Bepop and her last day of shooting

Today Bepop was a peg dog which is another first for a Barbet in the UK. Julian was shooting as it is beaters day and so Bepop was his picking up dog. She did a good job which is what one would expect from her, but gut feeling is that she would have enjoyed beating more. Normally after a shoot, she settles after dinner and goes into a deep contented sleep, but tonight she is still  following me around, which means she is not tired..

Water tap for Barbets

All my dogs except the poodle have learnt very quickly about the water tap, often even visiting dogs copy one of my gang and soon learn that the water is colder and fresher from the tap. I often wonder why Jazz has never even attempted to drink from the tap, he has the brains, and he has watched the others do it now for over 5 years and he has been encouraged to try by us.  

Hallie the Barbet

This is Hallie yesterday just before she was groomed, she has so much coat and with the weather being so wet and muddy in the forest I decided to take a few inches off her coat. I hated doing it as she has a fab coat, but you do start thinking that these dogs cannot remain damps for days and days......just in case you are worried, she now has a fringe so she can see :)
Hallie is very sweet, Bobby thinks she is rather sexy! and Martha just takes all the toys away. Martha and Hallie are good friends as there is only 4 months age difference, and yes they play rough.    

health tests

Why is it that everyone else is so much more organised than I am?

Deejee health tests

Barbets and a pose.

This photo made me smile this morning, it is Deejee and his Father Jedi. When I saw this it made me very excited about using Deejee on Bepop as this is the sort of thing she would do as she is a bit of a poser for photos!.

Barbets and snow

Barbets in Snow

Betsy, Bepop and Bobby enjoying a rather white forest and rather fetching snow boots

Happiness is.......

Martha and Betsy

A Barbet likes to work ,rest and play!

Bepop didn't worry about the weather on Wednesday, she had a good day out.

Bepops' husband to be- Deejee

Some further information about Deejee (see below), the rather beautiful boy chosen for Bepops last litter.
The owner of  Deejee, also owns his Father Jedi (another rather handsome chap)
For lots more photos of Deejee, please visit :
http://jedi-le-barbet.be/

Deejee Dakota Van de zonnehonden

dog show Bruxelles 2011: bébé très prometteur

certificat d'élevage

nationale d'élevage Chatel-Guyon lors du symposium 2012 : classe jeune 1er excellent , meilleur jeune mâle , meilleur jeune

exposition de Chatel-Guyon 2012 : classe jeune 1er excellent, meilleur jeune mâle, meilleur jeune

Tan

brevet de sociabilité

dog show Bruxelles 2012: premier Excellent CAC, CACIB, BOB

2 tone Barbet

Hallie has gone 2 tone, black at the front and brown at the back. She has not yet had her first hair cut, and so her coat is very long but in wonderful condition (not easy in the wet weather), one of her litter sisters has similar colouring

Grandma Betsy with her grandchildren

Hallie and Martha, what a beautiful family of Barbets. How lucky am I?

Martha hiding from the mad snow dogs

She so wanted to play but it was definately safer under the trees, even Bobby ran inside when the girls started boxing in the snow. Betsy and Bepop play real rough, and most games end up with Bepop getting into such an excitable state that she mounts Betsy.....so the game ends and poor Betsy looks rather bewildered!

Barbets love snow

 Is Betsy stubborn? daft? or just plain happy?
She loves snow and becomes like a garden ornament, she will just sit for hours.

Dog Beds

I am beginning to accept I have an obsession with dog beds. I have a couple of hard beds for the dogs and 100s' of vet beds/fleeces but with 5 dogs in the house there is always competition for the most comfy bed. I waste hours looking at dog beds on the internet, why? I always think that if we were to win the lottery (which we don't even do!!!!) my first purchase would be dog beds, money no object. The highlight of a pet shop visit for me is to seek out the dog beds, and check out how soft, how thick, how comfortable they are and I dream out which ones I would buy for each dog as they all like slightly different sleeping positions. The girls definately need a soft but waterproof bed that is raised,  dear Jazz at 13 years old needs something like a memory foam bed, Bobby needs something he can curl up in. I did buy a lovely bed for Bobby, but as they have all used it  the big dogs have bent the sides flat and it is not machine washable.At the moment this tub chair in the photograph above is the most popular dog bed in the house, located behind my PC chair so the dogs are still nearby, and as soon as one dog leaves it another one jumps up.However, the tub chair will get ruined by wet dogs, I have tried a throw on it but Martha removes that and drags it round the kitchen  So my intention after my litter with Bepop is to treat all the dogs to a new bed, how exciting is that........  

say hello to Deejee

It is always good to hear about youngsters and their health reports. This boy Deejee (all being well) will in 2013 be adding to the UK Barbet population........apologies to Caya as his wife Bepop is going to be unfaithful. Official news soon to be released, but with A hips everything is looking positive for a good combination.

Alexia the Barbet puppy

Isn't she sweet? and she is very well behaved but and there is always a but, she already has the older dogs wrapped around her paws. Training her will be fun as her character at the moment is that she knows best. She is very entertaining in the way she reacts with the other dogs, she loiters for the best chairs in the house and always wins...this girl will go far, but whether I can train her.......watch this space  

Family dog = The Barbet

Well the sun is out and all 5 dogs are in the garden with bones which will give me PC time I hope :)

I am asked all the time whether Barbets are good family dogs, so it is nice to be able to share clips like this

The Barbet- a family dog

2013

Happy New Year to you all.
Our beautiful new pup has settled well, and training has started.
She is fearless near water at the moment, although in Barbet style she is sensible about those entry points.