Phoenix – A Users Manual.

Home with Tim.

Phoenix, Florie, Adam.

This blog is intended as a record of the adventures (and misadventures) of Phoenix, our Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. We are Tim and Adam, we live in the midst of a woodland in deepest rural North Devon, UK,  along with two cats, Midge and Tulip. Before we were here, we lived in Stepney, East London (for far too long).  Our cats have brought a little of that East London attitude with them to our rural idyll.

The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla (pronounced approx: VEESH-luh) is currently still classified as a rare breed in the UK.  The breed is a member of the small and select HPR (Hunt, Point, Retrieve) group of versatile gundogs, and was initially developed in Hungary in the 1930s by crossing two solid liver coloured German Wirehaired Pointer sires with two Hungarian Vizsla dams.  Irish Setter, Bloodhound and Pudelpointer were believed to have then been added into the breed to widen the genetic pool.

After many years of meeting and greeting different breeds of gundog and hound, we drew up a shortlist of breeds that we liked the most, but were ultimately won over by the very affectionate, human-centred nature of the HWV, as well as the passion of the fantastic network of enthusiasts for the breed in the UK.

Phoenix was born on 11/11/2008, one of a litter of 8 beautiful pups that resulted from the happy union of Millie of Riyel (Florie) and Leiborschy Wilfek (Mallard) .  Mallard is the 2008 Cruft’s Best Dog in Breed, so these were always going to be special babies…

Condensed Version for the Time Poor:

This is a blog about a puppy called Phoenix, who has recently arrived to live with Tim and Adam. There’ll be lots of cute pictures, floppy ears and adventures along the way..

Happy Birthday!

Phoenix is 1 today…

...and back when the Phoenix first landed.

Seasons Greetings.

We went to the Bridgewater & District Canine Society show this last Sunday and, although Phoenix stacked nicely and moved like a dream, when the judge came to do his examination she decided she didn’t want to be handled at all, especially from behind, which lead us to think (and several onlookers to comment) that she was probably coming into season.

This was confirmed the next day she was noticeably swollen, and then yesterday, just 8 days short of her 1st birthday, she “officially” started her season, the first of her litter to do so. So far she’s completely unaffected, maybe a tad more clingy (even more clingy!) than usual, but she’s in no discomfort, is full of energy, and it’s just business as usual as far as she’s concerned, so hopefully all will pass smoothly!

Actually she’s managed to time it pretty much perfectly – the clever girl! – and we’ll only miss one last local show that’d she’d booked into as a puppy before taking a well-earned rest for most of the winter.

What's all the fuss?

Belatarr is born.

…and now the concluding part:

The exciting news that we *mysteriously*  alluded to in our last post can now be revealed!

Having heard stories that applications for a Kennel Name can take many months and that applicants often need to submit 10 or more name options before one is accepted, it was with considerable surprise and delight that we received news that our 1st choice of Affix had been granted just 4 days after we applied!

So, Team Phoenix now becomes Team Belatarr…and as to why that name, well, Béla Tarr is one of our favourite film directors, his awesome Werckmeister Harmonies is certainly our favourite film, and, most importantly, like the Wirehaired Vizsla, he’s Hungarian. Phoenix came from Jane & David’s Tarndair kennel, and it also felt like we were paying homage to them with the echoed “Tar(r)”…all in all it always felt like the right name and we’re so very pleased that it was accepted.

Phoenix’ kennel name now becomes Tarndair Phoenix of Belatarr and her future little sisters, younglings and various scions will be little Belatarrs too.

So, to sum up… 

Red Letter Day.

Two very happy events in the life of Team Phoenix occurred today…more details of the second, and most momentous, will be posted shortly, but for now it will suffice to say that we had a truly excellent show at the South Western Gundog Open where Phoenix again moved terrifically well, and achieved the following results:

• 1st Junior HWV
• Best Puppy in Breed (her 15th BP)
• Best of Breed (her second BOB)
• shortlisted/pulled out for Best in Show from a group of 25 Best of Breed winners, the rest of whom were all adults
• 3rd Best Puppy in Show (from a group of 14 breed winners)

Stacked in the huge line for Best in Show.

Oh, and along with 4 x soopa-doopa rosettes we even managed to bag a cash prize for 3rd Best Puppy in Show – an unexpected bonus!

In Motion.

Today was Phoenix’ 20th show…amazing to think how far we’ve all come since our debut back in Taunton on May 29th!

But much more importantly, today was also the day when everything came together perfectly, and for the first time in any show, anywhere, Phoenix really showed what she was capable of in the ring.

The scene of this happy occasion was a biggie, The South Wales Kennel Association Championship Show at the Royal Wales showground in Builth Wells. This was also the location of our first Champ Show Best Puppy award at the end of August, and today it certainly proved to be a lucky venue for us once again.

We arrived with about an hour to spare, and, both in practice and around the showground it was apparent that Phoenix was very excited and also very fluid in her movement, definitely “up for it”.

This was carried through into the ring in spades and she didn’t put a foot wrong at any stage, first becoming best puppy bitch and then, after going head to head with the winning puppy dog, Phoenix was named Best Puppy in Breed, her 3rd Champ Show Best Puppy award.

We had recently been given some detailed handling tips by a professional handler (thanks Emma!) who observed what Tim & Phoenix were doing together and made a few suggestions. The changes were seemingly small, but seem to have made a huge difference and Phoenix is finally demonstrating in the ring what we’ve been seeing in practice and at ringcraft, that she really can move very well!

After she emerged from the ring one seasoned HWV observer/exhibitor was heard to comment of Phoenix that she had “totally outmoved the rest of the class” – particularly pleasing after a number of shows where it was purely her movement that had held her back. Also, she’s always been a major attention seeker, but it was abundantly clear that she was really enjoying herself in the ring today – as was Eileen Hughes, the judge!

The judges critique read:

A well made puppy bitch, well up for size, although balanced, and with the correct length in body. Matching angles front and rear, moved truly. Best Puppy.

Just a few days before turning 11 months it feels like our gal has finally grown into her body and has, at the same time, figured out exactly what is required of her in the ring. Exciting times lie ahead!

Bird Dog.

Autumn brings lots of young game bird releases in the woodlands across the river from our garden, and a fair number of these inevitably take up residence amongst our trees and shrubs…or at least they have done in past years.

Prey.

Whilst the adult birds are quite capable of looking after themselves, and, in breeding season, regularly take on all-comers, with Phoenix on patrol the garden is now perhaps a rather less favourable place for a young and naive pheasant.

Predator.

This was borne out today when Phoenix stalked and then caught her first such game bird, delightedly retrieving the still perfectly intact poult back to Tim.  Sadly a camera was not to hand to capture the occasion…Does this count as gundog work without a gun we wonder?

Best Puppy #12.

Sun Oct 4th saw us head into neighbouring Somerset for the 65th Anniversary West Country Dog Club Open Show, quite a large affair with a substantial entry of gundogs in particular.

Steely Focus.

Phoenix was awarded Best Puppy in breed, her 12th of the year. She was also following in the pawsteps of  her half-brothers Leiborschy Ylai & Leiborschy Ekko who achieved the same Best Puppy result at the previous two West Country Dog Club shows. Although not a hugely memorable event in other respects we did meet up with some good HWV friends and much in-depth wire talk ensued.

Boh Selecta!

Yubaba kicks off.

We were all watching the Studio Ghibli film Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi) last night, which is a rather psychedelic Japanese animation epic much loved in the house. The main villain in the story is called Yubaba and she is a cross between the Wicked Witch of the North and a giant raven. Yubaba has a son, Boh who is a giant baby and when Boh made his appearance, Phoenix went barking bonkers. She had been paying close attention to the film anyway, and we assumed it was all the bright colours and possibly the Japanese language which (to her floppy ears at least) might sound a bit like barking.

This baby causes canine chaos.

Whatever it was about this giant baby, it did something to Phoenix which took a while to get over. We’re going to try her on some Kurosawa next, to see if it’s Japanese epics in particular that set her off, before moving on to Italian neo-realism and perhaps German expressionism…

Ready for the Weekend?

This weekend saw us attend two separate shows here in the SouthWest and once the canine dust had settled we had achieved a number of firsts…

The 1st first came as we pulled up at the Cornwall Gundog Club show only to find that we’d left our “Phoenix Bag” at home…this contains leads, collars, foods, camera, money, show schedule, in fact pretty much everything we need at the show aside from Phoenix herself…Luckily it was a Saturday and we were near a town so a quick dash into Wadebridge yielded cash (thanks to a wallet in the glove compartment that had escaped the pre-show Phoenix-bag sweep) and doggie training/show treats. On returning to the showground we then found that many of our Gundog friends from ringcraft were also at the show, so a variety of leads were very kindly proffered and, once the initial panic had subsided, we were still ready in good time.

We were reliably informed that forgetting everything that you need for a show is extremely good luck, and this was partially borne out when we achieved  another (and this time rather more pleasing) first… Phoenix was, for the first time at a show, awarded Best in Breed, being placed above the adult HWV’s at the show, as well as Best Puppy in Breed. Two superb rosettes were duly collected and the long wait for the Group judging started…

A good few hours later Phoenix was revved up once again and we took to the “big ring”, firstly alongside the adult dogs for Best in Show, and then with the winning puppies from the other breeds for Best Puppy in Show. Unfortunately though, the wait had taken its toll on our pups’ energy & concentration levels, and she moved really quite poorly – displaying what was memorably described by Sam from Farlap as “the wet knickers look” – which was never going to win friends or influence people, so needless to say we didn’t get placed amongst the top 4 in the show.

Okehampton Show - the examination (minus front feet!).

The very next day we brushed off our miscellaneous show gubbins and headed just 30 mins. due south to arrive at the Okehampton & District Canine Association Open Show. No class for HWV’s here, so Tim & Phoenix were in Not Separately Classified Open, a class that attracted 9 dogs, all of whom were adults aside from Phoenix & 1 American Cocker pup.

Stacked for Gundog Puppy Group.

The judge was Gill Tully, of Highclare Welsh Springer Spaniels, and, despite the stiff competition from older dogs, she awarded Phoenix 2nd in the Open class, as well as Best Puppy.  Not too long afterwards Tim & Phoenix once again lined up alongside the winning puppies from the other Gundog Breeds, and we were thrilled to achieve another first when Phoenix took Gundog Puppy Group 1 – Best Gundog Puppy in Show – her second Group win following North Devon back in August.

Stacked for Best Puppy in Show.

Then started the wait for the Best in Show judging, a wait that eventually extended nearly 6 hours…We endeavoured to keep Phoenix entertained & rested with alternating periods of play, walking & snoozing and when she hit the best puppy in show ring she was in sparky form (which usually bodes well), but what followed was our final and most unfortunate first of the weekend’s showing.

After standing nicely, Tim stacked her for the judge’s examination. The judge in question was an elderly gent with a very deep voice, and as he started his examination and asked for Phoenix’ age, she suddenly pulled sharply away from him, something she’s never ever done with any judge in any situation…Being more than a little surprised by this turn of events Tim gamely stood her once again, which she accepted without any problem. The judge started his exam once again, and all was well until he spoke, at which Phoenix again pulled away as if she’d been snapped at by another dog….

It was only after they’d come out of the ring and Team Phoenix had reconvened for a dissection of what could have just gone wrong that we realised that it was purely the judge’s voice that had freaked Phoenix out. She was, as ever, happy to be handled, but something about the sound of his voice struck her as threatening.

Over the next few days Phoenix was “test examined” by as many dog folks as we could round up, without showing the slightest hint of being uncomfortable with anyone else, so it seems it was just a one-off…just a shame it had to happen when we were lining up for Best Puppy in Show!

Lots of highs and a couple of heart-stopping moments certainly made for a memorable weekend of showing.

Ever Elegant.

Phoenix takes time out from her hectic schedule of shows, training, running-on-the-beach, chasing pheasants, digging, swimming etc. etc. for a moment of quiet reflection.