Is anyone going to the Isle of Wight Open Show on 17th Sept going over from the mainland who wants to share costs ?

I have entered the show but am now debating on whether to go or not because the ferry is so expensive (something like £36 ) and was wondering if anyone would like to car share and split ferry costs ??

Claire :)

If you are only going for the day (the price quoted looks like a day return) could you just go as a foot passenger?

The problem would be getting to the show once there, I dont think it is near the ferry terminal.

It's not very close to the ferry terminal but you could get there by bus, I think the no 1 from Ryde goes to Binstead.  If you are doing a day return Wightlink have a special offer on their website www.wightlink.co.uk for a day return car + passenger for £25.

Unfortunately there are not many ways round this I was told during the summer mile for mile the IOW ferry is more expensive than a trip to New York on Concorde used to be!!

Steve

£25 isnt so bad, I will have to have a think about it :)

Hi Claire

Are you talking about the Gundog open show ?  If so, you don't want the bus from Ryde to Binstead as the show is in Lake, which is not in Binstead !  You will want a bus from Ryde to Lake and if I remember the route correctly (i do it every day LOL)  there is a bus stop quite close to where you need to go.

In fact, Lake is about 10 miles away from there ! - you can get on the train (I think they accept dogs) which goes from Ryde pierhead to Lake - and then the school is only a few hundred yards walk away :)

Tara x

Ummm, yes I think it is the gundog show.  I think getting on a train/bus might be hassle as I like to take his cage to open shows and there is no way I would carry that as well as hold onto the crazy Alfie

I will have to have a think, maybe I will pay the £25 and go without food for the week :D :D

Hi Claire - just check the small print though as the special offers are usually only valid if you travel over here and back again at certain times of the day.

And the other price of £38 is also quite cheap as if you came over here in June, July or August you could well end up paying something like £60-£80 - the ferry is one of our main sources of income and what helps to pay for the re-surfacing of the roads etc (allegedly :D ) although what their excuse is for us to come over to the mainland I'll nevr know, a ferry ticket for us to go to the Richmond show was £42.50 just because we had three children in the car !  Go figure :)

Tara x

what a nightmare, its a shame I cant find out how many are in his class to see whether it is worth going over, I would be gutted to find I was the only one (which happens in a lot of open shows at the moment :(  )

Hi Claire, I know that Irish setters and English setters are quite popular over here - and I do have the web address for the IW gundog club, but their site is down at the moment (http://www.iw-gundog-club.org.uk) I would have said give them a call / e-mail and see if they can give you any indication but as their site is down at the moment I can't get their contact info :(

Tara x

Hi again Claire

I have just put on my detective head and found the contact info for you :

Isle of Wight Gundog Club
Mrs K Davies, Manor Farm Cottage, Mottistone, Isle of Wight, PO30 4ED Tel: 01938 740087
email: ophrys.gsps@btopenworld.com

They are a nice bunch of people so I'm sure she wont mind you calling - if you explain to her your situation she might be able to give you some indication of 'expected' setter numbers.

Good Luck, Tara x

Thanks Tara, I shall drop her a line and see what she says :)

It's terrible - I have an elderly mother there. It costs a fortune for the ferry, particularly if it's longer than a day trip :( The only good thing is that it keeps the 'oiks' out :D :D :D

Daisy

LOL - have to agree with you there Daisy, it is nice and peaceful over here - I for one am campaigning against a bridge, but that's another story LOL

It will ruin the island if they build a bridge :( I count myself as an honorary Islander, even tho' I've never actually lived there - just visited on a very regular basis for 50 years :D

Daisy

Totally agree, there are a few who think it would be a good idea but IMHO it will be the worst decision ever and will take away all that the Island is, a quiet, stuck in time, safe haven !

And so say all of us! LOL. However, it is a bit off-putting when we want to come over to the mainland and it costs twice as much to get anywhere as if we lived in Portsmouth. Still, it's got to be worth it, just for October to April when we can run our dogs on the beaches!
Petra

Morning Petra - oh yes, can't wait till we get Dylan up the beach for the first time, he doesn't like to walk on 'new' surfaces so the sand should be a giggle :)

I got your PM by the way when we got back from training late last night (Dylan is doing puppy assessment and Rufus his bronze GCDS) training plus early mornings = totally bushed and this morning Dylan is going mad in the kitchen as he can smell the fresh batch of livercake, didn't realise quite how high an 18 week boxer could jump :D

Tara x

Hi Tara
We've had a fun day which ended with finding out that Rufus had used his hound nose to dig up our cat who died last October and was buried in the garden! He had spread him across the lawn and even after a major clean-up op we are still finding bits of bone that he has brought into the house...Would be funny if it weren't so sick.
Speak soon
Petra

Hi Petra - ewww, that is pretty sick :(   you can always rely on pets, Kelly's cat loves to bring me bunnies minus their heads or leave the insides of a mouse on the back doormat for me to find first thing in the morning.  Our old springer, Buster, decided to dig up his mum that we had buried in the garden my parents weren't too impressed especially when they were eating their sunday roast and Buster sat beside them chewing on a part of his mum that he had kept for later !  That was way back when I was young (!) and I must admit that when I remember it now I do have a little giggle, he was such a character that dog, typical big bruiser of springer act first and think...., no, cancel that he never thought just did LOL :D

