dog breeds

There are hundreds of thousands of dogs in Ireland, yet only approx 1500 of these attend at any individual dog show affiliated by the IKC. In the year 2010/11 there were over 29,000 dogs registered with The Irish Kennel Club which included over 5,000 litters. Let's guestimate that 1000 of these litters were from show kennels, that's 4000 litters registered by people not involved in the show dog scene. So the question might be what are show dog people and the governing bodies doing in relation to assisting and educating all the other dog owning / loving people out there ? Now some show dogs have it and others just don't - It's true that some dogs really come alive when in the show ring, and it looks like this is their true vocation, but time spent in the actual show ring for most dogs accounts for approx 5 minutes out of the whole dog show day. The rest can be spent crated in the back of a van, car or trailer for periods from 10 minutes to 10 hours, not to mention th…

Ok we're back......I hope some of you noticed that we hadn't been what you'd call very active on the run up to and through the Christmas Holiday. TBH it was a most welcome break, and a time where we could reflect on the year just passed, and plan for the year ahead. I've decided on a personal theme for myself this year, which can be summed up in one word - Happiness - My thinking is that if you try and make yourself happy then everything else in life must be good, or should eventually fall into place. Happiness comes in all shapes and forms but mid last year we posted a blog stating that happiness is Canis Lupus or Dog to you and me I'm sure everybody reading this blog right now or maybe years in the future, will have experienced the happiness that a dog can bring into your life. But let's flip that card, and look at it from a dogs perspective. What really makes your dog happy ? Is your dog happy sitting with you on the sofa after a good long walk and balan…

Weather forecast not good for Dogs in Ireland It well and truly looks like the country is preparing to brace itself on two counts. Firstly it looks like the weather has taken a turn with temperatures heading due south,and secondly December 5th is rapidly approaching, the day we all find out just how much poorer we will all be next year when details of the Budget are released. Something tells me that Michael Noonan, won't be getting as many Christmas cards this year as he is used to. Noonan being the countries Minister for finance (for the meantime anyhow) is given the task of looking after the countries finances. The rest of us get to look after whatever little we have left after Mr Noonan decides on what we should pay in relation to keeping the government jet and ministerial cars fueled, as well as funding the health service etc, etc. You could say that we are all Ministers of Finance. Isn't it a pity then that some people in Irish society when getting a p…

This is the message that ALL reputable breeders send out at this time of the year. I got thinking recently about another phrase we hear from time to time, "Do as I say not as I do" Can some Show Kennels be accused of this...What do we do if the promising pup we kept back from a litter gets a fright in the Show Ring, and decides it doesn't like this showing lark or just isn't making the grade ? What happens when we discover the breed that we start out in is just too competitive, or "Sewn up" so we look around for a rare breed, or one with less numbers in...what happens to the dogs we have from our first breed ? OK we can always say there are always people out there looking for a mature dog, no puppy training to do, with all the hard work done, but these are the minority. I'm sure we all know of people in our respective breeds that move on an older dog / champion - the only reason being to make way for the new kid on the block. Maybe after 30 years the messa…