27.12.2012: At the last show of the year held at The National Show Centre at Cloughran, the CluainUltaigh Show Dogs attended the Dublin Dog Show Society Championship Show. It was nice to get out and about, Ruthe was felling fit enough to attend but too weak too show. We only brought the two boys. In the Open Class 'Benji',Semitar Spice Dream at CluainUltaigh was unplaced but 'Shadow', Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh was placed first and in the Challange he achieved the Green Star and was given Best of Breed against his sister 'Ali', Fearnach Frosty Moon at Longrange. It was a nice finish to the year, many thanks to Damian Mc Donald for preparing and showing Shadow for Ruthe. Once again many thanks to everyone who wished Ruthe well with her on-going recovery from illness.
The previous outing was to the Fermoy Club Show and we had a lovely day, Ruthe attending to keep and eye on me. For the first time in a year I showed Shadow and due to his ability and not my handling he won Group One and we also had success in the Puppy Class in Group One with Semitar Eddies Honey Bee being placed 2nd and Semitar Queen Bee being placed 3rd behind a nice Old English Sheep Dog who was placed 2nd Best Puppy in Show.
A busy time over the weekend of the 2nd and 3rd November, due to jeep problems only Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh and Semitar Spicedream at CluainUltaigh headed to the Working and Pastoral Breed of Scotland Show in Edinburgh. Lots of driving and sleeping in a Laguna in sub zero is no joke. Two hours sleep and then home after the show. Despite all of this it was well worth it, Benji showed his little socks off but was unplaced in a very strong class and Shadow gained the Reserve again in a strong class and I gained even more experience as a handler, boy do I need Ruthe back as doing all the driving, grooming and showing is tough on an old man. In saying that I would not have missed it I had a great time with all our Sheltie friends and the number of kind thoughts relayed to me to pass onto Ruthe was very moving.
On Friday 12th October the Show dogs hit the road again and attended the South Wales Kennel Association and again had a small amount of success with Benji being placed 3rd in Graduate and Shadow being placed 2nd in Post Graduate. Both the boys doing us proud and bringing a little sunshine in to Ruthes life.
Saturday 6th October saw Semitar Eddies Honey Bee and Semitar Eddies Queen Bee heading to Cloughran to attend the Navan All Breed Puppy Show. It was a lovely show plenty of room and a nice relaxed atmosphere, Heather showing her pup was awarded 1st place and Best Baby Puppy in Breed, she then went on to gain 3rd Place in Group 1 a lovely way to end a very tiring day.
Over the weekend of 29th and 30th September 2012 the show dogs headed North and on the Saturday at the Shetland Sheepdog Club of Northern Ireland Championship Show Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh (Shadow) was Place 2nd in Limit, Semitar Spice Dream (Benji) was placed 1st in Post Graduate. On the Sunday at the Belfast All Breed Championship Show Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh was placed 3rd in Limit and Semitar Spice Dream at CluainUltaigh was placed 4th in Post Graduate.
Over the weekend of the 23rd and 24th September the CluainUltaigh Show Team hit the road for the double header at Cloghran, Swords Dublin. This time though Ruthe travelled in the camper just to make sure I was doing things correctly and to see our daughter Heather make her debut in the show ring with her puppy Semitar Eddies Queen Bee.
First up was Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh who was placed first in the Open Class, he followed this up with being awarded the Green Star, CACIB, Best of Breed and in the Group achieved Group 3. Heather made her debut in Minor Puppy and was rewarded with 1st place and in the Minor Puppy Group both of them performed extremely well and in the up and down with all the other exhibits moving and barking they both did very well.
In Open Bitch Ellenyorn Heavensent was placed 4th showing herself really well. It was a great day and for Ruthe to see it even though feeling very tired the smile and pride on her face just gave the whole family a lift, but especially Ruthe.
The following day the the show team attended the Irish Kennel Club National Show, this time it was Semitar Spice Dream who was placed 1st in the Open Class and was rewarded with the Reserve Green Star.
Ellenyorn Heavensent gave Stephen some advice and the result was a 2nd place in Open Bitch.
Over all it was a lovely weekend with a lot of laughs even when not placed in a class having Ruthe at the ring side on Saturday made it a special. Once again many many thanks to Damian Mc Donald (Fearnach) for all his help and advice and patience he has been so kind since Ruthe was diagnosed with her illness.
Semitar Eddies Queen Bee a little tired at the show. |
Once again the CluainUltaigh Show dogs hit the road without Ruthe after a 4.00 start we arrived at the Carlow All Breed Championship Show. Again with the help of Damian Mc Donald (Fearnach) and Norah Conaghey (Larksmore) all three of the exhibits hit the show ring.
Benji being graded excellent and winning the Open Class and Shadow again being graded excellent and being placed second.
Benji was placed third in the Green Star Challange.
Next up was Ashleigh in Open Bitch and again was graded excellent and placed second. All in all it was a good day for the CluainUltaigh Show Dogs.
Over the weekend of the 29th to the 2nd September the CluainUltaigh Show dogs headed off to the City of Birmingham Canine Association Championship Show and had a great time. Again it required starting at 3.00 on Friday morning and returning on the 2.00 ferry on the Sunday morning.
At the show Stephen handled Ellenyorn Heavensent in Open Bitch but was unplaced but it was an extremely strong class, Fearnach Blue Rhapsody at CluainUltaigh was handled by Joyce Miles and was given the reserve in a strong Limit Class and Semitar Spice Dream at CluainUltaigh was place First in Post Graduate and was handled by Elspet Parker, he was unplaced in the CC Challenge. All in all it was a successful show for the small CluainUltaigh kennel with the placings making the day complete. Stephen was so very grateful to Joyce Miles, Elspet Parker and Janis Parkes for all their help and support over the day. The good wishes that everyone expressed to him about the health of Ruthe and the hope for her full recovery was so appreciated by him, it made the day so nice and that was even before the judging started, the support meant so much.
