Welcome Home!

After a couple of long days photographing at local shoots, the hounds were waiting for me to return home, and give them all my attention again. They put on this little welcomming committee for me!

Cover Model

Tennant was thrilled to be a DOUBLE cover model on this current issue of HotWires, the HWV breed club magazine.

great Birthday present

Today was LKA Championship show and I had a really great birthday present (well technically its not my birthday until tomorrow!!) because Basnicky won Open Dog and the CC.
Well done Bas.....mum and granny very very proud!!

Winning down under

Good news from oz, Farlap Cautious, the sweet girl Steve Thomas and I own together in Australia, was Best Puppy in Show at the Newcastle All breeds Kennel Club Championship Show.
Well done Shelly and Steve......you are doing a grand job down there! Looking forward to some more photos soon.

In my spare time (which is pretty hard to find right now!)Im using the old abb website, which thankfully i am no longer involved in, to rebuild it and put together a special website for the Bloodhound Club, which will be unveiled very soon, containing all the info for the 2010 Jubilee show/fun weekend.
The subcommittee are working very hard to make this a fantastic bloodhound event for everyone, not just show exhibitors but something for everyone, and they are working hard to get the website ready, so keep watching here for its forthcoming arrival!

is it issssy?

Had a few photos arrive this week from Roborovski kennel, of our new baby Issy (Isabelle) who looks very sweet and has grown so much since i last visited her. I see that she is already trained to sit on sofas so she will fit in well here!!
iIs been a busy week here with 2 girls in season and causing chaos amongst the boys....if all goes to plan we hope to be mating Barvička very soon but more on that to follow shortly!
Also we have had a day at the vets doing some Hip and Elbow scores under the BVA/KC scheme, as part of our ongoing health testing programme.
Recent events have brought home to me how very very important it is to always endorse puppies papers before selling, no matter how well you think you know people,as it appears that they cant be relied upon to to the responsible thing when it comes to breeding.

Bas has a hot date!

we promised Bas a "hot date" today but it wasnt quite what he expected!!!
He had a visit from John the Semen vet, all the way from Tipperary, http://www.trade-genetics.comand Bas gave a small "donation" which will be winging its way to Canada very very soon!!!

Jumping for joy

Basnicky has now learned to jump the hurdle between the yard and the orchard.....I watched him jump back and forth about 10 times today, seemingly just for the joy of it!!

Another string to his bow.....

Tennant went ferreting for the first time today and took to it very well. Just look at the concentration on the boys faces!! The plan was to bolt the rabbits with ferrets, Andrew to shoot the rabbits and Tennant to bring them back. Well it all went to plan except our usually rabbity hillside has had a wipeout of myxymatosis so there was only one rabbit left. We decided to leave it in the hope it will be joined by some others and start a new colony. Nice view from the hill across Dartmoor!

Bas gets his kit off for a good cause (Im keeping mine well and truly on!)

Bas is "Mr July" for a charity calendar in 2010......raising money for http://www.bada-uk.org/ which is very apt as his sires owner has been very ill from a tick bite, and also raising money for Lurcher rescue. Please note this is NOT ME in the photo (I wish!!).
If anyone wants to purchase one of these fun calendars you are supporting 2 great causes. please send me a message and Ill let you have details on how to buy one.

scooby dooby dooooooo

heres Scooby from our "T" litter, he lives in Wales with 2 newfoundlands.......and is throughly spoiled by his Mom and Dad as you can tell from the photo!! Great to catch up with him and hear all his news.

Dog most like its owner competition?

Just receieved this sweet photo of baily and his Dad, with "Dad" obviously competing for the "dog most like its owner"!!
As much as Id like to think im getting like my dogs....ie lithe and slender and athletic like the deerhounds.......in reality im getting more like the bloodhounds....ie heavy boned, loose skinned, wrinkled, clumsy and snoring a lot!!!

Just had this great photo from one of the pups from our "B" litter......heres Josh after a hard days gardening, with his dad asleep on the sofa!!
The old chestnut of "health testing" has seemingly arisen its head again this week. I would like to point out that here at Farlap we do elbow scoring on all our breeding hounds (KC/BVA scheme) and inline with the high standard I feel needs setting, they are all being hips scored as well. I cannot imagine why breeders feel insulted at being asked to do these two basic health tests, but apparently some are really taking offence!
Bloodhound Rescue: Im shocked to have been sent no less than 5 hounds details, all are languishing in rescue kennels. This is just so terribly sad as we all know how badly bloodhounds fare in such environments, and also theres the worry of who they will be rehomed to. Are there really such irresponsible breeders out there who wont take back the hounds they have bred, and take responsibility for their actions?

