weekend gave us some more air to prepare for the trip to England.
To be continued!
Posted in 2021, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne | Comments Closed
And that is why the Dutch breeders test their Deerhound puppies for liver shunt!
In the meantime, all Deerhound breeders worldwide know that liver shunt is a condition that occurs in Deerhounds. A responsible breeder therefore tests his puppies when they are about 7 weeks old to make sure he is not selling a puppy that has liver shunt. About 2 to 3% of the puppies born can have this abnormality. But in Germany they are convinced that this deviation does not occur with them!
Unfortunately: recently a Deerhound puppy came to the Netherlands from Germany who became ill after a few days and she also showed deviant behavior such as walking in circles and along the walls. At first it turned out that there were stones in her stomach and after these were removed, the puppy recovered. But that was short-lived; after three days the bitch again showed the deviant behavior, she was very sick and she was taken to the vet again. After taking a blood sample, he found that the ammonia level in the blood was almost 5 times higher than that of another healthy dog. This combination of behavior and ammonia levels confirmed the great fear: liver shunt.
Since the puppy was so very sick, it could take weeks before she could possibly be operated on (while first she had to be diagnosed with what kind of shunt it was and whether it could be operated or not) and the amount requested for this was more than abnormal high, the owners decided on euthanasia.
Can you imagine how terribly sad this is? Have a puppy in the house for two weeks but after the first few days dive into misery with euthanasia as the end result? And in this case, the owners had also taken a brother so that they could grow up so nicely together. Any idea how much the remaining puppy missed his playmate?? It is very sad to have to experience all of this!
You would expect that the breeders would assist the owners in this matter, but after the first bump (whereby they had assisted with advice and action because they know that their puppies eat stones) and when it turned out that it was a liver shunt, the breeders gave up. “Liver shunt does not occur with us, we have never had it, the whole litter is otherwise healthy, it must be stones again” was all the owners were initially told. After this, the breeders stopped answering the phone and did not respond to messages left behind.
After a week there was some contact again and eventually the owners were able to pick up a new puppy. They could choose from three males, there were two more from the litter that was born a week earlier and a brother of the deceased female from the last litter. They chose the brother. However, they had to sign a paper that they would not declare any (future) costs, for any puppy. The owners also had to pay for the autopsy to prove what caused the bitch’s death. Were the breeders not interested in the results?
When the autopsy report was sent after three weeks, it turned out that the bitch didn’t just have a liver shunt. She was really very, very ill with everything wrong, including a number of chronic conditions that had been going on for much longer. Surgery could not have saved her.
It is of course very strange that the breeders themselves did not see that the bitch was not well. She must have shown the deviant behaviour there too because the ammonia level in her blood was so incredibly high that she must have been quite poisoned already. But then again, if you have to grow up outdoors in a shed, and the breeders only come a few times a day…….
I find it in and in sad that Deerhound puppies (anyway all puppies) are bred and kept in such a way, I really couldn’t do it like this. When I see how often they, even at night, need contact for a while and after a hug they go back to sleep, play or scratch around, I don’t have to think about keeping them in a shed or outdoor kennel. Research has also been done into the difference in behaviour between puppies that are raised in the house and that are kept outside in kennels. A small piece of text: “Puppies raised outdoors showed an elevated tendency for submissive behaviour, a greater risk of aggression through fear, and a lowered capacity for coping with novel conditions”.
The latter was clearly noticeable in all three puppies; they were not socialized at all, they were even afraid to come in the house! They were not toilet trained, they were startled and afraid of everything and they couldn’t walk on a leash either. In terms of growing up, the owners might as well have gotten a puppy from a Hungarian puppyfarm.
I would therefore strongly advise, if you are interested in a Deerhound puppy, born in Germany or anywhere else, to insist that the puppy is tested for liver shunt and that you also receive the result in black and white, before you purchase is about. A good purchase agreement, in which the rights and obligations of both parties are stated, can also protect you against a lot of financial misery and last but not least; look for a breeder who largely raises the puppies in the house, gives the parents a good health check (including heart examination) before breeding with them and who socializes the puppies well (even in a non-home environment!). It can save you a lot of grief and misery.
And isn’t it that too what distinguishes us responsible, purebred dog breeders from puppyfarms???
Very interesting articles
From Barb Heidenreich, of the famous “Fernhill Scottish Deerhounds”, I received the following very interesting articles. You have to take the time for it, but they are pieces that are definitely worth reading.
