Off to the Czech Republic and Prague

Tomorrow I am off to Prague for a week together with all collegues from work. Besides working most days I have arranged to visit a couple of whippet breeders. I think it is very interesting visiting other breeders and even more exciting when doing it abroad. Hopefully all practical matters will work out and if they do I will get back at the blog with a report from my kennel visits!!

Congratulations Tintin and Eila!!!

Today at the international show in Seinäjoki in Finland Play A While Iittala won the CC and the CACIB ending up BOS under Swedish judge/breeder Ingela Kyrklund. Tintin is the fourth in the litter to win CC:s and two more in the litter are already blood tracking champions and one boy has won a lure coursing CC, so an allround litter so far. They are by Ch Forgetmenot Flying Star out of Ch Play A While Late Red Autumnhop Ale.

Fasu running LC

This photo of Fasu running LC was taken last weekend by Jaako Stenros. Fasu is running on a beach.

Great news from Finland!!

Last weekend Play A While Fazer took part in the last LC-competition for the year. He ran very well ending up second of all whippets and one first CC (CAC)!!!!! Earlier this summer he also won a first CC at a dog show! Big congratulations to owner Tarja Pohjanvirta who takes such good care of "Fasu"!!

Hopefully photos will follow!!

Grattis Sara och Miki - Congratulations Sara and Miki!!

Today Play A While Marimekko (Ch Forgetmenot Flying Star X Ch Play A While Late Red Autmnhop Ale) won the intermidiate class and was awarded champion quality at a sighjthound show. This means that Miki has exceled in three diffrent fields and has obtained The Swedish Whippet Club tripple prize!! She has done well also at blood tracking and lure coursing, besides todays show win.

Idag vann Play A While Marimekko unghundsklassen på vinthundsutställningen i Hågelby och fick ett CK, så nu har Miki klarat av trippelpriset och stort grattis till Sara som jobbat så bra med Miki i flera grenar!!

Byråkrati i sin värsta form!!

Kolla Aftonbladet angående Amstaff i Norge......

Grattis Susanne och Mira - Congratulations Susanne and Mira

Susanne and Mira eralier this year winning BOB under Björg Foss!!

Igår erövrade Play A While Tiiimari ett sista förstapris i viltspår och numera kan Mira titulera sig viltspårchampion!!! Bra jobbat!!



Yesterday Play A While Tiimari won a last first prize in open class in blood tracking and gained the champion title in blood tracking!! Well done!!

Congratulations to Marijke in Holland!!

The other day Play A While Karhu (by Ch Forgetmenot Flying Star oyt of Ch Play A While Late Red Autumnhop Ale) produced a litter out of Baroque van de Razende Roeltjes. 1+5 was born in Holland and we wish this litter good luck!!

The puppies!!

Trav

Travhästar i träning hos Åke Svanstedt


Ännu mer travhästar!

En skymt av alla de stall som Bjertorp trav har!

Från denna byggnad sköts Stall Palemas avelshingstar och det är ännu finare på insidan!!

Idag lämnade jag Kvänum och for runt i trakten kring Vara för att besöka fler elever ute på PRAO. På vägen hem passerade jag Stall Palema och Åke Svanstedts anläggning Bjertorp trav. Stall Palema ligger bakom två Elitloppsvinnare, Gidde och Torvald och Åke Svanstedt har naturligtvis tränat och kört dem. Trakten kring Kvänum har blivit ett "travcentrum" här i västsverige. Nu när Vara Horse Arena skall byggas också (kommer ligga ett stenkast från Stall Palema), så blir det ännu mer hästtätt än vad det redan är. Förutom alla travhästar finns också ett stort antal "vanliga" hästägare kring Vara!

PRAO

Idag har jag spenderat morgonen och förmiddagen att besöka elever som är ute på PRAO. Under många år så var tyvärr PRAO:en utlagd så att vi lärare inte kunde göra besök ute på arbetsplatser.

Trevligt var att de handledare som jag träffade tog uppgiften på stort allvar opch såg till att eleverna fick göra meningsfulla uppgifter och ännu bättre, jag fick lovord över seriösa och intresserade elever som jobbade bra!!

För många herrans år sedan när jag PRYADE, som man kallade det då, så var jag tvungen att följa den normala arbetstiden och ett ställe började 06.40 och det vara bara att infinna sig... Numera kräver arbetsplatserna att de kommer normal skoltid och jag ifrågasatte varför, men då sa en handledare, att om vi kräver det orkat de två dagar och sen ringer de och säger att de är sjuka. Han menade på att jag som hunnit nå 40 hade en annan inställning när jag var i samma ålder???

Hann med ett besök på den trevliga träfabriken Kvänums kök där kök tillverkas efter måttbeställning och de har en utställning längs med E20 mellan Skara och Vara som är värt ett besök!!

