Sad Times

Well thats Christmas over and done with for another year, and as a non enjoyer of Christmas, it was never going to be much fun.....however this year was particularly sad as we had Farlap Linesman staying with us for a few days , and sadly his diabetes took a turn for the worse and he had to be put to sleep on Boxing Day. He was 12 years old, and a great little character, and will really be missed here and by my Mum, with whom he lived.
The rest of the Christmas period has been rather miserable as the ground thaws out, the mud generates yet more mud, and the hounds get filthy. Our lovely crisp winter walks in the fields are now more like daily mud baths, and so we are hoping the cold smap returns soon. Logic is getting seriously fat, in her last few weeks of pregnancy and like us, is not enjoying the damp muddy conditions.

Relaxing in Style

This great photo arrived from Farlap Constant.....aka"Harry", hes finally learned to share his sofa with his dad!
Meanwhile the farlaps have been enjoing the tiny amount of snow we have had here in Devon, barvicka especially enjoys it!

Aha......there it is!!!

			Bas finally discovers his last sack of World Dog Show prize food!

Mixing business and pleasure!

I had a job in Germany last week, which initially looked a straightforward job, photographing a wild boar shoot in the forests of Rheinland. Howeer as the day drew nearer, one or two strange coincidences started happening, and I was getting to hear tales of bloodhounds being somehow involved in the weekend. So therefore it came as a great and wonderful surprise to discover that the boar hunt I was photographing for a magazine, was actually one that was driven by bloodhounds....and not just ANY old bloodhounds, but two of them were the sons of my very own Generous. What an amazing coincidence.
Now all the bloodhounds I have ever owned, (apart from tolerant who was trained to track wounded deer) have only hunted "clean boot" ie the natural scent of man, and they have never been allowed to hunt "wildlife" so I was very interested to see what would happen.
You cannot begin to imagine the spine tingling sensation you get when 6 adult male hounds start speaking on the line of a wild boar, in the snowy forest hillside, and its echoing right up the valley. So although I always abide by the rule of never mixing business with pleasure, this was one exception I was happy to make!

On our return home, Logic was looking decidedly fatter and most definitely pregnant, so her special pregnancy (puppy building) diet has been started, and her waist is being measured daily!

APPARENTLY THE NEXT PARAGRAPH HAS CAUSED SOME CONTRAVERSY AMONGST A COUPLE OF BREEDERS, WHO SEEM TO IMAGINE I AM TALKING ABOUT THEM OR SOME FRIEND OF THEIRS. SADLY INSTEAD OF ASKING FOR CONFIRMATION, THEY HAVE JUST GONE AHEAD AND PUT A LOAD OF UNPLEASANT COMMENTS ON THEIR OWN WEBSITE OR BLOG ND ASSUMED THAT MY COMMENT IS DIRECTED AT THEM. IF THEY HAD BOTHERED TO ASK ABOUT WHOM I WAS REFERRING THEY WOULD HAVE REALISED ITS MOST UNLIKELY THE PERSON IM WRITING ABOUT IS ANYTHING TO DO WITH THEM (UNLESS THEY HAVE SOME LOW LIFE PALS BREEDING FROM UNREGISTERED BLOODHOUNDS COURSE!)
I STILL MAINTAIN THAT JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN GO TO AN ADDRESS AND BUY A 12 WEEK OLD PUPPY WITHOUT BEING ASKED ANY QUESTIONS, IT IS NOT THE RIGHT WAY TO GO ABOUT IT.

I am trying to fathom out why someone would rather have an "instant puppy" from someone who is a novice in the breed themselves, and (according to the kennel club website anyhow) from nonregistered or health tested parents. Why anyone would do that, when they can go to a breeder who health tests, who has many many years of experience to offer them, who can help them out with all aspects of the breed, whether it be showing or trialling, all for the sake of "wanting it now". I sometimes wonder if people use their brains atall, and whether they actually consider that they have to live with their hasty decisions for many many years to come.

At last some news!

Well the news was good today, the scan showed some puppies all growing magically, so its been a frantic day of emailing puppy waiting list people, to tell them the exciting news. Heres mum and dad-to-be. Photos courtesy of/copyright Carol Anne Johnson, Nick Sutcliffe and Farlap.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

well actually we have had about half an inch here on the edge of Dartmoor, not exactly wintery and white here! However just to prove we had some, heres Basnicky posing on the step in the snow!
Meanwhile, in Cambridgeshire they obviously have considerably more snow, as I had this lovely photo Baily arrive today (Farlap Crofter).

Cover Girl

Looks like someones a cover girl! In a moment of mental block I had it in mind that it was Gerty, but now I have to revise that as its clearly Aust. Champion Farlap Cautious.
Also have to revise my earlier post this week about George in Russia and add to it that he is now a Jumior Russian Champion, so well done George....we are very proud of you!

Farlap Bloodhounds: Go for it george!

Farlap Bloodhounds: Go for it george!

Go for it george!

George (Farlap Guesswork) has continued his winning ways in Russia this weekend with
Best Junior, Junior CAC, Best of Breed, and Group 2!! He also sent me this great photo of him and his proud mum Maria, from the weekend....congratulations Maria and George, Im so pleased for you.
The cold snap has brought its own problems here, with sheet ice in the yard, poor Generous fell over quite badly on Saturday and is now on bed rest and looking sorry for himself.
Tennant has enjoyed the frosty weather though, and had to retrieve a woodcock, a rook and a pheasant all on the same day.
On the "maternity" front, we are just counting the days to the scan date and keeping our fingers firmly crossed (and our toes too!)

Under the knife!

It was a busy week this week with both Vivid and Damson going under the knife. Vivid had a lump removal and was also speyed at the same time, which means for the next 10 days or so, she cant join the rest of the bloodhounds on their daily routine, excercising and "argy- bargy", and she is getting more than her fair share of sofa time right now! Damson our ancient deerhound had to have some rather grotty old teeth removed, which seems to have perked her up no end as well as making life for us more pleasant as her breath was evil before they were removed! Tennant is not taking kindly to having to share his favourite sofa with Vivid as can be seen in the photo!
Logic has now been mated and we must just hold our breath until the scan date to see if there are going to be any bloodhound puppies very soon!

2nd Birthday celebrations

Well it was the "C" litters 2nd birthday this week and I hope they all had a great day and lots of liver cake!! My two celebrated by disappearing off across the fields on the trail or a red deer, with me frantically running (gasping) after them, and eventualy managed to catch up with them, all looking very pleased with themselves, and the deer long gone over the horizon!
Looks like Crofter is a much more sensible boy than my two, here he is with his Dad looking a very proud "Birthday Boy".

Farlap Guesswork (AKA George) went to his 1st shows in Russia this weekend and won :
1st show: JunCAC, Best Junior
2nd show: Jun CAC, Best Junior, Best of Breed,and group 2
3rd show: Best Junio, Junior Club Winner at Special Bloodhound Show
Well done George, what a great way to start your show career!!

Its also the birthday of the C litter, and so we send birthday greetings to all the litter, who are living all across the world, including Mexico and Australia!

On a final sad note, we heard over the weekend, about the death of Farlap Tireless, who had done well at working trials over the years.

is it me??..........

..........or are there some real morons out there these days??
We have had no less than 4 emails this week asking "Do you have bloodhound puppies for sale"?
and these people seem to imagine that they are going to ring up one day and collect a puppy the next! I try to explain (gently as I can!) that there are few and far litters born in the UK, and that those of us who care about the future of the breed and the welfare of the individual hounds, are NOT churning out litter after litter, and having a ready-made stream of puppies available for casual enquirers. They seem surprised when I explain that we want to meet their family, do home checks and ask a lot of questions. Most we never hear from again, and some I see acquire puppies elsewhere, or simply move onto the next breed on their wish list....very few make the visiting stage or the puppy list. One even had the nerve to say I was making it hard for them to get a puppy from me, as if I had nothing better to do with my time.......well yes I was.....they lived in a city with virtually no garden, a tiny baby, and were out most of the day....where exactly would a primitive hunting hound fit into that lifestyle???
Rant over!

Finally!

Finally 3 girls are in season....OK, none of them are the one we actually WANT in season, but hopefully the pack hormones should kick in and she should come into season very soon (fingers crossed).
Meanwhile Ive been doing a bit more training with Flint this week and his aptitude to retrieve rabbits has astounded all of us......we seemed to have skipped the "skin wrapped dummy" stage that comes after the dummy training, and are now at the "fresh game" stage. Hope his enthusiasm to return it to me lasts!

Looking Good!

