Congratulations are in order

I hear that Farlap Baračník won the CC and BOB at WELKS, so well done to him and his owner Fiona. I also hear that he was reserve Best In Show at the Bloodhound Clun open show last week, again well done!
Meanwhile Gerty and george had a calendar modelling assignment today, so here they are posing their hearts out!

Show girl

Couldnt resist a little training session today with Gerty, in the sunshine/garden. Initially I tried with George but he had other ideas, but have to say Gerty was really very good about it all!
Had a lovely email from gracies new owners.....souunds very much as if she already has the other hounds where she wants them and by the end of the weekend I reckon the humans will also be towing the line!

.......and then there were two.............

yes its true....we waved a tearful goodbye to Gracie today, as she went off with her new owners.
gracie has gone to live with Alfie, another bloodhound.....oh and a few bassets too....and Im sure it wont be long before she has them all wrapped around her little paw.......shes a real prima donna and I reckon poor Alfies in for a tough time!!
Meanwhile George is still waiting (see photo!) for the airlines to get their act together so he can fly off to his new home in Moscow....hopefully another week and everything will fall into place.
This weekend is WELKS championship show........I couldnt see any reason to enter the hounds, but have decided that Tennant should have a day out with "granny karen" and also meet up with his daddy "Brokk" which will be exciting. Meanwhile hes intent on pointing the hen pheasant that has suicidal tendencies by trying to lay her eggs in our pond!

it was CASH we wanted from Iceland.......not ASH....

....and so still we cant get George on the plane yet. Next week hopefully, if normality returns! Nevermind, hes loving the sunny weather in Devon, and giving us all a lot of pleasure with his antics.
Gerty has now learned how to scale the puppy gate between their bedroom and the kitchen. Usually the pups are at least 4 months before they master this so obviously our Gerty is way ahead of herself! gracie mnaged to fall down the bank in the garden yesterday, giving her mum and me a fright but she picked herself up and was back to normal within seconds so no harm done. They met their 1st cow today......it was the other side of the garden hedge and stuck its head in to have a look at the puppies. Gerty had to bark at it....Gracie pretended it wasnt there and Gorgeous George didnt even notice it!

mr sexy

Tennant has decided to make himself as sexy as possible, knowing there are now 4 girls in season and so here he is in his "come and get me" pose. Very fetching!

from Russia with love.......just not quite yet!

Poor george has had his flight to Russia cancelled due to the volcanic ash. Its so disapointing for his new owners, we just hope that he gets rescheduled very soon. The biggest problem now is that the nice new travel box we bought him will most likely be too small by the time he flies so we will have to buy another one the next size up.....they grow so fast!
Gracie goes off to her lovely new home next week, I think she will give her owners a huge amount of fun although I think their other bloodhound may be in for a major shock when she arrives like a whirling dervish! here she is looking like butter wouldnt melt....but.....believe me shes the smart one of the 3 and definitely calculating something!!!

You're collared!

The pups wore their new collars for the 1st time this week We dont keep collars on hounds atall at home, partly because of the danger, partly because they would eat them and partly because of the problems it can cause their necks.....however....the pups have to learn about collars so on their afternoons in the garden, under strict supervision, they have been wearing collars. the reactions have been hilarious and oh so typical of their individual characters. George who is sooooo laid back, just sits like a statue and refuses to move. His record today was 20 minutes! Gracie, who is so "precious" decided she didnt like the webbing one but would tolerate the leather one. I have no idea why! Gerty, in her typical fashion, didnt even notice she was wearing one and continued to terrorise all the others as if nothing was different!

he weighs HOW MUCH??

Had to weigh George today for his travel box for the airline......when I told them he weighed 15kg today and that he would probably be 18kg by the day of his flight there was a stunned silence.....and then the sound of forms being ripped up........think they might have to re calculate!!
Hes formed a great friendship with Tennant and follows him every where.
meanwhile Gerty continues to be into everything, today she discovered the old saucepan we use to measure out the chickens food and thought it was worth investigating. Gracie, as usual, is on the go and running around at every opportunity with her ears flying!

The count down has started

We finally have the flight confirmed for George, so now the count down has started to his big day!!
They have all been enjoying the gorgeous spring sunshine today, especially gerty who has found an old rope in the fgarden and taken posession.
Poor Tennant unsuccessfully tried to hide in the bush so the puppies wouldnt spot him. Meanwhile Gracie is trying to master the steps!

A Royal winner!

Our 1st Royal winner! Well done to Farlap Cautious on winning BOB at the Sydney Royal Show in Australia. Good luck in the groups at the weekend!Well done especially to Shaylee on handling Cautious so superbly, and on her big win in the Junior handling this weekend!
Thanks to Michael Trafford www.traffordphotos.com for allowing me to use this photo of her.

8 weeks and growing fast

The pups were 8 weeks old at Easter, and are growing rapidly! Tennant was feeling a bit left out with the pups having their photos taken all the time, so we had to include him in at least one!