2024
In the meantime….and puppies!!
25 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!!
On 9 October, I had an ultrasound at Charlaigne and 9 embryos could be seen at that time, one of which looked strange but had a heartbeat. The doctor suspected that it would be resorbed so we counted on 8 puppies. A good number.
Meanwhile, we are a few days on and Charlaigne gave birth in the night and early morning of Tuesday 12 to Wednesday 13 November. The first pup came into the world at 0.45. A very small male of barely 300 grams. But very powerful with tremendous perseverance. While I was trying to remove the membrane, he crawled towards a nipple and tried to grab it but the placenta was still attached so he couldn’t go any further. That was a struggle for a while, also because it was the first pup and Charlaigne had no idea what was happening. But when the placenta came loose, he hung on to the nipple in a jiffy! At 2.10, a male (490 grams) and a female (380 grams) came in such quick succession that we were short of hands and also have no idea who was first. An hour and twenty minutes later came male number 3 of 400 grams and at 5.00 a bitch of 320 grams was born. At 5.15 came another male of 400 grams. Around six, Charlaigne had to go for a pee again but after peeing, she took the press position and a puppy popped out! Luckily I had a towel with me and was able to catch it just in time before it fell into the high wet grass! So it was a male of 420 grams. An hour later, a very tiny teeny-tiny bitch weighing 270 grams! was born. What a brat this was but also a little fighter.
So we thought after No 8 that Charlaigne would be done but by ten contractions came again and the last male was born. A hefty one weighing 510 grams.
After changing, I thought I would get a few hours’ sleep. I had been up for almost 48 hours since Charlaigne had also been a bit restless from Monday to Tuesday.
But alas, it was not to be because at noon Simon called out that Charlaigne was again in the pushing position but that she had not had any contractions. I then went for a walk with her first because this usually helps but nothing happened. Then I called the vet and rushed over because she had been in labour for 12 hours.
There was an X-ray first to see if there was anything left in it – yes. Then an ultrasound to see if it was still alive – yes.
And then you have to decide; open it right away or first try to induce contractions with oxytocin so she can give birth to it herself.
Since a caesarean section is an intense operation anyway, the doctor advised trying the oxytocin first. But alas, nothing happened.
Meanwhile, Simon sat at home with 9 hungry puppies who did not want to be bottle fed. I asked him to call Desiree Knoop (a Whippet breeder with an awful lot of experience) and ask her if she could come and give tube feedings.
Fortunately, she was willing to do so but she was at the vet for vaccinations with her own dogs. If she had had to go back home first to collect the stuff it would have taken hours more. So she called home to ask if her daughter could bring the stuff to her in Etten-Leur and by four o’clock Desiree was with us and fed the puppies and made sure they relieved themselves as well.
What a relief! And how grateful we are to Desiree for doing this for our puppies.
But meanwhile, I was at the vet and Charlaigne was being prepared for surgery. I didn’t have much hope that the puppy would still be alive, it was past three in the meantime, so I was incredibly surprised when the assistant came to me with a live puppy in a towel! It is a nice firm bitch who was born at about 3.45pm and weighed 470 grams when she came home.
And so then there were 10 puppies!
The first few days went well. The puppies have not lost any weight and have started to grow well right away. During the nights we take turns to keep a close eye on Charlaigne and the little ones. But she doesn’t get up a single time and turns out to be an exemplary mother. She has plenty of milk but …. unfortunately only 8 nipples! So the puppies have to take turns drinking, 5 to 5.
The other hounds have to stay at an appropriate distance; not visible. If even one dares to appear in her field of vision, her looks are lethal!!!
But on Friday, Charlaigne’s temperature flies up and she is clearly not feeling well. She has to go on antibiotics but that does little to change her situation. Over the weekend, she starts peeing more and more frequently and smaller, so we think she has a bladder infection. Simon is able to collect some more from Victoire on Sunday evening but she doesn’t respond to this either. Monday morning I call the vet and he says I can just use Novacam. At first she responds to this but Tuesday afternoon her temperature shoots up well over 40℃!
To the vet again and after an ultrasound, blood and urine tests, the only conclusion is that she has an infection somewhere, probably at the cervix because ‘something’ could be seen there. So continuing the antibiotics and Novacam and hoping she responds quickly. Since it took quite a long time for Simon to return with Charlaigne, I just tube-fed the puppies so they wouldn’t suck Charlaigne dry like a bunch of starving wolves all at once.
When Charlaigne has to go outside or to the vet, the puppies are in a crate. Meanwhile, there is also a bigger box next to it, as the biggest ones already came over the edge of the crate! There is also more peace and quiet when they have a bit more space.
But on Saturday night, something went badly wrong! I had just returned from walking Charlaigne and was standing with my back to and next to the crate with puppies, when suddenly a huge scream came from the crate. I looked and snatched out two puppies, one of which had a paw stuck in the collar of another. Luckily, a good pair of scissors was within reach but I couldn’t get the strap cut. The puppies screamed like mad, Charlaigne all panicked and the other hounds came running too. I yelled at Simon, who was asleep, to come and help because holding two struggling puppies and cutting a strap with a big pair of scissors ……..
Anyway, in the end it worked and the puppies were fine except that they were all pretty upset, because they felt the panic unerringly. And us no less!
In all the years I have been using these straps, I have never had any problems with them but I have now ordered others straight away.
Wednesday early afternoon, Charlaigne’s temperature goes over 40℃ again and she has to go back to the vet. Now she gets a fever-reducing injection and another antibiotic to go with it only they did not have this in stock and it would not be there until Friday! We called several more clinics but no one had it in stock. In the end, we ended up at Desiree’s again and she knew her vet had it. She picked it up on Thursday morning and brought it to us so we could administer it ourselves.
On Thursday afternoon, Victoire came to give Brandir his acupuncture and she took an immediate look at Charlaigne. She too thought it was a worrying situation and left some remedies for her. The temperature kept hovering around 39.8℃ and it wasn’t until Friday evening around ten that it suddenly dropped below 39. Puh, what a relief!!! Things are finally moving in the right direction although we are still worried because she is panting so much. Hopefully the problem is really solved and the temperature won’t fly up again when we stop the antibiotics.
We are now 12 days on, the eyes are slowly opening and some of them can already get out quite well. We still take turns watching over Charlaigne and her kids, day and night. So we are running out of sleep because catching up during the day is proving impossible. But then again, we don’t want to take any chances.
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.
Posted in 2024, Abroad, Lure coursing, O'Cockaigne Estate, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
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!)
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 2024, Abroad, Deerhound in general, Lure coursing, O'Cockaigne Estate, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed