Netis Jitterbug known as Pi passes her health checks and confirmation

As you can imagine I am very pleased that Pi has passed her health checks for breeding.

Her hips have been scored with a result of 4 :4 and her elbows scored with a 0 :0  result.

She has passed her eye test so has a clear eye certificate dated June 2015.

This lovely girl with her beautiful markings has just been to France to be confirmed, we attended a 2 day show in Douai and on the first day we were lucky to be judged by the very knowledgeable Monsieur Dupas who placed Pi as Best Junior.

Pi enjoying the limelight.

On the same day Pi was able to take the TAN  ( water retrieve/sociability test) with several other Barbets, once again we were lucky as Monsieur Goubie another expert judge was overseeing the test and I am pleased to say. Pi passed with flying colours.

The last couple of months have been a social whirl for Pi, she had the joy of playing with the pups from Martha and Ooli, The London Pet show, Hips,elbows and eyes done, a weekend in France at the show, and a working test........after all her engagements she then had her hair cut which you can see in the photo at the top of the page.
The details for her 'husband to be' will be published shortly,

Bepop

Well I am getting cross with my photos as whatever I do they are going on the blog the wrong way round, but life is too short and too sunny to be cross for long. Bepop out in the garden enjoying the sunshine

Bepop and her Barbet wedding

We are back and what a wonderful weekend we had even though it was a little stressy at times. The journey of only 8 hours was uneventful and Bepop and Martha travelled in silence as they slept, although we did find out that the waterbowl had tipped over and their bedding was soaked!. but in true barbet style they perhaps enjoyed the wet bedding! Julian and I were so spoiled by our hosts in Belguim, we had the most fantastic meals and alot of humour, and Bepop had the most romantic time possible so all went well. We did have a slight change of plan but more about that later. I adore Bepop, she has such character and I can honestly say that I know her very well, and she knows me. However Martha is a different dog, she is 6 months old and rather wild at times, her best expression is WTF which is what I said we should call her when we picked her up at 16 weeks, so nothing much has changed and I can honestly say that at dog training they have also seen the look, so it can be verified!!!! The weekend was very good for Martha, she coped well watching the adult dogs and their activities, and she learnt all about automatic doors, staying in the boot of the car when it was lifted, being wormed at a vets in Belgium ( although she did poo in the surgery) and she coped with erratic feeding and general chaos. At the end of the day, Bepop has been mated and all went well, our hosts were tired and we were tired and the dogs were completely knackered, but we will have wonderful memories of our adventure.

Dear Martha in the garden

On Sunday we were up at 4.30 English time as we wanted to mate the dogs before our 3 hour drive back to Calais, Bepop and Martha would have happily slept for longer but they had no choice but to get up and eat breakfast. I have to admit that I don't enjoy dog matings, and because of that I like it to be as natural as possible, so the dogs were allowed as much play as they wanted while us humans froze waiting for the event. 

Carol is the owner of Jedi and Deejee, I cannot express our gratitude enough as she was so amazing and nothing was too much trouble. Carol appreciated our journey to Belgium for a mating, she understood that it was for the breed and the genes for the future. Sensible matings will save the breed, those that breed for the showring or colour will not!

Martha,Jedi and Bepop

           

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.

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.

Hallie has been in the wars

Poor Hallie has an injured hind leg after an impact with Bobby playing in the garden. After a visit to the vets, a small dispute over her treatment (the leg was not broken after initial examination) with the help of a few manic phone calls I decided that crate rest was the best course of treatment with medication from the vets.
A good idea, but not according to Hallie who has never been in a crate and certainly has no plans to start. I tried everything to get her to enter the crate, and only ever did she manage willingly her front legs. Jonty was better as he got in the crate with her, so that worked while he was around. So the next best thing was a bed near where I was working, and I decided it was going to be shredding paperwork day. As you can see, after  a short time she got bored and slept. It has now been a week since her accident and she is off all her medication and has been for a couple of lead walks with no limping and I have allowed her back with the other dogs for play.It is really tough with a young dog keeping them calm and rested, and trying to keep her apart from the others when she so desperately wanted to play.

