Merry Christmas!!!

Due to being "iced in" since the weekend, and unable to get out of Axworthy, even in the landrover(!!), there is no post/mail going in or out of here all week so there will be rather a lot of folk not getting their Christmas Cards this year.....so please accept our apologies and this online card in lieu.

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!

Tail of Woe

Poor Candle has a broken tail and is not a happy girl. At first we thought it was "limber" tail, as we have had that in the past after "rough and tumble" however a painful swelling, and a trip to the vet for an xray, told us otherwise. Hopefully it will mend itself.
I have had a number of emails via the ABB website this week, and would like to remind those who do not already know it, that I am no longer on the ABB committee, as I resigned a few months ago.
Please do not contact me regarding ABB matters, as I do not have , nor do I wish to have, any contact with the committee members, so your messages will remain unanswered.

greetings from Denmark

had some great photos from Henrik in Denmark today.......hes such a sweet boy. Here he is with his toys! Another Farlap who carries everything around with him!

sun, sea and sand

Mr T. really is our "little crock of gold"....hes such a good boy. i had to work away over the weekend, and as hes getting so stressed by the in season hound girls, decided to take him with me.
He endured a boring saturday but an early finish meant we had a free afternoon....so we went to Weston Super mare beach......no donkeys but lots of sand!!! he discovered kite surfing....he thought it was great fun to watch, and despite the wind turning his ears inside out, loved every minute of it!
my favourite pic is him sat under the rainbow!
He spent saturday night snoring his head off on the sofabed in the travelodge!

Queen Vivid

Vivid has decided that she is definitely superior to everyone else, and uses our outside table like a throne, to view her fellow hounds!
Catching up on some past reading matter, I was amazed to read comments about puppy lists and how someone was annoyed that another breeder had sold a pup to a person on "their" puppy list......hmmm....stones and glass houses come to mind!!!

Mr T's day out

Mr T accompanied me to work at Cornwall Gundog Show today........He had a great time in the scurry and posing by the lake!

Puppy News

Another great photo from Bailey,taking his daily excercise on the garden trampoline!!
plus news from Australia where Farlap Cautious, who is jointly owned with Steve Thomas has had some more great wins.
At lake Macquarie championship show she went best Minor Puppy in show, she managed the same at the Northern region NSW championship show....twice (there were two shows on the same venue) and best MP in show at the Combined northern CC Championship show. Well done little girl.

Bad Boy Bailey

Oh dear, Baileys done it again!Bailys owners sent us these pix of Baily in trouble again (I believe hes been renamed Captain Chaos).....but how can you resist that sweet face??!! Previously known here on the blog, for his alcoholic tendencies,when hes not on the trampoline, or sniffing the lavender......hes helping to rearrange the soft furnishings.
Today has been spent meeting a lovely family who had spent some time trying to find a bloodhound breeder who cares about health testing, and breeding bloodhound puppies for the right reasons. I hope they enjoyed their visit, meeting the hounds, taking them in the field and generally getting jumped on and dragged about........judging by theeir faces I think they did! it will be great to see them again in a few weeks time....they may have been able to get the slobber off by then!

Confirmed!

Delighted to receive a certificate from the KC today to confirm Logic is officially a Champion! Also great to have an advert courtesy of Royal Canin (thankyou) in Dog World.
Had news today from Watson, one of her puppies. His tally for items either eaten or destroyed , is mounting weekly...including numerous pairs of glasses, tv remotes, and three pairs of shoes. OOps!

Trouble with a capital T (or D)

We have ( had) a lovely pond.....2 levels, cascading water, fountain, marginal plants......you get the scene. occasionally the hounds would wade in it and upset a few frogs and reeds but nothing too serious. That all changed at the weekend when I heard WW3 breaking out in the garden. I went up there to discover a rat had burrowed through the wall, behind the pond liner, and it was closely followed by Drizzle the terrier! next thing I know, the whole pondliner has been trashed, all the water escaped, and Drizzle is in hot pursuit, trashing the liner as she goes. Looking at this photo of her after the digging had finished, butter wouldnt melt!
On a more positive note, we had a good mating today between Vivid and Cythar so are hoping for a good result.

nothing better to do in work time jill?

Tis the season to be jolly.......

Actually, its not" jolly" right now....3 girls in season, all hormonal and stroppy....and 5 boys all going crazy!!
For poor Candle its her 1st season and shes decided that its given her a superior position over her sister Cinnamon. She is a right madam! Here she is looking superior lying on the lawn and again stood in front of cottage.
Likewise Vivid takes "seasons" very seriously, and this is probably just as well as we are hoping to mate her next week. Here she is (bottom photo)posing in the garden!

Calendar Boys!

we are delighted that the famous browntrout calendars, are including three of our boys on their 2010 bloodhound calendar. F. Basnicky and Fergus (CH. Thankful) are the "February Boys" and Cythar Ivaliruz Farlap, is the handsome Mr April!

