New things!

The puppies have had lots of new things in their lives this week. Firsly we had a wonderful surprise arrive in the post...... a huge box of puppy toys, from new owners Jillian and Ben in Scotland, so they have literally had new and different toys every day this week. Lucky pups! Then we decided the day was right for their big puppy bed to be taken out, and for them to start using their nice new "dog beds" , and that all went smoothly as you can see from the photos! Next in their busy schedule was the introduction to the top lawn, and we persuaded them to follow their mum up there. With the weather being dry and sunny for the week, its been perfect for them to explore the garden and bask in the sunshine.

BARGAIN HUNTER!

Once again Im a delighted granny and" proud-as-punch" with one of my babies.

Farlap Bargain, (aka Eden) went to her first Championship Working Trial yesterday and kept everything together to be awarded a Certificate of merit. Am I a proud proud granny or what!? Heres a great photo of her at the start, with daddy/handler Pete. Well done "Team Bargain"!

Welcome to the big outdoors

Every day the puppies see and learn new things, as a part of their puppy socialising and learning process. All week they have been able to trundle in and out of the kitchen and into a small run outdoors, however this morning we decided to take advantage of the gorgeous sunshine and let them have their first taste of the wide world...well....the  terrace anyhow! They all loved it and ran and explored for nearly an hour, before deciding they were exhaused and went back to bed for a snooze! So here they are on their 1st big excursion, plus one of them in their bed taken a week earlier.

Puppies again

Ive finally managed to catch up with the puppy photos and heres a few favourites from the 3-4 week old batch.

Baffles Big Day Out

I though it was time to have a day off from puppies, so took Baffle off to Crufts for the day, along with my friend Jane (who incidentally took these great photos for me, after only a 20 second tutorial on how to work £5k worth of camera gearLOL)

It was a very "no pressure" day for me this year, as only taking a puppy meant that it was just one class and nothing to get nervous about. Im pleased to say he won his class and was declared Best Puppy in breed. it was a shame the entry was so low throughout the breed, and I hope this is not the shape of things to come, after the most farcical Crufts in history.

Four weeks down

The puppies are now 4 weeks old and seem to change on an almost daily basis. They still do an awful lot of sleeping as you can see from "pinkheart" in her usual relaxed pose, however their characters are really coming through and its easier to decide who is going to be suited to which owner once this happens.......although the quiet BT boy has surprised us all by now turning into a complete nutter who thinks nothing of chasing Tennant round the room!

Baffle has had his bath for Crufts tomorrow, and im packing a flack jacket and tin hat, as its clearly going to be a considerably interesting day after the Clumber and Bull dog debacle.
For more information see here.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ubTCBN_l1E

Three weeks and counting

The babies are now three weeks old......the time seems to fly, and their eyes and ears are now open enough for them to be taking things in, initiating  play, walking properly and becoming a bit more vocal......they even had their 1st group howl this weekend! We are piloting the new KC Assured breeders "puppy plan" puppy socialisation scheme www.thepuppyplan.com and it will be interesting to see if we notice any particular differences with this litter. Certainly they are loving the paw rubbing!

Heres a few snaps of some of the babies,

Eyes wide shut!

Today was another milestone in the little peoples life....their eyes have started to open. (Although from this photo you would never know as they spend most of their time relaxing like this!!!)

Catching up!

Im slowly catching up with the emails and calls........thankyou to everyone who has enquired to see how mum and babies are doing.....so far so good. Im wondering whether somewhere along the line this little liver boy has stood in the paint pot!?

Good to hear from Farlap Bourbon, and to get some uptodate photos. Here he is helping his mum take a self portrait!

The little pups are looking like contenders for the "syncronised suckling team" for 2012 Olympics, (see video attached) and Baffle is enjoying a spot of table dancing, such are the talents at Farlap!!

Supper time

Everyone is settling in well to their new routine.....

Welcome!

Welcome to the world, 3 boys and 3 girls. Mother and babies all doing well.

The day approaches

The day of the puppies birth is fast approching and we are now on full red alert, and ready for iminent arrival. Candle on the other hand has poo pooed the whelping bed, and taken up residence on Logics bed by the book case, and she is refusing to budge!! Im hoping we dont have a sitting room birth! A few minor hitches (such as the cctv dying on us) have made it a stressful weekend but hopefully we are now on track for the birth.

