Winter - The Deerhound Club

l Lynn
rernembered that there used to be a special papcl cirllccl "Our Dogs", I
said with ridiculous Victorian sounding title like that it had probably vanished long
ago. Certainly I had neverseen itatthe newsagents. Did thcsc clogs still exist?
Persistence paid off and eventually afterseveral trips to a cou;rlc ol'rcl-crerrce libraries,
I found a listing for The Deerhound Club secretary, Dr Phyllis l)oync'r Wall, and her
address.
I telephoned and said, " Hello I'nr tlrinking of buying a [)eerhound, wltere can I
get one?" She was charrn herself and after quietly questioning nre told nte tltere were
no puppies about at the moment and suggested I call in three Irtonths tirle. lJnknown to
us, we were beginning "the test" what a very sensible procedtrle. I callecl at the due
date, Dr Poyner Wall, regretted thatthere were stillno puppies arottnd. but strggested
that if we ever found ourselves to be travelling in the direction of Bradlbrd-olr-Avotr,
why not drop in for a cup of tea and meet her hourrds.
Yes please! Try and stop us!
On the appointed day we rang the bell at nurnber seven, Glen View, the door
opened and Clrampion Riabhach of lona of Melchior (Roobarb to his fi'iends) quietly
stepped out, and without jurnping placed his paws on rny shoulders and looked rne
straight in the eye. I was captivated! After meeting the hounds and takirrg tea, Dr
Poyner Wall said thatthere were still no puppies available. But if we were passirrgthat
way again, she would love to meet our Dachshund. This was arranged, to otrr surprise
Lily behaved decorously, we took tea, met the dogs again. There was no news of any
pups and we went on our way.
Three rnonths later we received a call from her, one of her bitches had just had a
litter, and there might, just might, be a puppy for us. lF we were still interested. She
made it very clear that we would not be able to choose (there was a great deal of sense
in this because we really wouldn't have known what to look for!).
Which is how twenty sornething years ago we came into Deerhounds. Phyllis
asked if we wanted to show. As comparative innocents, who had been brainwashed by
the media, we had the impression that everything in the show ring was highly show
trained, transporled in cages, coiffured, prirnped and lacquered, so we thanked her
kindly and said no thank you, we didn't really think it was our scene. We.itrst wanted a
normal dog, a pet. Thus we becatne owners of our first Deerhound puppy.
'l-he
Phyllis kept in close contact to suppoft and monitor our progress. ledoubtable
Lily eventually moved on to the great running ground in the sky and I was told
that (GUESS WHAT) our lovely young Deerhound was lonely witltout one ol-his own
kind. Miss Cox was prevailed upon to part with one of her show quality puppies. Sone
tirne later we received a call to say that there was a little local show at Chippcnharn
Corn Exchange and all the litter brothers and sisters would be there. woLrldrr't it be rrice
to see thern all together? Of course it wouldl Never having entered a "rcal" dog show
before, and second entries being so much cheaper than the first. we crrtcrccl three of
four classes with each. To our absolute anrazement we callre away rvilh a buttclt of
varied coloured rosettes and began to look upon ouryoungsters irr a rrcw light.
We entered a few more shows and under the careful tuition ol'thc lrvo breeders
thus began our long and continuous learning curve. Deerhounds lravc irrtrodrrccd us to
96
| "br.,,rrr rr rrlc nctwork of friends from all walks of life. When we began going to
,fF,ri r rr l,rrlirr ly', our zoologist elder daughter was really scathing and said things like
tt.,,r r.rr Ir l" irnd "Dog Shows. Oh God! How could you? Parents can be so
'.rJr,r| t.t,,\lllll".
\lrt.norv slrows, breeds, jLrdges, paints dogs and gets paid to talk about dogsl
l'urrrry that? | guess everyone starts somewhere... ... ...
DOGMATIC Geoff Lowe
I l.,rrtilrl' Itusl 80.
',,,1'1.r..' lirr r'1,,a;,r' artd vicious wa;s.
\\ , lrr r' rl nlorc cnlightened days
I r, ,, llr(' rirhblc band of antis say.
Irr,,111 1'1gg11 irnd pleasant land
\\, lr.rrc lrrrrrtccl
'til
timc began.
I r"nr l)r'(lrisl()r'ic to moclern nran.
\ut( l\ \\c cart't support a ban.
',rr.lrt lrorrntl sccrtt hottnd tcrrier and ntore
| ),'rrt, \\llirt lor centuries they have becn bred
l. ,l
',,' l,st irntl agilc arvay lhey streak
\rtr'r (lltiilr\' lor their lnasters to cat.
'.'rr.rll
lt'r t ict's
r',,,rrrr rrlrilc and black and tan
1,, t,, l() cirlth to help man,
r ,,rrtrill lltc ltlx the best way he can.
tt,.,\i n ltl ilrlcsts our habitat
r ,r , rrill ltntl scecl
\,,,1 ;rt\'it(ls rliscasc
\\,ll rlr\' ;rrrlis craticlacatc thcsc.
Will thc nrislead people who supporl the
Dan.
Stop thc lbx fiom taking piglet. clrickcrr ancl
lamb.
Will they plant the hedges trees antl crop
as does the hard rvorking lirlming stock'/
Clontrol ol'the rvoodpigcons. r'abbit harc lirx
and mink.
Who will do thcsc tasks?
Do they not think the liagile ctluntrl'side
rve look upon needs a helping hand fiorn
mortal rran?
When all is gone the running dogs, the
packs of hounds.
Terriers that to ground.
Horse farricrs. and the saddle tnakers.
Will they put a pair ol'each into a zoo?
When all is lost arrd hunting clogs are done,
Next rvill be the rod and the gun.
So there it is it's plain top see
The fight is lelt to you and utc.
We cannot allow the rabblecl lot
To take away the lteedom we have got
So unite you sportslran and wonten ytluug
and old
Bv labour ooliticians we will not be sold.