Novaforesta 'J' litter meet the gang part 3

11th Final Brown  boy 446g

10th born Black male 443g

9th born Brown girl 350g

Novaforesta Barbets 'J' litter part 2.

8th born Brown girl 405g

7th born Black girl 320g

5th born Brown boy 355g

6th born Brown girl 380g

The Novaforesta 'J' litter meet the gang part 1.

4th born Brown girl white chest 370g

2nd born Black girl 430g

First born Brown girl 424g

3rd born Brown male white chest 438g

Happy Birthday to Novaforesta 'E' litter 5 years old

Time flies and these beautiful puppies are 5 years old today, proud parents being Betsy and Bachus.
November is a busy time for puppies born, as Bepops pups were 6 years old yesterday.
We still miss Betsy, so seeing her pups reach the milestone of 5 years is lovely, and of course her first litter will be 7 years old next March.
Lets hope all the Birthday boys and girls are spoilt today.

Novaforesta `D` Litter, 6 years old today

Happy Sixth Birthday to Bepops first litter, It seems like only yesterday that this crowd were running through my kitchen.

It seems like only yesterday

http://youtu.be/iOj0GPLb3AM

Barbet puppies have arrived, Novaforesta J litter

Welcome to the world, 11 beautiful Barbet puppies born on the 25th November.

The proud parents are  Charamese Hermione (Hallie) and Cooper du Pré de Redy.

The pups are very strong and healthy, and all very good weights and quite amazing that Hallie managed to keep them till Day 60. 

We have 7 girls 5 brown and 2 black and 4 boys, 3 brown and 1 black.

The webcam is up and running although it is misbehaving and cannot be viewed on internet explorer:
If it doesn't work the first time do keep trying as it does seem to have random blips

Pi the Barbet

She is still looking for birds, one day she might get lucky

Martha the Gundog

Martha is enjoying this season, it has taken a few weeks for her to get fully up to speed but this week end she worked really well and she is certainly using her nose to establish where the birds are.
I could teach her to point , but unless I read a few books I am not quite sure where to start or whether I want her to. At the moment she is pointing at birds that have not been lifted during a drive which is rather intelligent of her, and I am praising her and we leave them be. I so need to do this full time, never enough hours in my day.  

Barbet puppies soon

Well her due date is the 28th November, but as her Grandma and Mother decided to deliver a few days early we are getting prepared. The whelping box will be put up today, and hopefully we will also get the webcam running. Fingers and legs crossed it will all go smoothly.

Barbet dog

It was so windy on the beach in France, poor Martha

Martha the Barbet diva and dog shows!

This is me with my hand on hip, next to me is my chilled Barbet, Martha waiting to go in the ring. My sweet Martha who we can take anywhere, she travels like a dream, she sleeps under the table at restaurants, she is a working gundog, she swims like a fish, in fact as a dog (not just a Barbet) she is hard to fault. BUT take her in the show ring and she becomes devil dog. When we took her to the club show in Holland, she created as soon as she was in the ring, she barked and did absolutely every trick in the book to get out of the situation....hmm....so for Calais we borrowed a soft crate for her and she was the perfect dog, quiet,serene,happy as you can see from the photo above, she was normal Martha. Martha can do normal behavior to lunatic in less than 3 seconds and it is not fear or anxiety, she lets the judge check her over, but trying to make her move in the ring is impossible as she gallops to leave. It is a shame as she does deserve better, and it takes me back to showing Betsy as she had a stubborn streak in the showring and really only behaved if there was someone else handling her. So with that knowledge, I should have thought about training her from an early age about showing, although some dogs are just natural at it, Martha is not. Strangely enough I was not nervous or stressed about the show, I think I knew deep down that Martha was going to behave badly, and I normally just accept I am not a good handler although I never had a problem with Bepop in the ring, and Pi was also perfectly behaved. I think Calais will be Marthas last appearance in the ring, I know what a sweet girl she is and that is what is more important, she also works well in the field and every day life. She got an excellent by the judge at Calais, and I was told she needed cutting to make her hair more even which amused me as a dog groomer!,  ,  

Reeds Fowling Amelia- Barbet dog

Look at this beautiful Barbet, she is the sister of my Martha.....

Charamese Hector

Charamese Hector is the son of Novaforesta Eton and Novaforesta Dora, and is the brother of my rather fat Hallie (Charamese Hermione), his tail didn't stop wagging for the entire dog show, he is a lovely male, moves beautifully and if I can persuade Julie would definately be a champion male in the Barbet world.He is not a big male, as he is about the size of his Mum, so about 57/58 in height. In hindsite, he should have been shown with his Mum as a brace.....but maybe next time.

Dog shows in France-Calais 2014 Novaforesta Dora

Well what a result, Bonnie (Novaforesta Dora) came 2nd in group 8, our fist podium win for a Barbet born in the UK.....well done Julie, and well done Bonnie as they both looked good in the ring. Charamese Hector, son of Bonnie and brother to Hallie got the best male, so the challenge for Best of breed was between Mother and Son, how cool is that? A very proud day for Julie and Richard.
Another achievement was the wild child Rugby (Novaforesta Investigator) was confirmed, and he was actually rather well behaved, and looked fairly relaxed in the ring

  

I can definitely say that Calais is an easy show to get to, and well organised by the Club St Hubart du Nord and the judge Mme Van Brempt was just lovely with the dogs so a good visit with an excellant result. I will save my news about showing Martha and Pi......