Posts Tagged ‘Nimloth Brandir’
Just update.
9 January 2024 | 
Author After my last update in August, my laptop crashed and after missing it for weeks I got it back but it didn’t work then! It also turned out that there was almost nothing on the backup made!! All gone! Taken away again and after a month we were told that unfortunately it could no longer be repaired. All in all, it took several months before I got a new one and then it turned out that I couldn’t log in to my website anymore!!
This week I finally succeeded and now I could continue where I left off. Poop, poo!! But because of all the updates of my website, I have the biggest problems filling a page and it takes ages before it is to my liking. And it’s still not to my liking, but yes, I have to!
Let’s just start at the beginning of last year.
The first coursing of the year 2023 was on March 18 at the RONOstrand in Een. Since Cranston had been badly injured and Cytaugh was not in good shape at all, I only let Crumbaugh and Charlaigne run. Was actually so relaxed because you already have your hands full with this couple!
Charlaigne with her fast ears.
The following weekend, March 25th, we had our CC2000 coursing day. The weather forecast was fantastic but unfortunately they turned out not to be quite right on the day itself. The rain regularly poured down from the sky and in such quantities that everything became one big swamp. At the end of the day, when everything was cleaned up, the car, which was loaded with all coursing equipment, had to be pulled out of the mud by a tractor. He had sunk to his axles! But the people who had signed up were almost all present and had a nice day despite the weather. Hopefully they dare to come again next time!
On the 13th of April I left for Cumbernauld in Scotland to enjoy the Deerhound Breed Show. This is always a wonderful weekend with nice people and lots of Deerhounds, really enjoy!
Last year, in mid-October, Brandir started hydrotherapy. We drive weekly to Rucphen where Corinne Somers has her practice. Since there was a clear improvement in stability, and if we skipped a week a decline, we do this every week as much as possible. He now knows exactly what the order of treatments are; First massage and possibly some manipulation and then into the bath to then “swim” for 4 x 5 minutes. But… you can ask a lot of an old Deerhound as long as there is something in return, all this is not possible without pieces of cheese!
On the 10th of May we left for Sweden where I had to judge the thirteenth in Hässleholm. Then we went back to Denmark where on the 19th was the sighthound show in Vejen and on the 21st the Euro Dog Show in Herning. Charlaigne showed well, became 2nd and 3rd best bitch but didn’t get any further.
Meanwhile, Brandir celebrated his 11th birthday on May 17 at the Flyvesandet campsite in Denmark. We had hoped that we would be able to walk on the mudflats again, but because of the storm that raged exactly the days we were there, the water was too high. Very unfortunate.
I did take some pictures and a video of Brandir but unfortunately my phone was stolen in a fancy restaurant and I lost everything.
At the end of June it went back to Sweden, this time for the World Championship Coursing in Kristianstad. On Thursday, June 29, it was the turn of the CSS class, Kirjojax Harris, Cranston and Crumbaugh were entered for this. Crumbaugh emerged as the winner. He can now call himself CSS World Winner.
On Sunday, Charlaigne was allowed to run. She wasn’t in great shape after her heat and wasted too much energy beforehand so she made a mess of it and finished in 14th place out of 22.
From Kristianstad we left via Gothenburg by ferry to Frederikshaven in Denmark where we had to prepare a field for the International Coursing in Nørresundby the weekend after the World Cup. On Saturday, July 8, the sighthound show was held where Charlaigne became Danish Champion and later in the day BIS. Judge was Agneta Doverholt.
On Sunday the coursing for which only Cytaugh, Cranston, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne were registered. After the first round, Charlaigne was in first place but again she messed up the second round and ended up third! I had withdrawn Cytaugh after the first round because of the heat.
On the 18th of August we left for Arnhem where the Deerhound Clubmatch and the Sighthound Show would be held that weekend. On Saturday the clubshow with 23 Deerhounds present for judge Carina Ekwall from Sweden. Charlaigne became BOB again and also on Sunday with only 8 Deerhounds present she became BOB under judge Kay Sneath from Australia. Cytaugh became Best Working Dog both days and on Sunday she also got the Reserve CAC!
Charlaigne was both days BOB.
From Arnhem we went to Göhlsdorf, east Germany, where on Saturday a National Leistungcoursing was held (provided by CC2000) and on Sunday the Jahresausstellung of the Deerhounds.
There were 2 males and 12 females entered for coursing. For the second round there were 11 left and Charlaigne was tied for 2nd and Crumbaugh for 3rd place. But Crumbaugh made a mess of it and finished in 6th place and Charlaigne was 3rd.
For the Jahresaustellung 25 Deerhounds were entered. The judge was Pascal Thiery from France. Cytaugh got the reserve CAC from the Working Dog class and Charlaigne became BOB and later in the day BIS!
But just like her mother in 2018, she also won the ‘Quodlibet Drambui Trophy’ for the combination of beauty and performance!
At the beginning of last year, there was a call from an American writer for a photo of an old Deerhound. Well, I have plenty of those!! After editing a Christmas photo with a.o. Amy and sending it to the author, Sky Blaine, she was very enthusiastic.
At the beginning of September, Simon flew to America for work and came back with the three books! Amy’s old face is featured on the cover of the third and final book of the series.
It’s a fantastic story and you can’t stop reading, highly recommended!
At the end of September we left for Brittany where Henriëtte has a cozy, small gite. We were able to park the caravan right on the property with her and the hounds had plenty of space to run and play on the large field. It is a beautiful area and there are many nice places to walk and cozy villages to visit. Mont Saint Michel is also around the corner and is of course very nice to go to.
Just have a look at her website: www.lepetitcoincosy.com
After doing some chores at Henriëtte’s we left after a few days to Gesves in Belgium for the coursing where Simon had to judge and the hounds could course.
On the 14th of October the German Deerhound Club organized its Open Club Show in Wickrath. The judge was Natalie Heathcote and there were 38 !! Deerhounds signed up for her. Charlaigne became BOB again.
The following weekend we were back at RONOstrand. It was Cytaugh’s last official coursing. Since Cranston has not been feeling well for a long time and is therefore not allowed to do coursing, only Charlaigne, Cytaugh and Crumbaugh were entered. And what was to be expected, happened, Cytaugh had to ran alone in the second round, really didn’t like that so didn’t run. She ended her coursing career with a dismissed!!!
Charlaigne won and received the CACNL with which she is now Dutch Champion for Beauty and Performance. She is the third O’Cockaigne Deerhound (and they are the only three) to carry this beautiful title.
On Friday 24 and Sunday 26 November, the Fryslân Cup and the Winner took place in Leeuwarden. We had rented a house in Appelscha for a long weekend so that I wouldn’t have to drive up and down that long way twice. Friday we had Rob Douma as judge and he had 5 Deerhounds to judge. Charlaigne became BOB and was selected in the group but did not advance.
Sunday we had the judge Jose Miguel Doval Sanchez from Spain and he had 7 Deerhounds to judge. He also did the final judging. Charlaigne was BOB again and in the ring of honour she was finally placed 2nd!
And then the last event of the year; the Christmas show in Gorinchem. André van den Broek judged the 4 entered Deerhounds and made Charlaigne BOB and in the mainring he placed her second!!
I was so proud of my little girl! The hard work on her confidence in the show ring has paid off. She now likes to go to the show which makes it so much fun. For next year there are already a few exciting, big things on the program such as Crufts, the Breed Show in England and the World Championship Coursing in Poland and a lot of fun smaller events. We won’t get bored!
Posted in Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | 
Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | 
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Göhlsdorf, Heteren and Oude Pekela
August 24 the caravan was clean and tidy again and we left for Göhlsdorf, near Berlin. CC2000 was asked to run the coursing on Saturday and so almost the entire team was present. On Thursday and Friday we still walked around in the shining sun in a T-shirt, but very bad weather was predicted for Saturday and we had to remove the rain gear out of the mothballs. Fortunately it was not that bad in the morning and also in the afternoon when the Deerhounds ran for the second time, it was still dry. Only later in the day it erupted and everyone was soaked in no time. There were 8 Deerhounds entered including my 4. It was quite a challenge to get Cranston and Crumbaugh to the start because it was at least 100 meters from the entrance of the site, walking neatly is not in their genes! After the first round, Charlaigne was first and Cytaugh last. Crumbaugh in a tie for the fourth place and Cranston was sixth. In the afternoon Charlaigne ran with Islay’s Rhiann from Silke Eichhorn a
nd this was a very nice course, the ladies were well matched but Charlaigne had lost too much energy before starting and lost a few points. She finished second, Crumbaugh fourth, Cranston sixth and Cytaugh last.
Sunday was the CAC show for which I only entered Charlaigne. Only three Deerhounds were entered; 1 male in the youth class, 1 female in the youth class and Charlaigne in the intermediate class. She did a good job and showed herself well. She became BOB and at the end of the afternoon she was selected among the three best in the group, despite not really wanting to show herself! With these two results of the coursing and the show, she obtained the title Schönheit und Leistung! She’s doing well, my little girl.
The following weekend we were at a campsite near Arnhem because Saturday was Swift’s coursing and Sunday was the Young Dogs/Veterans Day of the Stichting Rasgroep Windhonden (the Dutch Sighthound Foundation) in Heteren. Swift’s coursing went like a train and Maarten had laid out a nice course on which the Deerhounds could also run well. My complete foursome appeared at the start again and this time Crumbaugh took the credit.
Charlaigne and Brandir were entered for Sunday. I just really enjoyed showing such an old, fit male one more time, but I had promised him that this would really be his last show. There were 5 Deerhounds entered for the brand new Borsoi-judge Sybiel Schroeder but unfortunately only 3 were present. The young male, John Falstaff from Jan Scheer and Joke Groeneveld, Charlaigne and Brandir. Charlaigne became Best Young Dog and Brandir was logically Best Veteran. At the beginning of the afternoon all judgements were ready and we had to show up for the group. To my surprise Sybiel chose Charlaigne as Best Young Dog of the Day and when Brandir had to compete for Best Veteran, he won too!! Leon Scholten judged this group and he thought Brandir was so good for his age. And he is! I was so proud of him!!!
And then …… on September 17 there was finally, after 26 years, a Dutch Championship Coursing for the Deerhounds!!!!!
On October 26, 1996, the first NKC in Een, also the first competition that the current WvCNL, was organized on RONOstrand. We had 6 Deerhounds together so that the title could be forgiven. At that time, it was still customary for the participants to make the dividing themselves so that you could see beautiful equivalent courses. We had expected that this would also be possible with the Dutch National Championships, but unfortunately the committee decided that they would make the dividing and we did not agree with this because the males of Dick and Wil Bults and Jacqueline de Kok showed such aggressive behavior at the finish, that the Hawkins family and we were forced to withdraw our hounds. We absolutely did not want our hounds to become the bobbin of a fight! So we withdrew our Deerhounds with the result that no title could be awarded. Well, then the dolls were dancing!!!!
Dick, Wil and Jacqueline thought differently about aggression at the finish, they thought that was normal, so the two aggressive dogs ran their rounds that day and they made sure that about eight men were ready to catch their dogs after the course. What a display, I would be ashamed of myself!!!
Anyway, luckily the regulations both National and International have finally changed for the better, so that such antisocial, unacceptable behavior results in a fat disqualification. We hardly see any aggressive behavior at the finish nowadays, with any breed. Happy!
This year, on September 17th, 61 sighthounds were entered and 8 judges had to show up for the Dutch Championship Coursing in Oude Pekela. Each hound is judged by 6 different judges and it is always a puzzle to have the right judges judged at the right time, as they often have dogs at the start themselves. A few years ago, the Dutch regulations regarding the numbers that must appear at the start for a Championship were adjusted. It was realized that there would never be a National Championship for a number of breeds in the old way. So instead of 6, only 4 have to appear at the start and that worked for the first time this year with the Deerhounds!!
They were all four my hounds but I can’t help that and the battle was no less. The three youngsters are all very fanatic, so that results in beautiful courses. The enormous power with which Cranston thunders across the field, the interplay of Crumbaugh and Charlaigne and the displayed intelligence of Cytaugh (she was completely back after her heat) make it a real party. In the first round Cytaugh ran with Crumbaugh, not such a good combination. Cytaugh cuts the corners and only thinks while Crumbaugh goes after the hare diligently. Cranston and Charlaigne is also not a good match because Cranston also cuts a lot but also shows enormous strength and agility. After the first round, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne both had 257 points, Cytaugh 252 and Cranston 248.
In the afternoon Cytaugh and Cranston first ran, a nice combination for the lure operator! The one cuts even more than the other and it is very difficult to stay ahead with the lure. Crumbaugh and Charlaigne, on the other hand, show the interplay, beautiful to see! But Charlaigne had to lose out to her brother, with two points less she came off the field. And with this, Crumbaugh became the first Dutch Deerhound with the title Dutch Coursing Champion!!
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Tour of Sweden and Denmark
On July 23 we left for the north again. The first night was at the campsite between Bremen and Hamburg, always nice to wake up with a herd of fallow deer in the front yard. From here we continued to a campsite in Sweden where we would stay for two nights. But on arrival we were amazed, it looked like a dump of old caravans with sagging and broken awnings. The people who walked around didn’t look much like campers either. At the beginning of the evening a number of cats appeared and boldly sat a short distance to watch the hounds and a couple of large hedgehogs waddled past on the other side of the path. This was of course very exciting for the hounds but very difficult for us and in the end we decided to go into the caravan together. Partly because of this we left the next day to the next campsite where we would be three days. This was a very spacious campsite with a beautiful large forest next to it where you could walk for hours but it was also infested with ticks. Despite the hounds being treated against it, I picked dozens of ticks off them every day! On the last evening we were treated to ‘golden trees’, a very spectacular spectacle.
On July 28 we left for Västerås where on Friday and Saturday the Skokloster Summer Show and on Sunday the Swedish Deerhound Club Show took place. The campground we ended up on was a 20 minute drive from the showground and had a decent outlet area. Unfortunately, quite a lot of hares ran around here, which again required the necessary attention! Before Friday I only entered Charlaigne in the Intermediate class for judge Vlastislav Vojtek from Slovenia, she was the only one in this class, got an excellent and had to come back for Best Bitch. To my great surprise she became second Best Bitch out of a total of 14 bitches! Best bitch was Galerita’s Fiona van Mikael Nordström (husband of the breeder Cecilia Nordström and showed by Ylva, their daughter). I have always admired the Galeritas and this bitch was also lovely! So sound and well-balanced, while maintaining a beautiful topline during a very nice movement. Best of Breed was Grayrory’s Irresistible from Maria & Åke Käck.
For Best Intermediate Charlaigne had to compete with Ray Lindholm’s Necesse’s Faust Fortunatus. A beautiful male but he still needs some time; is still a bit loose in its movement. Charlaigne also won this battle. I was so proud of her!! the more so because she behaved well and allowed herself to be touched.
Saturday we had a rest day and that was a good thing, it was very hot, especially on the showground and that would have been unbearable for old Brandir. We had to break everything up again at the end of the day because we had to check out early on Sunday morning. So as late as possible, when the sun had already set behind other caravans and the temperature had dropped, the tent and awning dismantled again, packed and everything prepared for departure.
Sunday the Club Show. I entered everything except Cranston. The judge was Barbara Heidenreich from Canada and I really enjoyed it to show my hounds to her. A total of 21 males and 26 females were entered, of which 19 males and 24 females were present.
My 122 month old Brandir was the first to go into the ring, he did well but clearly showed that showing is still not his thing!
Second, Crumbaugh entered the ring along with 7 other males between the ages of 15 and 24 months. Despite the fact that he has never been shown he showed himself quite well and ran nicely. He found everything very interesting and wanted to greet everyone who sat at the ring. Barbara had a hard time with this class but in the end she made my Crumbaugh best!
Number two was Necesse’s Faust Fortunatus by Ray Lindholm, the male from which Charlaigne had won on Friday!
After judging all the male classes, Crumbaugh and the old Brandir had to come back for Best Male. Brandir of course stood for bacon and beans in the ring and was clearly disappointed but Crumbaugh loved it and showed himself to FIRST PLACE!! Best Male, who would have expected that???!!! 
After this it was Charlaigne’s turn, she misbehaved again but still ended up in second place behind another beautiful Galerita.
Finally, Cytaugh was alone in the class of 7 to 9 year old bitches. Not that hard to get first.
Best bitch eventually became Lawton’s Eqvizzical Exuviance from Stefan Hagstedt.
Several males and females entered the ring for the battle for Best of Breed. I don’t understand the Swedish judging system and certainly a Club Show has its own rules, all very complicated. Anyway, after a lot of deliberation, Lawton’s Eqvizzical Exuviance took Best of Breed and Crumbaugh came in second. A very nice achievement for such a young male!
After this judgement, Crumbaugh still had to come back for Best Intermediate, which he lost against …. a beautiful Galerita bitch, Galerita’s Athelas, who had won from Charlaigne. Charlaigne had to go back for Best Head but she wouldn’t show her head, she was constantly looking the other way. Brandir was Best Veteran and Cytaugh Best Senior and Best Working Dog. The Paar class with Charlaigne and Crumbaugh was also for O’Cockaigne! Unfortunately they had canceled the battle for Best Movement due to lack of time, which is a shame because Crumbaugh won every time also because of his movement.
We went home with a mountain of rosettes and four well-filled Goody Bags with very original gifts, it’s great how they do that there! All in all it was a very successful Club Show and it was very nice to talk to Barbara again.
After the show we had to drive another 200 kilometers to the south, to Olerum (who hasn’t heard about it?) where the coursing, for which Simon was invited to judge, would take place. We arrived around eight and quickly rebuilt everything.
Since my hounds were not allowed to participate because Simon had to stand there for two whole days in the field, Crumbaugh, Charlaigne and Cranston would do a test run. Cytaugh would run as a companion dog with the three officially entered Deerhounds. Before we walked to the coursing field on Monday morning with the three youngsters, Simon prepared Cranston’s slipline and put it on him. Unfortunately not quite according to the rules with the result that when I started him he ran off with me after him – the line didn’t slip! I made a huge thud to the ground and was dragged along. From now on it is forbidden for Simon to ever prepare a slip line again!!
Anyway, the hounds were restarted and again showed a beautiful spectacle, nothing more beautiful than three Deerhounds in ‘full speed’ over the field.
Cytaugh ran with a bitch later that morning but after a few hundred yards she stepped on a pulley and was done with it right away. Well, she was two weeks after her heat so it was understandable.
The next day the three monkey-heads did a test run twice, they had made up for the lack of free movement!
It were very nice days and we sat together under the party tent until the late hours, luckily the Swedes speak good English because you don’t understand anything about that Swedish!
Wednesday morning we packed up again and drove to Gothenburg. We stayed here until Friday morning and then took the ferry to Frederikshaven to cross. From there a short drive to Nørresundby where Simon again judged the coursing for two days. Here the hounds were officially allowed to participate and I had entered all four of them. Let’s hope Cytaugh would do a good job too!
We stood with the caravan close to a wild area where a herd of cows, Scottish Highlanders, Lakenvelders and their crosses, were walking around. The crosses were very special and resembled wire-haired Lakenvelders. One of the yearlings was very interested in Crumbaugh and he in her. She was also very beautiful and they stood looking at each other for minutes, there was clearly a Scottish click!
The hounds ran on Sunday and Hanne from the Eikica Sighthounds would help to start. Cranston and Cytaugh were the first to run and…. Cytaugh did run! She anticipated a lot and should have had the highest number of points for intelligence, but unfortunately this part has been deleted. In the second Deerhound course Crumbaugh and Charlaigne started and that was a really fantastic course! They followed the hare with devotion and Crumbaugh ran just a little better than Charlaigne but she did not show herself off and took 4 points more than Crumbaugh and 
took first place with the Certificate! Cranston was third and Cytaugh fourth. They had had a great run again and had come off the field without injury. It was again a super well organized coursing that ran like a train.
Monday August 8 we went to Camping Ringkøbing. We had been to this campsite twice before and it was great. Partly because of the large forest right next to the campsite where the hounds can run free, it is an ideal place to stand for a few days. And … we were lucky with the temperatures, not above 30°C!
On Thursday we went to the ‘Sandskulpturfestival’ in Søndervig. The impressive sand wall of 200 meters long and 7 meters high was decorated with the theme of the Middle Ages. Real works of art made by different people from many countries. i.a. a few Dutch, English, a Russian, Ukrainian, Belgians and Swedes had a great time in this huge sandbox with a beautiful result!
And yes, the sky really was that blue!
After a wonderfully relaxed week we returned home on Saturday 13 August. But not for long because at the end of August we had to be back in Göhlsdorf where Simon had to take care of the coursing together with Maarten and Willem. To be continued.
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
A little bit of everything and a trip to Finland.
At the beginning of this year I sent DNA from Vision and her sons and from Cytaugh and her puppies to America for research on Post Operative Bleeding Syndrome because I suspected that Vision died from this. After several weeks I got the results and it turned out that Vision did indeed have the genotype SERPF2-VAR, meaning she had the highest risk, as much as 500 times higher than hounds that have no risk or the SERPF2-WT genotype. Due to the bleeding after her operation, the supply of oxygen was not sufficient for the organs and the nervous system and kidneys can be damaged very easily by too little oxygen; the haemorrhages were thus the cause of the eventual renal failure.
Her sons, Cranston and Callaghan both have SERPF2-HET, meaning they are 25 times more likely to have bleeding after surgery or an accident. It is therefore important that the vet has the right medication on the shelf. Unfortunately, it turns out that you are not allowed to have that medication under your own management, so if you are on the road you have a problem.
Also two of Cytaugh’s puppies have the SERPF2-HET variant while Cytaugh himself has SERPF2-WT. The owners have of course been informed immediately so that they can inform their vets and I have also informed the owner of the father of the puppies.
I am very pleased that, in addition to Factor VII Deficiency, we now also have the opportunity to test the hounds for this bleeding disorder, Delayed Bleeding Sydrome (DBS – also called hyperfibrinolysis)). You can avoid a lot of trouble with it.
The commercial test is not yet on the market, but if necessary one can simply send a swap to America for research. Unfortunately, there are still breeders who do not even test for Factor VII, which is very irresponsible as it carries great risks. I therefore recommend that when you want to buy a puppy, you ask the breeder whether it has been tested for Factor VII and DBS. You can read more about this via the following link, https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=20680.
We were finally able to remove the caravan from under the caravan port in mid-March and muck it out. In the course of the winter it always becomes a kind of storage place and before you have everything back in place and cleaned, you are a day further. But in the course of Thursday morning 17 March, we could then leave for Lelystad where the first CC2000 event would take place. More than 50 hounds were registered and it was a very pleasant day with perfect weather for the hounds. It was very nice to see Mackenzie (and of course Bert and Mariëtte who belong) again and also Simone and Marco with Finn and Kick.
Unfortunately Charlaigne was not allowed to walk, he was still in the rag basket but there were 6 Deerhounds walking that day! Mackenzie had to get used to it again but in the end ran very nicely. In the afternoon she walked with brother Crumbaugh and that went perfectly!! Also very nice courses from Cranston with the Afghan Kimi from John and Karin, and in the afternoon with the Barsoi from Anneke. Everyone enjoyed it immensely.
On April 11 I had Brandir’s heart tested again and it has improved again! By adding Carnitine, Taurine and Q10, his heart becomes more and more powerful and I no longer have to worry that the same thing will happen to him as Chidish. Cranston has also been tested for the first time and found to be fine. Nice to know before he starts his coursing career.
Cranston, Crumbaugh and Charlaigne have now obtained their coursing license and Cranston has already successfully completed a number of coursings.
The last major event was the World Coursing Championship on May 27, 28 and 29 in Kalajoki, Finland. We left on May 18 and had planned for a few weeks with a few days Flyvesandet in Denmark and a stop at Sonja on the way back. At Flyvesandet it was great fun again with the low water. Even Brandir, who in previous years was afraid of the tide, now walked freely and cheerfully. He even went crazy on a regular basis!
It is a lovely area and the hounds always enjoy it. It is also a great terrain for a good fitness training because walking through such a layer of muddy sand is quite hard!
On the way to Kalajoki we stayed at various campsites, including in Sweden, including a very nice nature campsite in a very beautiful environment.
On Wednesday 25 May we arrived in Kalajoki and were directed to our spot, a strip of asphalt in front of the caravan with a large sandbox next to it. We stood right on the beach, or rather on the beach, and looked out over the Gulf of Bothnia where the sea ice was still floating. A strange sensation as it was nice and warm those first days and everyone was walking around in T-shirts and shorts. The hounds loved the sandbox and we swept the sand outside every day.
The three coursing parcourses were also on the beach and all had a length of about 800 meters. This was long enough as it is of course very hard to run through the loose sand. On Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday Crumbaugh and Charlaigne were allowed to do a test run but on Thursday I saw afterwards that both had a total of 6 broken feet from the sand that had sanded away the skin at the bottom between the toes. A very painful condition that unfortunately was not cured quickly – so no more test run on Sunday.
Cranston was in CSS class on Friday with two Swedish females and one English male. I judged this male, Kirjojax Harris, at the Breed Show in England last year and it was very nice to see that he was suddenly a lot more mature and changed in a positive way. Beautiful male!
In the first round, Harris ran under red and Grayrory’s Kestrel under white. Harris started very well but halfway through Kestrel came by and after this Harris actually followed Kestrel and at one point he also touched her twice, in other words he disturbed her. He got a disqualification for this which is of course very sour when you come all the way from England.
In the second lap, Cranston ran under red with Gray Mountain Maggies Aileen. As a young girl, Aileen usually walked closely behind the hare, but also made an error of judgment every now and then. Cranston coursed more with his head he read the terrain and cut where necessary. Three times the turner went wrong, he misjudged Cranston’s speed and this caused Cranston to come into contact with the hare. Luckily he didn’t care about it. Unfortunately there was one judge who most likely swapped the points and placed Cranston in third place.
In the afternoon he had to walk alone and that was very disadvantageous for him. Such a large, heavy male cannot be compared with the course before it of two females. He eventually ended up in third place. It’s a shame it went like this but Cranston really ran very well and enjoyed it.
Saturday it was Cytaugh’s turn. There were 12 bitches (6 German bitches, 2 Czech, 2 Swedish, 1 Finnish and my Dutch Cytaugh) entered for the CACIL class and not a single male! Cytaugh started in the first course together with Islay’s Quickstep of Ira Johannsen (DE). Cytaugh got 243 points and Quickstep 230. Cytaugh was in a provisional fifth place!! In the second round, Islay’s Luck Penny from Ira ran with Crathlint Dwynwen Dee from Satu Hakanurmi, the only Finnish rider. Luck Penny got 228 points and ended up in provisional tenth place while Dwynwen Dee was disqualified. Fernhill’s Rose at Grayrory from Åke Kack (SE) ran a very nice course and earned 245 points and Islay’s Peekeboo from Ira got 232. In course four, Islay’s Oonagh from Ira and Cotherstone Angrboda from Ann-Marie Boyle (SE) and they got 247 and 229 points respectively. Course five was for Andrea Jahelková’s Ailis Under Sharp Hill and Islay’s Quinn by Silke Eichhorn, who tied for first place with 257 points. In the last course, Andrea’s Aisha Under Sharp Hill ran with Islay’s Luighseagh by Claudia Oeljeschläger (DE) with 237 and 179 points.
In the second round, Cytaugh had to compete against Aisha Under Sharp Hill in course 4. Aisha got 1 point more than Cytaugh but that wasn’t enough to beat her. Cytaugh eventually landed in fourth place.
I was quite proud of Cytaugh, with her over 7 years she has done well!
As said, on the way back we went to visit Sonja for a day. Very strange to find only two Galgas and Brandir and Cytaugh hadn’t expected this either. After a lovely lazy day, we drove home on Sunday to see our new cork floor. The floor is beautiful, but we also found leveling everywhere; on the terrace, against the walls, even the door handles were covered. So that became a return for the floor layers to clean things up. It just meant that we couldn’t immediately start clearing out our house because everything, really everything, was in the shed, on the porch and under the carport. Well, as long as we’re ready for Christmas.
Posted in 2022, Abroad, Deerhound in general, Lure coursing | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Holiday in England
Given the Corona vicissitudes, it was a very exciting adventure, our trip to England. We postponed booking the tests, campsites and the crossing in advance as long as possible, as there was of course the chance that we would turn ‘red’ on the English ‘Government site’ and then we would not enter England. We had already pushed our departure date forward in the hopes that the site update wouldn’t come before Monday 20th September, but the British government held a press conference on Wednesday the 15th and the chance of an update became earlier. We had to do the corona test on Thursday the 16th, otherwise we didn’t fall within the deadlines. I also had the hounds dewormed on Thursday and made sure that their passports were filled in correctly. This on the way to Werkendam where the Dutch Coursing Championship was held. On Friday I would drive back and forth home to do a few things, including putting the garbage on the road. But when I arrived, the garbage had already been collected and I could go up and down on Saturday to take it to the recycling center! Well, there was still plenty to do at home and the hounds were not bothered by the coursing noises. After I was back in Werkendam on Friday afternoon, the hounds were able to have a nice run. In the evening we would eat in the restaurant of the riding school and while we were waiting for our ‘dinner’, an update came from England…….luckily the Netherlands remained orange!! This is of course a purely commercial affair because they already have enough problems in England so putting the Netherlands on red would be very stupid but still, we were very relieved! More on this later.
Saturday at the end of the afternoon back home quickly, well that ‘quickly’ did not go, the mover of the caravan did not work! Fortunately Maarten is handy enough and managed to remove the rollers from the tires so that we could at least go home. We hoped that the mover would work again at home otherwise we would have a real problem getting off the site on Sunday morning. In the evening I put another few things in the caravan, Simon filled in all the papers and printed them (which of course was terribly disappointing and took several hours), I filled the freezers with meat for the hounds (I got about 45 kilos in it !) and we went to bed early.
Up early on Sunday morning, the last things in the caravan fridge and off. Fortunately, the mover did and we were able to start the journey without any further problems. This went very well and earlier than hoped we were in Calais and through the “Pet Control”. After this it went a little less smoothly because of the strict control of the passports, but we were still able to get on a train earlier than we had booked. Mid afternoon we arrived at the first campground, Tanner Farm Park. A campsite where Sonja and I had already been twice before and where you stay wonderfully quiet with good walking opportunities. Only we didn’t bring oversized Cranston with 
us then! It was impossible to pass under the gate that was part of a fence that you can go over as a human and go under as a small to medium-sized dog. Brandir and the girls crawled under it neatly but Crumbaugh and Cranston refused it absolutely. So because of this the walking possibilities were limited. But there was ‘excitement’ enough because it was bursting with squirrels and they just walked right past our hideout. Once there was one just below the open window of the caravan and I could just grab Crumbaugh’s hind legs before he started to jump out of the window! Furthermore, the hounds fortunately stayed neatly behind the fence when the squirrels jumped around. So good!!
According to the rules, we should do a COVID test on Tuesday. We also had ordered and paid for it, but the test never arrived at the campsite. Even after several emails and phone calls, we didn’t get any response. Then not, we’ll see.
On Wednesday we went to Scotney Castle. A ruin on a small island and a newer castle set in beautiful gardens many acres of sheep pastures and woodlands. We first made a big walk, between the sheep and especially Crumbaugh and Charlaigne could not resist the sheep poo. Afterwards we went to the old castle ruins to shoot a few pictures, a really nice ruin.
One of the problems that England now faces is that there are too few truck drivers to transport fuel, among other things! We experienced this when we wanted to fill up and there was no diesel (nor petrol) available at various filling stations. Fortunately we found another gas station in a small village where we could fill the tank.
On Thursday we left for a campsite near Telford where the Breed Show would take place and I would judge the Deerhounds on Sunday. Friday afternoon we went to the hotel to say hello to everyone and to give Liza and Sarah the chance to see Uther’s puppies. Unfortunately I was not allowed to attend on Saturday so we decided to go to Ironbridge. We first walked a bit with the hounds, then had lunch at a pub and then walked back towards ‘The Iron Bridge’. Well, when you walk across the bridge there isn’t much to it, it’s just impressive from a distance, especially when you consider the history.
But what we actually went for was of course ‘The Deerhound Table’ which is in the Coalbrook Museum of Iron. I didn’t think it would be this big! The Deerhounds that carry the table on their necks were really life-size. Very nice to see it in real life.
Here too, around Telford, we saw long lines of cars at gas stations waiting to fill up, only to see the next day that everything was sold out and there was no car left. After some searching on the internet Simon found a gas station where you could still fill up, but for no more than 25 pounds. Well that doesn’t work with a 90 liter tank! So after first having refueled for 25 Pounds, he drove around and filled the tank at the truck pump. In a normal passenger car, the nozzle does not fit in the tank opening, but fortunately that is no problem with us! There was no one to say anything about it and no comment at the checkout either. At a next gas station it was also said that it was allowed to refuel at such a pump. Good to know! Hopefully we can still fill up on the way back, otherwise we won’t make it to Folkestone and we won’t come home!
We also heard in the evening during dinner in the hotel (which we were fortunate to be able to attend) that various products were no longer available in the shops because they simply could not be delivered. What such a stupid virus can cause!
Sunday morning, up early and heading to the hotel. Fortunately the weather was great all week and also on this day it was great weather for a show. In total there were 83 Deerhounds entered for the show with 90 entries on the Saturday of which 30 were absent and 53 entries for the Sunday with 16 absent. Not as many entries as usual but that was to be expected in the current situation. It is a miracle in itself that a Breed Show took place with the enormous numbers of corona infections that are reported daily in England.
Anyway, I was very satisfied with my numbers and loved to get so many Deerhounds in my hands again. The quality was very different but I had a couple of very nice hounds including a young male of 23 months who made it very difficult by either not wanting to trot or to go at a pace but…..when he trotted, he showed the best movement whatever you could imagine, dancing beautifully with a long, flowing stride, low to the ground and at a good pace. The best gait of the day. Furthermore, he was a male who was really ‘Fit for function’ and could really do his job. Also a male and female, brother and sister, 20 months young, stood out in type, movement, beautiful small ears and very dark eyes. Yes, and then those adorable hounds; who really want to cuddle with you intensely or that old bitch of 11.5 years who was still so fit and trotted active through the ring, they touch you in the depths of your soul and it always brings tears to my eyes.
On Monday morning we left for Dartmoor. We had booked a ‘dog friendly’ campsite but when we arrived and were directed to our spot, it turned out that it was not allowed to put up our fence, which would mean that the hounds only had to stay in the caravan and awning. No way! So we turned around and looked for another campsite – easier said than done as it turned out that many were not allowed more than 2 dogs or that the place was flooded due to the enormous amount of rain that had fallen last night. Via, via we ended up at a campsite along a moderately busy road but with direct access to the Moors and a very cozy pub! Tuesday it came pouring out of the sky again and at one point a soaked robin flew through the awning. Fortunately we had all the hounds in the caravan and I let the bird rest for a while before opening the tent door. It stayed on the ground for a while and after about ten minutes it flew away again….. or not? More on this later.
Parody of “Wishful Thinking”.
When it would remain ‘dry’ in the afternoon, we quickly set out with the hounds. Through the gigantic meadows, where the sheep and ponies graze, ‘Public Footpaths’ ran in all directions. So plenty of walking options, you had to close the gates behind you of course. When we walked a few hundred meters on one of those fields, suddenly about 10 ponies came running towards us from very far away. Simon said jokingly; “They’re going to surround us.” Well, they did and one of them didn’t look very friendly. This mare was clearly the leader and didn’t think it was good that we were walking here with five Deerhounds. She became more and more threatening and on a few occasions she turned to us and at one point she slammed backwards. Against Brandir! Fortunately, he is no longer very stable on his legs and he immediately fell over which probably saved his life. When he got up, he squeaked and stood on three legs for a while, but that soon got better. As I was struggling with Crumbaugh and Charlaigne to contain them (they wanted to chase those ponies away!), I couldn’t do anything, just try 
to keep things as calm as possible and try to get off the field as quickly as possible. For the first part we were still chased by the herd of ponies but the closer we got to the fence the more they kept their distance before finally turning around and galloping away. What a terribly bad experience this was and especially for poor Brandir, that he in his old age has to go through such a thing. Fortunately it turned out to be not too bad with him, I couldn’t discover anything about him and he just walked with us for the rest of the walk. In the meantime it had started to rain again so we didn’t have much fun and after the hounds had done everything we turned back towards the caravan to drown the fright. We preferred to have a very large pony steak on our plate in the evening in the pub!! But unfortunately they didn’t have it.
We were fed up with Dartmoor right away and on Wednesday we packed up all the wet stuff again and drove to The New Forest where we had booked a very quiet campsite, The Red Shoot, in the middle of the nature reserve. Fortunately, we were also able to arrive earlier than agreed. In The New Forest the ponies, cows, pigs, donkeys and deer just run loose throughout the area and a confrontation with them is not inconceivable but we were well warned by the bad incident in Dartmoor and left the cattle behind. The weather was beautiful here and in a radiant sun we set things up again and drank a beer in the sun.
Thursday – rain – we had decided to go to Stonehenge but when we got there we could either walk 2 kilometers or take a shuttle bus. Well with 5 Deerhounds in a shuttle bus we didn’t like it so we just walk. Of course, to get a little closer to the stones you had to buy a ticket – 21 Pounds per person!! Now we are real culture barbarians and are not willing to pay for a look at old stones up close, so taking some pictures from a slightly greater distance was okay. Simon also said; “They’re probably saving up for new bricks.” Well, with such amounts that is easily saved!
Fortunately, it was dry during the walk there, but there was a strong wind. At one point a hare crossed the road right in front of us. The only one who saw him was Crumbaugh and he is the worst thing to get back in line! Only when we were far past the ‘hare pass point’ on the way back, he was able to walk a bit normally again.
We drove to Burley on Friday. This should be a nice old village but it was not what I expected. The walk that was plotted in the area and we walked, was also a bit disappointing. Large stretches on tarmac roads. There weren’t many cars driving, but if possible Brandir runs loose so he can set his own pace. That didn’t work here and then it’s a lot more tiring for him. The surroundings were beautiful and the ponies would occasionally let us go round as they were in the middle of the road or grazing next to it. 
We now look out for them and don’t trust them at all! When we drove back to the campsite, we ended up in a ‘traffic jam’ because of a herd of donkeys walking across the road. Yes, and then you really have to be patient.
Saturday it rained all day, and not just a little! In the afternoon we agreed with Gill and Toby to show Brandir. As one of their bitches was in season we couldn’t take him inside so all five of them stayed neatly in the car. Well neat…. when we came back to get Brandir out, it turned out that the puppies had retouched the mattress cover. The whole car was covered with foam flakes!
Sunday was a rest day, just a nice walk in the area which was already strenuous enough by meeting a lame deer that did not disappear so quickly in the forest. At the end of the afternoon, when it had cooled down quite a bit, there was a heavy downpour of rain and we had closed the awning, suddenly a robin was flying around in the awning again! Accidentally rolled up in the awning? Those animals crawl through the smallest cracks and into the tent under the caravan. That is really guts!
On Monday we took another beautiful, strenuous walk in the northwest of the New Forest. At the start of the walk there were a few cows along the path but luckily they had little interest in us. Steep, slippery slopes, overgrown with ferns, up and down in the pouring rain. Luckily we didn’t encounter any ponies or cows there!
Tuesday morning we packed up again and drove to Tanner Farm Park where we would spend the night before traveling back home. We never did our second corona test and we had already prepared ourselves for a hefty fine for this, but when we arrived in Folkestone, nothing was said or asked and after all the checks regarding the hounds we could get on the train. Once on the train we were sure that no angry Englishman with a fine would come after us and we could breathe a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, we also received bad news from Sonja that day. In the week before, she had already reported that Vision was not doing well after she was neutered, but there was no improvement at all, on the contrary, she had to decide to put Vision to sleep. In and in sad, still so young and completely fit again after her fake pregnancy, she couldn’t get up after the operation and eventually her kidneys gave out. An unbelievably hard blow for everyone involved. But especially for Sonja of course.
Pyefleet Vision, mother of Cranston Argyll and Gallaghan Argyll, was only allowed to live to be 5 years, 9 months and 5 days.
Posted in 2021, Abroad | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
The wonders are not over yet!
From 1979 to 1981 we had Irish Wolfhounds. I don’t remember how I got to it, but they got Taurine and L-Carnitine every day through their food. That should be good for the heart.
In 1996, when some of our Deerhounds developed heart problems and were treated by Dr. Andrea Vollmar, they were able to participate in Vetmedin’s development project. This drug is said to counteract the weakening of the heart muscle. Luckily my hounds got the real Pimobendan (the active substance) and no placebos and lived on it very well for a number of years. Vetmedin is now THE medicine for DCM.
In 2018, a mild form of DCM was diagnosed at Brandir and as my experience with Vetmedin (Pimobendan) was very positive, I had no hesitation in giving him this as standard. His heart did not deteriorate further.
Two years ago Sonja had Bernice, Brandir’s sister, checked on her heart and she was diagnosed with a very slight abnormality but she did not need any medication. After checking last year, Dr. Tobias (the cardiologist in Hannover) advised to add Taurine to Bernice’s diet. After half a year, Sonja had Bernice checked again and her heart had improved!
I also started adding Taurine to my hounds’ meals last year. After a few months another heart check took place at Brandir and it turned out ….. his heart had improved! A few months ago I also started adding Acetyl L-Carnitine and Omega 3 to the diet after reading some articles about this. Very interesting! Here are the links to the articles;
Nutritional therapy in the treatment of heart disease in dogs – https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19621&preview=true
Taurine, dog food, and heart disease in dogs – https://www.o-cockaigne.eu/?page_id=19619
Last Friday it was time again for a check of Brandir’s heart and it turned out ….. Brandir’s heart had improved even further !!! This trend continues despite Brandir’s fairly advanced age, he will turn 9 years old on May 17! The combination of Vetmedin, Taurine and Acetyl L-Carnitine really works wonders. Brandir is still very active, just like Bernice, doesn’t skip any walk and occasionally plays with his daughter or grandchildren.
I therefore urgently recommend adding Taurine and Carnitine to the diet not only in case of existing heart defects, but also preventively. 1 gram per day of both is sufficient. But … it is of course also very important that you regularly check the heart and/or have it checked to prevent (more) serious problems !!!
Posted in 2021, Deerhound in general, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Nimloth Bernice, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Finally …..
Finally I can manage to write something again. The lust and inspiration simply lacked after the death of Cearrean and because of the bustle of the puppies.
It was a busy couple but what fun they had together! They grew well, ate well and everything, were neatly on the leash, driving was no problem and they learned a lot from the older hounds. It all went very well.
But to be honest, I was also looking forward to see three out of six going to their new owners around February 9 (Holly would not leave for Germany until the beginning of March) but it was not to be. After the puppies had their last vaccination on February 9, they all got sick in the evening. At first I thought it was a reaction to the vaccination but because they all were not feeling well and later also vomited 
and got diarrhea, I soon came to the conclusion that it must be something more serious. I had brought Calum to Annelies in the afternoon and he also turned out to be unwell later on. This is of course the worst thing that can happen to you as a new owner and we had more than regular contact.
It turned out to be a gastrointestinal virus that was all around and because the puppies regularly went along for socialization, they had picked it up somewhere. After a week with ups and downs, high fever, not eating and drinking and therefore losing more than a kilo, after stool research showed that Giardia now also played a role! What a drama!!
It is of course very easy if you keep your dogs in kennels; a few times a day empty the high-pressure cleaner with disinfectant and you’re done, but that’s not how it works when you have them all in your house and they run over your entire 5000 square meter site. So the only thing that helped was cleaning & disinfecting and constant poopcleaning & disinfection every day. Liters of Dettol went through and the washing machine was running day and night. I can tell you that this was really not fun and it took away my fun. No more puppies at O’Cockaigne for the time being!
But in the meantime we are several weeks further and the puppies are doing well. The owners are all very happy with them and what I see in the photos and the videos and read in the emails, the puppies also with their servants. Crumbaugh and Charlaigne are very happy with each other and are shaking things up here, digging holes in which they can disappear and especially during the news in the evening on TV. they can argue wonderfully on the couch. They look good and have wonderful characters!
Posted in 2021, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Charlaigne O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Crumbaugh O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
They are a noisy bunch!
Christmas. How fun can it be! Standing out in the cold in your pajamas at night to ensure that the puppies do not do their business in the house but outside. Of course they don’t all go out at the same time and they don’t do everything at the same time. After this they have to eat and play extensively. All in all, it will take you almost 2 hours before you can go back to bed! But rarely do they put anything in the whelping box, so things are going in the right direction. Hopefully they will be completely housetrained in two to three weeks. But the door has to be left ajar so that they can go out, and we have made several adjustments to this. Fortunately, they understand the small crack through which to go outside, even at night, but they also feel how cold it is there and for 
some that is the signal to turn around and to relieve themselves on the corrugated cardboard inside. So there is no other option than to persist to go out in my pajamas in the middle of the night!
Then that litter of 2 puppies in May was a lot easier!
Just a few more days and then they are already 6 weeks. In the meantime, they make the whole house their playground and they know where to find Cytaugh when they feel like a sip of milk. They are doing well, the largest is still the largest and the smallest the smallest. There is more than a kilo difference between the two, but not in their brains! The two smallest females, Caira and Chasslynn, are the two smart ones and the most enterprising. Charlaigne and Caoimhe are a bit calmer and the males, Calum and Crumbaugh are real males; occasionally playing the boss but mostly lazy.
After the meals of steak tartare and puppy milk, they now mostly rely on meat and they like it the best. Very soon they will have their first day-old chicks, sprats and little chicken necks. Line training has started and the car is no longer strange to them. Next Monday they will be chipped and on Tuesday they will receive their first vaccination.
Cranston absolutely loves them and loves to be with them all the time. In his way he is very gentle with them but now and then a puppy flies through the air! Fortunately, they are still made of ‘rubber’ and can withstand a lot. Especially Caira is his favorite and she really lies down to be chapped! Brandir and Cearrean think they are still a bit too small, although Cearrean is very interested, but he thinks it is a bit much, 6 puppies.
Yes, Cearrean, a chapter on its own. After a period when things went reasonably well, things are going in the wrong direction again. You can clearly see that he has a lot of headaches and he takes it out on his housemates. Two and a half weeks ago I had an MRI scan of his head after Judith Adriaansens, the naturopath which is treating him, said there was ‘a’ process going on in his head. She was right! There appears to be a cyst between his large and small brains. This presses on the cerebellum and causes pain. It is also known that the cerebellum is not only responsible for motor skills but also for emotion, aggression, empathy and so on. So Cearrean’s behavior is very explainable, but also almost no longer tenable in recent weeks. He can very unexpectedly attack one of his housemates and especially Brandir does not accept this anymore. Cearrean’s behavior causes a lot of stress and tension and we had hoped that the medication he is now on would change this. Unfortunately this is very disappointing.
And when this was the only problem, but he also has problems with his right knee and his back very regularly. The pain relief that he receives is not sufficient for all these things and it especially occurs in the evening. Everything that comes within a radius of 4 meters is grunted. Really not fun. We still have to look at it, his behavior is very variable at the moment, but all in all I see it gloomy for him.
And Cranston, he is a very beautiful puppy but … his lower jaw remains too short. After having his lower puppycanines removed at a very young age in the hope that these would not hinder the growth of the lower jaw, I unfortunately had to decide to have the lower canines shortened. This happened 2 weeks ago.
All in all, not such a good time. Fortunately the puppies make us laugh regularly and we enjoy them a lot.
It is now Tuesday December 29th. The storm last weekend was not conducive to housetraining! How they hate that dirty weather! And annoying that they are! It was also a short night. After they went to sleep with a full belly at 11:30, I only at 12:30, the first one woke up again at 1:30! Then it took until after three o’clock before they decided to go back to sleep. But at 7 am the alarm went off again because my car had to go to the garage (Simon was allowed to do that). After the puppies had eaten and had a mini nap, it started again. They really went out of their way to drive me crazy and squeaked, screamed and screeched the loudest. Even after they ate a pound of meat and had dessert at Cytaugh! And while I was trying to sort things out, they immediately reorganized it into a mess! If someone had said that puppies are FUN at the time, I would have strangled that person!
Yesterday the chipper came and they all have their number and their DNA has been taken. This all went very well.
This afternoon they will receive their first vaccination and will therefore have to make a longer drive than they are used to so far. The times they were in the car it went well, but those were only a few laps around our roundabout.
And then they have to be pricked for the liver shunt test next week. I don’t expect there to be a liver shunt, but you never know!
Until now they are growing well. They prefer to eat pure meat without puppy milk and still like to drink at Cytaugh. Cytaugh is not so happy with it anymore because those teeth are quite sharp. So drinking with mom will soon be over!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Two pleasant weekends
After the holidays and the hustle and bustle around Cytaugh, we had the national coursing of WRV ‘t Haasje on September 19. On Friday afternoon, Cearrean was finally able to run the first course for his coursinglisence thanks to Henriëtte’s Saluki Geer. This went fine. On Saturday morning he ran the second course together with the Sloughi Gabr van Els and Frie and this also went well. So Cearrean can get to work. It was a very nice weekend, a little too hot at times and quite cold in the evenings but we survived and now know how to set up camp next time at this place in high temperatures and lots of sunshine.
After we packed our things again on Sunday, we first went to pick up 3 new chickens in Langerak. Now we have 7 chickens and 1 rooster again, they fit exactly on the perch in their ‘enclosure’. Let’s hope that some more eggs are produced.
Also when I got home I checked whether the bees were still hanging in the tree. Somewhere since April / May we have a ‘wild beehive’ hanging in the oak. Now we even saw honeycombs. I just hope the nest doesn’t come down because that could become a problem with curious Deerhounds!
The following weekend we had our CC2000 funcoursing in Coevorden. Just under 30 dogs wree entered and ran various parts of the 900 meter long parcours. Sonja had also come to give the girls a nice workout again. The organizing team, which now also includes Edith and Willem Jorritsma, thus stood with 4 units within one fence and this created a high “Nienoord” feeling. The “Nienoord” feeling was also reinforced by the presence of Nelli with her young Sloughi Tiffa and Alfred and Gineke with their Salukis and a Galgo. Within the fence, all hounds were mixed together nicely; 6 Deerhounds, 6 Whippets and 1 Galgo. Lovely !!! Especially for Cranston this was fantastic, he learned a lot but above all had a lot of fun. The weather was great and it was again a great weekend.
Hopefully we can experience a few more fun events before Cytaugh enters the whelping box. But I will only know in a week and a half whether that will actually happen. We keep our fingers crossed!
And many thanks to Sonja Koning for those beautifull pictures!!!
Posted in 2020, Lure coursing | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
And that was our holiday.
While we were busy on Sunday August 25 to pack the caravan and the car for a 25-day trip, one of the young Faverolles chickens turned out to have major problems laying her first egg. This came out with cloaca and all. I removed the egg and tried to fix it but unfortunately to no avail so Simon could take her to the vet on Monday morning, before we left, to put her to sleep. Very sad, it was such a nice chicken. This was a bad start to the holiday and the weather forecast was also not so good for the first days.
In the meantime I had further packed up the caravan and filled the two freezers, which were at the back of the car, with about 40 kilos of meat for the hounds. Not enough for 25 days, but we would supplement it at Sonja if we would descend towards Tüttleben.
After Simon returned from the vet, we hung the caravan behind the car and we could leave. But when we get through the gate, we have to uncouple the caravan and take the next corner with the mover. Unfortunately the reels didn’t respond to the remote so we couldn’t turn the corner. First replace the batteries, this to no avail. Bought new batteries and tried, this did not help either. Then we asked the neighbour to help push and yes, with united forces the caravan got around the corner and we could finally continue our way towards camping “De Paardenbloem” in Deurningen.
We would stay here for two nights. We decided to only put the awning on but when Simon put some tension on it, an attachment eye broke off. We were convinced that there should be something like this in the caravan but unfortunately…. so Simon had to go because without this eye we could not set up the awning.
We were now close to Lemele where Callaghan lives, so that was a great opportunity to hand over the pedigree and let the two brothers play together again. Well they did!
On Wednesday we left for Camping-Paradies “Grüner Jäger” in Everinghausen, just past Bremen. The name of the campsite suggests something and indeed there was a large meadow with a fair number of fallow deer. In the meantime it was pouring out of the air and I tried to let the hounds out in between the showers, but Cranston and Cearrean could not be
lieve their eyes and were no longer able to do another step. Too interesting all those deer!
The next day the journey went by ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby to Maribo in Denmark. This was a beautiful spacious campsite where you could walk extremely well with the hounds and where we could finally enjoy the sun.
But not for long, because after we had done some shopping in Maribo on Friday morning, we continued towards Vordingborg, where Simon would give a seminar on “building a good coursing parcourse”. This would take up all of Saturday and Sunday. It was organized by Frank Plith in collaboration with the Danish running and coursing committee and it took place with Bille and Freddy who provided a nice large field of several hectares.
Fortunately we were able to build up our things in a nice sheltered spot because it was very windy. In the night from Friday to Saturday it started to rain and thunder terribly at one point, really huge showers passed over us and I did not sleep a wink because I know that Brandir is / was terribly afraid of thunderstorms. He has been on Chinese herbs (Geria) for a few months because he started to show symptoms of dementia, and I had already noticed that he was much better. Only now it turned out how good! He just slept through !! No anxiety or panic, he just stayed calm on his bed. Unbelievable!
The seminar was a great success. About 15 people participated and were very enthusiastic, they later said that they had learned a lot and now understand why a good parcourse is so important. Several parcourses were also explained and laid out, then commented on and discussed why it didn’t work. All in all very educational and it should happen in all countries because what you usually see in courses… ..!
Monday morning we broke up our things again and left for Flyvesandet. A campsite in the north of the island of Fun, where we have been regularly since 2001. Just before we got to the campsite, a herd of fallow deer crossed the road. Cearrean just hung his head out of the window and would have popped out if he had been a little smaller. That was promising because once Cearrean knows that there is game running, he can no longer run free. 
After arrival we first walked around the campsite to find a nice place where we could drop off a large part so that Cearrean and Cranston had enough space to play. Halfway through the “quest” a large hare jumped up. Well that could get exciting! Fortunately, he didn’t show himself that often anymore for the rest of the week and he also stayed a bit away from our camp, so sensible!
If the moon phase is good, and therefore not a full moon like this week, you can walk for miles here. There is then about 5 centimetres of water on a mirror-smooth seabed. Ideal to let the hounds race. But unfortunately the water did not drop more than about a foot now and that is a bit too high for Cranston. The first time Simon walked into the 
water and the hounds followed him, Cranston followed, but soon almost went under. After this he preferred to stay on the shore, wet feet could then just but he did not go further into the sea. But he still had a lot of fun and enjoyed it to the fullest.
For Cearrean we brought the throwing stick and a tennis ball, he was completely fed up and couldn’t get enough! In any case, he is not afraid of water!
But unfortunately …. Cytaugh had decided to come into season on the Monday we arrived in Flyvesandet and since she was supposed to be mated, the plans had to be overhauled. This meant; not going to Sonja the following week to then go to Tüttleben where Simon would provide a coursing training, but leave for home on Saturday.
In the meantime we had already heard that Tüttleben would probably not continue due to too few registrations. Should it still go ahead, Simon could always go there with his tent and take care of the training.
With an overnight stay in Everinghausen, we came home on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the heart examination that was planned for Wednesday, September 16, could be brought forward for a week so that it was still done in time. To make ‘sure’ that Cytaugh would be on about the same schedule as two years ago, I made an appointment on Tuesday, the ninth day of her season, to have a progesterone test. Fortunately, this was still very low, as hoped, and the heart examination the day after, also had a very positive result.
I also consulted with two cardiologists regarding breeding with Cytaugh because Chidish, her brother, passed away last year after a coursing. He had mild DCM. But both believe that if the heart is so good at the age of 5.5 that you should not pass up the opportunity. It is very difficult to find lines without a hereditary condition and if there is a problem on one side and this problem has not yet manifested itself in the other line, you could risk it. Hopefully it will work out well too!
The chosen male is Beardswood Uther. A still young male with a nice spring of rib, strong bone and a fantastic character. The I.C. is 1.85 over 7 and 5.74 over 10 generations. If you look at the pedigree, there are many beautiful hounds behind the lines of which I have known several. Also quite a lot made it into double digits or near to it. We expect a lot from this combination!
The bad thing is that I couldn’t go to England for a natural mating and that is why fresh, chilled semen came to the Netherlands. We hope it all goes as expected and that we can welcome a few beautiful, healthy puppies in mid-November.
Posted in 2020, Abroad, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
7 Weeks young
Last Friday, Callaghan and Cranston were 7 weeks young. How fast that time goes!
The week before they were already chipped, DNA was taken and the day after they were inoculated. This all went very smoothly and without a single beep. Driving was also fine. We had of course built this up slowly and done it more often, but not even a 20-minute ride. Fortunately no problem.
They grow well, they are more or less the same as the tables I still have from my previous litters. They mainly eat one-day-old chicks, sprats and all kinds of ground meat with vegetables, elderberries and seaweed. Meanwhile, Callaghan is almost as big as Cranston and last week the weight difference was only 450 grams. Callaghan weighed 5.65 kilo’s and Cranston 6.10. They are certainly not fat, it could be a little more but they seem to get enough because they would like to eat more. And it is actually better that they do not grow too fast, let them take it easy.
Their favourite place in the house is the large basket where Brandir usually lies. He always looks very upset when the puppies have taken his bed again. Poor grandpa Brandir!
They are 99.99% house trained. It is very rare that there is still a pee in the house. And because we consistently clean up their feces directly behind their asses, they haven’t become shit-eaters either.
We have already had exciting moments with them. Two weeks ago, Callaghan was very interested in looking at something right in front of him. When I went to look it turned out to be four oak processionary caterpillars! I was startled and snatched Callaghan from the bed. Fortunately, it turned out that he hadn’t sniffed it because he showed no strange behaviour after it that could indicate that. I did immediately wash the cover of the bed and searched the area for caterpillars. Later that afternoon we found two more caterpillars on the grass. Dead scary! But yes, there are about twenty oaks with us, many of which are very large and therefore with inaccessible caterpillar nests. It cannot be prevented.
Vision starts to play with them a bit, but would rather leave that to Cearrean. However, she regularly lies cosy with her sons on a bed and you can see that Callaghan and Cranston really enjoy themselves here. The men are allowed to drink a little with her every now and then, but I think it is minimal what comes out because they are done with it soon.
Both puppies are already beginning to wear their ears well, the fold is in it and occasionally they can already fold forward. They are also high set. Cranston will most likely have very dark eyes, Callaghan, on the other hand, will get his mother’s eye colour; quite light. This was quickly seen as he had very light blue eyes while Cranston’s eyes were several shades darker. Even now the difference is clear.
Walking on leash is also no problem. They have already been to the shopping center, the dog run-off forest (where we unfortunately did not encounter any strange dogs) and to the horses that are in our neighbourhood. To get here we have to pass a bunch of terrible barking dogs and this was of course terrifying. They also didn’t really like the horses yet. So it was a stressful walk, but once at home the tent made sure that everything was quickly forgotten.
Tomorrow Cranston will undergo a little surgery. He has a slight upper bite and his lower teeth prick his palate. These are therefore removed so that the lower jaw has free rein to grow. I am confident that it will come all right.
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
29 days young
Yesterday the puppies were 4 weeks young, how fast it goes! It is also very easy, 2 puppies. A week and a half ago they suddenly dipped into Vision’s food bowl, delicious… Rinti, tripe, milk and sheep fat! Since then, they regularly get 
some puppy milk with steak tartare from a bowl, but also regularly eat small balls of tartare. This is fun to do, they sit next to each other and take turns to get a ball. When they have enough, Callaghan usually before Cranston, they get up and start playing.
They are now almost house-trained. Callaghan is smart, he quickly realized how to get out of the whelpingbox and that you have to pee outside. He also does not mind wet grass and wind. Cranston, on the other hand, is a bit easier and sometimes pees in the whelping box. He also does not like cold and wind! And that despite its bacon layer.
Cearrean, the big half-brother, absolutely loves them! He can hardly wait to play with them but so far he is extremely careful and barely touches them. He keeps a close eye on them and shows himself as an extremely good babysitter.
And even though Cearrean is challenged by Cranston, he won’t be tempted! However, he was challenged by grandpa Brandir and the little ones find that very interesting.
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Brandir and Bernice, 8 years young.
Yesterday Brandir and Bernice turned 8 years old and despite Brandir’s Cystinuria and mild Cardiomyopathy, he is still doing wonderfully! Every day he plays with Cearrean and is still in charge of him. He does not miss a walk and still fully enjoys life. Bernice is also still very fit and active.
Up to 9 years, must succeed.
Today the puppies are 10 days young and Callaghan has tripled his birth weight + 51 grams, he weighed 1086 grams this morning. Conaughey has been taking it a bit easier in recent days and now weighs 1390 grams. He can no longer be picked up with one hand. The colour difference is becoming increasingly clear, I wonder what this will be. Vision was very light as a puppy so maybe Callaghan will be like that, I don’t know. I have not yet had this colour in one of my litters.
In the meantime they occasionally show a bit of playing behaviour, the eyes almost open and the standing is also getting better, but they are too thick to walk, top heavy, they roll over immediately.
Vision takes good care of them, they shine that it is a sweet treat and only once a day a fat bed goes into the wash. Something different as back then with 11 puppies, the washing machine kept running!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Nimloth Bernice, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Despite everything, enjoy a little
The last days it was very nice to enjoy the sun again. After all that rain and cold wind, the hounds loved to lie on their stretchers in the sun. Cearrean preferred to keep scratching around, you sleep at night, not during the day!
Just like everyone, for us there is nothing to do. Everything has been canceled, the crowded agenda is suddenly completely empty. Now we hope that Vision is pregnant, then I have at least enough to do. We’ll know more in 15 days!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Cearrean Argyll, one year young
Today, Cearrean became 1 year old. Last year, right after his birth, when you picked him up, he crawled into your sleeve now he has to lash my trousers every evening. He no longer fits in a sleeve with his 46 kilos, but his nose still fits in a trouser leg! He has become a bit firmer and I have to say that he is gradually starting to look better. His knee is still a problem, he is still thickened and painful after playing and running. But yes, keeping him calm is really not an option, I have never had such an energy bomb!
He plays a lot with his mother, the harder the better. Grandpa Brandir is still in control of him, but Brandir is increasingly struggling to ‘lay him down’, Cytaugh still succeeds. After all, Cearrean needs to know who’s in charge!
Furthermore, Cearrean is very strong minded. If he doesn’t want something, it doesn’t happen. The only way to bribe him is with cookies, but if he knows what you’re up to, and he doesn’t like it, you can forget that too. He is extremely smart, learns quickly, sees everything and is very good at manipulating. He prefers to spend the whole day outdoors, scrape around, dig a little bit, gnaw twigs and especially watch. Watching birds flying over, the squirrels in the trees, the workmen at the neighbours or the chickens (also nice to scare). He is never bored!
Cearrean is one who needs a lot of time, certainly another year or 4, for the time being he is still ‘puppy’!
Posted in O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
3 months young
Cearrean received his Rabies vaccination today. Now he is completely done with vet visits. Not that he found it annoying, quite the contrary! It made him very happy every time he saw the vet coming. Also on the scales and on the table is really cool because what a delicious cookie they have there! Tomorrow he will be 13 weeks young and now weighs 19 kilos, he is very sturdy, is still growing evenly in height and is nice and straight on his feet. In terms of character, he is already softer, barks less and he knows in the meantime that he is not allowed to bite my hands, which hardly ever happens.
Cytaugh and Brandir can have fun playing with him. Brandir is 
usually the first to play outside with Cearrean after the morning meal and roams around a bit. Then he wants to go back in and Cytaugh goes out to play with Cearrean. This is going very well, she is doing very carefully and challenges him to follow her when she gets a racing convulsion. Of course he cannot keep up with this and then shorten the route. Fortunately, Cytaugh looks carefully where she is walking and when they meet, she jumps over him. It is beautiful to see but I still hold my heart every time. But yes, Cearrean has to learn it all, also to avoid mother Cytaugh.
Chidish also starts to play a little more with Cearrean, but he has to determine the rules; if Cearrean is too cheeky, he will be strictly corrected!
In the evening he wants to be cozy on the boss’s lap. There must be played with a toy because he no longer hugs.
Cearrean now eats everything; of course the normal jerk of ground meat with vegetables and supplements and also whole sprats, pieces of chicken carcass, chicken necks, whole day-old chicks and everything that the pot scrapes. He is definitely not a difficult eater!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Cearrean has a new girlfriend!
In the meantime, Cearrean has had coursing training. The cat toy, a mouse on a rod, is ideal for this. Cearrean finds it a fantastic game and shows itself to be a fanatic. Let’s hope he continues to like it.
Last week Sonja was here with Bernice, Vision and Lita. Lita is an old Galgo lady who has been living with Sonja since the end of July. She is from Spain where she lived as a breeding bitch and the last weeks of her life there were not exactly fun. It is unbelievable how such an animal adapts to everything in a short time, it is as if she is not used to it otherwise.
Cearrean had only seen a Golden Retriever the week before and he found it a very weird animal, even now he had to get used to this appearance, but it went well very quickly.
Since Lita had so many puppies, Cearrean soon knew that he could do more with her than with the others. Lita’s long tail was THE play object of course, but she also clearly indicated if it hurt her or if she didn’t want to play him. When Sonja left for the camper with the three of them in the evening, Cearrean was squeaking at the door, but when Lita came back in the morning, the first thing Cearrean did was; hang on Lita’s tail. At the end of the week, Cearrean managed to lie comfortably with her in her bed in front of the wood stove, a friend for life.
Bernice and Vision weren’t very happy with that little thing and Bernice even sought the support of her brother!
On Thursday we tried to take some good photos of Cearrean. Well, forget it! He didn’t want to stand still for a second and would have jumped off the table if I wasn’t quick enough to grab him. What a wild thing! Even the bucket of tasty things could not tempt him. But Sonja succeeded in taking one reasonable picture.
It’s unbelievable as soon as all the time goes! Tomorrow Cearrean is 8 weeks old and he weighs almost 10 kilos. He develops very well, grows nicely evenly, is tidy, listens well to his name, walks nicely on lead, finds driving in the car no problem, is practically not afraid of anything and if you correct him you get a big mouth back! Driving him around in the Doggy Ride is not a success, he screams all together, that is something for small dogs, not for Deerhounds. He also absolutely does not accept being locked up anymore. So the whelping box with the fence around it is already gone. A real Deerhound with a head on it! We will have some problems with that.
Meanwhile, Chidish has also started to like him and occasionally plays with him. But I have to keep a close eye on that because it is going too hard and certainly when Cytaugh is also going to participate. Brandir turns out to be a babysitter, he regularly tours the grounds with his grandson. Also during the walks Cearrean usually walks with Brandir although it is also very nice to hang on the lines of Cytaugh and Chidish so that we no longer get ahead.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Cearrean, a real smart ass!
Today, Cearrean is five weeks young and has been eating from a little bowl for a few days. First milk with ground meat but in the meantime usually only different types of ground meat and pieces of fish and occasionally a little yogurt.
He has also been ‘toilet-trained’ for a few days. As soon as he wakes up or when he has been playing for a while, he walks to the door and does his needs nicely outside. At night he usually only wakes up once, he squeaks a few times and as soon as I let him out of the whelping box he runs to the door to quickly pee outside. In the meantime he knows exactly how to find the doors and he is so clever that when he has gone out one door he comes in through another, he just walks around the house! He also slowly pushes his limits, he walks further and further away. We have already done a round of terrain a few times with all of them and he thinks that is wonderful, he then walks without hesitation beside his mother, Chidish or Brandir.
Cytaugh and Brandir play a little with him now and then, they find it difficult and I have to keep an eye on it because it is going too hard. But Cearrean can take a beating, he is strong enough! He also tries to climb on everything to the displeasure of Chidish and Brandir. But if they growl, Cearrean is gone right away. In the meantime, he knows that he should approach those men calmly.
Cearrean still regularly falls out of bed. Whether it is the whelping box or the basket next to the stove, he rolls out his bed asleep at least once every two days.
He is quite independent and does not shy away from anything. When the ground was frozen, he thought it was strange for a while, but after a few seconds he just walked over it, just as with the snow. He soon went through with his nose, but he did not last very long, it was very cold anyway!
Brandir, Chidish and Cytaugh naturally loved it and enjoyed the snow.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Four weeks young
On Sunday evening I noticed a hard milk gland at Cytaugh. It was not painful or very red but Cearrean refused to drink from that nipple. So on Monday to the vet and putted Cytaugh on pup friendly antibiotics. Now, Thursday the inflammation is gone, everything feels soft again and Cearrean also drinks from this nipple again.
In the meantime, Brandir and Cearrean become increasingly bigger friends and it is wonderful to see how gently Brandir plays with that little one. Cytaugh has now also begun to rear, she regularly corrects him when he bites too hard in her tail or ears. We also have to take action because the teeth are razor sharp. Fortunately Cearrean responds well to the corrections, he is really not stupid.
We have been able to borrow a ‘Doggy Ride’ from a friend because staying alone at home will be a problem in the short term. The day before yesterday we arranged it with blankets and a Vetbed and tried it out. Cearrean thought it was fine, he was going to play with the duck and redesign the lot. Brandir and Cytaugh found it very exciting and kept a close eye on it. Very convenient that you can go from two sides!
Cearrean has also been outside for the first time. When he came with his feet in the grass he did a pee! At least he had no problems with it and Cytaugh also liked it and even started to challenge him, but Cearrean did not notice that, grass and all those leaves were quite exciting. It is a pity that there is such a cold wind or he could be more outside.
Yesterday Cearrean was 4 weeks young and weighed 4460 grams. In the meantime he is whelpingbox-trained, which means that he also wakes me up at night with a lot of squeaking because he has to pee. This he does nicely on a towel and then he runs through the house and I behind him with a piece of kitchen roll, and he seeks a place to defecate. He does this very regularly and unfortunately several times a day. I found it quite easy once in two days! But of course this is better and healthier. He prefers to eat with his mother, but we limit that a little bit, there are quite a lot of things that he can not digest yet. The steak tartar he find the least tasty, ground tripe and muscle meat is much better!
Meanwhile, he also occasionally wears a collar because he also has to get used to this.
How adorable he looks, he can be rowdy. His toys regularly have to pay for it, he shakes them all to death. This goes with such a strength that Cearrean rolls over so that he gets more angry on the toy and he shakes it even harder.
Cearrean is not bored at all, toys enough! And he knows how to find this basket flawlessly and then to drag a toy to the whelping box. And after a game of romp it is good to rest on a warm spot with mom Cytaugh.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
The brave walker
Yesterday we moved the whelping box to the living room and put down a piece of tent carpet (fine-meshed rubber carpet) so that Cearrean has good grip. For fun I had put the duck down as a step, but in no time Cearrean really used it to get in and out of the whelping box! But because the duck rolled away every time, Simon has arranged a more stable step today.
Cearrean likes to walk around and increases his area every day. He does not shrink from anything and is now the thickest buddies with Brandir. Chidish occasionally sniffs sneaky at him, but as soon as Cearrean reacts Chidish is gone. Still a few weeks to wait, then he also likes Cearrean.
The ‘demolition’ has already started. First the crab cactus had to pay for it and then a piece of kitchen roll. I think there will soon be a fence around the plants otherwise nothing will be left!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Deerhound Jahresausstellung and Pinkstercoursing to Tüttleben.
On May 19, Jl. The German Deerhound Jahresausstellung was held to Tüttleben. Since Simon has been providing the coursings in Tüttleben for years, this club has become our ' Home association '. For us so extra nice that the jacket was held here. As usual, the show was opened with the inmarch of the 80 reported Deerhounds. Our judge was Uli Prober, an Irish Wolfhounds breeder, born in Germany, who now lives in Ireland. 
Uli approved a very strict, something I did. Of the 80 reported Deerhounds there were 3 absent, 1 withdrawn (our Brandir there he limped), 33 got a U, 21 a ZG, 4 a G, the veterans were placed without qualification and the youngest were on one after a lot of promising. It was remarkable that the males were rated much lower than the bitches. Chidish and Brandir stood with 7 other males in the Championship class but we pulled Brandir back because he didn't run well. Only the first three got a U, also Chidish who became third. 
Cytaugh stood in the Use dog class (5 reported, 1 absent) and won this. Vision stood in the open classroom and unfortunately got a ZG.
Best Male and BOB was Kilbourne Kaine to Oelmühle of Jürgen Rösner and best bitch Garamante or Bestmara of M. K from France. A bunch of beautiful hounds. 
The day after was the Pinkstercoursing. There were 25 Deerhounds reported and 24 present. Vision was classified in the sixth course, but did not know. Cytaugh walked in Course 9 with Islay's Hollyhock but it was injured halfway. After the first circulation, Cytaugh was on a shared seventh place with 172 points. In The Second Circuit she walked with Islay's Hyra. Hyra got 175 points and Cytaugh 184. With this, Cytaugh finally cam
e in fifth place. And at the awards ceremony, which is always a feast in Tüttleben, it appeared that Cytaugh had won the prize for beauty and performance!!! What was I proud of her! After a year with a lot of fear and care for her foot, it turns out that all this effort was not for nothing. For the eighth time I took the "of the Scottish Highlands" Wanderpreis for the best Gebruikshound home and the since last year, for the Deerhound with the highest points number for Schönheit und Leistung, made available Quodlibet Drambui Trophy. 
Posted in 2018, Abroad, Lure coursing, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
A few days Hermannsburg
At the beginning of March I was with the hounds again a few days with Sonja in Hermannsburg. The weather was variable and not as beautiful as previous years, but that didn't stop us from pulling out with the hounds. I've been able to make some nice pictures again.
(Just click on the picture to enlarge, they are also sharp)
Vision found that Cytaugh treated her too rough and put her in her place.
What was then taken over by Chidish.
Brandir kept a close eye on everything.
Even posing… But Bernice didn't see that and stepped out every time.
But… The Maintainer WINS!!!
Challenge and be attacked, they don't get enough of it!
It was again a few wonderful days!!
Posted in 2018, Abroad | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Bernice, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
European Coursing Championship
A week's holiday for the EKC.
On Wednesday the 21st of June we left for Strotzbüsch, a small village in the Eifel, where we would stand for a week at a campsite before we would travel to the EKC in Lotzwil. After a four hour drive we arrived at the top of a small, narrow, steep road. On the site of the campsite we had already read that for very long combinations it was very difficult to come down and up, given the two hairpin bends. As we have already experienced something, we went into the adventure, or the abyss. The hairpin curves were only just to take, we didn't have to be 10 centimeters wider or longer but arrived downstairs
it turned out that the bike rack had damaged the car something. We decided to take the rack with the bike and the gate of the caravan on the way back. The camp site was located in a stretched valley along a flowing stream, the Ueβbach. We chose a spot at the end of the campsite which seemed very quiet at first, but when the owners of the tipi who stood next to us came back, they turned out to have two small children who did not want to go to bed especially in the evening and then spent hours To Blèren in full. Fortunately they left on Saturday and returned the rest,…. Although. Friday afternoon there was a large group of friends with a dog and many children perched in the middle of the terrain and especially the children had a lot of fun. Until late in the evening they ran around the campsite with a lot of screams. Fortunately, Sunday morning they broke the tent camp again and around noon the weather was wonderfully quiet. Walking was a top sport, a mountain, a mountain, something we are not used to. There are a lot of hiking trails in this area and also very well signposted but there are also many paths in between, so you do not have to walk necessarily 35 kilometers. Certainly with Cytaugh's
foot, which has undergone a fierce operation after her toe has been shot out of the bowl in mid-April, we still have to be a little cautious.
Also at this campsite we had the space to play with Chidish or to throw with his werpbal, he really can't do without his balls, that must be every day! And a round of cycling around the campsi
te he also found beautiful, much further could not, there the path was too steep!
On a regular basis Dolf ' The Camping Wolf ' came to the neighbourhoods. A treasure of a dog that suffers a life like a louse on a very head. All day stroll, a little playing with the kids and other guests, a little paw bathing in the water and regularly a walk with the boss, what more do you want as a dog? 
On Tuesday the 27th of June we took our mess again and left for Freiburg where many other EKC visitors would spend the night at the racecourse, before we would travel further to Lotzwil. A quiet night was not there, around Tienen we saw it again in the distance and at midnight it finally arrived with us. With some huge popping and an incredible hoosbui thundered the thunderstorm over us. We again experienced the distress during the EKC to Pouch in a slightly smaller but just as fierce a degree.
The next day we were again early on the way to Lotzwil. Get there, find a spot, unpack it and set it up and run a nice piece with the Hounds = Coursingterreinen view. The weather was very difficult. The ' Red ' field was life-threatening, the ' yellow ' field was full of stones and holes and was far too small + bordered by corn and corn fields and the ' Blue ' field was oersaai. After several judges and other managers looked at the ' Red ' field, Simon, together with the team that turned here, made the field safer. And that it has worked turned out, because there are no deaths, even just a few minimal injuries. The opening on Thursday evening was boring and cold. Little party mood and halfway the majority of participants walked away. It gets less every year, apparently it's only about the title and no More fun.
There were 16 Deerhound bitches reported of which 14 are present. All 11 males were there including three that are absolutely untrustable in the reception or, very aggressive. We had agreed beforehand that if Chidish were to be classified with one of these etters, he would not walk. What was I happy when it appeared that he had been classified in the first circulation with the German male Islay's Kurt Cobain. Chidish and Kurt Cobain had the very first course with the males on the ' red ' field. 
Chidish took the lead clearly and two thirds of the course was leading. As he shot past the second pass, he continued to walk down the hill and later came up behind the hare. Because of this he was a second later with the Hare Dan Kurt
Cobain. But he had walked a very good course. Unfortunately, when leaving the field that Kurt Cobain had been injured, he did not appear in the second circulation. When we saw the points of the first circulation we were a little surprised. Kurt had received more points from two judges than Chidish, for which… no idea. After the first turn, Chidish was in ninth place, but we were already pleased that he had come unscathed of the field!
Also in the second turn, Chidish was classified with a reliable male so that we could go to the start without stress. Chidish took the lead again and ran a good course. The third course in this circulation, was for the two highly placed; The German Islay's Little John and the Swiss Nelungaloo untouchable. The latter was at the top with 447 points. We had already noticed that this dog was constantly kept aside and yes, at the reception he dived on his partner without any excuse. This should have been a fatty disqualification according to the new FCI regulations but so far no jury member has been involved. He did get fewer points and landed in tenth place. Chidish was finally allowed to take sixth place on stage.
Islay's Jock appeared t
o have ended in fifth place and when it was already growling the podium, he had the sweetest right Chidish attacked. What an aggression radiated this male! Chidish shot completely in the stress and wanted to finish the stage as quickly as possible, I had my hands full to hold him in place. He finds the courses beautifully and he does it full of surrender but on stage next to one bonk tension, that does not need for him anymore and I think that I no longer harming him.
Sunday, Simon had to judging half a day and we enjoyed the greyhounds. Monday we packed up our mess again and we drove home in one go. On to next year, we have to organize a field at the European Championships in Denmark. Hopefully that will be a more sociable European Championship!
Posted in 2017, Abroad, Lure coursing | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Wide Show in Crewe (UK)
England, watch out, here we come again!
On Friday morning, March 31, Sonja and I had to ask the feathers. Simon had already left, he went on a coursing in Sweden judging and so Sonja Silva and Bernice had left home and had only come to Vision. After having left the hounds and leaving the remaining luggage in the camper, Brandir, Chidish, Cytaugh and Vision could go there and we left for Calais. We arrived neatly on time and after the Pet Control we were able to drive almost the same train on. Arrived in England, it was still a good drive to Crewe, north-west of Birmingham, where the Deerhound wide Show was held. 
Of course we had weather files and thus arrived quite late in the beautiful old hotel. After having checked in, the hounds have taken care of and brought my stuff to my room, it was time for dinner. As always, many familiar faces but we also missed a few, such as Gill and Toby, the breeders of Brandir.
Saturday morning at nine o'clock started the inspections, judge was Mr. J.G. Phinizy. Chidish was in Open Dog but of the 12 reported males only 7 were present. To our great pleasure, Chidish was placed second! Not bad for such a young guy. Best male was Kilbourne Tyne, a daughter of Nimloth Brooke, sister of Brandir.
Vision was in Junior bitch with 8 others bitches including her sister Vita of Mary Girling. Mr. Phinizy was apparently impressed by Vision's 's work and placed her first! Second was Vita.
Cytaugh was in a huge Open bitch where of the 16 females, only one was absent. The beautiful Foxcliffe Classic Liberty Freedom at Beardswood by Sarah helps won convincingly and Cytaugh was not placed.
Vision had to come back for Best Bitch what she obviously didn't win but she was definitely not the worst. Best bitch was the Foxcliffe bitch of Sarah.
Sunday we had a busy day. The judge was Mrs. Eve Hamilton. I had reported Chidish and Cytaugh in the Special coursing/Lure chasing Dog or Bitch and Sonja would show Cytaugh. Of the 11 reported hounds there were 1.JPG "Chidish, first with the Pentlands coursing Trophy. Photo by Jan Scheer")
0 present. Above my expectation, Chidish won this strong class and became Cytaugh fourth!!! Chidish got the Pentlands coursing Trophy, which his father, Brandir, had also won in 2014!
Right after this class, Chidish and Cytaugh had to be in the Brace or torque class. For this there were 13 reported but I have no idea how many were there, at least 5 because Chidish and Cytaugh were fourth.
The last class for which we had reported hounds was the Special Not Bred By Exhibitor. Of the 22 reported hounds, 14 were present, including Chidish and Vision. Chidish was second behind Rubeus Hagrid to Kilbourne and Vision became fifth! Not bad!
When we picked up Vision in England last year, they were still three. Now they were all three present and of course a series of pictures had to be made. Vision, which was then much smaller than her sister, doesn't look like it anymore.
Then some more pictures taken in the ' Kasteeltuin'. He shot Marjan the board. Marjan still thanks!
After a few more meals we travelled south. We had agreed with Gill and Toby that we would come along with them before we would travel back again. Due to Toby's illness, they could not be present at the wide Show which was experienced for many as a tremendous loss. We had to do the greetings from many acquaintances. We had a very pleasant evening and after the next morning to have had breakfast we left again towards Folkestone. Coming here we were just 10 minutes late for our train but because of the huge chaos because of a malfunction we have to wait for at least 3 hours before we leave. We were well fed up and took us to go to England this year!
Posted in 2017, Abroad, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
October
On Thursday 29 September I left with Brandir, Chidish and Cytaugh to Tüttleben. I had C & C signed up for the show and had promised Sonja to come and help build tents and fit on the hounds as they and Angelika had to ' work '. It was a very nice weekend because the Italians were kept Jahresausstellung and therefore everything was dressed up
extra. Sandra and Lucien were also there with some Italians but were not BOB this time. The only registered Deerhounds were mine and Sonja. Chidish and Cytaugh got their first CAC, Cytaugh became BOB and Vision was at the end of the day Jüngsten BIS!
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On Friday 14 October was the international show in Dortmund. Since Dagmar K.C.-Pordham approved, I had registered. There were 10 Deerhounds reported and one youth was absent. She found Chidish quite nice during the wide Show in April JL. Even now she liked him and made him BOB. Unfortunately, Cytaugh got 2h behind something that should never have been won. Vision first stood in the Jugendklas and won this convincingly and also became Jugend BOB.
Saturday we had a rest day. Delicious! A little walking, lazing and taking pictures of Vision, more we have not done.
Sunday end of the morning we had to be back in the halls for the Bundessieger. Björn Fritz was the judge this time and we were curious what he would do. Fourteen Deerhounds were reported there and the same childhood was absent again. Chidish was again BOB with the Bundessieger title and Cytaugh now got 1h. Vision once again received the JCAC and the title Bundes Jugendsieger. It was a very successful weekend!
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The weekend after that was the international coursing on RONO Beach but unfortunately Cytaugh and Chidish couldn't get involved because of their thick toes. Very sorry. Also Sonja had come with the intention to let Vision run a bit but also this kneusde her toe while playing and thus could not run. Bernice did enjoy and walked the stars of heaven! I heard from Sebastiaan Vink that in Roosendaal she treats Visdonk thick toes with laser in the animal clinic. So I had to go back to that. After having come home on Monday I called for that laser and we were able to go on Tuesday. After examination, all three were lasered and the next morning you saw all the results! After this, several times the toes were lasered and eventually they were almost as thin as they should be. So it works really well!
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The last weekend of October we were again with CC2000 in low ants. A nice number of people and Hounds had signed up and it was again wonderful to enjoy blissful weather and a huge long trail. Very strange and spectacular was the sheer amount of ladybugs. Really millions flew around and when you stood still there were dozens of you. Also in the cars and caravans swarmed of these animals and many people have taken ladybugs out of their car for days!
This was the last time Gert-Jan and Jacqueline attended a CC2000 event, we now continue with Maarten and Monique Cameron. In the spring We hope to organise a nice coursing for our group of lovers.
Posted in 2016, Abroad, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed