Kennel presentation
(from the Scandinavian Sighthound Journal, the 2009 issue:)
On a transatlantic flight in the late eighties I had my sighthound apparition - a beautiful fullpage colorstudy of a gold and blackmasked afghan! As soon as circumstances allowed, I got my first dog; the wondrous afghan Adji, from a very small nearby kennel in Skåne, South Sweden. There were many interesting adventures, as I was determined to have my hound off leash at most times, and he took great advantage of my inexperience. After about a year and a half we´d both had enough, and he moved in with my parents. Finetuning required, I studied up on Bo Bengtsson´s wonderful sighthound breeds presentation "Vinthundar", Ica Förlag. It seemed the Scottish Deerhound would be the perfect kind of hound for me being a great Scotlandlover. A stress antidote as a couchpotatoe indoors, and full action outdoors, the minimal coatcare a dream come true after having had the cotton fibredcoated afghan, and a few years of waiting ensued.
In Sweden the average number of deerhound puppies registered per year normally is around 20-25, however Norway is also easily accessible for import (no specific requirements, such as the rabies titer and 120 days of waiting thereafter for dogs from the other countries surrounding us. Rules are easing severely January 2012, which I feel is both good and bad..). By a great stroke of luck I got my first two puppies from deerhounds at the Norwegian kennel Magic Hunter´s, owned by Mrs Brit Sörum. She had fabulous success with her two imported deerhounds from the American Jaraluv kennel; Jaraluv Instrumental was the sire to my first ever deerhound, and his littersister Jaraluv Indelible was multiple BIS and "Bamse"-winner - best all breed showdog total in a given year in Norway. My bitch SUCH Magic Hunter´s Diana Ross was a delightful companion who grew increasingly beautiful with age, she had her showpeak at age 8 - 10, including several best veteran wins at the Swedish and Norwegian deerhoundspecialties, and a BIS-veteran reserve at Malmoe International in 2007, beating 27 veteran best of breed dogs of all sizes :)! Deira was also second best deerhound veteran at the World Dog Show in Stockholm 2008, a month shy of her 11th birthday.
The average number of participating hounds at a Swedish or Norwegian deerhound specialty would be less than 50, as compared to the 130+ competing at Crufts this year, or the 200+ at the SDCA Specialty in StLouis 2009. I early realized the importance of looking beyond Scandinavia for new potential breeding stock, and I had the pleasure of visiting my first ever SDCA Specialty in Hillsborough, Oregon, in 1999. And what a thrill that was! The Lehigh kennel was there, and the Jaraluv, the Sindar and so on, all wellknown kennels previously used by foreseeing Scandinavian deerhoundbreeders. But what stuck in my mind as the most unique thing about that specialty was, that I had no idea who any of the famous kennel people were, so without a showcatalogue I had the advantage of looking only at the hounds, no preconceptions to blur my opinion ;)! I then of course looked up the individuals I had really liked, and came away with an outstanding favorite Utkinton Oban, who’s brother Oluf won winner’s dog at that event. I later paid a kennel visit to Tom and Tanya Smythe, kennel Utkinton, and today my foundation bitch Kyleakin Caracara at Just So – “Lupa”, is a granddaughter to Utkinton Oban, via Utkinton Fitzhugh Talon (a cooperated breeding between the Utkinton kennel and DVM Margaret Sudekum’s Fitzhugh) and Kyleakin Linnet (breeder DVM Betty Stephenson).
A similar first happened in 2004 at the Deerhound Club Specialty in Scotland, and like in Oregon I came away with a favorite, this time from Carol Andrews and Wattie Milne, kennel Leoch, Scotland. From them I’ve been extremely lucky to pick out Leoch Fada, born in December 2005, and JWW-08 Leoch Gordon, born in June 2007. My junior world winner has Ardkinglas Walace as paternal grandfather, and Rosslyn Lebrel is his father. He is the best tempered dog I’ve ever met, and has sired a litter of 11 beautiful likeminded puppies here (ex Kyleakin Caracara at Just So) in September 2008.
Dogbreeding to me stands on four equally important legs:
Health, function, exterior and mental traits.
When asked, DVM Betty Stephenson kindly summed up: “Compared to many giant breed dogs, the Scottish Deerhound is fairly healthy. In other breeds (across the board canine population) the incidence of cancer is 50% in dogs over ten, though in deerhounds, if you discount osteosarcoma, which occurs in up to 25% of them, other cancers are fairly rare. Maybe because the average life expectancy is nine… Still, there are quite a few Deerhounds who make it to 11 or 12, and the occasional 13year old. Bloat (gastric dilatation/volvulus, or GDV) occurs more often than in the general population, and cardiomyopathy is probably one of our most common causes of death. These three diseases are our Big Three and the target of most of our breed specific research. Other diseases fairly common in the breed include Addison’s Disease, cystine urolithiasis (bladder stones) and chronic pneumonias. Orthopedic problems like hip dysplasia are fairly rare.” I’m very interested in how genetic testing of breeding stock will allow you to use carriers in a discriminating way. In my breeding programme I look forward to the future when perhaps several more tests, such as that for Factor 7, is developed and widely used.
When it comes to function I believe in trying to provide my deerhounds with a daily opportunity to run off leash in the woods. I realize we no longer hunt deer with our hounds, so I find it a tad tricky to fulfill their original calling, without creating outrage in our society of today. However, off leash time is top priority, and I allow puppies to play profusely and come along on hikes from a very early age. As in many successful businesses, recruitment is the beginning and end of everything, and I find it very important to try to find new families for my puppies who will provide the same type of exercise opportunities as I do for their hounds. Happy hounds make me a happy person, and I believe hikes in various environments, good food, great company are all essential ingredients in achieving that result for hounds and humans alike.
The breed standard clearly states the correct exterior for a deerhound, and in Sweden we are so fortunate as to have written critiques when we show our dogs at any kind of dog show. Thus it’s always worth one’s while showing for a knowledgeable judge, even if one ends up last! I like and dislike dogshows.. I find it troublesome to deal with the competitiveness, but like to win ;).. and love the fact that I’ve made so many dogrelated friends across the world I haven’t even brought my golfbag the past 5 trips I’ve made to Scotland!! I do believe not too many new Deerhounders have appeared at ringside during the 15 or so years that I’ve been there watching, so I think we need to take better care of our newcomers and perhaps not keep our wonderful breed such a secret, a secret you only come across by a great stroke of luck..
Miss Nora Hartley aged 83 in this wonderful photo where she has a veteran escape artist sneaking out to come visit Margaret Sudekum, the photographer!