There were no CC’s on offer for Keeshonds at East of England, where our Judge Millie Lambert (Sturtmoor) had an entry of just 8 dogs. Keesies were second in the ring after 59 Dalmatians and judging started just before 2.00pm. I wonder if it was the fact that Utility day was on a Thursday (a […]

The Kennel Club’s IT disaster shows no sign of improving with the priority list of work on the CRM system getting ever longer. It’s certainly not going to get better any time soon as dog shows & activities start up again and they can’t even their mission statements (at the end of every email) up […]

Southern Counties was the eagerly anticipated first general Ch show not to be cancelled since Crufts last year, when the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns appeared to put paid to virtually everything apart from football. Our judge Carole Jackson (Carnor) (who last judged us at Midland Counties in 2017) had drawn an entry of 27 dogs […]

Well schedules are starting to appear thick & fast and decisions are having to be made – shall I enter, who will I enter, who has or will have a coat, that is the question! It will also come as no surprise that even nearly a year later, the unmitigated disaster known as the Kennel […]

Schedules for our Club Ch Show (which will be held at Harewood House with Leeds Ch Show on Friday 23 July) have now been sent to all members. This show replaces our November Ch show 2020 which was cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Please note that no printed schedules are being sent out as […]

The long awaited Leeds schedule has now finally appeared on Higham Press and the Keesie judge is Janice Bannister who is awarding CC’s in the breed for the first time. Unfortunately show details are sparse to say the least, presumably Leeds committee don’t or can’t make any final decisions until Boris finally confirms the country […]

By now all members should have received their Spring issue of Walkee Talkees, which was sent out almost 2 weeks ago. If you haven’t got your copy, please get in touch with news editor Andy Fitches. I know that quite a few of you have been wondering (& asking!) when the NoEKC’s schedule for its […]

To tide owners over until shows resume, the NoEKC held its first online show last week which was organised very efficiently by Allison Stephenson. Many thanks to everyone who participated making it such a success and an enormous round of applause to Allison for all her hard work in getting the show up and running. […]

As I’ve had some discussions & been asked questions recently about hip & elbow scoring, I thought that updating & repeating my notes from 2019 with my story might not go amiss!! I started off by ringing my vet and asking how much they charged. The receptionist didn’t know, had to ask the vet on […]

For the past year the NoEKC has held all its committee meetings virtually and last Saturday it was another first as it held its 2021 AGM also via Zoom – and most successful it was too! All the Officers reports etc had been previously circulated to members, so were automatically taken ‘as read’, no questions […]

As people may be aware, the North of England Keeshond Club had been planning an outdoor Open Show on 16 May; but in the light of the Government’s roadmap for the lifting of the various lockdown restrictions, it is clear that that date is just too soon for us to be able to hold the […]

It is with great sadness that I am reporting the death this week of our past Chairman, Gordon Lister. Gordon had been in poor health for some considerable time, but his condition deteriorated very rapidly in recent weeks – he would have been 91 in March. Gordon first joined the Committee in 1986 and was […]

Considering what last year has been like with lockdowns, tiers and social distancing, I guess all in all it’s a miracle that not only did 2020 managed to exceed 2019’s dismal number of puppies born – we almost managed 100 puppies!! There were 16 litters born resulting in 92 puppies, 47 dogs and 45 bitches […]

What a difference a year makes, this time last Christmas virtually no-one had heard of coronavirus and news was only slowly circulating about a nasty strain of flu in China. I don’t think that anyone could have predicted what a devastating effect it would have on the whole world – effectively putting a stop to […]

No notes for ages and then 2 lots within a week, you’ll be getting spoilt!! Hot off the press from the Kennel Club are the new measures for registering progeny of imported Keeshonds regarding PHPT. Following consultation with the Keeshond Breed Health Coordinator and breed clubs, it has been agreed that all imported Keeshonds, or […]

By now you should all have received your copy of the autumn issue of Walkee Talkees, along with an updated Rules & Regs booklet and a membership contact list. If you haven’t rec’d yours by now, please get in touch with Andy Fitches and he can send you out another copy. Whilst on the subject […]

The NoEKC committee held a meeting via zoom last week so that we could make some decisions on Club events for next year. Due to Thorpe Willoughby Village Hall being closed for all events (including the infamous village panto) for the foreseeable future and not taking any bookings, it means that we will are going […]

There is a new VetCompass paper out now that sheds new light on heatstroke in dogs. Based on heavy messaging over the past decades, the focus has been on hot cars (still inadvisable to leave any dog in a car during warm or hot weather) as a main risk factor for heat stroke in dogs. […]

Last week I wrote about championship shows, both the lack of and ones being cancelled. A couple of days after I did my notes BUBA announced that they were cancelling their December Ch show and this weekend Bournemouth released the following statement: ‘As we all enter the new normal and come to accept it, the […]

The past few weeks have seen dog shows falling thick and fast; with breed and general societies now deciding it’s easier for all concerned just to cancel their shows until next year. One of the larger agility clubs announced last week that it has cancelled all its planned events (more than 12 shows, many held […]

Some short notes this week to say that the BVA are now able to accept and process hip and elbow submissions, with weekly scoring sessions commencing from the 8th July. However, this will depend on whether your individual veterinary practice is able to undertake imaging and their specific guidelines. Eye testing sessions have also now […]

Some more sad news this week, as I have to say that Val Taylor died unexpectedly last week, she was aged 83. She was a regular supporter of the NoEKC and although hadn’t been ringside for a few years, she still kept ‘abreast of current affairs’. Val loved chatting on the phone and will be […]

After much deliberation, the North of England Keeshond Club Committee has decided, in the best interests of all concerned, to cancel the Championship Show due to be held on Sunday 15 November 2020. The Committee does not believe that it will have at its disposal the resources required to offer Members, Exhibitors, our Judge, our […]

Some sad news that Rosie Francis died on Monday, just three weeks before her 104th birthday. Those of us who knew her will all have our individual memories of her; for me she was such entertaining company ringside whilst we watched the judging. I think that the following article written by John Beacock who interviewed […]

I’ve been having a trawl through my old breed notes (long story) and came across the following from about 14 years ago. As there is no particular news to report on at the moment (and for the foreseeable future) here it is again – a reminder on what we’re all missing out on with cancelled […]

Despite there being no keesie puppies available and with most people having put their litter plans on hold, there are probably more puppy enquiries around at the moment than there’s been for ages. Many people are getting puppies as, for whatever reason, they think now is a good time. Over the past few years, many […]

Being ever the optimist I thought that puppy registrations were beginning to look a little better; as after only one litter being born since the beginning of October 2019, several were due 5 months later in March. And like the proverbial bus, they have all come at once; six litters all within 5 weeks of […]

In light of the C19 epidemic and the Kennel Club’s directive to cancel all shows until the end of June, the Keeshond Club have reluctantly decided to cancel this year’s Championship show. It had originally been rescheduled for the 14th June, but as the venue is now closed, alternative dates provided were unsuitable. Entry fees […]

It is a very different and fast changing world we are all living in compared to just a week ago and what a time to be an organiser of any event at the present moment, with all shows and AGM’s for the next few months being cancelled. We are all in the same boat in […]

After the almost continual wet and windy weather we’ve been having for the past few weeks, Crufts literally had the sun shining on them as the weather was (relatively) lovely for all 4 days. This year it was keesies turn to be first in the ring with a civilised start time of 10.00am. Our judge, […]

The following paragraphs somehow managed to slip off the end of the page in my notes for last week. Junior Handling classes were held during the brief break between the dogs and bitches and were judged by Sue Pattison. 1st was Callum Wright (age 10) 2nd Alex Burrows (age 9), 3rd Chloe Burrows (age 8) […]

I’m sure that the weather forecasts (especially for West Yorkshire) must have alarmed many members last weekend; but fortunately storm Dennis didn’t start to make an appearance until the show was over and the majority of exhibitors had packed up and started on their way home. The Club has often had to change the date […]

This is the worst ‘Doom & Gloom’ report I have had to write in the nearly 20 years I’ve been keeping detailed records. 2019 failed to reach last year’s dismal tally of just 80 puppies being born and is probably one of the lowest numbers of puppies born since the breed was introduced into the […]

Gill Brunt has finally got all the claims for the Club’s Annual Trophies sorted and the results are as follows: The Kultz Trophy for Top Kennel was Devonia (Vikki Marshall) with 104 points. For the first time in eight years we have different dogs winning both the Galdrik Cup for Top Stud Dog – Mel […]