Tara x

Oh thats grim   Ive put paving slabs on my cats grave in case the boys dig him up, I couldnt think of anything worse :(

Hi Petra - how's Rufus this morning ?  Hope he is decidedly ashamed of himself for what he did the other day :(

Did I tell you about the open show at Brickfields in October (it's the 22nd) ?  I have a schedule here if you wanted to enter Rufus, there is an AV Hound puppy class :)  Let me know and I'll send it in with Kelly on Monday / Tuesday.

p.s we will be going (not entering as Dylan is two weeks too young !) so we'll be there for moral support :D

Tara x

Hi Tara
Rufus has no shame. We are still finding bits of dead cat fur on the carpet, which my husband kindly hands to me to clear up.  We did put a slab over him first, but then decided to plant a nice gooseberry bush (the prickly sort) over the top as it looked nicer. Unfortunately, the bush is still tiny and he got there first!

I didn't know about Brickfields... Rufus will be 13 months old on that date, so will have to be AV Junior Hound or just AV Hound.  If they have classes for that then we'd love to give it a go!  Hopefully the tiny bald patch will have grown back on his tail from where I over-stripped him last month (first time and got a bit over-enthusiastic!). That would be great if you could send that in - oooh, an Open Show. Will have to redouble efforts to train the wayward hound...lol
Love Petra

Hi Petra - I like the way your OH hands the fur to you, bless him :)

OK, I've just had a quick look at the schedule and there is AVNSC Hound Novice and Open Dog plus AV Hound Open.  You can join the IWCA at the same time as entering Rufus in for a class and this can be done through the post by sending it to the club secretary before the 27th September.

And if you think your first attempt at stripping Rufus was bad I trimmed our Rufus (springer cross), including his feathers and when we looked at him from the back he looked like one of those chickens with the fluffy feet :D  I have been let loose on him since and he looks pretty decent this time, well, I think he does LOL.

I'll send the schedule in with Kelly on Monday - she probably wont be in Tuesday as she has a load of allergy tests on Tuesday morning and I don't know how long they will all take

Have a good weekend - lots of training :)

Tara x

p.s  One thing I did notice at the Newbridge show is Rufus's tail - try and hold it out straight and level with his back so that it accentuates his long straight back and his 'feathers' fall downwards, apart from that he was actually standing quite nicely :)

Actually - scrub holding his tail straight, I've just been looking on the net and 8 out of 10 BFDB handlers hold the tail up - so there you go, his standing was perfect (i'm going to go and have a glass of red wine and sit in the corner with my dunce hat on LOL ).

Tara x

Whats a BFDB

Hi Claire - it's a Basset Fauvre De Bretagne, lovely wire haired dogs sort of fred basset size :)

Any luck with the gundog open show by the way ?

Tara x

Oh, I dont think ive see one of those *runs off to look in dog book* ..... oh they are sweet :)

I think im going to give up on the open show on the Isle of Wight, its next Saturday but funds are dwindling and I think its going to be a toss up on Isle of Wight Open or Gundog of Wales champ, I guess you know which one ill be going for ;)

Totally understand Claire, I have to keep reminding my lot that money doesn't grow on trees (although my 8 year old smart ar*e tells me that the kind of money he likes is made from paper and we obtain paper from trees...... little sod LOL) Good luck with the Gundog of Wales champ show - let us all know how you get on.

Tara x

That's OK - at least you retracted that before I spent hours training him the wrong way...LOL. He really doesn't seem to enjoy standing for too long and so I'm just aiming for a good stand for as long as he can and then praying the judge looks the other way when he sits down. I have been tempted to let his breeder have a go at handling him as she has offered, but then I feel that I would lose out on the 'fun' part of it (ROFLMAO).  And I've got to get more people to have a look at his teeth - he's fine with it but still tends to pull his head away a bit.  Can't wait for Ringcraft on the 27th September (after I'll have spent rather a long time at the dentist's, but can't be helped).

Oh and Claire, BFDB are very cute, but BoxerMum will testify that they have a mind of their own (i.e. they go the way that they want to go). I think we might have done a bit better at our first show if he had paid any attention to the judge at all rather than to the smells! She even clicked her tongue at him and he blanked her completely! Hounds... Give me a nice Gundog any day...LOL.

>Hounds... Give me a nice Gundog any day...LOL.

you must be joking, my two think they are hounds the way the go round the ring nose to the ground - no matter what food I have the smells are always better

LOL - all I can say on Gundogs is that our last springer was a total loon - every time he heard a car backfire or a firework go off he ran around the garden looking for the pheasant !  And if we watched tele and there was seagulls squawking he'd run up to the window barking his head off looking for them :)  Mad as a hatter, but totally loveable in his own way :D

OK, so maybe Gundogs have quirks the same as Hounds...LOL. Mind you, Rufus is the only dog we've ever had that will run over to you to be told off, even when he knows what's going on. All our spaniels were far too canny for that one - all you'd see was their tail between their legs as they disappeared through the doors!

Erm Rufus - like duh honey LOL :D

Anyway, he's far too cute to be told off bless him :)