Category Archives: Geen categorie

On Sunday the 23th of April the working flatcoated retriever club held her annual speciality working test Scandinavian style for flatcoated retrievers only. More than 100 flatcoated retrievers gathered in Utrecht at Pavilion de Forelvijver for a sporty gundog day. Luckily the weather forecast did keep its promise and most of the day we enjoyedContinue reading “Lots of Talent at the WFRG Talentenjacht”

Yesterday was probably the wettest Saturday of the year raining from early morning till nighttime. Strong winds caught us too and I had planned to participate in a working test in Lochem organized by the Golden Retriever Club Nederland. I was the first time Flatastic Red Strength “Lotte” was out in a competition on herContinue reading “Lotte going solo”

A week ago I drove to the east of the Netherlands to participate in a working test A with Rumi. The working test was designed by Henk Slijkhuis and the difficulty level was high and contained a lot of obedience and steadyness with walk-ups and distractions. It was hard work for us as Rumi isContinue reading “Spring competing”

Up until now Kaspar had not had a chance to be alone when hunting. It is a bit of a disadvantage having to stand in the shadow of another dog but at the same time they can learn by watching. It is called observational learning and especially puppies and young dogs learn by watching. ButContinue reading “Out in the cold with the Italian ❄️”

On Saturday the 4th of March 2023 the flatcoated retriever club held a working test that I had entered with Lotte. Unfortunately she is full in heat so I decided to go to the international Martini dogshow in Groningen instead. Klaas the owner of Flatastic Silver Will “Bruce” had asked me to bring out hisContinue reading “Competition season 2023 has begun”

Today I received these pretty certificates from the Dutch kennel club Raad van Beheer. For the first time they have made a breed ranking and I am surprised that we ended this high in the ranking. However our main focus is working with our dogs I still try to maintain the dual purpose by havingContinue reading “Wow (winner of winners) competition Dutch kennel club”

Last autumn Philip asked me if I wanted to join him forming a team for the WFRG/GRV team competition in Oostvoorne. Later I joked with him that he might have bought a “cat in sack” as Rumi can be a bit unpredictable in competitions when in her hormonal stage. But nevertheless we had a teamContinue reading “Team “Flabulous 3” WFRG team competition 28th of Jan 2023”

Within the gundog world Flatcoated Retrievers are known as very good hunting dogs solving tasks quickly, independently and with major bird finding abilities. They tend to be less popular as gundog competition dogs compared to other retrievers. One of the reasons for that may be that handlers find them easily distracted (mentally) and a bitContinue reading “To be or not to be… your true nature”

As mentioned in our previous message, the Flatastic Challenge was up for judging this week and the winners were: 1st price – best execution of the challenge: Lieuwe Bosma & Flatastic Platinum Alignment “Gurbe” Most creative challenge Evelien Hendriksen & Flatastic Orange Pleasure “Kai” Best Talent Josine Woudsma & Beguarded in a conshell Flat ourContinue reading “Winners of the Flatastic New Year Challenge 2023”

Unfortunately I missed out on one of the big hunting days in December due to a terrible flu. Kindly I was offered a rain check and off me and the girls went on a mild January morning. Lotte has shown a really nice presence when hunting this season and I decided to introduce her toContinue reading “New year challenges”