It was a bright and early start for Keeshonds at Manchester, as we were first in the ring with a 9.00am start for our judge, well known ‘all-rounder’ Frank Kane (he last judged us at WELKS in 2017); who had drawn an entry of 36 keesies with 8 absentees. He went over the dogs quickly […]

Boston is the first general Ch show of the year and although there are no CC’s on offer, it is well supported by Keesies. Our judge this year was Millie Lambert (Sturtmoor) who had drawn an entry of 26 dogs with just 2 absentees. Keesies were 2nd in the ring after an entry of 80+ […]

At LKA last weekend, Mel Harris and Toby (Ch Neradmik All About The Boy for Watchkees) rounded off the year by getting third in the group under Judge Liz Dunhill – apologies for the omission! Included amongst all the NoEKC annual ‘club stuff’ sent out recently, was information on how to pay your subs electronically. […]

At LKA keesies were second in the ring after Lhasa’s for judge Dawn Gregory (Amikirs) (who last judged keesies at WKC in 2017) and she had drawn an entry of 33 dogs with 8 absentees. Yet again, Open Bitch was the largest class with 7 girls entered; but there were no entries in Puppy Bitch, […]

At BUBA, Keesies were 1st in the ring with a 9.30am start for judge Sheila Brown (Rossvale) (who last judged us at Border Union in 2015) and she had drawn an entry of 42 keesies with 11 absentees. The biggest class of the day was Open Bitch with 7 of the 9 entered girls present […]

Very brief notes this week to say that I expect by now that most of you will have heard of David Matthews’ lucky escape. He was involved in an accident last week where his car was written off and was extremely fortunate to escape with non-life threatening injuries. He’s expected to leave hospital at the […]

The Nordic Show is organised annually by The Finnish Spitz Club and schedules classes for the 23 Spitz breeds recognised by the KC; plus the 2 breeds on the import register. It’s the only opportunity here in the UK to see the Spitz breeds being shown and judged together; as they are scattered across all […]

Sunday morning saw a brief respite from the continual rain that we’ve been having recently, so the committee were able to unload and set up the show without getting soaked. Many thanks to those exhibitors who, arriving early, helped set out the rings etc. Despite being ‘casually informed’ by the caretaker upon arrival that the […]

I really did tempt fate by saying in my last set of notes by saying that I’d sorted out my computer. My trials and tribulations continued and it all ended with my laptop having to have a new hard drive installed. Even though I had (fortunately) backed everything up, I still managed to lose some […]

I should have realised that it was going to be ‘one of those weeks’ when shutting my van door caused a brake light cover to drop off, exposing all the electrics. Not exactly what you want when it’s chucking it down with rain! I don’t think that any of us realise how much we take […]

Apologies for another double set of notes – last week just seemed to disappear!! At Ripon Racecourse our judge at Darlington Ch show was Norwegian judge Espen Engh (who last judged us at Birmingham National in 2015) Although Keesies were scheduled to be first in the the ring with a 9.00am start, judging was delayed […]

It was a bright and early start last weekend at Birmingham City as keesies were first in the ring at 9.00am for Rony Doedijns (who last judged us in 2014 at Richmond) He had drawn an entry of 48 keesies with 14 absentees and there were no entries in either of the Good Citizen Classes […]

At SKC Sue Wilkes (Dakaraikees) was judging Keesies without CC’s and had drawn an entry of 10 dogs with just one absentee. Best Dog was Karen & Ronnie Shepherd’s Lyntova I Am Legend (IKC) ShCM (Cedarhills-Shamrock Foreign Correspondent x Lyntova Midnight Dream) from Post Graduate with the Reserve Best Dog going to the winner of […]

The Championship shows are coming thick and fast, some of our more intrepid exhibitors must be feeling like nomads – non-stop caravanning up and down the country. At Bournemouth last weekend David Chapman was judging Keesies without CC’s and he had drawn an entry of 13 dogs with just 1 absentee. It was a leisurely […]

After a gap of nearly 30 years, CC’s were back again at Paignton for Keeshonds and our judge was Rick Clasby (Franric) who last judged us at Windsor in 2015. Keesies were first in the ring with a 9.30am start and were finished by around 11.30am – just in time for lunch Rick had drawn […]

What a difference a day makes, from Thursday being the hottest day on record to Saturday – windy, chucking it down with rain nonstop all day and the thermometer struggling to reach 14°. Leeds Ch show really did draw the short straw; it was a wet, muddy and miserable day for everyone! Despite holding the […]