The history of Buhunds in the UK has been influenced by dogs imported since the Second World War. This is quite a modest undertaking, which illustrates the limited number of Buhunds who have been brought to Britain and used in breeding to produce the present day dog. The fact that the breed survived the War, in great hardship, in an occupied country, says much more the hardiness of both the dogs and their owners. Sadly, as happened all too frequently in the days before inoculations, a number of valuable imports succumbed to distemper either before leaving quarantine or before they could be used for breeding. Three dogs imported from Norway in the immediate post war years were not bred from and so play no part in the history of the modern Buhund, other than they were the vanguard of breed in the UK. Passop (Robin ex Lyda), Tallhaugh Sanco (Tallo ex Tallhaugh Troja) and Sisi about whom nothing is known. The first significant imports came in 1946 when Gerd Berbom imported an in-whelp bitch and an unrelated dog. The bitch was Tertit (Gjald ex Gerd) and she produced 7 puppies. The dog was Ryfjelds Truls (Ryfjelds Bobben ex Snerta), brought in specifically as a suitable mate for both Tertit and her puppies. The sire of the puppies was Ryfjelds Ring (Ch. Bolle ex R. Turi). Only 3 of that litter, 2 bitches and a dog were bred from. Buheims Tull & Tua were both mated to Truls and Troll to his half sister Friochan Aurora (ex Tua). Tertit was then mated to her grandson (ex Tua), Arno of Graafjell and Tua to her son Friochan Anthon, a mating which produced that prolific bitch Anna of Innesdale. This brings us to the early 1950s and, as can be seen, breeding options were becoming limited in the extreme. The Buhund in Britain might have ended there had it not been for the importation of Munter (Flink ex Lussi II). From photographs of Munter, he looks to have been the most impressive of our imports and, as was to be expected, he was used extensively during the 50s and early '60s. There are those who remark on the slow progress the breed has made in this country, but it has to be remembered that for the first 15yrs of UK Buhunds relied precariously on the offspring of just 4 dogs; Tertit, Ring, Truls and then Munter. We now come to the 1960s when new blood was again desperately needed to keep the breed viable in this country. This came firstly in the form of 3 bitches and a dog, all pale wheatens. Sonja ( Rapp ex Vivi), born in 1962 and imported by the Dobsons and Dorothy Kenyon's 3 Norskens: Aase, Gyda & Tor, all born 1964-6. Sonja was mated to Glenguard Lars, a grandson of Munter, to produce the well known wolf sable twins, Ch. Fossfell Erik Brighteyes and Fossfell Helga. Helga, in turn, went on to produce the pale wheaten Ch. Glyntirion Fossfell Eskil and through him many of today's winners. As far as I know, N. Aase (full sister to Sonja) did not produce any puppies, but Norsken Tor (Odin ex Leika) & Gyda (Bonso ex Mona) were mated on a number of occasions. Probably the most well known of their offspring was N. Mai, dam of Ch. Adoram Dahlas and therefore in most of today's pedigrees. Soon after these imports came one of the most influential sires, Win Stanbury's Ch. Ryfjelds Snorre ( Ryfjelds Prins ex R. Trine), the first import to gain his title over here. Snorre's successful offspring are too numerous to mention, but his daughter Ch. Fossfell Cora was the first bitch champion in the breed and for a long time was the breed record holder with 13 CCs. Snorre lived down in Devon, which was a long way for many breeders to travel, particularly for those in Scotland. However, Scottish breeders soon had their very own import when Snorre's half brother, Dorraugh Olav ( R. Prins ex R. Noste) was imported. Olaf's progeny was also very successful, particularly through his son Ch. Adoram Renbank Tornado, great grand sire of Dahlas. The 1960's was a promising decade for the breed with the number of imports bringing the total number of those that were bred from to 9. However, it took nearly a quarter of a century for the number of imports to get into double figures! We have reached the1970's by which time the breed had acquired CC status, and the Norwegain Buhund Club had been formed. The first import of the decade was brought over by Win Stanbury, particularly as a suitable mate for Snorre's daughters. He was Brigg, a pale wheaten son of Rodagardens Ockie and Siffie Dolly. One of the most successful matings was to Liemonchek Whisper, a Snorre grand daughter that produced Ch. Fana. He was also mated to an earlier import, N. Gyda to produce the sire of Ch. T. the Fair Fox. Nearly 10 yrs went by before the next imports, something a little different this time. Two black bitches were imported from Elias Moretro's 'av Gilde' kennels. The two were Black av Gilde (Drengan av G ex Berte av G.) & Grusom av Gilde. (Drengan ex Dun). Black produced only one litter and none of her offspring were mated, but Grusom has proved to be a great influence. In her first litter to Ch. Dahlas she produced Ch. Gru's Penny Black, the first black champion, and Ch. Bamse Boy. Mated to Ch. Rikarlo Ivar she produced Kirsty Norn and to Ch. Mitor, a grandson of the imported D. Olav, she produced the litter through which most of her stock today is descended. The next import was also a little different. He was brought in purely as a pet and discovered by accident by breeders who helped his owners get the necessary registration that allowed him to be used at stud. This was the wolf sable Zorry, a son of Sw. Ch. Curtis Tater ex Lo-Lo, imported from Finland - a very international dog! He was used in a limited way, being mated to only 3 bitches, including Ch. Fana. His most well known son, however, was out of Ch. Adoram Moon, Ch. Alkola Moonraker and this line continues today, through his mating to Ch. A. Llian. The final two imports, brought in in the 80's were the black masked shaded wheaten Ch. Leitegards Kong Olav av Frostisen and the black bitch, Bikka av Gilde og Frostisen, owned by the Frosts. Olav became only the second import to gain his British title and was used mostly by his breeder, but a few others have also used him. Probably his most successful mating was to Bikka. This mating produced Chs F. Jozefine, Leif, Leiteson & Lottie. Mated to F. Punktum, Bikka also produced Ch. F. Henna. The 70's & 80's saw the total number of imports who bred on rise from 9 to 15, but the discovery of the presence of HC in the breed in the mid-80's brought many breeding programmes to an end. Testing for HC showed that cataract had been present, if not discovered, for many years. This discovery began the most 'testing' (in all senses of the word) period in the UK Buhund history. Moving to the 1990's the discovery of HC in the breed brought a halt to importation for quite a while, particularly when it became obvious that we were not the only country to be suffering from this problem. Several attempts were made to bring new blood over here, but these failed for various reasons, but not uncommonly because the prospective imports were also found to have HC. However in 1993, an incredibly generous gesture by some Norwegian and Swedish breeders made the importation of some new blood possible. The black bitch, Bugardens Froya (Gorm av Gilde ex Berte av Gilde) was sent over to whelp in quarantine. The wheaten sire was Sw. Ch. Vanaheims Mandus (Bugardens Frej ex Chrobleg av Gilde). In due course she whelped three bitches and a dog puppy, all black. Unfortunately, due to circumstances that had nothing to do with the puppies, only one of them, the dog, has been used for breeding. Two years later Skadsemgaardens Jessica (Cascilius Texas Tiger ex Skadsemgaardens Haidie Hakondatter) was brought over, but was never bred from. A few years later, Elizabeth Coleopy brought over a close relation of Jessica's. Skadsemgaarden's Freia Priskila of Fullani was the first imported bitch to gain her British title and the last Buhund to go through quarantine. She is by Treholmen's Bamse ex S. Juna-Lisa (a full sister to Jessica) In 1997, Molly Hunter brought over a young pale wheaten bitch Anna from Rossfort (Nordspetsens Frippe ex Skadsemgaardens Ine Sala) and a few years later imported Nor Ch Cascilius Kevin Costner (Brekkfjellet's Jarl Snorresonn Cascilius Sote Sara Snorredatter), the first Norwegian Champion to be imported. At around the same time, the Dobsons, who had brought over Sonja in the 1960s, imported the Finnish dog, Vuonohaan Balder at Fossfell. Another bitch, Snotra, imported by Molly brings the list of imports up to date. How their offspring will feature in future British pedigrees remains to be seen, but it will be interesting to see what these Scandinavian lines will produce when mated together and when mated to our British lines. So there we have it, nearly sixty years and a mere twenty imports later, all the three thousand Buhunds who have been born in Britain are descended from those imports. What also has to be borne in mind is that many of these imports were also closely related (D. Olav & R. Snorre, Grusom & Bikka, etc.). It seems so long since I started writing this history that I've almost forgotten the purpose behind it, but one thing is clear. When one kennel produces something undesirable, it affects us all. Equally, if a breeder is lucky enough to produce something exceptional - it shouldn't be too far from everyone's own breeding to produce something to challenge it. Like it or lump it, we're all pretty closely related! LIST OF IMPORTS
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This page last updated 06/02/03 end