Held in conjunction with the City of Birmingham Championship Show at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry, The Spanish Water Dog Club Open Show took place on Sunday 1st September 2019. Sponsored by Royal Canin, a total of 45 dogs made up the 50 entries within the main show. Additional classes were also held for Junior Handling, whereby the entrants were judged not on the dog, but on the capabilites of the handler in presenting the dog in the ring.
The open show also incorporated three extra Special Award Classes. These classes are specifically put on by the club, with the permission of the Kennel Club, in an endeavour to assist prospective judges to progress up the Judges List. It allows judges, newly qualified or seeking additional experience, the opportunity to examine and judge the Spanish Water Dog breed by gaining a captive audience of owners of the breed who are present at the show.
Best in Show was won by the Best Bitch and winner of the Post Graduate Bitch class, Sierrasalva's Regalo
Reserve Best in Show and best dog was won by Sh Ch Casper De Agua Salada
Best Puppy in show was taken by the Puppy Bitch winner Oh You Are Magic vom Hause Kristo of Goldfly (Imp)
Best Vetran in Show was awarded to Valentismo's Olli Dante from the Vetran Dog Class
Scroll down for details of the results from all the classes and the show photo gallery.
Held in conjunction with the City of Birmingham Championship Show at Stoneleigh Park near Coventry, The Spanish Water Dog Club Open Show took place on Sunday 1st September 2019. Sponsored by Royal Canin, a total of 45 dogs made up the 50 entries within the main show. Additional classes were also held for Junior Handling, whereby the entrants were judged not on the dog, but on the capabilites of the handler in presenting the dog in the ring.
The open show also incorporated three extra Special Award Classes. These classes are specifically put on by the club, with the permission of the Kennel Club, in an endeavour to assist prospective judges to progress up the Judges List. It allows judges, newly qualified or seeking additional experience, the opportunity to examine and judge the Spanish Water Dog breed by gaining a captive audience of owners of the breed who are present at the show.
Best in Show was won by the Best Bitch and winner of the Post Graduate Bitch class, Sierrasalva's Regalo
Reserve Best in Show and best dog was won by Sh Ch Casper De Agua Salada
Best Puppy in show was taken by the Puppy Bitch winner Oh You Are Magic vom Hause Kristo of Goldfly (Imp)
Best Vetran in Show was awarded to Valentismo's Olli Dante from the Vetran Dog Class
Scroll down for details of the results from all the classes and the show photo gallery.
Water Training Reports
We look forward to sharing our reports from our water training events for 2022 here very soon.
For more information about our events, please visit the below link:
https://www.spanishwaterdogclub.co.uk/events
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Please find below previous water training reports from Swim4Paws in 2019 & 2020.
25th & 26 July 2020
In 2020 we made the decision to hold another Swimming Diving Event in order to fundraise for the test research to stamp out glaucoma in our breed. The event was to be held at SWIM 4 PAWS near Sheffield, which is a custom-made unique pool for training dogs in water sports and rescue skills.
Covid-19 restrictions had delayed the planned initiative, but on the 25th and 26th July 2020 we were able to go ahead. The facility was perfect for socially distanced training, so we set about planning a weekend of water fun.
This was to be our first SWDC get together since March! So, wetsuits out of the attic, doggy towels and training harnesses packed, tests laminated, we were ready!
What a fabulous weekend it was and packed with SWD ‘firsts’ for many handlers attending Water Rescue Training for the first time. Your dogs were a credit to you.
Thanks to Nigel Haslam and wife Alison owners of SWIM 4 PAWS for allowing us to use this amazing unique facility to show off our dog’s ‘natural’ aptitude and see them blossom in water.
My personal thanks go to Gill Frost, Ainsley Procter, Kate Wilden and Gill Jackson for squeezing in those wetsuits and taking turns at assisting me in the pool. Thanks to Kate Hodgkinson-Rutherford for the loaned Kayak and enthusiasm in promoting the Event.
The sessions were split into organised time slots and each family was allocated a changing space for the duration of the weekend. The event was sold out in days with many new dogs and handlers wanting to try their paws in the water, along with the seasoned water enthusiasts.
As the day progressed the smiles on the faces of the handlers was a joy to see experiencing and witnessing when they experienced the inherited working abilities of their dogs.
So now with new enthusiasts more dogs have gained their SWDC Natural Aptitude Breed Specific Water Test’s.
Congratulations! Level Awards achieved were:
• Jayne with Cassie – Bronze and Silver
• Caroline with Jacsen - Bronze
• Sherree with Rubi - Bronze
• Jenny with Ziggy - Bronze
• Kate with Pickle and Toro - Bronze and Silver
• Ainsley with Opie and Raffa - Silver
Huge thanks from the water enthusiasts and the SWDC to Alison and Nigel Haslam at SWIM4PAWS for providing this amazing facility.
19th & 20th Sept 2020
A huge well done to those who attended the SWDC Event at Swim4Paws at the end of September - lots of new enthusiasts! There was some fantastic work from the dogs and the handlers, nailing dives and retrieves.
There are plans for 4 Events to look forward to at Swim4Paws for 2021 – dates will be published very soon
For those who want to practise and take Bronze and Silver Tests, these will shortly be available to take via video submission and details will be announced in the new year on the procedure, via the SWDC website.
We have just been informed of another facility in Norwich which may be suitable for practice www.doggypaddlenorwich.co.uk which one of our enthusiasts will be checking out and reporting back very soon.
As well as a fun weekend, learning new skills and celebrating our dogs’ achievements, we must also thank you all for your generous donations to our cause to find the gene responsible for predisposition to Glaucoma in SWD. You can donate via the link below
https://uk.gofundme.com/f/glaucoma-dna-testing-in-spanish-water-dogs
Achievements were won by the following dogs with their handlers:
• Theresa with Mayo - Bronze
• Pippa with Maisy - Bronze
• Clare with Rosa - Bronze
• Sue with Flissi - Silver
• Jane & Mike with Salvo and Riley – Bronze and Silver
• Kate with BooBoo – Silver
• Tracey with Mena – Bronze and Silver
• Lee with Merlin – Bronze and Silver
• Jenny with Tia (BLIND DOG) – certificate of Water Confidence
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2019 was a quiet year for water training, as the regular followers had got to a stage where the lake we were using, could not support the diving skills required for the Gold Test. When I was made aware of a fantastic new facility, indoors, chlorine free water, a huge pool even with a 3 -meter rib, for our use, I was in heaven!
I called Nigel and Alison Haslan and found out they are experienced handlers of Leo’s (Leonbergers) and Newfies (Newfoundlands) and were keen to see what our dogs could do. After a very successful meeting I took our crew for a dip resulting in them saying they were keen to host a day of primarily Diving session for SWD.
The Going4Gold Weekend was arranged and as expected was a great help with specific training for diving. A few dedicated Gold seekers camped over and despite the horrible weather outside we had the amazing SWIM4PAWS to ourselves.
Our dogs made great progress, thank you to Nigel and Alison who were great facilitators.
What we learnt from that trial day was our original tests were not achievable in this indoor pool – so we decided to adapt them to fit the new location so people could train and still take the tests indoors at SWIM4PAWS. The advantages are endless building confidence in a controlled environment, clean water, flow jets if required to strengthen muscle tone and learn to swim through resistance, fully equipped for dog and humans.