2019
The last day of a bizarre year
31 December 2019 | 
Author 
It’s that time again, another year has passed, a year with few ups and many downs. It was actually an anniversary year; started 40 years ago with Irish Wolfhounds, Deerhounds have been running here for 35 years and 20 years ago I did an exam for Deerhound judge. You do not notice anything of this, life just continues.
In the 40 years that I have seen both the Irish Wolfhound and the Deerhound, I clearly saw both breeds change. The Irish Wolfhound earlier and stronger than the Deerhounds. But today the vast majority of Deerhounds no longer resemble how they used to be; they have become almost normal dogs – smaller, steeper in the hindquarters, flat to even sloping back lines, large ears, straight noses, flat feet, tails that are too short and the greatest lack (due to the aforementioned points) is the breed typical movement.
I very much wonder where it goes with the Deerhound and whether the tide can still be turned. But as long as the breeders themselves do not see the mistakes of their hounds and think that they have beautiful specimens at their leashes, it will not improve.
I hope that next year will be a better year. To start with, I hope that a complete and healthy O’Cockaigne litter will be born again. The plans have been forged and the initial preparations have been made. It does have some feet in the ground again, but we are happy to do that. To be continued.
Then I hope that Brandir continues as he does now, he will be 8 years old in May. And Cearrean, yes, a chapter apart, I hope his second testicle will also descend completely, he is on his way! Fortunately, he has become a little easier and milder in character and he is starting to become a bit “shapy” again. And for Cytaugh, I hope she can do many coursings.
And for everyone who follows my site a little, I hope it will be a good year!
Chidish
22-3-2015 Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden 1-9-2019
Last week, September 1, our Chidish was hit by a cardiac arrest.
At the end of a beautiful course that he had ran with Cytaugh, he fell dead at the finish. Because of the way he fell, the alarm bells went off right away and when I came to him and put my hand on his heart, I felt that it was no longer beating. He also didn’t react to anything anymore, he was already completely gone.
For him a wonderful death because he loved to do coursing but it is in and in sad that he could only enjoy his life again for such a short time. After the operation on his toe in mid-March, which went super well, he rehabilitated for a long time to make sure that he may and could do everything again.
At the end of June, during the holiday in Denmark, he was off lead again for the first time and he enjoyed it to the full.
After this his condition slowly rebuilt and he did his first short piece of coursing in early August in Donaueschingen. This went well, his toe remained intact and Chidish was very happy. The following weekend he did the coursing in Lelystad and here it was as usual. He was super fanatic and ran beautifully.
In the meantime, he started to play nicer with Cearrean and built up a good condition. During the walks he was also very active and enjoyed the contact with other dogs. He thought everyone was sweet and nice and preferred to be in the middle of such a large group of dogs from a dogwalking service.
We are now a week further, the loss is huge. Chidish was a huge teddy bear and came many times during the day to get a hug, he preferred to be in my neighbourhood and always lay or stood in the way. He enjoyed everything; liked showing, always recognized his people- and dogfriends everywhere and lived for coursing. We would never have expected that this would be his death, but the moment he said goodbye to worldly things, he was happy.
This was not the only setback in the past six months. One of the other reasons that I did not stay “up to date” was the “testicle problem” with Cearrean. At the beginning of March we had the idea that both testicles had come down. Very small but noticeable. In mid-April only one small ball was felt, after this it only became smaller and ultimately nothing was left of it. Of course we visited different specialists and finally decided for hormone therapy. To keep a long story short; Unfortunately, hormone therapy did not help, one testicle was atrophy and it appears that the other is still in the abdomen
. What we thought that was his second testicle is still a mystery. In short … I have been quite “sick” of it. Not only because he can’t go to the shows but mainly because of the DNA loss. The chance that someday something will be born from the remaining semen that is still stored in Utrecht is very small as the quality of that leftover is not very good. Saving sperm for 27 years is not something you do for nothing and when something like this happens it is very sad.