Tennants wild day out

We decided to fit in just one last foray befor Candle has her babies (any day now!) and took Tennant onto the marsh for a days wildfowling. Hed never seen a goose up close before, let alone had them falling out of the sky around him, but he took to it like.....well like a duck to water!! here he is bringing Andrews second bird from the river, across the ice, to the safety of the gully. The three of us had a fantastic day, and are looking forward to lots more wildfowling next season. Now I can get down to the serious business of playing Midwife to Candle, and Tennant can relax for a few months until next season starts!

MISSING BLOODHOUND. URGENT HELP NEEDED . COULD NOW BE ANYWHERE IN UK

URGENT - MISSING 2 YEAR OLD LIVER AND TAN BLOODHOUND IN CHESHIRE AREA. Please would every one help us to find  Hector. He has white on his feet and a largish white blaze on his chest. He got away whilst on a walk and was hit by a car on the A34 between the Eden Point and Handforth round-a-bouts in the Cheadle Hulme area the day before yesterday. He ran away after being hit by a car... As you can imagine the owners are devastated and still have people out looking for him. They have contacted the police, vets, rescues and farmers in the area but still no news. He is also micro-chipped. please contact me if you see or hear anything

Totally Illogical.

Illogical came into our lives in 2006, a bundle of confident but calm gorgeousness. She never lost her calmness and was always gorgeous, and without a doubt was the "hound of my heart", so her loss this week from cancer, has been extremely hard.
I have found a few of my favourite photos of her, one at 15 weeks showing off her enormous character, another at 12 weeks with her grandfather fergus (who is still with us in his 12th year) and another when she won BIS at the Czech Bloodhound Club show, when we went there for our summer holiday 3 years ago.
The only comfort at the moment is knowing she has puppies from her 2 beautiful litters, who are giving their owners a lot of pleasure and who carry her unique character around the world. Her babies are in the UK, Australia, Germany, Hungary and Mexico, as well as the three who live here with us. We hope that her grandchildren who are due to be born very shortly, will continue her lovliness, and have her wonderful gentle dignity.

Birthday Bargain

Heres Farlap Bargain (aka Miss Eden), every bit the birthday girl.......enjoying her day tracking in the lakedistrict and having a cuddle with her Dad at the top!

Happy Birthday!

Happy first birthday to the 2011 B litter. I cant believe they are a year old already, and I wish all the pups and their owners a fantastic 2012 with their pups. Farlap Bran, in Germany had a special treat for his Birthday breakfast! How they have grown since this photo at a couple of days old!

Snow much fun with Bran

Finally Ive got around to sorting out the photos from our visit to Bran in Germany......here he is hunting along the road in a snow blizzard, as well as finding Christine in the forest. it was far from easy scenting conditions so he did extremely well.

After the sad news with Tarnish earlier in the week, it almost seems indecent to be smiling, but we have had some happy news today, and it has lifted our spirits a little bit. CH. Farlap Candle and CH. Farlap Basnicky are due to be proud parents in a few weeks, following Candles positive scan today.  Hopefully the patter of little feet will raise our spirits very soon!

Whirlwind Newyear

The last few days have been a bit of a whirlwind, with fantastic highs and sad lows. Firstly we went to Germany and visited Farlap Bran, who many will remember as "Brian" !! We had some fun watching him hunt (mantrailing) in some of the worst snow blizzards ive ever been out in......he was a real star and the photos will follow shortly. meanwhile heres one that the "lost" person (in this case his mummy Christine!!) took as he came in to the forest to find her.

Our return home from Germany was tinged with much sadness as we realised that Tarnish was finally not going to be with us much longer due to her tumours. it was a sad start to the New year for us when we had to have her put to sleep on january 2nd, however she will hopefully be racing about somewhere now, with  her brothers and her Mum. Her father Fergus is still going strong despite his 11 years!

and yet more Christmassy messages!

Great to get some more cards and photos in the post today. These two boys (Joshua and Silas) sent their photos as they do every year, plus an interesting parcel for their brother and sister (Bas and Barvicka) to open on Christmas day!!! Thanks boys!