Happy 6th Birthday to the puppies from Barbets Betsy and Boree

So hard to believe that my very first litter of Barbets were born 6 years ago, to the beautiful Barbets Betsy and Boree, since then Boree has gone on to father a few more litters and done a grand job of producing some healthy dogs for the genepool so as I thought a good choice in 2008 and I was not alone as others have thought the same .

The only 2 Barbets missing at the 1 year old celebration was would you believe but Betsy as she was in season! and Odo, otherwise it would have been the perfect family shot, but hey to capture 6 out of 7 is still an achievement. 

6 years old...almost grown up!

This was the First registered  Barbet litter born in the UK, a slice of history.

Betsy and Boree January 2008.

Remy, Dolly,Nenu, Baxter, Dylan and Bepop 1st Birthday picnic

Dolly,Remy,Bepop,Baxter,Bentley,Nenu and Dylan 1st Birthday picnic

Bobby the Barbet at 11 months

Another lively boy from Bepop and Jedi at 11 months old, this was blue collar boy now known as Bobby.
Be lovely one day to see this boy in the show ring in France, but perhaps a different show to Rugby as 2 excitable boys could be a handful. Actually by the time they have their 1st Birthday they will be calm :)

Rugby the Barbet

If you look carefully you will see a hand holding Rugby, he is a rather lively boy and my camera just doesn't have a good shutter speed!. So a good photo of his nose to start, taking him to get confirmed could be quite a weekend as one can imagine how fast he will go round a ring.....He is a lovely charactor which is what is important.

Barbet Bepop an outstanding Mother

Today the pups are 8 weeks old and what a journey we have been on, Bepop has been the most wonderful dog with her babies. She was so protective of them initially, not with us of course but with the other dogs who were not even allowed to look through the window! The last couple of weeks she has been trying to wean them, she is very much in charge though and although she sounds fierce and you feel she is trapped in the room with her puppies, she will not leave them if I call her, so it is still her choice to be with them. When the puppies have got the message, she then will play and reward them for their good behaviour, then they snooze together. She will however still give them a drink but only if she wants to, the puppies now do not demand her to feed. The 4 pups left are doing very well and are definately getting a bonus meal as Bepop is now bringing back her evening meal, it doesn't seem to matter whether I feed her out of sight, an hour earlier, even a different diet!. I even tried a frozen block of meat, but we had an hour of her yelling at the pups and I was starting to worry about freezer burn.....it was a hot day and the pups enjoyed frozen tripe with no ill effects!.The pups have now learnt in a big way to jump and lick her mouth anticipating that they will get another meal, it is natural behaviour and I have tried to avoid it but I will not refuse the contact that Bepop has with her pups, so my hands are tied. The downside is that Bepop hassles us all night as she is absolutely starving, she still eats a big dinner in the morning though and never lets the pups have that one!