The club held its annual Bernese jamboree
at Barnwell village hall in Northamptonshire on Sunday 17th July. To use the old
tabloid headline it can be best summed up as "Phew what a Scorcher!". In over 20
years of Garden Parties I think this has to be the hottest I've ever been to, in
fact it was possibly the hottest dog event I've ever attended. I
was told that in the afternoon a car recorded the outside temperature as 37
centigrade, or 98.4 in old money. Not sure about that but it was certainly too
hot. Having said that we didn't hear of any dogs
having problems, everyone was so sensible. A cold water
hosepipe in the shady area was well used and many dogs were permanently well wet,
as were a few owners! From late morning onwards the hose seemed to be in
permanent use as people soaked their dogs. Warnings were given out and seemed to be heeded, several
times we looked around the ground and couldn't see a single dog out in the sun -
well done
everyone. The agility competition was cancelled after lunch and we
escaped the heat by moving inside for the final parades but no one complained
and it seemed that a good time was had by all in spite of the "adverse" (we're
never happy are we?)
conditions.
Whilst the prospect of the heat may have affected the numbers somewhat the enthusiasm was still demonstrated by the class entries. The imagination and work that goes into the themed Decorated carts never fails to impress and always makes a colourful start to events. The novelty classes and the games are ever popular and the puppy walks produced the usual collection of "aaahs"
The ever popular Rescue and Golden Oldie parades were moved out of the sun into the hall and every single one of the dogs was given a terrific reception by everyone present. Helen Boyd's Heelwork to Music routine with Teal was another highlight of the day and it wasn't until afterwards that I found out this was her first public performance. With this in mind and in view of the difficult conditions this was a truly memorable display.
All in all everything seemed to go well and the 2005 Garden Party can be recorded as a great success. I am sure everyone who enjoyed themselves would want to thank Glynis, Toni and the team for all their much appreciated work.
First Class of the day was the Decorated Cart Beatrix Potter theme judged by Frank Whitbread and the
Winner was Lena Chandler and Sophie
2nd was Wendy Murray with Murphy
3rd was Belle Owen with Scrumpy
The next few classes were judged by Louise Harrington
starting with
The Most Handsome Dog Winner was Diane Crawshaw with Bryn followed by Babs Manson with Merlin, Emily Green with Laddie, Andrew Murphy with Flame, Pam Mead with Maxwell and Doreen Lloyd with Miller
The Prettiest Bitch winner was Doreen Lloyd with Bojangles, second was Bruce Hellingsworth with Dixie, Paula Williams with Megan, Trudi Tebbut and Rosie, Emily Green with Wilma and Wendy Murray and Flora.
Frank Whitbread was back in the ring then to judge the Decorated Cart Swiss Style and the winner was Tom Murray with Homer, 2nd was Lynne Boyd and Teal, 3rd was Lena Chandler and Sophie followed by Belle Owen and Scrumpy
Back to Louise Harrington and her winner of Dog the Judge would most like to take home was Kaylie with Shirley Payne, followed by Maxwell with Pam Mead, Flame and Andrew Murphy, Bryn and Diane Crawshaw, Sophie and Mervyn Green and Bailey with Doris Ratcliffe.
Louise was joined by Doreen Lloyd next to officiate over the Puppy Parades for Minor Puppies, Puppy dogs and Puppy Bitches.
Doreen then stayed to administer the really serious
stuff starting with the Biscuit Catching which was won again by Dixie with Bruce
Hellingsworth, the runner up being Maxwell and Pam Mead and in third was Toby
with Sue Bluffield, fourth was Yndi with Emily Green.
Next was the Irish Brace and the winner was Keith Brown with Esme and Dusty, followed by Brian Boyd with Woody and Hal then Bruce Hellingsworth with Dixie and Remy
and in last place after originally being
disqualified for "aggression" was Sally Murphy with the only real 100% Irish brace of the
day, Finmecool (I think must translate as "the dodgy one") and Danny Boy.
The Egg and Spoon was next and the winner was Dave Rooney with Lola, 2nd was Andrew Murphy and Thorn, Mervyn Green and Sophie were 3rd followed by Emily Green and Yndi.
The Main ring was then graced by Helen Boyd and Teal with their Heelwork to Music routine to All that Jazz which was even more remarkable as it was their first performance in public. The heat and sun were not helpful but once focussed Teal gave a magnificent display and the enthusiastic applause at the end was well deserved.
The last Main Ring event of the morning saw Frank Whitbread back to judge the Carting Turnout class won by Lynne Boyd with Teal, Belle Owen and Scrumpy was 2nd and Sue Walsh with Banjo was 3rd.
The stewards then took a well earned water and lunch break (where I sadly put back on all the weight I'd sweated off during the morning) before we returned to the ring for the Junior Handling Classes judged by Lindsey Bridges. The first (8-11 years) was won by Emily Green with Yndi and runner up was Declan Rogers with Banjo. The next class (12-16) winner was Lily Bootman with Gunner and the last class for first time Junior Handlers was won by Jenny Bluffield and Toby followed by Charlie Bootman with Neo.
At this point, due to the relentless heat, we decided to go indoors to finish off the day's events and firstly we witnessed the Obedience stays followed by the Main ring's events with the Rescue and Golden Oldie parades.
A bunch of people put up their hands and say "Calm
down, we don't want any trouble" (or was it the sit stays?)
or
The Rescue parade is the clubs chance to express our gratitude to those who take a rescue dog and everyone received a fantastic reception.
Finally it was the Golden Oldies which was, encouragingly perhaps, the best supported class of the day and again everyone was well received. It was good to see some dogs qualify for both parades.
The agility had been abandoned by this point due to the heat but the Carting was soldiering on and whilst those involved stayed on to find out their results, many started to drift away after the parades, especially those with air conditioning in their cars!
The committee would like to thank those who travelled to our event in spite of the temperature and hope everyone had an enjoyable day. Next year's Garden Party is due to be at the same venue but in earlier in the year (May 7th) so hopefully the weather will be much pleasant for us and more importantly the dogs.
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