Espinay

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Another new B-Litter Champion! 

10 November 2018.  Big congratulations to Sally on Pocket (Espinay Belle Epoque) gaining her final points for her Champion title at a show in Sydney today. We are very proud of them.  No photo of them in the ring today, but Sally did send me a photo of Pocket taking a nap before her turn in the ring. ("Earn my Champion title?  I can do it with my eyes closed!"). 

Georgie Best Junior in Group 

09 September 2018.  Congratulations to Gary Howley on Georgie (Ch Espinay Belle Amie) being awarded Best Junior in Group at the Murrumburrah Harden Show yesterday. Good work team!

New Champion! 

Congratulations to Gary Howley and Espinay Belle Amie (Georgie).  On 1 July 2018 Georgie earned her final points towards her Champion title (title subject to Dogs NSW approval). Very proud of both of them. They make a great team.

Weekend Show Success 

It was a good weekend for the girls this weekend.  In Sydney on Saturday 28 April 18, Pocket (Espinay Belle Epoque) was having fun at the Ladies Kennel Club shows with her co-owner Sally.  Pocket decided that as she had won Best of Breed, she should also get first dibs on sitting in the chair (picture below).  On Sunday 29 April, Georgie, along with her brother Hugo had fun meeting people at the National Capital Kennel Club Show in Canberra, with Georgie beating her brother to win Best Junior and Best of Breed.  She also went on to win Best Junior in Group under judge Mr Andrew Burt from Victoria. Georgie is pictured below in the ring with her co-owner Gary.

   

Sydney Royal Easter Show 2018 

Sunday 25th of March was 'Pyrenean Day' at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. The Royal is a big event for the dogs as unlike most other shows it is a 'benched' show where the dogs are assigned a 'bench' in the pavilion for the day rather than being in their own gazebo outside.  A lot of people come through the pavilion during the day to see the dogs. The puppies Hugo, Georgie and Pocket had a great time at their first Royal.  They loved talking to their 'fans' and getting lots of pats and cuddles.  All three showed very well too though the star of the day was Georgie who was awarded Runner Up to Best of Breed. 

              

        

Great show weekend for Hugo and Georgie 

Hugo and Georgie had a great weekend out and about in the show ring on the weekend.  

On Saturday 17 February 2018 Gary and Georgie (Espinay Belle Amie) went to Gundagai where Georgie was Best of Breed and Best Puppy in Group.

On Sunday 18 February 2018, Georgie and Hugo (Espinay Bastille My Heart) attended Gunning show where Georgie was Runner up to Best of Breed, and Hugo (despite leaving his coat on the grooming room floor) was Best of Breed and Best Puppy in Group as well as being short listed for Best in Group.

Photos below of Hugo's Best Puppy in Group win as well as a recent photo of the two puppies together.

     

 

Pyr Specialty Show in Victoria 

On 11 November 2017 we attended the Pyrenean Mountain Dog Club of Victoria specialty show in Melbourne.  This was a special event as our dogs were being judged by Alain Pecoult who is President of the RACP (French parent club for Pyrenean Breeds) and a well known and very respected judge of Pyreneans.  Six dogs from Espinay attended the show.  Nena, Azure and BJ from our A litter and Hugo, Georgie and Pocket from our B litter.

We had a great day and I was very pleased with the results and all the critiques given by M. Pecoult on our dogs (individual critiques and gradings were given on all the dogs as they are done in France).  

I was particularly pleased with the puppies who showed very well, with Hugo (Espinay Bastille My Heart) winning Best Minor Puppy in Show and Georgie (Espinay Belle Amie) winning Best Opposite Minor Puppy in Show.  BJ (Neut Ch Espinay Arrens) also won Best Neuter in Show.

    

Show News - Hugo wins Best Baby Puppy in Group at the Spring Fair! 

So proud of my little man, Hugo (Espinay Bastille My Heart) who on Sunday 3 September 17 was awarded Best Baby Puppy in Group at the Royal Canin Spring Fair in Sydney.  The Spring Fair is one of the bigger and more prestigious shows on our annual calendar.  Hugo is such a pleasure to show and shows his happiness in the ring.  Hugo is now the third B-Litter puppy to win a Best Baby Puppy in Group award.

Show News - Georgie debut success 

29 July 2017 - Congratulations to Gary and Georgie for their success today at the Harden Murrumburrah Kennel Club Show.  Georgie (Espinay Belle Amie) made her debut in the show ring today, and not to be out done by her sister Pocket, won Best Baby Puppy in Group.  Very proud of all the puppies.

 

Show and Lure Coursing News - New titles for Sookie 

On 16 July 17, Sookie gained her final points for her Champion title, winning Bitch Challenge and Runner Up to Best of Breed at the Bungendore and Palerang District All Breeds Championship Show.  Once approved by Dogs NSW, Sookie will have titles at both ends of her name, having also gained her final pass for her Junior Courser title a few weeks before. Go Sookie!

Saluki show and Sookie's first Lure Coursing Trial 

14 April 2017. While I was at home with puppies, Sookie went on a trip to Sydney with her co-owner/breeder Anita Langford of Alshira Saluki's to attend the Saluki Club Inc (NSW) Specialty Show and Lure Coursing Trial.  In the morning Sookie competed in the show, winning Junior in Show under judge Karin Hedberg (Sweden).  She is pictured here (on the right of the picture) with her litter brother Auster who was best opposite.

In the afternoon, Sookie competed in the Saluki Club Inc (NSW) Lure Coursing trial.  This was Sookie's first official trial.  Sookie ran well achieving her first Junior Courser pass.

Eric Salas Handling and Grooming Workshop 

On 8 and 9 August 2016 we had fun attending a show handling and grooming workshop with Eric Salas, a former professional handler, now trainer and inventor of the Panagenics line of dog grooming products.  Such a fun and intense two days with so much to take in and learn. 

The first day was dedicated to handling with theory work in the morning and practical with our dogs in the afternoon.  Some wonderful information and techniques and it was great to see the change in handlers and dogs even in that short time.  I have certainly come home with lots to practice!!

The second day was grooming with lots to learn on topics such as hair structure and building a healthy coat from inside and out as well as grooming for best effect based on your dogs structure. I have been using the Panagenics products for a while now and truly love the quality of the dogs coats as a result.  We had fun in the afternoon washing and blow drying our dogs and then getting help from Eric with techniques to take our grooming to the next level. My grooming partners for the day were Sookie and Nena with Sally also bringing Azure. Some photos below from the grooming workshop showing Azure and Sookie which I have included with permission from Eric.

You can check out Eric and the Panagenics products at  http://www.panagenics.com/  .  He has some great handling and grooming videos available and I can highly recommend attending if you ever get a chance to go to one of his workshops.

 
 

Show results for Azure and Nena 

On Monday 13 June 2016, Sally (who co-owns Azure) and I attended the Utility Dog Club of NSW Championship Shows in Sydney with Azure (Ch Espinay Azun) and Nena (Ch Espinay Albine).  The club ran 2 shows on the day.  Despite being very out of coat after being in season, Nena was Best of Breed at the A-Z show.  Azure was Best of Breed at the Z-A show.  Overall it was a lovely sunny winters day and we enjoyed spending it with good friends and their dogs.  We thank the club also for the lovely trophies.  Nena also took home the perpetual shield for Best of Breed Pyrenean.  This is her third year winning the shield. Here is a photo of 'naked' Nena in the line up for Best in Group.

 

Off to the USA! 

Today (18 April 16) I head off on holiday to the United States to visit friends and attend the Great Pyrenees Club of America National Specialty Show. 

Guaranteed to be a lot of fun, the show this year is being held once again in Matamoras, PA at the Best Western Inn at Hunts Landing.  You can see an account of my previous visit when the show was last held in Matamoras in 2012 here.  Also a bit about my last visit to the US for the show in 2014 here.  I promise another report on my latest visit when I return.

For those sending me emails, note that I may not reply until after I return on 13 May 16.

In other news, Sookie had her second lure coursing puppy run yesterday at the NSW Lure Coursing Association Training Day held at Marchmont Park in Yass.  She was very keen and ran really well.  She is showing a lot of promise as a lure courser.





 

Saluki Club of NSW Championship Show 

Thursday 24 March was 'Saluki Day' at the Sydney Royal Easter Dog Show.  Also held on the same day in the same place was the Saluki Club of NSW Championship Specialty Show.  While Sookie had not been entered in the Royal, she was entered in the Saluki Specialty so the two of us accompanied her Breeder, Anita Langford (and Bear Paintain) along with their Salukis for the day.  Sookie was a very good girl for her first 'major' show and took all the new sights and sounds in her stride.  She loved meeting people and was all fired up and eager for a big play by the time the Saluki specialty came around in the afternoon.  While we waited outside the ring for her turn she had a great time playing with her toy rabbit.  She was a very good girl in the ring too, and behaved very well for such a baby, being awarded Best Baby Puppy in Show. Needless to say she slept very well on the car ride home!

   

Pyrenean day at Sydney Royal Easter Dog Show 

Yesterday (19 March 2016) was judging day for Pyreneans at the Sydney Royal Easter Dog Show. Sally (Azure's co-owner) and I took Nena and Azure who were entered in the Intermediate classes (for dogs from 18 months to 3 years of age). While the day was long and tiring, we had fun chatting to some of the thousands of people who came through the pavilion to see and learn about the dogs. The dogs love meeting the people too and received lots of pats and had their photos taken many times. 
    
    
   

Sookie's first show 

On 6 February 2016 we attended the Crookwell A P & H Society inc All breeds Championship Show with Nena and Sookie.  It was Sookie's first show as a Baby Puppy. Sookie had a great day meeting lots of people and dogs and took everything in her stride, winning Baby Puppy in Group.  Nena also won Best of Breed. I love this photo as it shows how much fun we were having.  It also shows that 1 second when Sookie was standing still for the photo (and was looking intently at a piece of chicken I had just thrown on the ground in front of her).