Author:FlatcoatChris

At a recent committee meeting it was agreed that we would like to take over and protect affixes that are of historic interest to the Northern England Flatcoated Retriever Association.

Should you be considering giving up your affix at the Kennel Club and would like NEFRA to consider protecting it please contact the Hon Secretary in the first instance so that it may be considered by the committee.

We are delighted to be in the process of taking over Jenny and Hugh Donnelly’s ‘Eskmill’ affix and would like to thank them most sincerely for allowing NEFRA to protect it from re-use in the future.

The Kennel Club have today made available on their website a population analysis for each of the Kennel Club registered breeds.

Click the following link to view breed reports from the KC website and a number of other resources:

www.thekennelclub.org.uk/vets-researchers/publications-statistics-and-health-results/breed-population-analyses/

These reports comprise an analysis of pedigree information held by the Kennel Club over the period 1980-2014 for each breed to determine the rate of loss of genetic diversity within each breed. The reports aim to be a useful resource in the management of the genetic diversity of breeds in order to maintain a good balance between inbreeding and genetic selection.

The NEFRA autumn working test was held on September 19th at Stapleton in Shropshire with the very kind permission of Mr & Mrs K Fox on the very pleasant surroundings of Upper Shadymoor Farm where the committee and competitors were made most welcome.

The judges were Mrs Kate Smith, Mrs Jennie Menage and Mr Warren Jones.

Many thanks to all who helped to ensure the day ran smoothly.

The award winners were as follows:

Puppy (4 entries)

1st Eskwinds Ebony Jay, handled by Peter Griffin
2nd Gowran Isolde, handled by Vivienne Gatter

Novice (16 entries)

1st & Judges’ Choice Donascimento Santos, handled by Keith Aldred
2nd Norfolkflyer Rosie’s Thorn of Wolfwhistle, handled by Andrew Sweeney
3rd Tallistar Midnight Skye, handled by Christine Spalding
4th Eskwinds Drake, handled by Gill Griffin
COM Ollerset Rainbow, handled by Garry Ellison
COM Ollerset Shining Nymph, handled by Julie Matthews

Novice

Open (10 entries)

1st & Judges’ Choice Venetian Red at Maddistream, handled by Gill Awty
2nd Maddistream Indigo Jack at Casblaidd, handled by Caroline Hewison
3rd Ollerset Sparkling Nymph, handled by Garry Ellison
4th Pepsmark Jet Stream at Casblaidd, handled by Chris Hewison

Open

Yesterday saw another working retriever assessment day held in Delph near Oldham where 12 dogs were put through their paces on testing ground (and water) under the scrutiny of our assessors Gill Griffin and Chris Hewison.

Three of the handlers present were able to gain another pass on the tests set for their dogs bringing them one step closer to passing the certificate.

We would like to thank the landowner, Jean Buckley, the assessors and those who helped on the day.

Further details of this assessment scheme can be found here

NEFRA again attended the Inter Area Team Challenge, which was hosted by the Flatcoated Retriever Society on August 22nd near Loughborough.

We were lucky to be able to send two teams this year and one of our teams came out on top and won the competition. We have come very close on several occasions previously, but this is the first time that a team from NEFRA has won. Well done!

Our puppy Castlerock First Angel, handled by Dr Lewis Holton was Best Puppy and also had the highest overall score. Gill Awty ran her open dog Venetian Red at Maddistream, Garry Ellison ran his novice dog Ollerset Rainbow and Caroline Hewison ran her novice dog Venus in Transit over Casblaidd who won the Best Novice trophy. A great day and well done to all involved.

NEFRA members had a good day yesterday at a lovely venue near Garstang, doing the novice and intermediate working retriever assessments.
Congratulations to Garry Ellison and Ollerset Rainbow who were awarded their 3rd stage and novice WRA. There were 5 other passes in the novice level, and also 4 passes in the intermediate level.
Thank you to our wonderful hosts Kim & Tony, our judges Den Orme and Chris Hewison, and all our lovely helpers

Thank you to everyone who came along to the ever-popular NEFRA training day at Hesketh Bank today. We hope  you all had a good day!

A big thank you to our trainers Pat Robertson, Steve Burns, Derek Miller, Den Orme and Garry Ellison.

Thank you to everyone who helped out, and especially Val Orme for doing all the catering.

Well done to the flatcoat team of Rachel Holt with Croftcloses Lucrative Boy, Stephanie Hurstfield with Stac Polly and Julie Matthews with Ollerset Shining Nymph who won the Minor Breeds test on May 2nd 2015 against the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers, Curlycoated Retrievers, the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers and the Irish Water Spaniels.

Well done team