Heres George (Farlap Guesswork), brother to our Gertrude and Leslie & Michaels Gracie......they are 10 months old now and hes pictured at the side of the lake in his home city of Moscow.

waiting waiting......

and still waiting for Candle and Logic to come into season......any minute now hopefully. I know we have several people all waiting for our next litter of bloodhounds, and so I promise that the moment I can give you some news, I will.....meanwhile you will have to join us in the waiting game!

Trials and Tribulations

What a great day we had at the Bloodhound Trials last week......I decided to only enter Cythar as to be honest Id been pretty slack on the training this autumn and only Cythar had had the hours put in......and he really loves a day out on his own, so off we trundled to oxfordshire.
It was the 1st trials since his accident and I was unsure how he would cope if other hounds or people crowded him, and several times I had to guard him from less considerate owners who allowed their hounds to barrell into him, however he DID cope and more importantly once he got out into the field and started his line, he was as happy as he ever was.He had awful terrain (although the line itself was a simple loop) with dry dusty drilled soil, devoid of any vegetation , for the whole mile long line, but he really worked it and found his runner with a great enthusiastic ID, so I was very very pleased with him, even if he didnt appear in the winners cards.
Flints training is coming on leaps and bounds and we had a vermin control session at the weekend, and he was mighty proud of himself when he made a 1st class retrieve of a tree rat!!!

Panic Over!

Well im glad to report that Ben is safely home in his home in latvia, after his owner had to pay a substantial"ransome" for his safe return. He was hungry and dehydrated, but alive and otherwise unharmed. What a terrible ordeal.
Here in Devon Ive been doing my usual last ditch attempt to feign some kind of fitnes for the forthcoming "bloodhound working trials" and as per usual I am horribly unfit, ill prepared and staggering breathless from field to field with my back on its way out and feeling like Im on my last legs!! Cythar on the other hand is loving all the extra training and doing hour cold lines with relish....lets hope it continues into next week! Damson, despite missing her old friend Envy, is really reliving her youth with Andrews new pup....and his retrieving is coming on leaps and bounds. After the trials I hope to get him onto cold game, but this week Im having to concentrate on Cythars training rather than the puppy's. Whilst going through some old photos I found this one of the two family members we have lost this last month......Henna and Envy who were inseperable, and died within 2 weeks of each other.
Tennant is hopefully going to a show tomorrow and as the shooting season is about to start, and he will probably get rather scratched and marked over the next few months, then it will probably be his last show for the winter. I heard someone say the otherday that, despite buying a working active gundog breed, they had no intention of doing any gundog training with him. How very sad for the dog.

URGENT WARNING IN EUROPE

If you live in Europe and are offered an adult male Black and tan Bloodhound, please let me know.
A black and tan boy has been STOLEN whilst on a walk, in Latvia, and his owner is desperate to find him. We believe he has been stolen to be sold on, and anyone with any sightings or information please get in touch.
We are running a pledge system to help his owner be in a better position to offer a reward for information leading to his safe recovery. if you could spare just a £ or a $, please visit our page here http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Pledge-a-reward-and-help-Inara-get-her-stolen-bloodhound-boy-home/164584066886026?ref=mf
No one needs to send any money at this stage......just to pledge it, should the situation change and a reward is to be paid out at some point. Im sure that people could miss one small open show and pledge their entry fees cost, or maybe go without that bottle of wine and pledge the cost? Just imagine how you would be feeling if it were your bloodhound that had been stolen!

Partners in crime

As usual, the mighty Drizzle is upto no good, and yesterday dug out and killed a mole, with her new partner in crime watching and shouting encouraging words! Here they are, looking decidedly shifty after the event! tennant of course, was having nothing to do with such ruffish behaviour, and took his usual aloof position, where he could watch with disdain.

Lifes a Beach!

Tennant had a few peaceful moments on the beach today, but was soon joined by Flint, the puppy from hell!! You can tell from the look on Tennants face, he is soooooo fed up with him now! However the bloodhounds are still viewing him as potential chase material!

Let Training (or should that be "battle") commence

Flints first training session culminated in him learning "sit" in about 10 minutes and now doing it without hesitation. Im planning on using the same gundog training regime that I used with Tennant, in order to get him (eventually) retrieving live to hand, and although I doubt it will be the "walk in the park" I had with Tennant, he is definitely showing aptitude to learning and wanting to please, so I feel we are off to a great start. He met the horses and sheep, and a cat today, as well as starting on basic dummy work at the weekend. Hes still a bit unsure about the hounds, but adores Tennant and Damson and Drizzle, so fingers crossed for full "pack integration" soon.

