Wednesday 29 February 2012

Novaforesta Drew aka Remy

'THE BOY'
copyright Graham Peacock

Novaforesta Drew aka Remy

Copyright Graham Peacock
Sad news for the barbet in the UK as dear sweet Remy was involved in an accident with a car on the 24th February. Remy was a boy from the first litter born in the UK, he would have been 4 years old on the 4th March.
A kind, loving, playful and devoted companion to his owners, and Bepops' favorite shooting companion.
Remy is a real loss to the world of dogs, if every dog was as sweet as him then these terrible stories you read about dog attacks just wouldn't happen.
So the barbet world has lost one of its finest examples in my opinion, but I feel very lucky that I have the most wonderful memories of many many days spent with Remy and his owners, memories that I will cherish.

Tuesday 21 February 2012

Barbet Puppies in the UK soon

Ebene (born in Canada)
Ooli (born in the UK)
YES YES YES YES.

After a long wait for Barbet puppies in the UK I can now confirm a litter is expected on the 23rd March.
Congratulations to Annette Dinsdale who owns both these beautiful barbets.
For more details please contact Annette directly on netisspinone@sky.com




I am lucky as Annette lives near me, so I get a frequent dose of barbet fun with Ooli and Ebene, and I was lucky enough to take Ebene to Paris for the World Dog Show, camping with a barbet is a great way to bond!. Ebene is a fun loving dog, very feminine and has wonderful manners, I couldn't fault her behavior in Paris, she was a dream dog and did well in the show ring (she is a Canadian champion) with Excellent given by the judge. Ooli just loves life, and has just discovered 'flushing wild pheasants' which shows he is truly the Son of Bepop, As for showing in France, he has also been awarded excellant. Ebene and Ooli have both been confirmed in France. Real dedication to the breed by Annette, its still early days for the breed in the UK and the work and commitment at this stage is vital, the future is the next generation of puppies. These puppies will have French paperwork, hooray.   .

Thursday 16 February 2012

Novaforesta Dudley( Ooli) and Quaciendas Alba Aqua-Aura (Alba)

What a beautiful  announcement, I think Ooli is a lucky boy as Alba ( Quaciendas Alba Aqua-Aura) is absolutely wonderful. I have seen her in the show ring in Europe and also in the UK without the glamour when she had weekend break (with her dedicated owners) to meet Ooli last year.To travel overseas to meet at the time a possible sire is real dedication and devotion to the breed, so I am thrilled they were happy when they met dear Ooli in the flesh. Alba already has a connection to the UK as in 2011 her photograph was a winning entry in a competition run by the KC and was proudly displayed at Crufts last year.

Barbet symposium in France

An important date for the breed is the 4th August in France.
If you are on facebook, there is an events page where questions can be asked:
 https://www.facebook.com/events/224078101012018/
There will also be an opportunity to request headphones for translation as obviously the meeting will be conducted in French.
Currently the barbet in the UK is entwined with France and quite rightly so as the barbet is a French breed..The French Kennel Club is our governing body until the time comes that the Kennel Club will accept the barbet. We hope to have at least 6 or 7 barbet owners attend this meeting with dogs, as far as I know the meeting is focusing on breed standard changes, so all barbets that attend will be measured for height and hopefully weight.One can only hope that commonsense will be used, it would be good for the breed to have an ideal height and weight for males and females but my personal opinion is no max or min height. The barbet is rare and extremely low in numbers worldwide, no dog should be overlooked for breeding over its size. Its all down to the commonsense of the breeder, if you have a tall female then use a smaller male and be selective with the offspring. All the Novaforesta dogs that are being bred this year are smaller than my girls who were both imported from France, so we are heading the right way with the first generation born in the UK. This is my personal view from a working point of view, most breeds working in the field are smaller than  the examples shown in the ring.            

Three barbets in a row

I think these three are in order of commonsense.
Betsy, lovingly called ''The walrus'' by the kids! is the furthest away and definitely the most sensible and grown up. Bepop is next, she always has ''ants in her pants'' and the closest dog is Ooli who just oozes naughtiness in this photo even though he is a completely well behaved adorable boy. When Betsy sits for a photo, she will stay totally still till she is told its over, unless you use a new camera, then she is off. The better you know your dogs, the more fun they are, the more quirky they are, the more impact they have on your everyday life, and the more you remember once they are gone.

Friday 10 February 2012

Spot the barbet?

