2020 - 2022.

The House of Joseter Cardigan Welsh Corgi.

2020 - 2021.

We attended just one show during the year due to everything being cancelled, including dog shows. At Crufts, Joseter Cardigans continued the kennels success by taking best of breed for the seventh consecutive year. This year was the turn of Ch Joseter Mr Parkinson who lifted the crown at eight years of age, incredibly becoming the third brother to win this award, the other two being, his litter brother Ch Joseter Mr Blobby and younger brother Ch Joseter Frazer Nash. The event was made even better when Parkinsons daughter Hundahilli Veris won her second c.c., a lovely win for newcomers to the breed.

For the first time ever we had a year to ourselves, locked in with time to reflect. We had booked channel tunnel crossings, hotels in France along with flights for ourselves and Frazer Nash from Paris to Chicago for the 2020 American National. On top of this we also had arranged car hire and hotels in the U.S. to cover our stay that we hoped would take in three shows. Anne also had booked flights with Virgin, for the Boston Terrier national which also got cancelled, and then started the problems of getting refunds. While hotels and car hire got done by return, flights became a major problem and in Feb 2021 we still await a refund for return flights for ourselves and one dog from Air France.

I have judging appointments both home and oversears during 2021, including overseas breed clubs, hopefully life will soon allow to travel once more. The Joseter show team at the start of 2021 consist of Ch Joseter Frazer Nash, Ch Joseter Mr Blobby, Ch Joseter Mr Parkinson, Joseter Lotti Dod, and Joseter Four Candles. We also wish others with Joseter sired puppies both at home and overseas every success.

Looking back at the past decade, having exhibited and judged at shows from the U.K, Europe to U.S I feel positive about the future. The U.K continues, even with small numbers holds its own with others from around the world. Europe I feel have made great strides and its top Cardigans could enter any ring with pride. Certainly a major player been the acceptance of foreign bloodlines both with chilled and frozen semen and if handled onwards selectively, more advancements will follow. With this in mind one must hope that line breeding becomes the norm rather than the pick and mix method, and the lesson of this one can find well written in the breeds history. National breed clubs within Europe must also take credit for allowing overseas breed specialists to judge national breed club specialities, giving a more diverse and valid opinion of ones countries stock, thus making us all more knowledgable and understanding breeders. The U.S on the other hand, have not had a foreign judge priside at the national speciality since 2000, twenty one years ago. One would hope that in the long term interests of the breed word wide, some start to question can it be correct to operate a closed border blinkered approach.

I have concerns that many handlers are, by a lack of knowledge of the breed standard and basic construction, making exhibits look worse than they are, and many are preforming trimming that give the exhibits faults they do not have. Handling is a challenge and whether you do it for payment, or like myself free of charge, its worth remembering that all exhibits require different understanding, that’s if you want judges and ringsiders to see them at their very best.