There She Goes

Isabella

11 months old:

Every little thing she does

OK. I know it’s been a long time since the last update. I’m the worst blogger in the entire blogosphere. Truth is, I’ve been meaning to update many times, so I start writing a new post, but then I get distracted by something… I blame Facebook!

Izzie is now 11 months old, and she’s made her debut in official classes.  Her debut was supposed to be at the Finnish Winner & Nordic Winner shows in the beginning of December in Helsinki, Finland. But she got sick, and had to stay at home. I, on the other hand, went to Finland all by myself. After all, I had bought plane tickets, so why not? I stayed with Izzie’s breeder, Ann, and her PHs and Diego, the Galgo español. I had a great time there, getting to know so many nice Finnish people & dogs. I will be back soon, and I am bringing Iz next time

Izzie’s beautiful sister won junior class bitches, and the title “Nordic Junior Winner 09″!

Peppi & proud owner Heidi!

Peppi & breeder Ann.

Izzie made her debut in junior class at the Christmas Show the last weekend of 2009. Judge was supposed to be Hans Lehtinen from Finland. Due to sickness, we got a new judge, Nils Molin from Sweden. Iz was the only Pharaoh Hound entered at the show, but that doesn’t exactly automatically mean that she’ll win BOB. Especially not at 9 months And I knew that Molin had been strict when judging PHs in Sweden, especially with the young bitches. Iz was very good in the ring  - stood still and moved nicely on the slippery floor. She got CK (excellent) and therefore she also went Best of Breed with her first CC! I was so proud of her! The judge really liked her and gave her a good critique. He thought she was really promising, which was nice to hear. Judge in the group was Leif Lehmann Jörgensen from Denmark. No placement. And I didn’t expect anything either. No pictures from the show that are of blog-material, but a big thanks to my friends who came along with me! You’re the best!!!

In the middle of January we had a double national show. Judge on Saturday was Denis Kuzelj from Slovenia. I have to say that he must be the most patient  judge I’ve ever seen. It seemed like he really enjoyed judging, and he was so good with all the dogs. Izzie was in such a good mood (she’s always in a good mood, but this time she was super happy). She was wagging her tail all the time, especially when the judge had a look at her teeth. It made me so relieved because in the beginning, when she was 4-6 months old, she would back away. Not at every show, but every other show. It’s nice to see that my work has paid off.

She won Best of Breed with another CC! On Sunday she won Best of Breed again, with a CC, under Antonio Di Lorenzo, Italy. I wasn’t sure whether I was going to stay for the group or not, because I thought she’s too young (10 months) and she needs to mature, plus I was very tired. But I decided to give it a shot. So I sat in my chair for hours and hours, until the finales started. Boo Lundström from Sweden judged our group. In the collecting ring he asked me how old Iz was, and I told him “1o months”. After that, I got a feeling that we wouldn’t get a placement this time either. You can imagine how shocked I was when he told me to stay in the finale (the four best are placed in Norway). The speaker announced number four, which I thought would be Iz, but no… And then number three. Still not Izzie. Now it was only Izzie and a beautiful Samoyed left! We were placed as #2! And afterwards the judge told me that he just loved Izzie’s temperament and femininity. Too bad I didn’t have a photographer that day…

We had a new double national show in the end of January, this time at Exporama, Hellerudsletta. I hadn’t been to the Exporama show in many years, and I was disappointed with the incredibly slippery floor. And the expensive parking… Izzie was judged by Terry Nethercott, Great Britain, on Saturday. She got the shortest critique she’s ever gotten, but it was good. “Lovely bitch. Excellent head & expression. Plenty of depth. Topline good. Excellent free movement.” She won Best of Breed with CC.  The group was judged by Arne Foss, Norway. No placement. As we entered the big ring for the group finale, the speaker called Izzie a Cirneco dell’etna. (??!!) I was shocked. But what was I supposed to do? We had already started running into the ring. And no one corrected the speaker. This made me kind of upset because Izzie is nowhere near a Cirneco! Hello, construction check, please! And size check! Izzie is about 21 inches tall now (53-54 cm), which is ideal height of a Pharaoh Hound bitch according to the standard. I love er size. But in a line-up with other Scandinavian bitches, she looks “small”.

But on the other hand, how often do we see Pharaoh Hound bitches in the group these days? Not very often, especially bitches of Izzie’s size. So I forgive the speaker…

Izzie in the group. A Cirneco dell’etna?!

Photo by Benedicte Haukanes.

I was really looking forward to Sunday. My friends (not dog show friends) went to the show to support us. I had made brownies, which is the trick to get them to come. Maria even brought a megaphone! Now, how cute is that???!!! Haha, ’cause that’s what you do when you’re cheering on someone at a dog show, right? She didn’t use it, though. Didn’t want to scare any dogs

Birgitta Svarstad judged the breed & the group this day. She gave some second prizes in the breeds before us, so I started to get nervous. Would we get Ck/excellent…? Well, we did And BOB with another CC. So in the last month and two days Izzie has won five BOB and five CCs.