Sunshine

Today has been the first really nice sunny day in weeks, and the hounds have been sunbathing all day, soaking up the rays. heres a few shots from around the garden.From the top: Cythar, our gorgeous Czech boy, and the father of Candle and Cinnamon, Gravity (who is hiding in her favourite place....bum in the bush and watching everyone else!) and Bas, taking care of his Mother Tarnish, and also in his usual sitting position, like Lord of the Manor!

Disapointed

It was a disapointing day today. I was due to take F. Basnicky, F. Candle, and Logic to Richmond Championship show. However 2 days ago it was clear that Logics season was getting closer, and then yesterday Candle decided to start hers, then finally last night in the field, bas and his sister had a "mid-air-collision" resulting in him getting knocked into a ditch and hurting his leg.
hes pretty much back to normal tonight but certainly wasnt up to going to a show today. I dont think ive ever had all the hounds entered, unable to go before!
I was also meant to be collecting 6 sacks of dog food from David Gore, having been the successful bidder in the ABB aution at the weekend, and had to cancel that as well!
Talking of David, if anyone wants to see how a good judges critique should look, I suggest they read his write up from paignton Show. I wasnt entered so cannot be considered bias....it was just a superbly written critique, one of the best I have ever read, and there are many many experienced judges out there who could learn a lot from it.
Farlap Curate is off to the Expocan in Mexico tonight, for Mexicos biggest Dog Show circuit, so good luck to him! Hopefully his show weekend will be better than ours!

have you seen these bernese mountain dogs in devon ?

TWO BERNESE MISSING FROM WHIMPLE, DEVON EX5 2PP

I have just been informed that two Bernese bitches went missing from their home sometime before midday today, Tuesday 8th September 2009.
The two bitches were left in a garden considered to be secure. The garden gate was shut when the owner discovered the bitches were gone, there was no sign of forced entry and no sign of an escape route.

Jazz is 3 years old.
Ellie is 6 months old and described as small and very lame.
Neither are wearing collars but are thought to be microchipped (that is not confirmed)
Both are friendly and will likely approach strangers and dogs.
All the usual local agencies are being alerted.
Please report any sightings to Louise Oakaby on 07807 977138 or her landline 01404 822655
If unable to contact the owner contact Jude at Bernese Welfare UK on 01787 371940

A shining light

Heres farlap Candle...finally managed to get an up to date piccy (Thanks to Pearce Photographic)
taken at 9 months old.

Gratulace!

Well Done Astrid, she and Generous have produced 12 lovely puppies in CZ. photos to follow soon.

hard work being a hound

Heres Farlap Charity....aka Bobbi....showing how hard it is being a growing puppy with her young owner. Its so important to have good temperaments in such a large forceful breed like ours......and we are very proud of the temperament in our breeding, and place a lot of importance on it.
For more info on Farlap Bloodhounds visit the website www.farlapbloodhounds.com

Just for youNicky

Just for Nicky, I have updated Tarnish's photo! :))) http://www.farlapbloodhounds.com/section63657_32260.html

3rd show lucky

Today was Welsh Kennel Club Championship Show....only Candles 3rd show......we were so thrilled that she won PB. best Puppy and Res CC all at 9 months old. She was a real star and loved her day out. photo to follow soon.
On a sadder note we were so sad and upset to hear that one of our lovely foster puppies....Otis (our favourite) was tragically killed (RTA) 3 days ago. His new owners are distraught and all our thoughts are with them at this horrible time.

Daddy smells of Penguins!

Farlap Charity's (Bobbi) owner is back at last! Heres a couple of pix of the little girl when he stepped on Blightys shores again. Hopefully the real training will start now, and cant wait to hear about her career. meanwhile shes obviously taken to a keep fit regime on the trampoline!

hes scored!

Good news today from the BVA, we had hip and elbow scores back for Farlap Basnicky, he has elbows 0-0 and hips 5-8.
This is an essential part of our ongoing healthy breeding policy. heres Basnicky (right) and Ch. F. Generous (left)

HPR Working Test......

Tennant and I went to our first working test as competetors on Saturday..... it was certainly different to my usual days at tests when Im behind the camera!
Overall it wasnt too bad an effort although incredibly frustrating as Tennant proves time and time again that he CAN do simple puppy level tests.......he just wasnt going to do them too well at the event! Here he is (left) with his full sister Daisy (right) and his half sister Skarlett (middle). 3 nice Brokk Babies!

Mexico

News in from Mexico today.......Farlap Curate (known as Dominic) lives there with Guillermo and karla...and much to my amusement he has got himself a professional handler! The photo of him on the grooming table beggars belief....if I put one of mine up there they would bring it crashing down and probably break a leg or two in the melee! Goes to show that you CAN train them if you have to! Having said that, you only have to lok at the pix of him rolling on the floor with "Daddy" to see he has retained his typical clownish Farlap behaviour!!
Anyway at the tender age of 8 months hes been to his 1st shows....hes still areal baby and has lots of growing and developing to do yet, but his training is going well and he won Best Puppy in breed and group 2....so well done Dom!