Weimaraners
This week I am going to take you back to 1972, the year we purchased ‘Ryan’. You could buy a new Vauxhall Viva for under £900, this was the car in which Elaine & I learnt our driving skills. It was a four speed family saloon, but it was really only two speed, it was slow and with a clear stretch of road it was a bit quicker but nothing that would make you feel like a boy racer. At the same time ‘Datsun’, now Nissan were making an impact on the market with their ‘Cherry’ & ‘Sunny’ ranges at similar pricing to the Vauxhall. We purchased a new Cherry 100A in mustard gold, only a 998cc engine but tuned in a way that you thought you were driving a mini cooper. It was a hatchback and it changed our lives. We were newly married no family and we had purchased our first Weimaraner Ryan for 45 guineas, oh yes you paid in guineas in those days. That was a bit of a class thing, wealthy people and horse dealers spoke in guineas, for the uninitiated it was 21 shillings, that was when a pound was 20 shillings, ordinary people like ourselves dealt in pounds but for Ryan we were happy to pay in guineas.
The purchase of this little car transformed our lives, we had previously only walked and trained Ryan and been totally dependent on the goodwill of friends to go to any local dog shows. The first thing we did was to remove the rear seat in the new car and put a board over the floor, onto which we put Ryan’s bedding, a showbag , coats and we were away.
Most weekends would see us on the Saturday somewhere like Ardingly showground for an open show and then when we returned usually about 8.00pm we would leave clothing and bags in the car, we would feed Ryan get a bite ourselves and the be off to bed.About 6.00am we would be up grab a quick breakfast feed Ryan make a few sandwiches and a flask and be off up to Yorkshire for the next open show.
Sunday evening having won or lost we would walk Ryan and be absolutely buzzing with the whole weekend experience.
We quickly made new friends, although usually only people like ourselves that were complete novices. At that time if you began attending shows even the breeder of your dog did not always speak to you. The older and more experienced exhibitors would usually have their circle of associates and you were not invited into this ‘holy order’.We did not mind as we were in that excited state of just having fun and doing things together. The people that we did become friends with we occasionally went to stay with them either prior or after a show and they vice versa. Many of these people we are still friends with to this day.
It was about 4 years before we were considered serious exhibitors, we had our GSP then and could be seen at almost every Championship Show and at open shows from Portsmouth, Southampton, Ardingly, Yorkshire, Merseyside and all the Midlands, London and anywhere inbetween.
It happened quite unexpectedly, initially just my invitation to the ‘holy order’. Previously whenever judging was completed exhibitors retired to the bar, it was acceptable in those days.
When Elaine and I and other novices went for a drink it was noticeable that there was a bit of shuffling within the groups of experienced Weimaraner people and sadly if you appeared to be too close to a circle of these people they actually on several occasions whilst I went to get drinks, tightened the ring so that Elaine became formally excluded as they all stood with their backs to her.
On this particular day I was walking across the showground and one of these groups saw me and in unison they were beckoning me over to join them for a drink. I will mention no names but they actually bought me a drink, I had arrived ! Elaine was gobsmacked but soon experienced the same welcoming smile from those same people at the next show and from then onwards we would be greeted by these people when we arrived at the show. But by now we had become used to following our own routines at shows and so it never really changed our enjoyment of the days out.
It was never a big deal to us as we had sufficient friends to make the day enjoyable and it probably did us a favour as in those days you could not get out of a show until 4.00pm or later at some shows. This gave us an opportunity to sit around other breed rings and watch the judging, thus beginning the long process of learning.
Things have all changed now and with todays lifestyles I suppose that was inevitable, we must just accept this situation and move forward. When something is supposed to be your hobby it is a shame that after your class you need to shoot off home to miss the traffic or to engage in some other function on the schedule. This is not just now and again, it seems there are those that only come to shows in order to enter their class and have little or no interest in the breed itself or how the quality is changing for better or worse.Undergoing the early experiences we endured has at least made us aware that we must try to be welcoming to newcomers and offer as much encouragement as they will allow us to make, not everyone appreciates even the kindest intervention.
This is me and Ryan at Chasewater Open show, Ryan would be about 15 months,
I know he won Junior and went Res. BOB to Ch Ragstone Ritter who was his dad. This was with Les Page judging.
Looking at this photo taken in 1973 I do look like something left over from the 60’s with flared trousers and that collar on the shirt.
I had actually had a haircut though which in those days was seen as a sign of weakness.
Perhaps that is another reason why we were not welcomed into the breed with open arms.
We were learning and they were great times and many days to remember. I must tell the account of why we switched from showing Ryan on a light chain lead, thanks go to the late Dick Finch for that.
There will be more stories to come and not all about Ryan or our journey through the world of dogs.
This page can cover any area of knowledge of useful tips learnt over 39 years spent with Weimaraners. You will have to come back and find out for yourselves.
Ryanstock
Weimaraners
2011
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Sage Page
End of June