Cearrean also ran, in a racing game with his mother at the end of April, against a pillar of our house and thereby damaged his knee so much that he was no longer allowed to run and play so much. If he did a little too much, his knee would bother him again and he would cripple. Yes, and tell a puppy that he should take it easy.
Now things are finally getting a bit better, but he has adapted his way of walking and standing to the sore knee. Cearrean is now almost 9 months and already has a height of 80 centimeters. With adapted food and exercise, I hope that it will eventually work out well, because the aim is that he can move freely and happily.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | 
Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden | 
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An emergency with Cearrean
At the end of the morning on Wednesday, Cearrean walked around a bit and came to lie on a bed behind me with a piece of paper in his mouth. When I wanted to take it away, he didn’t think this was a good plan and 
struggled against it. After I got it, he looked at me with black eyes and walked into the room. A moment later he returned with the wing of the dragon in his mouth. This is a rough piece of fabric about 10 cm long, 3 cm wide and 3 mm thick. I looked at it, decided that this was not good, wanted to take it away and … swallow, it was gone.
Since Cearrean is only 15 weeks old, I thought this piece of fabric was just a little too big to leave the body naturally. So urgently to the vet. After administering an injection and waiting a few minutes, his total stomach contents, including the dragon wing, came out. After this he received another injection against nausea, but Cearrean felt really sick the rest of the afternoon. At the beginning of the evening he did eat something again, but it was not really heartily yet!
Found: the gene for hairlessness in Deerhounds !!!
Tuesday evening I got a very excited Marjan de Raad on the phone who told me that they found the gene for hairlessness in Deerhounds.
Research into this problem took place in both Canada and Finland, but the University of Helsinki was the one to come up with this great message.
Marjan contacted the professor from the University who told her that the hairlessness test is likely to be available in America and Europe in mid-April.
The research showed that 12% is a carrier of the hairless gene, so it is advisable if you have a Deerhound from the lines in which hairlessness occurs or have produced, and you have plans to breed with it, to have it tested for this as well as his / her partner.
You can read the entire article at:
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/life-science-news/a-bald-gene-finding
A weekend at RONO-strand
Last week I had the caravan in front of the door and lugged full of what one needs. Cearrean bravely helped and he jumped in and out of the caravan as if he were used to it. Thursday 21 March, late in the morning, we left for Een where the Spring-Coursing would take place at RONOstrand. The trip went well and Cearrean behaved exemplary. In that regard, he is very easy, he thinks everything is fine as long as he can be there.
Cearrean was very amazed with all the dogs and of course had to greet everyone and everything. He does this with quite a bit of noise which I find very annoying but it is difficult to tell him off because he must like the other dogs.
Friday at the start of the afternoon we went to the ‘Nienoord Estate’ in Leek. Nostalgia! The hounds that we have now never run on Leek, but Cearrean’s father, Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden, ran his first coursing here in 1989. He was already 5 years old then! In the years before, he had already done several demonstrations and funcoursings, there were hardly any competitions then.
Nienoord has changed over the years; a lot of trees and shrubs have been felled, it looks bare, especially now that everything is still without leaves. The ice club has placed poles in the middle of the terrain and in the summer sheep are walking around. So if WvCNL wants to hold a competition there, they first have to remove the posts and fill in the gaps. Nor does the terrain seem to have improved in terms of holes and potholes. It is a shame but we have many wonderful memories of Nienoord. It was a great time!
Back on RONOstrand, Cearrean was the first to have a piece of “coursing”. Of course I had a real fur for him, that makes it extra exciting! And although he goes super fanatically behind his mouse, he still had to get used to the fur that just “ran away” over the sand. The first time it went a bit uncertain but the second time he went after his hare confidently.
He certainly enjoys the game and hopefully it will stay that way. 