The first article is about nutrition and cardiomyopathy and the second about the long-term health risks of neutering.
https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19823
https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19846
The wonders are not over yet!
From 1979 to 1981 we had Irish Wolfhounds. I don’t remember how I got to it, but they got Taurine and L-Carnitine every day through their food. That should be good for the heart.
In 1996, when some of our Deerhounds developed heart problems and were treated by Dr. Andrea Vollmar, they were able to participate in Vetmedin’s development project. This drug is said to counteract the weakening of the heart muscle. Luckily my hounds got the real Pimobendan (the active substance) and no placebos and lived on it very well for a number of years. Vetmedin is now THE medicine for DCM.
In 2018, a mild form of DCM was diagnosed at Brandir and as my experience with Vetmedin (Pimobendan) was very positive, I had no hesitation in giving him this as standard. His heart did not deteriorate further.
Two years ago Sonja had Bernice, Brandir’s sister, checked on her heart and she was diagnosed with a very slight abnormality but she did not need any medication. After checking last year, Dr. Tobias (the cardiologist in Hannover) advised to add Taurine to Bernice’s diet. After half a year, Sonja had Bernice checked again and her heart had improved!
I also started adding Taurine to my hounds’ meals last year. After a few months another heart check took place at Brandir and it turned out ….. his heart had improved! A few months ago I also started adding Acetyl L-Carnitine and Omega 3 to the diet after reading some articles about this. Very interesting! Here are the links to the articles;
Nutritional therapy in the treatment of heart disease in dogs – https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19621&preview=true
Taurine, dog food, and heart disease in dogs – https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19619
Last Friday it was time again for a check of Brandir’s heart and it turned out ….. Brandir’s heart had improved even further !!! This trend continues despite Brandir’s fairly advanced age, he will turn 9 years old on May 17! The combination of Vetmedin, Taurine and Acetyl L-Carnitine really works wonders. Brandir is still very active, just like Bernice, doesn’t skip any walk and occasionally plays with his daughter or grandchildren.
I therefore urgently recommend adding Taurine and Carnitine to the diet not only in case of existing heart defects, but also preventively. 1 gram per day of both is sufficient. But … it is of course also very important that you regularly check the heart and/or have it checked to prevent (more) serious problems !!!
Posted in 2021, Deerhound in general, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Nimloth Bernice, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Finally …..
Finally I can manage to write something again. The lust and inspiration simply lacked after the death of Cearrean and because of the bustle of the puppies.
It was a busy couple but what fun they had together! They grew well, ate well and everything, were neatly on the leash, driving was no problem and they learned a lot from the older hounds. It all went very well.
But to be honest, I was also looking forward to see three out of six going to their new owners around February 9 (Holly would not leave for Germany until the beginning of March) but it was not to be. After the puppies had their last vaccination on February 9, they all got sick in the evening. At first I thought it was a reaction to the vaccination but because they all were not feeling well and later also vomited 
and got diarrhea, I soon came to the conclusion that it must be something more serious. I had brought Calum to Annelies in the afternoon and he also turned out to be unwell later on. This is of course the worst thing that can happen to you as a new owner and we had more than regular contact.
It turned out to be a gastrointestinal virus that was all around and because the puppies regularly went along for socialization, they had picked it up somewhere. After a week with ups and downs, high fever, not eating and drinking and therefore losing more than a kilo, after stool research showed that Giardia now also played a role! What a drama!!
It is of course very easy if you keep your dogs in kennels; a few times a day empty the high-pressure cleaner with disinfectant and you’re done, but that’s not how it works when you have them all in your house and they run over your entire 5000 square meter site. So the only thing that helped was cleaning & disinfecting and constant poopcleaning & disinfection every day. Liters of Dettol went through and the washing machine was running day and night. I can tell you that this was really not fun and it took away my fun. No more puppies at O’Cockaigne for the time being!
But in the meantime we are several weeks further and the puppies are doing well. The owners are all very happy with them and what I see in the photos and the videos and read in the emails, the puppies also with their servants. Crumbaugh and Charlaigne are very happy with each other and are shaking things up here, digging holes in which they can disappear and especially during the news in the evening on TV. they can argue wonderfully on the couch. They look good and have wonderful characters!
Posted in 2021, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
8 weeks young
We are now a week further after saying goodbye to Cearrean. The grief is still there, but there is also relief and resignation. Luckily Cranston has the puppies that he likes to spend a few hours a day with and that keeps me busy. After all, he is still a puppy himself, almost 8 months old, and regularly forgets that he is a bit bigger and stronger than the 8 week old puppies and that has to be managed every now and then. But it regularly delivers very laughable moments!
Cranston loves to take toys and then make sure they come after him to get it back. But of course you can also just pull them along!
The tent has been up for over a week now, but it won’t last as long as the tent that Cranston and Callaghan played with! Cranston thinks it all fits but the seams think differently! And the tunnel is also having a hard time.
The puppies had their liver shunt test the day before yesterday and luckily they were all nice and low with their ammonia value. Next week they will receive their second vaccination. 
Walking on a leash gets better every day, just like riding in the car. They are already used to the vacuum cleaner and chainsaw and a clattering pan or clattering garbage bag doesn’t do much to them either.
Now that Cearrean is gone, we have decided that Crumbaugh should also stay, so nice and good for Charlaigne, they can then enjoy themselves together. And it’s a lot easier for me!
Posted in O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne | Comments Closed
Cearrean Argyll
19-12-2018 Cearrean Argyll O’Cockaigne 7-1-2021
Thursday, January 7, 2021, a pitch black day for O’Cockaigne. This day we put Cearrean Argyll to sleep.
Since the beginning of August we have known, after a visit to the naturopath Judith Adriaansens, that Cearrean had terrible headaches. After several acupuncture sessions, osteopathic treatments, natural remedies, regular medicines, the MRI scan that showed that there is a cyst in his head, special medication including Gabapentin, Tramadol and prednisolone, all of which helped little or nothing, we had to make the incredibly tough decision to give Cearrean his rest.
The past few days it went downhill very fast. You could see in Cearrean’s eyes that he had constantly terrible headaches and he was no longer enjoying life. He growled all day and night at everything that came close, didn’t want to play with Cranston anymore, often lay out on a bed until late at night and ate badly the last few days. He regularly act ugly to one of the other hounds and he didn’t like the puppies anymore. In the house we had to keep him separate from the puppies to avoid annoyance, but the days before it went well outside and he still liked them.
After consulting again with the people who were treating Cearrean, we made the decision on Wednesday and I asked Victoire Weijers-Koperberg, the acupuncturist who is also a regular vet, if she was willing to come here and to free Cearrean from his headache. Fortunately she wanted to do this and we agreed for Thursday afternoon.
It became clear that it was the right decision when we walked the puppies through the garden on Thursday afternoon and Cearrean followed. The puppies of course walked to him but Cearrean did not like it and grabbed a puppy. Loudly screaming all the puppies ran back home and Cranston also was totally upset. Fortunately, the puppy had no injuries and recovered very quickly.
But we no longer had to doubt.
The grief is immense but we are also relieved; there is peace and tranquility in the house again. We also notice it immediately with Brandir, Cytaugh and Cranston, they are much more relaxed and free; they don’t have to fear getting caught anymore. I am glad we are leaving this horrible time behind us, it is in and in sad that this had to happen to Cearrean and that there was no other solution available. He was such a bon vivant!
They are a noisy bunch!
Christmas. How fun can it be! Standing out in the cold in your pajamas at night to ensure that the puppies do not do their business in the house but outside. Of course they don’t all go out at the same time and they don’t do everything at the same time. After this they have to eat and play extensively. All in all, it will take you almost 2 hours before you can go back to bed! But rarely do they put anything in the whelping box, so things are going in the right direction. Hopefully they will be completely housetrained in two to three weeks. But the door has to be left ajar so that they can go out, and we have made several adjustments to this. Fortunately, they understand the small crack through which to go outside, even at night, but they also feel how cold it is there and for 
some that is the signal to turn around and to relieve themselves on the corrugated cardboard inside. So there is no other option than to persist to go out in my pajamas in the middle of the night!
Then that litter of 2 puppies in May was a lot easier!
Just a few more days and then they are already 6 weeks. In the meantime, they make the whole house their playground and they know where to find Cytaugh when they feel like a sip of milk. They are doing well, the largest is still the largest and the smallest the smallest. There is more than a kilo difference between the two, but not in their brains! The two smallest females, Caira and Chasslynn, are the two smart ones and the most enterprising. Charlaigne and Caoimhe are a bit calmer and the males, Calum and Crumbaugh are real males; occasionally playing the boss but mostly lazy.