I wonder if Ebene the barbet ever feels like the odd one out. If she does, she doesn't show it.
Some dogs have a hard life, some are spoilt rotten. I think this hairy bunch are enjoying their new dog bed.
More news shortly on Ebene, we are counting the days now for a pregnancy scan. March could be a fantastic month for the breed as we so need some new pups and some new owners ( the barbet is a breed that deserves to be shared!), its been a long time since I had any cuddles with pups so Bepop and I are looking forward to the event. I shall be seeing Ooli next week so will be giving him a little talk about being the responsible Father.figure. Exciting times ahead.

A week of brown barbets

Novaforesta Dempsey, another one of my favorite boys.
I cannot believe that next month Betsys' first litter will be 4 years old.
Identical in height and weight to Eton, they just have different fathers.
They look alike as their Fathers were brothers.

A cold barbet

Not quite a cold barbet, just a very wet one who was having a silly moment in the house. My girls are used to being hosed in the garden after a walk regardless of temperature, in fact they form an orderly queue!. Eton was a little shocked but accepted his fate of a very cold shower like a good barbet should. Anyway the coat slowed him down, I think he liked it and with a dehumidifier going at max it didn't take too long to dry 4 wet dogs in the kitchen

Tuesday 7 February 2012

Happy 6th Birthday Betsy

A very Happy Birthday to Betsy Bonheur, born 6 years ago in France.
A proud mother of 13 pups.
She was the first female barbet to be imported into the UK in 2007, seems such a long time ago now.

Monday 6 February 2012

A brown barbet flushing

Okay so you can see my shadow, but on the shoots I go to with Bepop I am very used to black dogs, not only Bepop but also black labs and black spaniels, its a common colour for a working dog.
Taking a brown dog put another dimension to my day as  he was easy to hear in the undergrowth, but not so easy to spot.
In true barbet style he found water. Although Bepop is by far the worse for finding the dirty disgusting bog/water/puddle/poo I can also say with 100% accuracy that the barbets that have attended shoots with me are driven to water, a break from flushing on a drive but hey these are supposed to be a breed working on water, so its a good break and I am chilled about their deviance most of the time. One of my fondest memories of this season was losing sight of Bepop, and then spotting four black legs waving in the air as she did a bit of breakdancing in a muddy puddle, she was reprimanded for this behavior as she should know better, but luckily on the same shoot she managed a fantastic retrieve on a runner and her deviance was soon forgotten.
The photo is Novaforesta Eton blending well with the forest background  

Sunday 5 February 2012

Eton with the girls

Eton is a  gold star boy, he has been with us for 6 days and not yet shown he has any vices.
I am sure he was told by his owners that he had to be on his best behavior!.
This photo makes me smile, Bepop seems to be leaning to the left, not sure why.
At home the dogs have accepted Eton into our pack, and he has now calmed down enough that he doesn't flatten them all with a greeting. I love trying to understand the behavior of dogs, and watching the two males interact together has been fun, luckily no malice between them and even when Bobby shows that he is the 'Man' of the house by some serious toy collecting, Eton has the attitude of a teenager, if he could speak he would utter ''whatever''

Friday 3 February 2012

Beaters day with a new barbet

Well it was very very cold hence the fact I had so many layers I could hardly move, Eton as expected didn't notice the biting wing that I was experiencing..
Eton has not been on a shoot before, so I did wonder whether the trailer full of dogs and people may worry him.
Silly me, he loved it.

Love is in the air

An exciting day for me, not only is it my birthday but a day in history with a pup from Bepop and a pup from Betsy now old enough to get together with hopefully the patter of tiny paws at around Easter.
So well done Eton, you did us proud and well done Bonnie for allowing him to do so.

Thursday 2 February 2012

A barbet on holiday

Novaforesta Eton has arrived for a 9 day holiday.

Yesterday he met a beautiful young rottweiller called Roxy, Eton rather took a shine to Roxy, taught her a bit about the birds and bees!
They remained friends for the day.

Its been good  chaos at home with the addition of Eton, suddenly the dogs have rediscovered racing round the garden at 100 miles an hour, play time has arrived. He is a lovely boy, and has slotted straight in to our family life. Bepop loves him , Betsy protects him, Bobby has moments of sheer bliss that another dog wants to play, then he remembers that he is in charge of two girls and tries to look grown up. Its great watching them all together.