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17th April 2010 we attended the Dalmatian Club of Scotland Championship Show where much to our amazement both Bailey and Phinias qualified for Crufts 2011! - yes we are delighted. We did not know what to expect as we had never met the judge before (Miss Mary Gatheral), and to be honest had not expected a lot from Bailey as she had a bout of Dally Rash on her head from something she is allergic to, though what we have no idea.

Phinias was a delight and paw perfect, he stood still for the judge to check his teeth, and to feel his body to ensure all was right with him, however Steve on his "triangle" run missed the top corner, lol, Phinias ran lightly on his lead, stayed on the mat, and stood still when he was meant to. Phinias got a third, but a third was good enough to qualify for Crufts 2011.

Bailey, as above, had a little Dally Rash on her head as such we were not going to show her, however decided that a Dalmatian judge would know Dally Rash and would not hold that against her, and the experience would be good for her, however she ran well on a loose lead, stayed on the mat - Steve did not miss the corner this time for his "triangle". Bailey was a delight, remembering what she had learnt, bless her. She got placed second in Post Graduate. Steve had not realised he had Qualified for Crufts 2011 until I told him, lol.

Just for fun and experience for Phinias we entered the National Dog Show at Stafford (06.05.2010): Phinias despite not liking running on damp, uneven, grass got a 3rd in Minor Puppy Dog, & Bailey who will run on anything got a 5th in Graduate Bitch - well done to them both.

We have recently decided to semi retire Bailey, even though she still does very well at shows, and has beaten at one time or another nearly all the Dals who are shown in the North East we feel that she has not enjoyed herself as much as she used to, partly because of the summer heat, which she does not like. What we have decided is take each show on its own merit, if there is only one Dalmatian class then we will only enter Phinias, if there is more than one Dalmatian class we will think about entering Bailey as well. If there is a champ show the same weekend as a local show we will do the local show, supporting local shows is a way of protecting the Dalmatian classes.

During June there were no local shows as such both dogs have had the month off, spending their early mornings and weekends playing in the park, getting filthy and stinking of "damp dog" where they insist on playing in Jarrow Lake (it is where the River Dom ends just before it flows in to the Tyne and the North Sea). There evenings have been spent in one of the many other parks locally where dogs are encouraged to run and play, as they should

                                                                      

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                                         Bailey aged 2 years & Phinias aged 6 months

 

 

     

                    Bailey, doing what Dalmatians do best...... 

 South Shields on a warm but overcast autumn Sunday morning, a great place for walking Dalmatians

This must be Baileys and Phinias's favourite beaches as they have several miles of sand over three or four beaches to play on and a good couple of miles of grass area to play, an area where responsible dog owners who clean up after their pets are ecouraged: you will find the dogs and myself on the beach most mornings from 5am (dogs are banned 8am-6pm May to September so early is better).

While we have a Jarrow post code we live on the borders of South Shields, Jarrow and West Boldon. Ask anyone locally where we live and they will say South Shields as we are the wrong side of the A19 to be Jarrow. The plus side of living so close to the A19 is that we are only 10 minutes drive from Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland, Washington, North Shields town centre and South Shields town centre, plus an hour and a half from Manchester, Leeds or the borders of Scotland .