SOCIAL OUTINGS

SOCIAL OUTINGS:

2005 Bayview Winter Picnic

A Tired Dog is…

And there were plenty of tired Vizslas in Sydney and thereabouts the evening after annual ‘winter’ picnic at Bayview on Sydney’s spectacularly beautiful Pittwater… and once again the weather gods gave their blessing. A sunny day, about 20 C, with a stiff cool wind for part of the day. There were riotous red dogs everywhere we looked – big ones, small ones, old ones, young ones… rarely a cross word (unless you count those from the marauding Staffordshire terr-orist… J and Bob Taylor sorted that out expertly!)

Members and guests and their dogs, children, grandchildren, friends and those wanting to know if they were up to Vizsla ownership chatted and smiled at the antics… With over 30 Vizslas and their owners there, my old memory can’t possibly remember who managed to get there… some ‘mums’ were anxious about letting their red kids off lead… but when they did manage to let go for a while, everyone was ok. Chant was true to form and discovered some people with a pic-a-nic basket! The big bonus for me was that at going-on-for-two, Lily has learned her name and was the sweet girl I’ve come to know with all and sundry, and the other reassuring thing is that at age ten, Scully will never be anything but an obsessive/compulsive water/retrieving dog … with a big and persistent voice!!!

Another really successful club
and dog day…

Colo River Picnic

As usual, Ruth made the journey to Colo River, and helped people to find their way there by providing balloon ‘markers’ on the important corners.

It’s always difficult to know how many people will turn up at Colo – it’s quite close to Christmas and people get busy, so the numbers vary. The weather was a little unsettled this year too. However, Ruth reports that it was the usual success, with dogs and people enjoying that perfect riverbank picnic spot.

Sue Turner also made the long trek and took her mum along. (gosh Sue, you’re keener than us – it’s about 3 hours each way for us! Good on you!)

Zac was the youngest dog there – he was very exuberant and very CUTE! He got told off by most of the older dogs at some time, and nearly got stolen by at least one adult!

The dog who managed to be nicest to everyone all day was Harvey who had more patience with Zac than any of the other dogs. (Remember Harvey? He’s one of our re-homes!)

The naughtiest dog was Gena! But her behaviour improved after about three hours of running through the water.

Chant – our regular ‘Yogi Bear at the pic-a-nic!’ – lost his status as number one food thief! He was seriously outclassed by Flame & Py, who work as a team!

So Chant and his brother Zephyr both spent most of the day fishing – and neither caught anything.

Later in the day it started to rain – but as it was still warm and everyone was still having lots of fun, Sue covered her mum with a handy tarp, and everyone else partied on!(There is absolutely no truth to the rumour that Sue regularly covers her mum up with a tarp…)

Jesse’s ‘mum’ was the unofficial photographer for the day.thanks Jade, they're great photos.

Last to arrive was Angus, and at first he was a bit overwhelmed by the Vizslas ‘en masse’! I guess if we were honest, most people and dogs would be! So, the Vizsla picnic season is over for summer - till next time.

(Photos by Jade Mangan)

Winter Picnic

Fools the Weather Bureau Again!

Another great day for Vizslas and their owners! This venue offers all that a Vizsla wants – water for swimming, sandy flats for running, people who will throw toys all day, and a variety of other breeds of dog to demonstrate superior Vizsla gundog skills, and - for those ‘Yogi Bear’s’ in the group – picnickers!!

Chant waits all year for Vizsla picnics – so does Scully. But for totally different reasons .... Scully just wants to get her fill of swimming (and barking!) and water retrieves, and swimming (and barking!)But for Chant …. it brings picnickers …. who are sometimes generous with their lunch. Sometimes they are simply careless – he doesn’t really mind which.

The result is the same. This time the McWhannell’s were generous and Mushka didn’t seem to mind sharing people and picnic with Chant – oh, and Lily was a bit pushy too! (but she obviously changed her name that day – everytime I saw her hooning after someone else, and called, she either totally ignored me or looked to say ‘who are you calling?’. Most of the time I ended up with a Staffie called Bella!)

Loads of people came – probably more than 30 Vizslas. Nice to see Jeanette and Michael there with Miss (short for Miss Demeanour!), the Kidds with Boston, Fiona came with Amy, Shaula and Cedar, Chant brought Ruth and Gena, the Bojovich’s came all the way from Forster (a 5 hour drive!) - I think they have a serious Vizsla addiction!

Sylvia and Sorrell, were there and so were Leda & Cam and Tega. And Melinda brought along puppies!

Jethro had loads of cuddles and later in the day, some of us noticed red smears on Jethro’s neck. But amateur forensics discovered that it was lipstick – probably with origins in Forster! Hasta and Harry came after we had left, and Dudley was also a late arrival. I wish I could remember all of the people and their dogs, but I’ve discovered that taking two dogs is much more distracting than one!

We had quite a few people who wanted to get to know the breed a little better before they decide that a Vizsla is right for them.

It’s a great opportunity for them to see the dogs in ‘full flight’. Once again, we were delighted with the success of our social get together.

And we are consistently favoured by the weather gods, with a perfect sunny winter’s day, more than warm enough dogs to swim for long periods.

It will be on again next year – and by then maybe Lily will have learned her name!