Besökte även Swegon där jag själv jobbat en gång i tiden innan jag utbildade mig till lärare. Intressant att konstatera med Swegon var arbetsmiljön som nu var ovanligt tyst för att vara ett metallföretag!!

Kvänum är lite av gamla Skaraborgs eget Gnosjö och det ligger ett flertal stora framgångsrika företag i detta lilla samhälle och ovanligt mycket entreprenörsskap råder!!

Play A While Nokia 21 months old

Photo: Mathias Wendt

"Nokia" is by Ch Forgetmenot Flying Star out of Ch Play A While Late Red Autumnhop Ale. Nokia is owned by Jenney Helming. Nokia has won numerous CC:s (CAC) this year and is now waitning to turn two years old, the age a dog in Sweden must reach to win the champion title.

Play A While The Longest Journey nearly 8 months

Photo: Mathias Wendt

"Leo" i by Play A While Whitstable Bay Ale out of Ch Play A While Lady Orlando and is owned by Jenny Helming who also owns Leo's relative Nokia.

Grattis Ursula och Saga

Play A While A Room With A View blev BIR-valp på SvVK i Boden igår. Saga är efter Play A While Whitstable Bay Ale undan Ch Play A While Lady Orlando och ägs av Ursula Andersson kennel Skybourne.

Grattis igen till Susanne Forsgren och Mira!!

Play A While Tiimari knep en andra raka etta i öppen klass viltspår och nu hålle vi tummarna för ett tredje!! Bra jobbat!!

Conference arranged by The Swedish Whippet Club

Last weekend I was privileged enough to attend a conference concerning the whippet breed. It was held at the hotel, camping Vilsta outside the city of Eskilstuna. This place is great as dogs are practically allowed anywhere (accept the restaurant) in hotel rooms and the conference rooms and so on. This is also the same plac e as the big Whippet Club specialty was held at the end of July.



The conference was organised by Kicki Sandell (Zelig whippets) and Anna-Lena Bäckvall-Hallin (Balzac whippets) who are a part of the sub-committee for information and education under The Whippet Club committee. They did a great job and everything ran very smoothly and we had great food and so on.



Saturday morning we did an excercise so that we all got to know each other. Many of us attending the conference have known each other for many years but a number of people are quite new in the breed and was happy to put faces to names read in our magazine or in results and so on. Then we went straight over to the first item and this was lure coursing. Annika Janzon (Hot Isle whippets) who has competed very successfully with her whippets in this relatively new sport (became official about ten years ago). She explained point for point what a judge loos at when the dogs are running in the fields. Afterwards we had small group's discussions how we felt about lure coursing, have it turned in to a pure competition or is it at the same time a test for function? After small group's discussions each group presented their thoughts and we talked very long on the topic and the time table was already out of order!!! It did not matter as we had such giving discussions!!



After lunch we totally focused on two matters - whippet mentality and RAS (breed specific breeding strategies). RAS was formed by the kennel club and shortly it means that each breed club must decide (with its members) a plan with goals and actions how to breed whippets in a sound and healthy direction. Every 5 years the RAS document must be rewritten, evaluated and new goals and actions must be described. We talked in small groups very thoroughly about the current actions and what to change and what to keep.



A majority of the group were positive to "description of mentality" in whippets, meaning that an evaluator tests a whippet in different situations and then writes a small report of what he/she saw. We all agreed that this form of testing must be done according to the desires we have for the whippet breed. We also discussed what we all feel is a good mentality in a whippet and this off course meant a big variety of opinions. In my small group we all agreed that the whippets in Sweden in general have bigger "motors" and this is both positive and negative!



After the mentality section we went deeply in to the RAS document and talked about things like keeping inbreeding levels down, not over using certain dogs, a rule that conformation judges must attend a lure coursing meeting before being allowed to judge the breed and many more things that I don't have time to write about now...... We are hoping that Club committee will help to arrange meetings about RAS in different parts of Sweden before the final document concerning RAS will be finished!



In the evening we ate a lovely dinner!!



Sunday morning Linda Carlsson who breeds basenjis came and held a terrific talk and discussion about different health testings that we don't have in the whippet breed but exists in the basenji breed in most countries around the world although the focus is shifting between countries. She showed us the long list of considerations a basenji breeder must respond to and we immediately realised how small problems we have in our breed. She finally asked us the question, do you really want to enter the "swamp of health testing"???



After lunch Richard Sellin who is responsible to stay in contact with all the sighthound breeds as a representative of the Swedish Sighthound Club main committee talked about how to work with RAS in an effective way and came up with good strategies how to create an even better RAS document in the future.



Then we had an hour to talk about what each person would bring from the conference and also thoughts we felt we wanted to pass on to the Club committee!



Then we all went home and I think we were all very pleased about the weekend and felt sorry for those who could not attend. The atmosphere was really at the top all weekend and there was lots of laughter and exchanging of constructive thoughts!! We probably could have gone on for days if possible!!