Candle in the wind

With heavy heart we announce the passing of our lovely "Candle" (Ch Farlap Candle). She was such a special girl to us, first and foremost she was the pack leader amongst the hounds, always calm and strong, never a cross word, her authority was accepted by all without discussion. Her normal calm disposition always went abit awry in the ring as she did find showing very exciting, and her lively behavior and very forward going movement was her trademark at the show, hence she was made up to a champion quite quickly as well as gaining group 3 at WELKS, and then retired from the ring to become a mother. She had one litter for us and spent the rest of her life happily on the sofa and running free in the fields, and enjoying her elevated position in the pack. She will be sadly missed by us all, and here's the last photo I took of her, just last week, enjoying  her favourite pastime of sunbathing!

Team Red

Nettle and Bella on their favourite lookout for cows and tractors!

Spring has sprung

I cant believe we are into March already.....we thought we should make the most of the sunshine and beat the grockels to the beaches, so Bella took her first trip to the seaside. She loved paddling in the rockpools but loved the dead seal a bit TOO much!! She was on a lead after that!

Happy new year!

OK Im a bit late, I know! Apologies to all our bloodhound friends for being a bit slow, but I spent the start of the New year in Hungary, bringing home Farlap Biscuit , to come back to live with us, having lived there for four years, her familys circumstances changed and we had to bring her home again. She settled in really well with everyone, and is a pleasure to have around, and she loves to "strut her stuff" when shes outside as you can see.

ready steady go!

Bella has taken to "Hunting the clean boot" (man trailing) like a duck to water!

Growing up fast

Little Bella Bella is a very confident forward young lady and has settled right in with us. She starts her mantrailing training soon, we cant wait!

Here she is with her best friend Nettle.

Meanwhile, Forager has had a busy time this month and had a successful search with the charity we work with www.k9searchdog.org  and found a missing springer spaniel for her very relieved owners, and hes now just chilling out with his sister Festive, at home

Where did that month go

Just realised October has disappeared and Ive been bad at updating the blog.....but in our defence we havebeen rather busy, so let me  firstly let me intoduce "Bella" who has come to live with us from Italy. She has settled right in and is enjoying the warm Autumnal weather.

Birthday Girls

We have had two birthdays recently.....Vivid who is now ten (and still acts like a puppy) and
Barvicka (below with Baffle) who turned 7. Wonderful to have two "veterans" and they can both give the youngsters a run for their money!

However the babies are also flourishing, with Jaunty making her debut in the main ring at Buckham Fair recently doing a search dog demonstration, and seen here in training on Dartmoor. 

Photo ©SE Newman

COngratulations to George (Multi int champion Farlap Guesswork) on winning reserve CC at the World Show in Helsinki last week. Always proud of "team George" and his wonderful owner and handler.

Best Friends

Nettle and Jaunty are having a great time growing up together as best friends, and regular updates from the other three are coming in thick and fast.

The heat however is most opressing and all the big hounds want to do is lay about in the shade all day......they arent even interested in their field walks. Weve been taking them in pairs down to dip in the river but its plagued by horseflies there, so not much fun either!! Wish we had a swimming pool for them!

Highland Fling

A jolly jaunt to our lovely freinds in The highlands last week, and with us went nettle, Jauntu and Jigsaw. Jigsaw is now known as "Puzzle" at home and she was off to her new home with Farlap faithful (AKA Winnie) in the beautiful Glen lyon where we are fortunate to be often invited for our holidays. Nettle and Jaunty went along for the ride and as a socialisation trip and they all had a fab time. In fact we all would like to have stayed there and made it our new home!

Puzzle making friends with her new owner and Winnie showing off her garden!

Nettles Debut

Nettle made her debut as a "mascot" for the K9Search Dogs stand at a fundraiser this week, and adored it. Everyone fussed and cuddled her and she behaved like a real pro. Here she is relaxing in a quieter moment.

Meanwhile Tennant has been practising "baby-sitting" skills with baby Jaunty, just in case hes called upon to go and pup sit any of his puppies! His babies are all growing well and we cant wait to go and have a visit soon.

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

its always a very sad day here when a pup leaves for a new home, so having two go on the same day this week was extra hard BUT they both have the most amazing homes with devoted owners and I know I have nothing to worry about, so with heavy heart I waved Jostle and Jackpot off on Thursday.
Jostle (Now known as Beatrice) can be seen getting to grips with the offside rule with her new Dad

meanwhile Jackpot  (now known as Malachii)is enjoying his new home with Jacob the beagle and his Uncle Ezra (Festives brother) and Uncle Silas (Basnicky and barcickas brother). photos soon to follow.

Off to a great start

Nettle got off to a great start at her first day at K9 Search Dog training School!

6 weeks pupdate

Due to the hot weather the pups have not been out in the garden too much during the daytime as they just couldnt cope with the heat, however a bit of a cloudy day means a great chance for them to go garden exploring this afternoon

Hot Dogs

The pups have found the heat rather daunting so havent had too much time out in the garden , with late evening trips being best, but the light is poor then so no really good pix. They are however growing like mad, over 15 Lbs a piece now, and plans are now starting to be made for their journeys to their new homes. So much adventure and excitement for them over the next few weeks.
Meanwhile Nettle has discovered the best way to keep cool is to join Tennant in the river for a spot of gundog training!

We did manage to squeeze a quick show training lesson in as well, but shes too busy enjoying life to take it seriously just yet.

and for those who want to know how her hunting is coming on......well......shes keen to get going as you can see!

The Great Outdoors

The babies had their first outdoors experience this week.....here they are exploring outside for the very first time.

Daddys Girl

Nettle is a Daddys Girl....alternating her favouritism between Baffle (Her actual Dad!) and Andrew (who she adores)

Introducing........

..........Nettle Truffe Medievel At Farlap.....aka "Nettle"    who now has her feet firmly under the table, and is utterly adorable!

Baby classes

In Europe the often have " baby" classes for puppies 12 weeks upto6 months at the club shows. They are only a bit of fun and a good way to socialise young puppies, so Nettle went to the Dutch club show yesterday and was " best baby puppy" bless her!! And she even had a critique written in English!