Central & Southern German Shorthaired Pointer Meet the Breed Day

  On Sunday May 29th 2016 the Central and Southern GSP Society held their 2nd Meet the Breed Day at Chieveley Village Hall in Berkshire. After last years successful event we were again delighted with the high level of sponsorship from dog related companies. Without their support the event would not have been possible., especially for the Fun Dog Show which held 16 novelty classes , judged by Sue Pitman. Sue did a fabulous job making time for dogs, handlers and especially the young handlers. There was also a ‘Special GSP’ Class for the GSP who oozed the most character which was judged by Louise Furniss (representing the GSP Rescue Service Stand with some fabulous GSP related merchandise on offer as well as advice on rehoming a Rescue GSP. ) Some fabulous GSP related prizes were on offer for these. All classes 1st to 5th took home a rosette and goody bag. We were delighted to see so many local people come along and enjoy the day with their dogs. Interesting too to see many GSP folk who have not been around the show circuit for a while, particularly Gabrielle and Michael Scanlon. Michael had the ring in stitches when he entered himself in the ‘Junior Handler over 12 class’ winning it of course, though he was beaten in the run off by a rather adept 7 year old. This year the sun did us proud and was high in the sky for most of the day There was a great turnout with over 150 people and their dogs, mainly GSPs and Gundogs but many other breeds too. Again there was the highly popular scurry run so well by Jo Izard and her team of helpers. Karen Whitehouse did another great job encouraging handlers and dogs on the ‘Have a Go Agility’, assisted by Liz Stedman. We were lucky enough to have Pete Cole from Lichfield Dog Training at this years event, who brought his Flyball equipment for all to try out. This was well received by a range of dogs from a Mini Schnauzer to a Rough Collie. Steve Pudney stepped in for Bradley Dymond with an interesting gundog demonstration. The raffle and tombola were very well supported and the whole event a resounding success raising around £745 to be shared between Rescue and the Society It was so nice to see a large number of Pet owners who literally had come along to ‘Meet the Breed’ and learn more about the GSP’s versatility, both those who already own the breed and people just considering if a GSP was the right dog for them. The Committee were certainly kept busy but we could not have managed so well without Nicole Coe, Gill Roden, Kia and Gill Goff, Roddy Hughes , Laura Angus, Matt and Daisy Hunt who volunteered their services on the day. Above all the day rang with fun and laughter around the events ring as people chatted, reminisced and most important of all enjoyed their dogs. ( I am pretty sure that the dogs had a pretty good time too!)