It was Cytaugh’s turn on Saturday. She was the only Deerhound entered because Chidish had an operation on his foot a week earlier, so she ran alone. I didn’t mind that because it was for the first time after her broken thumb and after the birth of Cearrean. It was clearly visible that her condition wasn’t the best, the first part of the course she ran beautifully but halfway you saw that the loose sand was troubling. But she had enjoyed it and her toe had remained whole again, that was the most important thing!
When, after a long pause, I wanted to prepare her for the second round, we were told that there was no more coursing. After the first round it turned out that a Whippet (from a very important person) most likely had broken his toe and it was thought that the cause was a stone because they found quite some stones in the sand. (But of course it could also have been a pulley.) This is of course ridiculous because those stones are always there and the soft sand with the stones never caused problems. It is also true that if you walk across any random coursing field, you will find stones, crown caps, plastic spoons, glass fragments and so on everywhere. This is unavoidable and never actually causes a problem. What was much worse was the coursing field of the NKC last year. Almost 3 of the 5 dogs rolled over there, I don’t know how many dogs got injured, Cytaugh broke her thumb there but do you think they would stop the competition? No of course not!!! And what about the grounds of the EKC; in Pouch (Germany) the entire area was full of broken glass, in Hungary the coursing area was more hole than field (by the ground squirrels) and in Italy the fields were littered with boulders of all sizes! (An Italian Greyhound has been killed as a result of crashing into a block.) No, canceling a game because of a few stones in soft sand I think is really going too far, I don’t have a good word for it, next time we will run on a billiard cloth! How do we ruin the coursing ?!
Posted in 2019, Lure coursing | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed
3 months young
Cearrean received his Rabies vaccination today. Now he is completely done with vet visits. Not that he found it annoying, quite the contrary! It made him very happy every time he saw the vet coming. Also on the scales and on the table is really cool because what a delicious cookie they have there! Tomorrow he will be 13 weeks young and now weighs 19 kilos, he is very sturdy, is still growing evenly in height and is nice and straight on his feet. In terms of character, he is already softer, barks less and he knows in the meantime that he is not allowed to bite my hands, which hardly ever happens.
Cytaugh and Brandir can have fun playing with him. Brandir is 
usually the first to play outside with Cearrean after the morning meal and roams around a bit. Then he wants to go back in and Cytaugh goes out to play with Cearrean. This is going very well, she is doing very carefully and challenges him to follow her when she gets a racing convulsion. Of course he cannot keep up with this and then shorten the route. Fortunately, Cytaugh looks carefully where she is walking and when they meet, she jumps over him. It is beautiful to see but I still hold my heart every time. But yes, Cearrean has to learn it all, also to avoid mother Cytaugh.
Chidish also starts to play a little more with Cearrean, but he has to determine the rules; if Cearrean is too cheeky, he will be strictly corrected!
In the evening he wants to be cozy on the boss’s lap. There must be played with a toy because he no longer hugs.
Cearrean now eats everything; of course the normal jerk of ground meat with vegetables and supplements and also whole sprats, pieces of chicken carcass, chicken necks, whole day-old chicks and everything that the pot scrapes. He is definitely not a difficult eater!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Crufts
On Friday 8 March, Sonja, Vision, Chidish and I left early in the morning for Birmingham, Crufts. The journey went well to the French border, then the misery began. The French had turned off road sections and this caused long traffic jams with similar waiting times. Extremely annoying! Fortunately we had left very early and had a significant margin. Luckily the check of the hounds at the Eurotunnel was super fast and we arrived just in time for our check. But the French were consistently bullying and every car had to open at passport control. This of course took forever and people who went through the check after us missed their train. Fortunately 
we were just in time and had the planned crossing. When we arrived in England we could only continue for a short while, then we ended up in one big traffic jam towards Birmingham. All roadworks made sure that we arrived an hour later than planned in the pouring rain at our hotel in Leamington. After walking with the hounds and bringing the stuff upstairs, we first started drinking a well-deserved beer. Delicious, such an English bitter!
Saturday morning we got up early again, I walked quite a bit with Chidish and Vision and Sonja lubricated the sandwiches. After breakfast we left and with half an hour we were at the NEC. First, 57 Pharaohounds were tested before it was the turn of the 98 reported Deerhounds. This gave the opportunity to greet acquaintances, to talk a little here and there and to be amazed about a non-Scottish who walked around in Scottish clothing and also showed his Deerhound in this clothing. Something that really cannot go wrong and many people were disgraced.
Our judge was Mr. Ken Aird, the judge that made Chidish BOB two years ago during the Jahresausstellung in Volkmarsen. So it was quite a bit exciting. But it soon became apparent that the inspections were very different from those in Germany; the placements were surprising to say the least. There was no line in terms of type or movement; everything was placed together. Chidish was fourth in his class (8) and Vision surprisingly second of the 12 reported bitches.
In the end, in our eyes, it was definitely not the best male and female and the veteran male, who was showing his age, won Best of Breed. That was Crufts, for the time being we are not going to go again, especially after it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot. Fortunately the return trip on Sunday went very well and we were back at the beginning of the evening.
Posted in 2019, Abroad, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Precious genes – why is the diversity of genes so important to our dogs?
In the January issue of Unsere Windhunde appeared the very interesting article “Precious Genes” written by Evelyn Kirsch. She is a successful Barsoi breeder in Germany. I was allowed to translate the article into Dutch and hope that the breeders will take it to heart. Rosalind Priest translated the article into English. You can find the article under https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=15501&lang=en
Cearrean has a new girlfriend!
In the meantime, Cearrean has had coursing training. The cat toy, a mouse on a rod, is ideal for this. Cearrean finds it a fantastic game and shows itself to be a fanatic. Let’s hope he continues to like it.
Last week Sonja was here with Bernice, Vision and Lita. Lita is an old Galgo lady who has been living with Sonja since the end of July. She is from Spain where she lived as a breeding bitch and the last weeks of her life there were not exactly fun. It is unbelievable how such an animal adapts to everything in a short time, it is as if she is not used to it otherwise.
Cearrean had only seen a Golden Retriever the week before and he found it a very weird animal, even now he had to get used to this appearance, but it went well very quickly.
Since Lita had so many puppies, Cearrean soon knew that he could do more with her than with the others. Lita’s long tail was THE play object of course, but she also clearly indicated if it hurt her or if she didn’t want to play him. When Sonja left for the camper with the three of them in the evening, Cearrean was squeaking at the door, but when Lita came back in the morning, the first thing Cearrean did was; hang on Lita’s tail. At the end of the week, Cearrean managed to lie comfortably with her in her bed in front of the wood stove, a friend for life.
Bernice and Vision weren’t very happy with that little thing and Bernice even sought the support of her brother!
On Thursday we tried to take some good photos of Cearrean. Well, forget it! He didn’t want to stand still for a second and would have jumped off the table if I wasn’t quick enough to grab him. What a wild thing! Even the bucket of tasty things could not tempt him. But Sonja succeeded in taking one reasonable picture.
It’s unbelievable as soon as all the time goes! Tomorrow Cearrean is 8 weeks old and he weighs almost 10 kilos. He develops very well, grows nicely evenly, is tidy, listens well to his name, walks nicely on lead, finds driving in the car no problem, is practically not afraid of anything and if you correct him you get a big mouth back! Driving him around in the Doggy Ride is not a success, he screams all together, that is something for small dogs, not for Deerhounds. He also absolutely does not accept being locked up anymore. So the whelping box with the fence around it is already gone. A real Deerhound with a head on it! We will have some problems with that.
Meanwhile, Chidish has also started to like him and occasionally plays with him. But I have to keep a close eye on that because it is going too hard and certainly when Cytaugh is also going to participate. Brandir turns out to be a babysitter, he regularly tours the grounds with his grandson. Also during the walks Cearrean usually walks with Brandir although it is also very nice to hang on the lines of Cytaugh and Chidish so that we no longer get ahead.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Cearrean, a real smart ass!