Gerty goes for Gold!

Thanks to Nick for these photos of Gerty winning BPIS at the Breed club championship show, and Res CC at Richmond, and also for this nice photo of Bas .

Fate!

It was completely down to fate, working in its very mysterious and bizarre way, that a little man by the name of Flint arrived here 2 days ago. A complicated and unbelievably coincidental story, mixed with a bit of good luck, and a touch of fairy dust!

.........and the weather isnt helping!

After yesterdays miserable day, I was looking forward to getting out across the fields today with the hounds.......we can see right across Dartmoor from here and the view is one that blows away all the cobwebs and makes you forget your troubles for a while......unfortunately its been thick mist and rain all day so that hasnt helped one bit!
On the plus side we had a lovley email from Bailey: well from Baileys' (Farlap Crofter) owners to be precise, and a sweet photo showing that he hasnt grown up atall, and is still a big baby

depressing day

well today has been such a sad day as our youngest deerhound, "Envy" (Rohanis Aoife of farlap) was put to sleep following a series of fits and convuslsions ending in a coma and a hopeless recovery.
RIP Envy

getting ready

The shooting season is almost here and Tennant has been getting his eye in and toning up in preparation, by going up to the release field with "daddy" and doing some poult watching!
I had a trip to Richmond Champ show and the ABB champ show this week...and foundjudging at both to be "strange" to say the least! (Best to say the least on such ocassions I find) Nothing was stranger than Farlap Gertrude, undeservedly in my opinion, being "Best puppy in breed" at both shows, and the res CC at Richmond.......like I said......VERY strange!

Pifle and Tripe!

Andrew was left in charge of the hounds today whilst I had to go on a job, and having slaughtered a rather nice steer yesterday he had the tripe on the boil in the Boiler when I arrived home this evening. As you can see from this photo, all the hounds are keeping very close eyes on the tripe being cooked!!!

Day tripper

Today I had a small job on the Somerset borders so decided to tie it in with a visit to my friends Eric and Chris, who own Farlap Constant (Harry). I took Gerty (aka dirty Gerty) and Isabel with me, to play with Harry, and they had a fabulous time romping in the garden and fields.

Rain and yet more rain

Will it ever end?! Finally we had a dry afternoon and the hounds managed to enjoy a few hours sunshine in the garden, after a rather windswept walk. Gravity our old lady, has hated the damp weather as it plays havoc with her arthritis......so she enjoyed the sunshine more than most today.
(see her in photo). The girls are all segregated for a few more days as 2 are in season.....Isabelle the "new girl" is happy to play with everyone and enjoy the scrum sessions! (shes the one on the front right).

Congrats down under and here

Well done to Australian Champion Farlap Cautious, and Steve, on their Best in Show Win at the weekend. (see both photos)
Also well done to Farlap Baracnik on winning res CC at Welsh Kennel Club at the weekend.
Meanwhile our lovely lovely new baby Issy is having to cope with torential rain, something she is quite unaccustomed to, and it also means that ive yet to get any nice photos of her! She is having a couple of (hopefully) lovely trips out this week, to visit friends, so Im hoping that the sun will shine and she can finally enjoy the UK summer!

At loooooooong last.......

Isabelle is here! We had a lovely stay with our fabulous friends in CZR as always, and brought Issy home with us. As you can see, she loved sleeping in the van and sharing our air bed, as well as her very 1st visit to the seaside (Belgium near Oostende). Shes settled straight into the pack without a cross word from anyone, and acts like she has always been here. What a credit to Lenka and all the wonderful care she has given her in her 1st year.

Right Dog......

and here she is....Isabelle Guerin Roborovski with her breeder Lenka, becoming a Polish Junior Champion at the weekend.

Wrong Dog!

Well heres another photo of Tennant....but the news is about Issy!! (just waiting for a n updated photo of Issy so this one will have to act as a stand in!).
Anyhow, I digress...............Issy went to the Polish national Championship show yesterday and won Junior bitch and then Best Of Breed, and this made her a Polish Junior Champion!! What a great way to end her current run of shows in Europe. I hope this snippet of news keeps our regular (almost nightly it would appear!) visitor upto date. I had no idea that Farlap Bloodhounds were of such interest to some folk!