After the meals of steak tartare and puppy milk, they now mostly rely on meat and they like it the best. Very soon they will have their first day-old chicks, sprats and little chicken necks. Line training has started and the car is no longer strange to them. Next Monday they will be chipped and on Tuesday they will receive their first vaccination.
Cranston absolutely loves them and loves to be with them all the time. In his way he is very gentle with them but now and then a puppy flies through the air! Fortunately, they are still made of ‘rubber’ and can withstand a lot. Especially Caira is his favorite and she really lies down to be chapped! Brandir and Cearrean think they are still a bit too small, although Cearrean is very interested, but he thinks it is a bit much, 6 puppies.
Yes, Cearrean, a chapter on its own. After a period when things went reasonably well, things are going in the wrong direction again. You can clearly see that he has a lot of headaches and he takes it out on his housemates. Two and a half weeks ago I had an MRI scan of his head after Judith Adriaansens, the naturopath which is treating him, said there was ‘a’ process going on in his head. She was right! There appears to be a cyst between his large and small brains. This presses on the cerebellum and causes pain. It is also known that the cerebellum is not only responsible for motor skills but also for emotion, aggression, empathy and so on. So Cearrean’s behavior is very explainable, but also almost no longer tenable in recent weeks. He can very unexpectedly attack one of his housemates and especially Brandir does not accept this anymore. Cearrean’s behavior causes a lot of stress and tension and we had hoped that the medication he is now on would change this. Unfortunately this is very disappointing.
And when this was the only problem, but he also has problems with his right knee and his back very regularly. The pain relief that he receives is not sufficient for all these things and it especially occurs in the evening. Everything that comes within a radius of 4 meters is grunted. Really not fun. We still have to look at it, his behavior is very variable at the moment, but all in all I see it gloomy for him.
And Cranston, he is a very beautiful puppy but … his lower jaw remains too short. After having his lower puppycanines removed at a very young age in the hope that these would not hinder the growth of the lower jaw, I unfortunately had to decide to have the lower canines shortened. This happened 2 weeks ago.
All in all, not such a good time. Fortunately the puppies make us laugh regularly and we enjoy them a lot.
It is now Tuesday December 29th. The storm last weekend was not conducive to housetraining! How they hate that dirty weather! And annoying that they are! It was also a short night. After they went to sleep with a full belly at 11:30, I only at 12:30, the first one woke up again at 1:30! Then it took until after three o’clock before they decided to go back to sleep. But at 7 am the alarm went off again because my car had to go to the garage (Simon was allowed to do that). After the puppies had eaten and had a mini nap, it started again. They really went out of their way to drive me crazy and squeaked, screamed and screeched the loudest. Even after they ate a pound of meat and had dessert at Cytaugh! And while I was trying to sort things out, they immediately reorganized it into a mess! If someone had said that puppies are FUN at the time, I would have strangled that person!
Yesterday the chipper came and they all have their number and their DNA has been taken. This all went very well.
This afternoon they will receive their first vaccination and will therefore have to make a longer drive than they are used to so far. The times they were in the car it went well, but those were only a few laps around our roundabout.
And then they have to be pricked for the liver shunt test next week. I don’t expect there to be a liver shunt, but you never know!
Until now they are growing well. They prefer to eat pure meat without puppy milk and still like to drink at Cytaugh. Cytaugh is not so happy with it anymore because those teeth are quite sharp. So drinking with mom will soon be over!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
It is a nice bunch of puppies
The puppies are now two weeks old. They grow well and look fantastic. Cytaugh keeps them clean and because of this they shine like a mirror. Caira was the first to open her eyes a bit and was immediately waving to the world! Chasslynn was the first to carefully take several steps and now runs like a spider through the whelpingbox. She is a real racing monster!
In the meantime, all have their eyes open and respond to sound. Now minimal, but in a few days you will no longer be able to open the slide of the whelping box without them hearing it.
They also display playing behavior. Now they usually bite in each other’s ears and legs lying down and floundering , but it will soon be during walking and falling over.
The differences in character are getting bigger, the males are real males; calmer and less impulsive. But Calum can demand a lot of attention. Chasslynn is a small busy thing, she beeps loud and clear and is usually the first with everything. Caira is clever, smart but not loud, Caoimhe is calm but can grow quite a throat if she wants something, Charlaigne is the quietest of all.
What they all love is a ‘group hug’, preferably all at the same time getting a hug. Even if one is screeching, he or she often becomes silent when you pick him or her up. They really enjoy being cuddled.
Well, we take the time for that!
Every day it gets a little better
Saterday, November 21
After I returned from the vet with Cytaugh and the deceased puppy around 6pm on Wednesday (Nov.18), I didn’t feel like burying it anymore. I did this on Thursday after I first weighed him; it weighed a whopping 618 grams, the heaviest of all. And what a beautiful puppy it was!
The first days after the caesarean section Cytaugh had a significant increase, even up to 39.9 Cº, fortunately it is now dropping but it is going slowly. She feels okay and eats and drinks well. She is a loving mother and keeps her offspring clean.
Fortunately, Cytaugh lies still in the whelpingbox and does not get up to turn around so I don’t have to worry (not yet) about that but she likes to stretch her legs regularly, every 2 to 3 hours, and to pee. Of course, this also continues at night! And of course she doesn’t pee right away, she prefers to walk halfway through the forest! You are immediately wide awake again. Of the first 5 days (180 hours) I slept for a total of 16 hours. The annoying thing is that when the puppies are in their little box because Cytaugh has to get out, they are sleeping well and you don’t hear them. But when they are in Cytaugh’s whelping box, you constantly hear one squeak, suck or moan, it is hardly silent for a moment. Cytaugh is also panting a lot, it is too hot for her, especially now that she is also raised.
Sunday afternoon I saw a wound besides Cytaugh’s tail. When I examined it more closely, a lot of thickened anal fluid came out! So it turned out to be a burst, inflamed anal gland. Very strange that it did not smell at all and that Cytaugh was not bothered by it.
Fortunately, Cytaugh’s temperature is going in the right direction, at the beginning of the evening it had finally dropped below 39. Let’s hope this trend continues.
Monday, November 23
It was a very restless night. Cytaugh wanted to get out at 3:00 am and before she finally had a pee I was half an hour further. Since it is quite dark in our forest, I bring a flashlight. We then act as quietly as possible otherwise a dog in the neighbourhood will bark. You really feel like a thief in the dark and wonder when someone calls the police. Fortunately that hasn’t happened yet! The puppies also kept busy and never slept for a moment, so neither did I.
I went to the vet with Cytaugh to have the anal gland treated with an antibiotic ointment. The vet also checked the stitches. At least that all looked good.
The puppies didn’t like the fact that mothers were not there. When she was not in the whelping box within half an hour, they jointly put up a huge throat. Simon was pretty sweet with it!
The only puppy that has doubled its birth weight after a week is the turquoise male. The red female, the smallest of the bunch, doubled her weight the next day and the rest the day after. They grow steadily, but they all sometimes have an outlier or have gained a lot less weight a day. But they shine towards you and are vibrant.
Thursday, November 26
In the meantime we have already trimmed the nails of the puppies with the nail grinder twice. They grow very fast and the brackets that arise are razor-sharp.
Cytaugh now and then jumps out of the box, but as soon as the puppies start to squeak too much, she also goes back. Now it is still feasible to keep the six aside for a while when she steps in, but when the puppies get faster, it becomes a lot of tricks again. Fortunately, she stays in the whelping box all night long.
In the meantime I also have to deal with the other hounds. Now and then they also need to be brushed and their nails trimmed. And especially Cearrean needs regular special attention in the form of search games. He likes this and uses his nose well. He spends a lot of time outside with Cranston and together they “clean up” the grounds.
Cranston continues to grow considerably, he is almost the same size as Brandir! It is a wonderful puppy who enjoys life to the full.
My Croton is also admired every day at the moment, it has such nice flowers!
Friday, November 27.
This afternoon we went to the vet for a check-up with Cytaugh. Everything was fine and I can let the wound close. One less worry. The nights also get a bit quieter. Usually I “sleep” until 5:00 or 6:00 and then wake up Simon, then I actually go to bed and sleep for a few hours, Simon then stays with the pups.
Most puppies are already over a kilo, only the red female is not quite yet but she is growing fastest in proportion! Who knows, she might catch up with her pink sister! The eyes start to open slowly, with several you can already see a small crack. I wonder how blue they become, light eyes are in the bloodline so it can just pop out, I hope not!
And there they are!