Isabella going Best of Breed under Birgitta Svarstad, Sweden.

We had a new speaker on Sunday – one that knew Izzie was a PH. She behaved very nicely, and got picked out as one of the four finalists!

In the group on Sunday where she went BIG-3!

I also did a little photoshoot of the Pharaoh babies. Henrik brought Debra (Nimme x Dehra).

Debra

And Cornelia brought Agathe (Q-Lahn x Fame).

Agathe

Izzie turned 11 months a few days ago, so we did a photoshoot of her as well, out in the cold.

Mesmerizing Made In Heaven (Horus x Luna), 11 months old.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to all of our friends!

Winter Wonderland

Born to run…

Isabella & Tara in all the snow.

It's not often they sleep at the same time during the day, but today they were both tired after playing in the snow

Isabella…

…and Tara.

Paparazzi

This weekend the Norwegian Winner Show, “Dogs4All”, was held in Lillestrøm, just five minutes away from where I live. About 6500 dogs were entered, and it was Norway’s biggest show in history. It was quite a busy weekend for me. On Saturday Izzie & I stood at the Norwegian Podenco Club’s stand. I had made a pamphlet about the Pharaoh Hound breed that people could take with them and developed & framed some pictures of Izzie with which we decorated the stand. Later in the evening we participated in the big breed parade in the finale ring.

Pharaoh stuff

Izzie got a few hours of rest at home before our Swedish guests arrived – Annica L. Hemström, Eva Olofsson and Emelie Andersson with their dogs Qurry (Churuka Mia Orange Spice, Izzie’s half niece), Goliat (Siphra’s Pied Piper, Izzie’s uncle), Taika (Siphra’s Through It All, Izzie’s half aunt) and Kevin (Enigma Special Occasion, Izzie’s cousin). Izzie was SO happy to see her family! Goliat & Iz really liked each other!

Early Sunday morning we drove to the show. 9 Pharaoh Hounds were entered for the Norwegian judge Mr. Arne Foss. Unfortunately, Izzie was only ONE week too young to compete. Here are the PH results:

BOB & Group-1 & Best In Show Ch.Northgate’s As You Like It “Qing” – BOS Ch.Churuka Mia Orange Spice “Qurry”

BOB Qing & BOS Qurry – both new Norwegian Winners 2009.

BM-2, CC Faouziah’s Faramir “Qiwi”

Qiwi won the male CC.

BM-3 Ch.Antefa’s Q-Lahn

BM-4 Ch.Løveklippen’s Buto Osiris “Osiris”

Tone-Lill & Osiris.

BM-5 Ch.Siphra’s Pied Piper “Goliat”

Goliat & handler Emelie

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BB-1 CC, CACIB Ch.Churuka Mia Orange Spice “Qurry”

Annica & Qurry.

BB-2 Ch.Siphra’s Through It All “Taika”

Taika

BB-3 Ch.Enigma Strike A Pose “Inez”

Sofie & Inez.

BB-4 Ch.Antefa’s Rahina “Alma”

Alma and Jenny.

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After the breed judging we photographed our PHs together.

Emelie with Izzie and her uncle Goliat! They stood & moved so beautifully together.

Annica & Qurry – Simon & Izzie – Emelie & Goliat.

Iz & I stood at the stand for a couple of hours on Sunday as well, and in the evening we participated in the breed parade once again. Madelene and I sat together during some of the finales, before she & Sofie went home. Thanks for the nice company!

Sofie and Harley went Group-2.

Winner of group 5: Jenny & Qing!

Inger and her Sloughi in the veteran finale.

Winner of group 1: The German Shepherd “Zanta Av Quantos” went BIS-3 and is also Dog of The Year 2009 all breeds in Norway.

Winner of group 2: The male St.Bernhard “Versoix Totto Too” from junior class.

Winner of group 3: The Wire Fox Terrier “Marstens Gingerly Possy”, who also won BIS-2.

Winner of group 6/4: The Wirehaired Dachshund “Bellomis Ice-Beefeather”.

Winner of group 7: The German Shorthaired Pointer “Haugtun’s Crc Sting” handled by Benedicte.

In the BIS-finale.

Winner of group 8: The Cocker Spaniel “Perchwater Like A Perfect Dream”.

Winner of group 9: The Standard Poodle “Diego Da Maya”.

The poodle on the move.

Winner of group 10: The Whippet “Siprex Siri”, placed BIS-4.

Northgate’s As You Like It won BIS. The BIS-judge was Glenda M. Cook from Australia.

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The Norwegian Kennel Club also held an award ceremony for the Dog of The Year 2009 (all breeds) in Norway, the GSD Zanta Av Quantos:

Zanta Av Quantos.

On the move…

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Thank you all for a nice weekend! I had so much fun. Special thanks to my PH friends for your honest opinions about my Izzie, and to everyone who helped out at our stand.

And they called it puppy love

Isabella one month old, on my first visit to Finland. She stole my heart...