Today, Cearrean is five weeks young and has been eating from a little bowl for a few days. First milk with ground meat but in the meantime usually only different types of ground meat and pieces of fish and occasionally a little yogurt.
He has also been ‘toilet-trained’ for a few days. As soon as he wakes up or when he has been playing for a while, he walks to the door and does his needs nicely outside. At night he usually only wakes up once, he squeaks a few times and as soon as I let him out of the whelping box he runs to the door to quickly pee outside. In the meantime he knows exactly how to find the doors and he is so clever that when he has gone out one door he comes in through another, he just walks around the house! He also slowly pushes his limits, he walks further and further away. We have already done a round of terrain a few times with all of them and he thinks that is wonderful, he then walks without hesitation beside his mother, Chidish or Brandir.
Cytaugh and Brandir play a little with him now and then, they find it difficult and I have to keep an eye on it because it is going too hard. But Cearrean can take a beating, he is strong enough! He also tries to climb on everything to the displeasure of Chidish and Brandir. But if they growl, Cearrean is gone right away. In the meantime, he knows that he should approach those men calmly.
Cearrean still regularly falls out of bed. Whether it is the whelping box or the basket next to the stove, he rolls out his bed asleep at least once every two days.
He is quite independent and does not shy away from anything. When the ground was frozen, he thought it was strange for a while, but after a few seconds he just walked over it, just as with the snow. He soon went through with his nose, but he did not last very long, it was very cold anyway!
Brandir, Chidish and Cytaugh naturally loved it and enjoyed the snow.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Four weeks young
On Sunday evening I noticed a hard milk gland at Cytaugh. It was not painful or very red but Cearrean refused to drink from that nipple. So on Monday to the vet and putted Cytaugh on pup friendly antibiotics. Now, Thursday the inflammation is gone, everything feels soft again and Cearrean also drinks from this nipple again.
In the meantime, Brandir and Cearrean become increasingly bigger friends and it is wonderful to see how gently Brandir plays with that little one. Cytaugh has now also begun to rear, she regularly corrects him when he bites too hard in her tail or ears. We also have to take action because the teeth are razor sharp. Fortunately Cearrean responds well to the corrections, he is really not stupid.
We have been able to borrow a ‘Doggy Ride’ from a friend because staying alone at home will be a problem in the short term. The day before yesterday we arranged it with blankets and a Vetbed and tried it out. Cearrean thought it was fine, he was going to play with the duck and redesign the lot. Brandir and Cytaugh found it very exciting and kept a close eye on it. Very convenient that you can go from two sides!
Cearrean has also been outside for the first time. When he came with his feet in the grass he did a pee! At least he had no problems with it and Cytaugh also liked it and even started to challenge him, but Cearrean did not notice that, grass and all those leaves were quite exciting. It is a pity that there is such a cold wind or he could be more outside.
Yesterday Cearrean was 4 weeks young and weighed 4460 grams. In the meantime he is whelpingbox-trained, which means that he also wakes me up at night with a lot of squeaking because he has to pee. This he does nicely on a towel and then he runs through the house and I behind him with a piece of kitchen roll, and he seeks a place to defecate. He does this very regularly and unfortunately several times a day. I found it quite easy once in two days! But of course this is better and healthier. He prefers to eat with his mother, but we limit that a little bit, there are quite a lot of things that he can not digest yet. The steak tartar he find the least tasty, ground tripe and muscle meat is much better!
Meanwhile, he also occasionally wears a collar because he also has to get used to this.
How adorable he looks, he can be rowdy. His toys regularly have to pay for it, he shakes them all to death. This goes with such a strength that Cearrean rolls over so that he gets more angry on the toy and he shakes it even harder.
