Time to catch up...

I can't believe where the time has gone...apart from our Christmas wishes, I haven't posted on Radar & Rio's Blog for absolutely ages! It's not that nothing has been happening...quite the reverse...between shows & ringcraft training, agility, PAT dog stuff & starting gundog training (phew!!), life for us & our two precious red boys has been hectic to say the least! So this will, hopefully, catch you up with just some of the things that they’ve been up to!

Rio experienced his first snow in December – initially he was quite confused by all the white stuff but soon got to enjoy racing around in it & learning how to catch snowballs. Radar, of course, is a snow veteran & seemed rather put out that there wasn’t more!!!

The 12th December saw us all at Rio’s final show of the year…the Ladies Kennel Association Championship Show which was held at the NEC in Birmingham. As I’m still trying to get my nerves under control when in the ring, Lynn offered to handle him for me which was fantastic & she did an absolutely brilliant job…plus it was great for me to actually see the little chap in action!! Clever Lynn managed to get our precious pup yet another 2nd place…wow…we’re all so proud of him…& her! Here are all the judging critiques for the shows where he managed to achieve 1st or 2nd i.e. multi-qualifying him for Crufts!! (in addition to the below, he also managed 2 VHC!!):

• Paignton, 3rd August 2010 (Judge – Mr G Upton), SECOND – 6 months, nice head, good neck and shoulders, good topline, moved well, just needs a lot of time.
• Bournemouth, 15th August 2010 (Judge – Mrs R Da Silva), FIRST – Charming puppies, both for whom the future bodes well. 7 month old baby giving his handler a hard time. Sweet expression, elegant in outline and well balanced. Moved well once settled. Won the class on a better infill of forechest.
• Richmond,12th September 2010 (Judge – Mr Frank H Whyte), FIRST – A 7 month baby with good head and eye, good bone and feet, good depth of rib and well muscled quarters, promising but needs time to put it all together and firm up in outline.
• HVC, 3rd October 2010 (Judge – Mrs G Burgoin), FIRST & RES. BEST PUPPY IN SHOW - Well proportioned at 8m but difficult to assess (nerves travelling down the lead!). Moved close behind.
• Gundog Society of Wales, 13th October 2010 (Judge – Mrs Donna Holman), SECOND – Nice young dog and with pleasing balance, good topline on move, not as settled as 1.
• LKA, 12th December 2010 (Judge – Mrs R Herbert), SECOND – 10 mths, loved him for type, lovely head and neck, correct angulation, super feet, moved very well in profile but pinning a bit from behind. Unlucky to meet 1.

Something else really exciting happened at the LKA show…we’d taken Radar with us (though not for competition) & whilst there Gill Barwick of the Bequerelle affix, a Championship Show Judge Breed Specialist, was kind enough to assess Radar not only for conformation but also for temperament. She said that: "He is a nice dog with a good conformation, good colour, good dark eye, sound bite & of a lovely steady temperament". As a result of this (& his very healthy 3/4 hip score), Cathy & Rich Austin (Radar’s breeders) have lifted his Kennel Club endorsement & have suggested that he would be suitable as a Stud…!!!!!

Now, to give you a break from reading, here's a few photos:

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