Monday, November 16. 03.00 am. After noticing that Cytaugh’s temperature was dropping around noon, I watched this closely. For a long time it stuck at 37.2 before dropping to 37.1 around 7 p.m. and by 9 p.m. it had already risen to 37.3. Since the delivery will not take long anymore, and there are always exceptions, I took it for granted and did not go to bed. 
Cytaugh did, she had almost all the beds in the house before she got up at half past three and was escorted by me to the whelping box. Here she lay down quietly and finally wanted to drink a few sips of milk. I saw the puppies moving in her belly. At 4 o’clock she started to pant a little but a little later she calmed down and drank a little again.
And so it went on until half past ten in the morning.
Tuesday, November 17, 3.25 am. Simon woke up at 7 and went for a walk with the other hounds. After everyone had breakfast and Cytaugh was sleeping peacefully in the whelping box, I could also go to sleep for a few hours. It only became two hours because at 10.30 am Simon called me that Cytaugh was contracting. It ended here. In the course of the afternoon she had a contraction now and then, but she didn’t really push through. It didn’t get a bit more serious until 3:30 am and after a few contractions a bladder appeared. But it did not continue and the bladder disappeared. I took Cytaugh on a leash and went out. There the bladder appeared again! Back home soon because Simon was out walking with the other hounds and I didn’t want to take in a puppy outside while Cytaugh was half panicked. Hop in the whelping box and then the bladder turned out to be an empty ball of about 7 centimeters in diameter, there was no puppy in it, only moisture!
After about fifteen minutes, Cytaugh went into labor again and started straining. Once again a bladder appeared and disappeared because Cytaugh was not pushing properly. So back on the leash and outside. After a good 50 meters, the bladder appeared and Cytaugh started to push. I collected the pup with afterbirth in a warm towel, quickly shed its membranes and ran home as quickly as possible. Cytaugh in the whelping box, rub the puppy dry, get it started and with mothers. This was a 520 gram male, was born at approximately 4.25 pm and got the turquoise band.
Fortunately, Cytaugh was already giving milk so that went well right away. She was so busy with her firstborn that I didn’t get the chance to take a proper picture of him and in the meantime the contractions started again and at 5.15 pm a second male of 572 grams was born with some difficulty. This one got the dark blue strap.
Three quarters of an hour later, at 6.00 pm, a female was born. I was already afraid that only males would come and that I would again have to disappoint the long-waiting. Fortunately, this lady weighed about 492 grams and got the orange band.
But I didn’t get time to weigh her and put on the band because 7 minutes later another bitch was born. She weighed 450 grams and got the pink ribbon.
Now we had some time to clean the whelping box and to put down a clean fat bed, fresh mats and towels, to give Cytaugh something to eat and to relax ourselves.
While I was busy in the kitchen Simon called me that another puppy was on the way. When I got to Cytaugh the two back legs and the tail were sticking out of her vulva. Fortunately, with the next contraction the whole puppy came out but completely out of the membranes and she had swollowed a lot of fluid. It took quite a bit of effort to get her empty and going but she made it! She weighed only 360 grams and got the red band.
Wednesday, November 18. It has now been 7 o’clock, the puppies 
are all doing well. Cytaugh shows herself as an exemplary mother, eats and drinks well and gives good milk. She is still quite restless and pants a lot.
10.47 am. It was some work again! A quiet breakfast was not an option. At 8 minutes before 8 another bitch was born! She weighed 494 grams and now wears the green strap. In the photo below she is on the left, without any color.
Noon, Cytaugh is panting again and she has the occasional contraction. So it looks like another puppy is on the way. Over time, the number of contractions diminish and walking outside does not bring anything either. I call the vet and say I’m coming with Cytaugh. After having made an ultrasound it appears that there is indeed a puppy in it and it is decided to first administer oxytocin and see if Cytaugh can manage to give birth to the puppy herself. But that does not work, the few contractions she still gets is not strong enough to expel the puppy. Then it is decided to have a Caesarean section. Unfortunately it turns out that the male has become completely full of moisture and whatever they do, he will not survive. In and in sad, it was such a lovely puppy.
When we got home, we spent hours reuniting Cytaugh with her children. After that affair with Cearrean two years ago, we were really afraid things were going to go wrong. At first Cytaugh really didn’t like her puppies, but after laying them with her one by one and then two at a time, things got better and better and last night they mostly lay with her. It was even the case that after walking for a while at 5.00 am she insisted on having her puppies with her.
It is going in the right direction, please let it continue like this, this was enough stress for the next 10 years!