Birthday bash

well its been a social whirlwind this week! First the "twins" went to visit their brother harry for the day and party, party, party!!! On arrival there were sausages on sticks....I thought they were for our lunch but no....they were mouthwatering canine cuisine. ....and birthday balloons, which Cinnamon took a real shine to!
Well the girls gave Harry and his big chum Boris, a real run for their money for a few hours.....playing tag on the lawn and romping in the paddock. The piccies show harry having a grand time!
Today it was Watsons turn, and he brought with him his mentor "Barlow" who was less than impressed with the party. However Watson had the time of his life jumping in and out of the stream with his sisters and cousin barvicka, who was the appointed "adult" while we had our lunch.
Watsons mum brough with her, what at 1st glance looked like a large chocolate sponge cake but at 2nd glance (and 1st whiff) was a home made "liver sponge cake". its now hidden away in a cupboard with a queue of hounds sat looking at the closed door in anticipation!
Anyway heres Harry at the party.....it was just too wet today to get pix of watsons visit!

The twins from hell

The twins from hell....aka Candle and Cinnamon, are psyching themselves up for their first of two birthday bashes, tomorrow, with brother Harry. Im just hoping the rain stops and they can all have a blast around Harry's fields to take the edge of them a bit before we have our lunch!! meanwhile we are worried about Mr.T and his strange habits.......this is his latest......wearing the curtains!

Big Brave T.

Poor Mr T........he had to have his microchip done today (I know....better late than never!) but he decided that at best it was going to be agony and at worst, it was likely to be fatal.....and how he squealed and struggled! ive never had even a brief flinch from any of the hounds when they were done, so his reaction to it was rather a shock to all of us!
The other "ginger" in the family....Drizzle......is on "rat" patrol all day and as you can see its made them all very tired this evening!
Had a lovely afternoon yesterday at the Trailfinders, admiring their lovely puppies, and taking Cinammon and Candle for a super walk around the fields with all their pack. Just wish the rain would stop!

Mr T.

The "fabulous Mr T." accompanined me to work at Bridgwater CS show at the weekend, and was entered in the HWVA supportd open show, where he won PGD, and then went on to win "Best Dog" and RBOB. His sister Daisy won PGB, at her 1st ever show....with her new professional handler (AKA Richard). Well done Amirycks on your day out!

C Litter

Approaching their 1st birthday, its been great to hear from some of the "C" litter pups this week.
Baily appears to have had a day at the beach, terrorising the natives (see photo) and Shelly, has been winning "best puppy in show" in Australia....thats our girl! (see moving photo)

Good week, bad week

Last week was fantastic, as I took a trip over to CZR to see "Generous and Astrids" lovely LOVELY puppies. There will be quite a lot more about that soon. heres a little taster of my two favourites.
When I arrived home I took Vivid for her second scan, but sadly the puppies are not there now, so all our hopes for the litter are dashed.
The only thing that looks like a silver lining, is that we hope to mate Barvicka soon, so more about that as and when we know it.
The "C" litter are approaching their 1st birthdays, I cant believe how fast its all going, and how grown up they are. There are already 2 birthday party invites for Candle and Cinnamon so looks like they will have a better social life than us this month!!

Trials and Tribulations

Yesterday saw us off to the BHC working trials, where Cythar was entered in Novice. In the words of the judge at the summing up "Cythar had the bumest of bum lines"!!! I think he was right as scent was almost non existant on our fields.......he hunted the 1st couple f fields but lost the scent and not helped by running into a stone wall at full tilt and nearly knocking himself out! After 15 minutes casting, I decided Cythar was only going to get disillusioned with it all so asked for assistance (ie the map) so i could put him back onto the line and hunt him into his runner, unfortunately the judges assistant wasnt apt at map reading and we ended up way too far left handed to pick up the line at any point or to give Cythar the opportunity to find his runner. i was very disapointed for Cythar, as when all else fails its vital a hound can do the last few yards of a line, and find his quarry, its so important for their confidence.
That aside it was a pleasant day out, and congratulations to David Gore, who was travelling with Cythar and me for the day, on his 2nd place with Emilia.

The good news or the bad news?

Well the good news was that Tennant finally got to his first championship show yesterday (Gundog of Wales) where he was Reserve Best Dog. One proud Mum and granny driving back down the M5!
Here he is looking all proud and handsome for the camera.
The not so good news, was that Vivids scan wasnt so successful. There was possibly 3 or 4 foetus, but really not easy to see and very disapointing.Admitedly I was a little early having it done, so She is having another scan in 12 days when it will be a definite yay or nay!