A little good cheer at last

The last couple of weeks have brough much sadness to us, starting with the terrible road accident in Denmark that killed our friends Jens and Lise. They first came into our lives  6 years ago when they were looking for a  red puppy, and they came twice from Denmark to our home to meet the hounds, and eventually they were the proudest owners of Henrik, a sweet red boy from our first "B" litter.
We kept in touch regularly and met up again for the World Show in Denmark a couple of years later, where we enjoyed a few wonderful days. Jens was such a tall guy, and our  cottage has low ceilings so he never could stand up straight here, and this amused him. He was fiercely proud of his Danish heritage so we renamed him our "Viking".....he rather liked that! Lise was the sweetest kindest lady you could meet, always so knowlegable about hounds, and their pedigrees, always a kind, warm, gentle character, who adored her bloodhounds so much. With the advent of facebook it made keeping up to date with each other and our hounds, very easy, so we were often chatting and swapping photos of the hounds, and only a few days before the accident Id been speaking to Lise about her having her next red boy from our planned litter. Sadly that will never be. I know its been the most terrible shock and loss to the Danish bloodhound community.

The next sadness was hearing the death of Billy idol Roborovski, in Czech. He was the son of Ch. Farlap Generous, and brother to our Isabelle and I know his owners are devastated at losing him in the peak of his life, to the dreaded torsion. Sad times.

HOWEVER, just to send some cheer on these gloomy cold days, we had more news from george (Ch Farlap Guesswork) who was exhibiting at Moscows prestigious "Golden Collar" event, and went on to win best of Breed and Champion of Breed. Поздравляю!!!

Winning East to West

Last weekend saw two Farlaps on their travels again. Firstly Farlap Guesswork (aka George) who lives in Moscow, went to Russias Internation Dog Show and won CACIB. Here he is with his handler Nikolay, looking fantastic.

George is officially Farlap Guesswork Russian Jun Ch, Russian Ch, Russian Grand Ch, Jun World Winner, European Winner, Jun Club Ch, Club Ch, RKF CH!!

On a slightly smaller scale we went to the Bloodhound Club show on Sunday and baby Festive won best Puppy in Show as well as Best Bitch, so very pleased with her, especially as it was cramped and crowded in the hall, and she was unphased by it all. Thanks to Ev Burnside for sending me this photo.

Away Days

Ive had a couple of lovely "away days" over the last fortnight. I went up to the Bloodhound Club Working trials last weekend, spending the night at Elsenham Court with Josh, Silas and Ezra, three Farlap boys who live there with their mum. It was a real joy to spend time with them, and they probably have the best life of any hounds I know!  Silas is a larger than life character who likes nothing more than waving to his fans. (see video!) Unfortunately Gerty didnt have a particularly successful line at the trials, and on returning to our vehicle, someone had tried to break my windscreen so we limped home and missed the rest of the day. Nice that so many people offered to help .

This week I had a visit to Harry and Bertie, two more Farlap boys, and spent a lovely afternoon walking around their fields with Forager and Festive as well. Harry (Farlap Constant) is litter brother to Candle and Cinnamon and hes like a black and tan clone of Candle!

will it ever stop raining?

The endless rain is driving me nuts.....the lawn is like a paddy field and the trickling stream overflows and roars across the yard every other day. The hounds never get time to dry out between downpours and im sure they are developing webbed feet!! We should have been at the trials last week with gerty, but unfortunately at the last moment something happened that meant I need to stay home and prepare for a short trip away, and I was unable to get to trials. Disapointing as this was, IM glad to say that other "farlaps" kept the side up with Farlap Baracnik at Moorlander and his owner/handler Fiona, coming third in Novice and Farlap bargain with Pete, getting a COM. So proud of both of them and thanks for this photo of Bargain.

On one of the rare days the rain eased a little, we did some training with Festive whose a real natural at tracking and a pleasure to work......shes almost up to novice lines now so hope she will go for her permit in the New year. Here she is working through some maize. She didnt believe me when we first entered the crop, as you can see from her expression!






Weve had a few visitors over the last few weeks: all people who are interested in owning a bloodhound and wanting to find out a bit more about the breed first hand.......its really the only way to be sure if they are going to fit in with your lifestyle. This liver trio were the welcoming committee!! (front is Farlap Cinnamon, middle is Pol. Ch Isabelle Guerin Roborovski and rear is Ch Farlap Candle.

In at the deep end!

Its been a busy few weeks here, with lots of training for the forthcoming bloodhound working trials with Gerty (Farlap gertrude), plus even more training with Forager for his role with K9 search dogs.

However there was one thing that wasnt hard for any of them to find, when earlier this week an angus heifer (thats a "cow" to non farming folk!) arrived on the lawn. Now I had always thought the hounds could inflict a lot of damage to the garden but believe me its NOTHING compared with 700kg of walking beefburger, cantering over your lawn!! After a few laps around the orchard, the greenhouse, the front yard and the roses, we finally persuaded her back to her field!

Forager did some search training on the moor this week andwe came across a gorgeous pond, so after his work we had a bit of playtime in the water, but he really didnt take to swimming atall,prefering to paddle in the shallows and pose on the edge.

Back on Track!

After the bad experience for Festive at WKC, it was a certain amount of trepidation that I took her to a small local open show....only 400 dogs, held at a local showground. Despite a rather grumpy beagle having a pop at her (and again, not her fault!!) she was brave and happy, and managed to win Best NSC puppy, resBOB in NSC, and Puppy group 2, so I was immensley proud of her. Shes just like her mother was at this age though....completely unruly on the move and leaping and jumping with joy all the way around the ring! So feeling spurred on by this we went offto Richmond Championship show, where she was 2nd in the puppy class, and I was quite pleased with that, as shes still so raw. Her litter sister Florence came third, so again that was a satisfactory result. Baffle managed 2nd in limit dog and Cinnamon 3rd in Open bitch, so nothing to write home about, but all behaved well so it was all good experience for this young team. With trials season looming, ive been spurred intoa action to do some training with Gerty........poor poor Gerty, not only does she have to do 90% of the work, she also has a huge anchor flaiing about on the end of the leash (ie me!!) I MUST get her sheep permit done asap as Im simply holding her back and slowing her down.

For those who have been following Foragers progress, he had a photo call for his press release for K9 Search Dogs, so thought Id include a couple of the photos. hes such a poser!
Finally news just in from Germany: Farlap Bran went to the St Hubert show in belgium where he got third in a well filled class of males. Two very very proud owners, Robert and Christine......well done!!

Welsh Woe

Well off  we went toWales to the WKC show, and it was baby Festives first show ever. On arrival she was meeting and greeting everyone and loving every moment, and  I was looking forward to taking her in the ring, as she was full of confidence. however just as we entered the ring she was launched at by an agressively behaved bystanding hound, and was completely terrified. After that she was so scared that everything was going to attack her, it was fruitless, and her first day out was ruined. The only saving grace was that after a nice long walk around the show ground, after her class,she regained some confidence and was wagging her tail again.....sadly her confidence in being approached by unknown bloodhounds has been completely knocked by this experience.  Kitty took this nice photo of her posing in the garden today.....what a shame her chance to pose in Wales was ruined :(((( .

She will be doing some trailing training this weekend, and that should cheer her up a litte bit.

Long Time No See!

Ive been particularly remiss about updating the blog this last month. its not because very little has been happening, but more because LOTS has been happening and I dont seem to have found the time to sit down and catch up with my blog! So "Sorry" to those who I know follow with interest to see whats been going on. Ill try to fill in a few gaps!

Firstly its "Happy Birthday" to Vivid.......our oldest hound now, since dear old Fergus died. Here she is on her eighth birthday....still fit and trim and enjoying life to the full as you can see from the video clip Ive added.
As the weather has not been too warm, weve been able to get a lot of training in over the last three weeks, and that includes Festive with her trailing, which is going very well, and also Forager with his training with the K9 Search Dog group.

This week sees the very first show for Festive so weve been doing a little bit of show training with her.....but shes such a live wire its not been too successful so Im hoping its not too embarassing at the show! Isa is still patiently waiting for her hip/elbow scores to come back......we are hopeful they will be good and she can enjoy a maternity break in the not too distant future. As you can see shes pretty chilled about life! (photo above) and now weve started clearing out the old pond shes discovered its a good place for a snooze!

Vivid has also been busy posing alongside Cinnamon and Shelley (in Australia) for an international bloodhound calendar. Shes on the cover of the 2013 calendar as well as appearing alongside 6 other Farlap hounds throughout the years photos.
Last and not least.....all my hounds are now be back in the name of Miss S Clark for the purpose of shows and trials etc, and not in the name of Mrs S Sutcliffe.......I really dont want to be associated with the name any longer.

Life's a Beach!

The pups had a great time at the beach this week although not as brave as their brother in Switzerland who swims happily in the mountain lake, my two are still at the paddling stage! here they are having great fun and enjoying puppyhood to the full.

Baffles trip to Windsor

Farlap Baffled won the res Dog CC at Windsor today. Thankyou to Kitti Kilian from Agria Dragon Kennels for this nice photo of him winning.

Good news and bad news

First the bad news......our beloved Fergus passed away quietly in his sleep two days ago.
Fergus (CH. marksbury Thankful at Farlap ShCM) was a one in a million dog. Firstly he was 100% a gentleman. he never had a quarrel in his life and always behaved perfectly....well apart from when he peed in the judges handbag at Crufts, but we are prepared to overlook that!
He came to us originally because his frst home didnt work out, and it was love at first sight. I had never liked red hounds until he arrived, and he changed everything. Aprt from being a real gent at home and a pleasure to live with, he was also successful in the show ring and as an influential sire. We only allowed him to sire two litters, and his first litter produced the top winning bloodhound bitch Ch Marksburt Wistful who famously won the hound group at Crufts. however for me his finest moment was winning BOB himself at Crufts in 2006, specially as some American hound had come over to compete and had had a huge amount of hype from the television and press as to how it was "unbeatable". Fergus proved them wrong!!!   After that win, the American kennel Club gave me a lifesized cardboard cut out of the American dog to keep as a souvenir, (I guess they didnt want to take it back to the USA with them after Crufts was over) and everytime Fergus came into my office where the cut-out lives, he would cock his leg against it in complete defiance!! he certainly had a great sense of humour!

Fergus also enjoyed trialling and we had many happy hours hunting the clean boot. His GGG Grandchildren are now following in his foot steps and we hope they will make him proud. He was also the first, and I believe the only bloodhound to ever achieve a Show Certificate of merit (ShCM).

On the plus side of the week, we had this lovely photo from Winnies owners showing how she has started her tracking career up in Scotland already, plus,

Kitty Killian from the well known Hungarian Bloodhound and Australian shepherd  kennel  AGRIA DRAGON has arrived here for her second year with us, and will be helping with the handling for the summer shows.

They NOSE what to do!

The last few weeks has seen all sorts of training going on here. Forager is a few weeks into his training as a K9search dog, and really loving it.....more on that shortly. Today we decided to get Festive started on her tracking career (mantrailing) and she was in harness for the first time which didnt bother her atall, and then went on to hunt three short lines in the field, following Andrews scent, so we were very pleased with that.She showed a lot of enthusiasm and drive, so we hope that she will really love her work. (despite her rather grumpy expression in the photo!!)

We are delighted to be part of the newly formed organisation "K9search Dogs", and that Forager has started his quite intensive training. Its hoped that Baffle will also start his training in the summer. The K9Search Dogs website will be live very soon, so more on that in a future blogpost. Heres Forager posing for his official team portrait!

Another pupdate

The warm weather this week has meant the hounds have been basking in the garden for much of the day, and the puppies have been allowed out with all the big chaps at the same time (under supervision!) Bas had a few things to tell his son "Forager" and a clout round the ear made him listen to his Dad! meanwhile Candle is slowly getting back into condition after the puppies. She lost all her coat at one point and looked terrible, but her hormones appear to be settling again and her coat is just gorgeous now. Like the others, shes making the most of the sunbathing weather! Forager who has proven quite apt at carpentry and tree surgery, has now taken up plumbing!

Another proud moment

It was another proud moment for the "C" litter when we received this photo today of Farlap Curate winning the group. I think he is the the nicest hound Ive bred so far, and Im immensley proud of Karla and her family for giving him such a wonderful life as part of her family, as well as the opportunity to go to shows across the Americas.

Bloodhound Training Day in Devon

We are putting on a Bloodhound Training Day (working) on May 26th for The Bloodhound Club.
If you would like to attend with your hound please either print off the form below, and email back to me, or alternatively send me an email with all the relevant info on it before May 22nd please.

New owners and their hounds will be very welcome, and the day will cater for all ages of hound, from  baby puppies up to veteran, but the training will only be to Novice level so no lines will be longer than one mile. There will be permit testing and stock testing and stock training (sheep) if required. All need prebooking though please. Please contact me if you have any questions.

Puppy dog tails........

Well the pups have just had their 12 week old birthday, and weve been inundated with fantastic photos from their new families. Heres some of my favourites, and it just goes to show how well they get on with children. Starting at the top is Florence in Sussex (with her older half sister Blissful), then theres two of Frederik in Switzerland, with his young handler, and finally Winnie (Faithful) relaxing with Millie.

We also had updates from two "Old timers" this week. Sad to report that Amber from the "G" litter died peacefully from old age, at her home in the Isle of Wight. Her brother who is at the same home, is however getting along OK. Then there was news from Italy, of Gambit,  who is also from the "G" litter and apart from the odd old-age creaks, hes doing really well, having taken his owners by complete surprise, and learning to jump the fence into the strawberry patch and steal all the fruit!! Who says you cant teach old dogs, new tricks!?

Cinamons day out

Yesterday was a day of two halves. The first tinged with a little sadness as we waved Winnie (Farlap Faithful) off to her new home in Scotland, with her lovely new family. The second half of the day was a little better, as we went off to WELKS championship show, where Cinnamon won Open Bitch and the bitch CC. This was her first big championship show, and there was lots for her to take in and she dealt with it extremely well, so I was immensley proud of her. At this same show, both the Basset and the Bulldog CC winners, decided they would not challenge for BOB, as a stand of solidarity against the KC's discriminatory new regulations, an action I wholeheartedly agree with, as do almost every other person Ive spoken to about it. Therefore I did not wish to challenge for BOB. However, sadly the dog CC winner was not prepared to show unison on the matter and wanted to challenge, and as there was not time to find out the exact rules, and whether a BOB could still be awarded if only one winner was present, I felt that I had to compete, VERY reluctantly. To say I was disapointed at this lack of unison in the breed, over something as trivial as a BOB, is an understatement, and Id like to thank the many people who have since been in touch to say they felt the same. Extra congratulations to the Basset CC winner who is also a bloodhound exhibitor......Im glad there is another bloodhound person with backbone.

I couldnt get a photo yesterday, so heres Cinnamon pictured in February. photo courtesy of and copyright of Ev Burnside.

Here, there, and everywhere

Well its been a very action packed week. Tuesday saw us packing the campervan up, and heading off to Europe, via Hertfordshire, where our first port of call was to Elsenham, to deliver young Fender (now known as Moses!) to a very delighted Christine. He tucked into his dinner on arrival, greeted his two Uncles Joshua and Silas (litter brothers to Basnicky) and settled down to sleep without a murmur.

We crossed on the Eurotunnel and drove to our favourite Belgian woods where we have camped oh so many times, and the next day we drove on to Guidos in Germany. Claudia and a contingency from "Swiss Missing" arrived in the morning and Freddy met his future work mates, Basco and Meyer who had also come along for the ride. Farlap Bran (known to many as "Brian"!) and his owners Robert and Christine also arrived, and we did a couple of lines in the roads and fields and forest around the farm, before we had to say a sad farewell to Frederik, as he drove off to start his exciting new life in Switzerland. It was great to see Bran looking so good, and working so well, and we look forward to catching up with them all a bit later in the year. Photos show Frederik enjoying his road trip, Frederik and Claudia having a cuddle in our camper, and Bran keeping watch from the back of his truck.

Time to reflect

 Helping with the gardening

 Do I look cute?

I used to be able to get through this gap!

The devil puppy.

                                                            Spot of gardening

 Always useful if you can gather firewood for the winter

                                           



                                             Catch me if you can!


AS you can see from the 7 week photos, the puppies are growing in size and getting more and more agile. They bring nothing but laughter to our home on a daily basis, but we know that all too soon they will start to leave us, starting with Fender and Frederik next week. Sad times ahead, but we know they are going to great homes and we will have lots of contact with them and their new families. On an even sadder note this week has seen two losses in the bloodhound world. Firstly Sally Denton who used to own "Robinswood" bloodhounds, and from whom my first bloodhound Robinswood Undercover came from, and secondly yesterday the devastating loss of my dear friend Helen Powell, who lived just a few miles away and who leaves her husband Dave and beautiful Trailfinder hounds behind. What a loss for us all.