Cearrean is not bored at all, toys enough! And he knows how to find this basket flawlessly and then to drag a toy to the whelping box. And after a game of romp it is good to rest on a warm spot with mom Cytaugh.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
The brave walker
Yesterday we moved the whelping box to the living room and put down a piece of tent carpet (fine-meshed rubber carpet) so that Cearrean has good grip. For fun I had put the duck down as a step, but in no time Cearrean really used it to get in and out of the whelping box! But because the duck rolled away every time, Simon has arranged a more stable step today.
Cearrean likes to walk around and increases his area every day. He does not shrink from anything and is now the thickest buddies with Brandir. Chidish occasionally sniffs sneaky at him, but as soon as Cearrean reacts Chidish is gone. Still a few weeks to wait, then he also likes Cearrean.
The ‘demolition’ has already started. First the crab cactus had to pay for it and then a piece of kitchen roll. I think there will soon be a fence around the plants otherwise nothing will be left!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Cearrean Argyll already 3 kilos heavy!
He is doing well, the day before yesterday he weighed 3 kilos! Cearrean is already bigger than Sleepsheep but is always looking for it again, they are the best friends! He also plays with Sleepsheep, especially the tail, and the ears regularly have to pay for it. I wonder how often I can sew it again.
Yesterday he ate his first ball of steak tartare. The first bite he found strange but it still tasted to more and finally went smoothly inside. But we take it easy because Cytaugh has enough milk and she is now almost day and night with him in the whelping box. She is very caring and does not allow Brandir to come too close. Brandir thinks Cearrean is great and Chidish also sniffs him more often when Cytaugh is not around. Chidish thinks Cearrean is still a bit too small, he does not know what to do with it yet but I’m sure they will be the biggest buddies.
Cytaugh and Cearrean are also somewhere else; in the kitchen on the big bed or on a rug in the living room. Cozy with us together and get used to all sounds. Walking on the floor is improving and we have to be very careful because he is very enterprising!
He also shows his own will, if something does not please him, he shows it loud and clear but he also loves to hug and likes to lie on our lap.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed
And it grows and grows ……
This week I woke up at night and saw this cute scene. Fortunately the camera is always within reach and I did not have to leave my bed for it. Because I’m lying stiffly against the whelping box so that I can keep an eye on everything, even in my sleep. One little sound or leg that ticks something and I am awake. That was the first weeks really needed with a Cytaugh who did not like it all that much but in the meantime both are sleeping together, without any problem.
Cearrean is now two weeks and three days young and nearly three kilo. With the previous puppies the heaviest was three kilos with three weeks. He may slow down a bit, I think.
Yesterday we put him on a Vetbed in the room, mother there and keep him busy. Because a little more exercise does him good. That turned out to be the case, because after a while he paid around for a big puddle and a little later he started pooping himself! Wow, how happy we were with this !!! For the first time that he did it himself! Hopefully it will continue like this, that saves a lot of annoying stuff for him.
Brandir and Chidish thought it was strange that he just running around. But Cearrean did not care about that!
Cearrean also starts to play a bit. The movements are not yet 100% coordinated, but he knows where to bite; in nose and ears!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed
Two weeks young
Today Cearrean is 2 weeks young and he now weighs 2500 gam. Monday his eyes opened a bit and since today he really looks into the wide world. He does not see much yet, but he reacts very well to sound and also waddles to you when you gently clap your hands.
He is pretty lazy but what do you want if you have all the milk for yourself and do not have to fight for it. Also, you are not regularly woken by brothers or sisters so you can expand after the meal. So we started an activity program; more climbing, scrambling, rolling around and sleeping less. Luckily, Cytaugh is not in the whelpingbox day and night, so he does not have constant access to the milk bar, that differs something.
But all in all things are going well, Cytaugh is becoming more and more relaxed and keeps an eye on him more and more when we pick him up. So she is slowly going to like him.
And I, I think he is great !!!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed