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!

Gracie the supermodel

Gracie was the only one who was well behaved enough today, to sit sweetley in a basket for a calendar photo shoot. her naughty siblings were more interested in getting out of the basket and then tipping it over and dragging it about the room!!
Meanwhile "Uncle" Tennant patiently tolerates the puppies!

6 weeks and counting!!!

Well the pups are now 6 weeks old and getting very lively. Their daily trips around the garden now include George mountaineering on the walls much to Barvickas horror!!
Heres George (Farlap Guesswork) and Gerty (Farlap Gertrude) out in the rain today.

What we have to look forward to

For those who thought it was funny to hear a 3 week old Gerty snoring in an earlier video.....you can now see how she has progressed, at 4.5 weeks, and get an idea of what we have to look forward to when she grows up. Ear plugs are on order!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8B4XZ5L9oA
Meanwhile she did manage to wake up later in the afternoon, and the pups had their very 1st outing into the big wide world.....well....into their garden anyhow! Here they are, taking it all in their stride, with Tennant taking over all supervising duties!

New Farlap Champion

Congratulations to Steve and Shaylee on getting Farlap Cautious to be an Australian Champion (subject to KC confirmation). We are so proud.

Heres the latest video of the three pups, enjoying their toys.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMILblrdCQo

The three Muskateers

As usual its a "sleeping" photo, but its the only time the three of them stay still long enough, and with my bad back I can't be crawling around on the floor trying to get them to sit still. For "awake" photos you will just have to look at the videos!

The best toys.................

are the boxes they come in!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp0DqqtfhOs

weight watchers

The pups are growing so fast now that they have outgrown the scales!
Today was another milestone, in that they had the "pig rails" safety bars removed from their bed, the front of the bed removed, and the freedom of the puppy room was theirs for the taking!
it also means that finally I get to slepp in my own bed, after a month on the camp bed next to them.They made the most of it by running about for 20 minutes like mad excited puppies....then crashed out in a big heap snoring their heads off.
This morning at 5am George and grace managed to climb out of the puppy bed, onto my duvet, and arrived licking my face, so pleased to see me. As im completely crocked up right now, and cant lift them or even get myself out of bed unaided, it was impossible to get them back into their bed, so I put them under the duvet and they both went straight to sleep. When Andrew came in at 7am to "get me up", he found 2 puppies and me all snoring in the same bed!!
Ive not managed to get any photo s of them this week as I cant walk upright, let alone lift a camera.....luckily some potential puppy owners came for a visit today and took a couple of pix for me.....this one is Gerty on her 1st exploration of the kitchen......and I cant believe how much she looks like her father.

Sleeping our way through babyhood

it seems that the old addage of "when they sleep they are growing" applies to Gertrude......(aka "Gert.....as in the Gurt big one") as every photo I seem to have of her, she is sound asleep! Ill try harder to get some of awake!