The weekend of the 30th of Sept 23 we drove to Sauerland to spend some days training under guidance of Willem van Loenen & Trudy den Boesterd.

Willem is known for his all round gundog work with his golden retrievers – he is competing on international level and has previously won the Dutch Championships. His lovely wife Trudy is also an experienced handler competing on national top level in the Netherlands with her golden retriever.

What I love about this couple – apart from their jolly company – is how they live and train from positive training principles with respect and love for the dogs.

We arrived Friday at noon and after a short check in we went off to the fields. Wim tested the combinations on focus, steadyness and basic retrieves. It was clear that many of our flatcoats needed more focus on their handlers and their tasks and Wim started explaining how handlers can create focus and attention.

After the training we enjoyed dinner and German beer at hotel Klaukenhof.

The next morning I was surprised at breakfast with a birthday celebration – I absolutely enjoyed it and the delicious cake created an energetic start of the day.

The morning training was time for “the young dogs” to train focus and cleanliness in the retrieves. We had 5 dogs from our Aura litter in the group: Lotte Kaspar Jason Shelby & Spyke. Halfsister Ragne & Ylva of two years old did a great job following the slightly older Flatastics. All the technical challenges like marking in a different terrain and running uphill – dealing with sound moving in echo was a non issue – but walking at tight heel and keeping focus in double retrieves was a bigger challenge. As always the core is at the handlers address and we were put to opt our game. Thank you for that Willem & Trudy!

Saturday afternoon was time for the experienced dogs to enjoy the space for long marks and hilly lining. What a great place to extend distances..

Saturday morning we took some time to get in action – my birthday party with bbq and German beer was enough to make us a bit rusty in the morning. But no mercy – we took the training up a nudge – tracking with cold game – double retrieves and distractions for the young dogs.

What a weekend it was – we ended the fantastic time together with a lunch in the field – receiving feedback and summing up from Wim and Trudy. We were all so pleased with all the insights and new inspiration – and above all we enjoyed our time together.

For me this weekend was not only special because of my birthday- more so because it was so pleasurable to see how the littermates of my dogs have developed and how much pleasure we have with the dogs together.

Thank you all for being a part of this adventure.

Today my “Italian” boy Flatastic Black Peace “Kaspar” optained his MAP B diploma with 461 points. MAP B is a competition of 6 stations each with double retrieves of simulated hunting situations with cold game. I am very proud of our accomplishment – only 6 out of 30 dogs received a diploma today. He is such a pleasure to work with so I enjoyed the day with him a lot.

Kaspar has been out hunting a couple of times this week – doing a great job. So proud of this lovely chap.

It is with great joy that we may announce that the Flatcoated Retriever Club FRC has approved our breeding plan for this winter. So here he is our “Mr Right” for Lotte:

Arved von der Wichmannsburg

DOB 5.10.2017

HD A ED free Patella free

ECVO free 2021

Gonio 2021 free

ECVO 2022 free (except distichiasis & cat. punctata – 2 points)

Exterior: Excellent

Work: JAS BLP JEPs VPS+F Prfg.m.leb.Ente (JEP)

Link to Cajus’s registration at DRC:

https://drc.de/adr/listen/show_druede.php?what=Hunde&rvid=143665&race=Flat-Coated%20Retriever

Cajus is a German bred stud – his owner is his breeder and I had the privilege of meeting them long before I even was thinking of a partner for Lotte. This was 2 years ago during a training weekend in Denmark. I liked his calm nature and tweeky look in his eyes. When working Cajus showed a lot of drive and cleverness – a dog who can handle a challenge and he has plenty of will to please. He is of a different exterior type than Lotte and from his previous litters we know that he passes on bone and muscles. His calm temperament is to be traced back from his father – a Swedish bred stud who has produced many really good dual flatcoats in his time of breeding.

His mother Rosa and his father Hasse are both +11 years now and still going strong – retrieving and enjoying their senior days.

Cajus works very well in all kinds of terrein – water is evenly easy for him and I have had the pleasure of spending 2 weekends training with him and his owner in Denmark the past two years.

Cajus is primarily a working gun dog now – but his working certificates are impressive too.

Cajus has a breeding certificate within the German retriever club “Spezielle Jagliche Leistungszucht”. He has never attended shows but he has a Formwerth which is a thorough anatomic assessment for breeding performed by selected judges within the DRC.

We are looking forward to this combination with him and Lotte (Flatastic Red Strength). We are expecting liver and black colored puppies with plenty of drive and passion – both parents and almost all ancestors are working gun dogs. Lotte’s mother Rumi is currently performing on the highest level of national gundog competitions in the Netherlands (SJP A – WT A – WT open qualified) and she has excellent show results too. Lotte herself is currently on B+ level (see Lotte’s own page on our website) for all her accomplishments in work & show.

This litter is of special interest for hunters and handlers who enjoy working with their dogs in gundog competitions and/or other (nose oriented) sports meanwhile enjoying a stabile and social family dog with attractive looks.

Both parents are very social and friendly dogs with lots of energy but also a well functioning “off-button”. This litter may be less suited for inexperienced handlers and/or first time dog owners as we expect intelligent and passionate puppies who need mental stimulation throughout their lives. Our kennel provides guidance to puppy owners on upbringing & training, especially the first year – we are just a phone call away.

We expect owners to health test & provide safe homes with welfare oriented upbringing and force free training.

We expect Lotte to come in heat somewhere around the beginning of October. If everything goes according to the plan the puppies will be ready to leave their mother & siblings mid February.

Pedigree of puppies B litter:

Parents:

Arved von der Wichmannsburg

Flatastic Red Strength

Grand parents:

Spader Damens Amenlis

Meadowline Aboda

Flow of Spirits Silver Skipper

Brösel vom Timeloberg

Great grand parents:

Ewoke’s Final Fireworks

Spader Damens Hilarious Hazelhen

Duckfinder’s Baileys

Pearly Coat Earwen Romanssi

Dark Devotion Oban’s Obsession

Aspe vom Timeloberg

Dustin Flat-XP

Khila-Flynn Umbra Fida

This litter is bred under regulations of DRC & FRC – both national breed club ander FCI

Coi of this litter is 0,78 % of 5 generations & 4,80 % of 10 generations.

This year we chose to have an early summer holiday in June as the new Danish flatcoated club SFR held a weekend of training on the isle of Fyn with great trainers in a lovely terrain at Faurskov. It is such a nice initiative because you get to meet many flatcoats and their owners throughout the weekend spending time socializing and training. The Netherlands was represented by me and Yvonne from Tricksywood’s kennel and also some German handlers joined.

During the weekend training camp we met with many old friends and lovely people from last year. It was great to see how the dogs had developed in their training and especially Rumi received compliments for her attitude. Last year we trained with a very friendly and strong working dog from Germany and enjoyed time with his handler so meeting each other again in training was a positive reunion. Another pleasant surprise – this lovely guy had passed my attention while looking through pedigrees of working flatcoated retrievers without knowing that I already knew him. I remembered him because of his calm nature and his self confidence and earthy presence. It is rather rare to find these traits in a dog who also works passionately.

After the weekend I was really in need of a holiday and my dummy bag went into the bottom of the car – giving me and the dogs 3 weeks just to be. No plans and no tasks to complete. Just enjoying holidays. Here are some pictures – they speak for themselves how a flatcoated retriever colors your holidays:

Once we arrived home it was with a memory of many re-visiting dog friends and places. Even the camping where I stayed 3 1/2 years ago awaiting the right moment with Rumi to mate with Brösel in the middle of covid lockdown. I did shed some tears because it felt like closing a book..

Hopefully a new chapter in a new book will start writing itself. So as I am vacuuming the last dog hair out of the caravan – my mind is daydreaming of what is to come this Autumn. There are many big plans awaiting – and the first plan is to have a debut with Rumi in the Map A. Rumi would not be Rumi if she did not manage to play tricks with my plans. Two days after arrival home she came in heat – meaning our whole working season of competitions will take place during a hormonal roller coaster. Never a dull moment with a flattie.

At 3:45 AM on a Friday morning an annoying alarm clock reminded me of the fact that “the early bird gets the worm”. An invitation to join a hunter in his field means being at the location around sunrise. This not an activity for lazy bedstayers.

He who gets up early gets to experience the breathtaking beauty of dawn and awakening of all life in Nature. Nothing else can make a human land more in the body and serve with with peace of mind than nature does. The sounds of birds and insects. Wind in the grass and water whispering at you.

Today the point of interest is barnacle geese. This bird stays in NL during winter and heads back to Russia and/or other similar cold areas to mate and raise their chicks.

As they are not mating yet this time is the last chance to obtain some fat rich biological and sustainable meat from an animal that has had a high quality of life.

Many people ask me how I can stand being a part of killing an animal. I often try to explain that I have more difficulty seeing our regular meat and diary production where animals have less freedom and/or some times limited well being. If we could eat less “regular” meat and more game from nature it would make a huge welfare difference and we humans would still have sense of respect and awe for the animals we eat as obtaining a goose’s meat for consumption is a long process that takes effort. When I do the effort – I value the meat even more and I feel less comfortable disposing even the tiny bits. So when I prepare a goose for consumption, all but the intestines, head and feathers are used.

Apart from my fascination of what beautiful nutrition Mother Nature provides us with – I must not forget to mention that it brings me great joy to watch a good hunting dog work from his instincts and skills.

I cannot think of anything prettier than a flatcoated retriever build for his function galopping towards a retrieve with his tail out and nose upward. It can give me goosebumps of awe every time.

Gurbe is a full brother of Lotte & Kaspar from our first litter Aura. He is a bit stronger build than Kaspar but still very compact, fast and turnable. He has a lovely coat – a very charming presence and he is incredibly driven with huge hunting cleverness. I remember when his owner visited us before they were born and he explained about his hunting field and his wish for a hunting dog with excellent water skills. Today I can proudly conclude that he got all that and even more. Gurbe is a passionate worker giving his handler enough challenge. This great boy will do anything to get the last bird home and in my opinion this is a very important talent that a dog either has or not. He has a very good balance between problem solving on his own and will to please. And he is so charming. I am very proud of this boy and of his owner. It is his first flatcoated retriever and they are a great team still in the proces of ankering their teamwork in gundog tests – but already with very good results in the pocket. The hunt together as if they have done that for ages..

Lotte is by far not so experienced as Gurbe in goose retrieving so she got a chance to watch and learn from her brother after having had a few relatively easy marks. She was a bit exited when allowed to run out for a mark and lost some focus on the first bird but after a while she settled better and worked more precisely. A goose fell on the waterway at 200 meters away and she did not see it. It became a blind passing of the water and directing to the left on another 20 meters. Amazing job that she trusted my instructions and retrieved the floating goose.

Later on we sadly had an injured goose that landed very close to the road. Lotte and I immediately started running up to come in between the road and the goose. I made the mistake of letting Lotte search for the goose too early (due to my own poor impulse control) and she turned wind downward and found the landing spot of the goose. She was now behind the goose and the road and if the goose would have been able to fly up this could have put her in the risk of running up to the road and the goose to fly away to a field where we did not have access. This was a big learning moment for me to think more carefully about risks and how to set up the search better. Luckily Lotte put her nose to the ground, kept tracking where the goose went and retrieved it promptly. Pfffiiiewww what a moment. I am not sure which feelings I had at that time – a bit of everything I believe. The morning hunt ended enjoying quietness and singing of the field birds. A rare sound as many of these birds are pushed away by predation (cats/geese/foxes/poor living areas). The sounds of the birds always seduces me entirely and I had not even noticed that the hunt had been called to an end. “We stop now or you will have difficulty cutting out the meat in time as it is getting warm” we’re the wise words of my hunter. So I returned home after a cup of coffee and a quick “Adonis photo shoot” of Gurbe. I had the last goose on my cutting board at 21.45 hours at night.

Sustainable meat is not easy peasy done. And I even did not have all the hassle of a hunting license and shooting etc. Did I mention that this type of goose hunting is law regulated to protect crops from farmers etc? Meaning it is not optional – the hunting is more or less obligated. Also on weekdays when the hunter might not have the exact spare time.. Nature does not wait and regulated protection of crops sets the pace. Nature shows us humans that everything has its timing – I try to learn from her…

Our two youngsters are different from character but they do look a lot alike – especially in their habits and positions. When joining a couples class that works in our advantage. The couples class takes place in the main ring of a show and the dogs do not necessarily need to be perfect breed representatives but they must be the same type and explicitly male and female in looks. Lotte and Kaspar have been placed every time when entered in couples classes and again today they brought home a golden cup 3rd price and a very nice bag of Renske dog food.

Before the couples class we had the individual judging that sadly did not give a placement for Rumi – but she is also completely out of coat. Good a very nice report on all three, with feedback that makes sense to me.

Judge today in breed was Mrs Gerda Groeneweg-de Klerk & couples class Godelieve Wit-Bazelmans

Kaspar 1st place VG working class:

Bijna 3 jaar. Reu van een zeer goed type maar zou in het geheel wat mannelijker mogen zijn. Goed gevormd hoofd. Prima expressie. Voldoende halslengte. Mooie rugbelijning. Voldoende voorborst. Voldoende diep lichaam. Zag liever meer kniehoeking. Bone passend bij het type. Voldoende krachtig voetje. Goed behang. Gaat vlot met een wat korte pas. Zeer goed

Rumi Excellent open class:

7 jaar. Innemend vrouwelijk hoofd met zachte expressie. Prima geplaatst oortje. Fraaie halsrugbelijning. Prima voorborst. Mooi opgeribd lichaam. Goede hoekingen voor en achter. Ovaalvormig bone. Voorvoeten mogen wat compacter. Is momenteel iets in de rui. Gaat vlot. Uitmuntend

Lotte 1st place Excellent working class

Bijna 3 jaar. Elegante teef. Mooi type en formaat. Mooi gevormd vrouwelijk hood. Prima expressie. Mooie halsrugbelijning. Prima voorborst. Goed opgeribd lichaam. Prima hoekingen voor en achter. Bone past bi het type. Voldoende krachtige voetjes. Mooie vlak aanliggende vacht met prima behang. Gaat met correct paslengte. Goede presentatie. Uitmuntend

Tonight it will be double bubble of champagne to celebrate this week’s results. Work & show. But most importantly never forgetting the fun..

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 enjoyed sun and good wind. It was really nice to see some of our “Aura” littermates and younger half sister Ragne and Rumi’s brother Déroy too.

Rumi (Flow of Spirits Silver Skipper) did an amazing job and won the open class🎊

Flatastic Red Strength “Lotte” was lucky to join her mother for a day out and she was in the novice class. She was one of the younger contestants and managed to end on an eleventh place in the ranking – very proud of that being under the age of 3 years.

Results of the day

Snuffelklasse (baby):

Beguarded in a conch shell Flat our pride (halfsister Ragne) 56 points

Starters class:

Flatastic Blue Intelligence “Spyke” 71 points

Flatastic Green Compassion “Fien” 56 points

Novice class:

Flatastic Red Strength “Lotte” 65 points

Flatastic Platinum Alignment “Gurbe” 61 points

Open class:

Flow of Spirits Silver Skipper “Rumi” 80 points 1st place

Flow of Spirits Red Admiral “Déroy” 74 points 2nd place

Very happy with the results of my girls and offspring of Rumi – but most of all – it was great to see you again.

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 her own. Up until now I had entered both siblings in exams but for workingtests one can only bring one dog of ownership.

In the Netherlands the working tests are seperated in two styles (all on dummies):

1) the official Orweja Working test called OWT. These tests qualify for the IWT in the end. Here dogs must be completely quiet and very obedient and they must work very direct – not searching to wide or show too much own initiative. This style of working suits dogs with a lot of Will to please and handlers who like to train the details. The tests are judged by judges appointed by the Orweja organization specific for these tests. Levels are starters novice and open.

2) retriever working tests arranged by the breed clubs according to their conducts. These test are supposed to reflect a more practical oriented hunting situations- however the trend is that the challenges are becoming more a reflection of the imagination of those who design the tests than actual hunting situations. Nevertheless the competitions are often variated with lots of different accents including walk ups driven hunts marking searching and waterwork. The judges are appointed by the retriever breed clubs. The levels are C, B1, B2 and A (C being the lowest and A the highest). Here faults as sound and poor obedience will not result in failure necessarily but severe distraction in points. To obtain a certificate one must have at least 60 points according to most retriever breed clubs. This means one may “miss” one retrieve and still pass if the point are high enough.

Lotte and I had a nice day together – luckily the weather did not bother her a bit. Her coat kept her warm and dry and she did not hesitate to swim when given the chance. She was however a little bit distracted by the fact that she is in the middle of her phantom pregnancy. At times she looked at me as if she had no idea what was going on and I had to repeat cues which is very unusual for Lotte.

Unfortunately we missed our first retrieve – a sprayed dummy dragged in an open field with a cast from the forest with a gunshot fired alongside the forest in opposite direction of the placement of the dummy. That was simply to difficult for her to comprehend. She searched really well but not in the “right” place. I can certainly not blaim her – this situation reached far beyond our present training. I am right in the middle of teaching her to follow the shooters direction precisely and not the opposite. No sweats – the second retrieve from a free search was back within seconds.

The rest of the day was full of challenging retrieves – a partner walk up with shooters and driven hunts with semi blinds. Casting blind over water with distractions from a dummy trown earlier in the water alongside. Oh boy this test was really on the high end of what may be asked in a B1 level test.

I am very proud of Lotte that she managed to keep up with the high level – and I have a lot of new inspiration to bring to my training.

Thank you Josine and Mathijs for the layover and taking care of Kaspar and Rumi during the day. They had a marvelous time and it was lovely to be with you and Ragne again.

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 is strong minded and not the calmest dog to handle. I was very pleased with her performance though and a bit irritated about my own mistakes. Plenty of space left to learn though.

A week later the two of us entered a whole different arena: a very noisy hall at the Rijnland international Cacit dog show. Rumi die very well and achieved a 2nd place excellent in open class with a strong line up of very nice show bitches. She is a dream to show – she loves it and shows off as a pro. Belgian judge Jos Cuyper laid his hands on her and was very surprised by her tightness and muscular body. I explained that she is a highly trained working gun dog with a very wide and proud smile. I am of course very thankful for her breeder breeding this dog but I am also proud that I have managed to keep her so well even with her permanent injury. It is a lot of TLC and I am so happy that it shows in her well-being. Here are some photos kindly taken by my husband:

The “twins” also had to spend the day in a warm hall – Kaspar and Lotte were both brought out in the working class. Kaspar was less appreciated by the judge with a 1st place Very Good. I found him rather tense in the ring this time – he seemed a bit impressed by the surroundings.

His remarks were this time the opposite of the last time. Not quite sure what that means… Nevertheless Kaspar is in size perfect within the breed standard, even though he looks smaller. I am confident that it is an asset to have males of different sizes in a breeding program as the flatcoated retriever as a breed is producing rather big dogs with slightly too much coat. When hunting too big and long dogs with a lot of coat – it will become a difficulty to enjoy their work for a full day. They run out of energy too fast. So I am still happy with my fast running somewhat smaller Italian.

Lotte has developed a lot lately and as she has just been in heat she looks very nice and full at the moment. She did very well in the ring with a 2nd place excellent in working class bitches.

For the fun of it I had entered Lotte and Kaspar in the couples class. I simply enjoy taking the long run in the hounory ring on the felt carpet and showing my breed. It is hard to beat the elegance of two long running flatcoated retrievers. It is just lovely to watch – regardless who’s dogs they are.

Last year we were appreciated by the same judge with a 3rd place and this year we ended at a 2nd place. Wauw!! Lotte did not enjoy it as much as Kaspar because he was running behind a spaniel in full heat. I am so appreciative that he handles himself so well. The handler of the spaniels passed at a close distance and the male spaniel did not appreciate any competition. Kaspar kept his cool and did not bother a moment. What a nice temperament my Italian has! So proud.

I would also like to thank the many flatcoated handlers who congratulated us or just to had a friendly chat on the go. It is nice to feel welcome – even though I am a “newbee” in the showing world. Many of you have taken time to explain and share your knowledge. Thank you for that – it is highly appreciated.

Also a big thank to Yvonne from Tricksywood’s and Josine and Mathijs for a lovely weekend in good company.

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. But also grown ups do learn doing so. I therefore always turn my dogs away when we are seeing another dog performing in an unwanted manner.

Many handlers tend to watch things go wrong with their dogs are at heal next to them expecting their dog to see everything while not “learning” from it. It is fairly easy to redirect your dog’s attention by calling his name and rewarding the attention with a small treat without having to move your dog and possibly disturbing others. This is a simple example how you can redirect attention. I use a lot of redirecting attention when working my flatcoated retrievers. The breed is known to be a working dog who will hear see and smell every bit of the surroundings, therefore they can easily be distracted or “loose their heads” to what the exact task is. Starting a practice of “leave it for later” is really a big necessity if one wants a reliable gundog.

Kaspar was lucky to have a few retrieves of goose shortly after arrival at the field. I was walking him in heal behind the hunters when the first two geese fell. One still was a bit lively so he needed some encouragement, but brought it well to my hand. I am always a bit nervous when a goose is not dead right away. They are big birds and I do not want suffering to continue. I feel that the craftsmanship of hunting for your dinner table contains the ability to witness the suffering and ending it swiftly is very important. The fact that it touches my heart forces me to have respect and appreciation for nature and living beings. Knowing I having taken a life to have food.. it urges me to live my life to the most. I even feel we should all be able to kill our own food if we wish to eat meat. Otherwise we become nonchalant and easily throwing meat products away without any sense of value.

While walking on Lieuwe who was one of the hunters told me more about nature. There is a bird that is very territorial. It will simply drown all other birds in the water without any hesitation:

I really enjoy being out in Nature and learning from the field. It has an impact on my being and I can intensely enjoy the quietness and vastness presenting itself to me.

After a long sit and wait – a goose was shot and it fell across the water. My hunter said the wings were still healthy so we had to walk 800 m around to find it. While doing so Kaspar was surprised by a hare who took off and he started to chase. I have done a lot – really a lot to train recall with distractions but on a hunting day with high adrenaline a running hare passing at 3 meters distance while on a free search.. I did not expect him to pass the chance. But in the back of my head I forced myself to give it a go. Thinking – “do not avoid your own chance of failure – just go for it”. I grabbed my whistle and he ran 2-3 meters then turned away towards me. Wauw! That was the greatest moment of the day with my Italian. He came back with a big grin and a tongue out. I was of course very proud of him that he let the hare go. The goose turned out to give us a bit of exercise and after 30 minutes we were able to get it. Kaspar had retrieved it after a second shot only seeing the gun’s direction and coming back he hesitated jumping in a steep river. I signed him to stay at the field in the other side – a big goose that has been in dirty water is less hygienic to cut out in parts and very heavy to carry home. So for this moment I made use of the hesitation. If it was a gundog competition it would cost a lot of points. These situations are also why some people do not hunt with their dogs when they want to use them in competitions.. you can easily “spoil” certain pieces of your training.

A big thank you to Lieuwe for inviting me and Kaspar and thank you for letting me take the geese home for my dinner table.