Barbet puppies everywhere

I know I am biased but I think you all have to admit that Eton does look good.

Hellllllllooooo Eton

I have good vibes about 2013, will it be a bumper year for the Barbet in the UK.
2012 saw the arrival of 19 healthy pups, and in 2013 some of these pups will start being health tested for possible breeding. When I look at Hallie, she is just a babe so it is hard to imagine the future but I hope she will be part of the foundation that we are laying for the Barbet as a breed. As I have said before, without a strong foundation of excellant health and charactor we will not have the stability for the future. 

grandma Bepop

 

Bepop does not take this role of Grandma very seriously, we are waiting to hear whether she will have more grandchildren, only a couple more days to go.

Kennel Club update......sob,sob,sob

I am very sad to write that I have had confirmation from the Kennel Club that as of July 2012 they have not accepted the Barbet as a recognised breed in the UK.
Why ?  I hear you shout.

Well, read below:

a.     The breed has only had a FCI standard since 2006 and is still classified as a developing breed by the FCI.

b.     Whilst it was acknowledged that the breed is fully recognised in France, there was still a very small UK gene pool. The Sub-Committee noted from the detail submitted on the two latest litters that they were very closely related, with the sire and dam of each being litter mates.

c.     The incidence of hip dysplasia in the breed was noted and the club was advised to monitor scores of UK stock closely.

I have asked the Kennel Club already to explain in more detail why they have classified the Barbet as a developing breed as that statement is incorrect and those details were not in my application, the correct details were given.
 As for the incidence of hip dysplasia in the breed, was my application not read at all........shall I give them to you again.

Betsy 14 -B
Bepop 9-A
Ebene 9-A
Dolly 12-B
Dudley 6-A
Dora 2-A
Diamond Black 5-A
Duplo 6-A
Eton 8-A.

Good results I hear you say.

Bobby and Eton

Dear Bobby my pseudo barbet has issues with Eton as he really likes him BUT he also wants to be the Man about the house and protect Bepop and Betsy from the invading male visitor. I know its wrong to laugh, but he is so sweet as he encourages Eton to play which Eton accepts with open arms and then remembers his status as being 'the Man' to continually watch the body language of Bobby as he goes from a  male strut to play is amusing. I have not yet witnessed a male strut from Eton, he just looks a tad confused as to why the play stops. So when Bobby struts, Eton goes to see if the girls will play, which of course produces a bit more nervous energy from poor Bobby. Watching dogs together is pure bliss.
As for my girls, Bepop didn't like the scene and looked rather depressed, and Betsy watched the boys the whole time and made a strange  noise like a real yip if Bobby tried to be dominant with Eton, Betsy is a well mannered dog, she sees things with dog behaviour and reacts, as most my puppy owners know, she does not tolerate puppies (grown up pups really as most are 2-3 years old) jumping up at us, and in the dog world launching yourself at a human is bad manners, so Betsy and I disagree on that behaviour as I like to be floored by my puppies when I see them as it makes breeding these dogs worthwhile.

Barbet puppies 5.5 weeks old

A beautiful girl

 Yesterday we saw the litter of 14 pups from Bonnie and Eton, although Julie the breeder knew each and every pup I found it very hard to keep track of my two little babies,Hope and Half pint.  

A beautiful boy

Hope is being very well behaved, Halfpint didn't want to pose!

Halfpint  who just wanted to play and not pose

Lovely to see them all outside enjoying the sunny weather, and  so amazing to see Bonnie with her pups .

Eye test results

Whoops I am a bit late with our updates, my excuse being two little black herberts that have been staying at our house for 3 weeks. So now they are back with their doggy family I can start catching up with news.
As expected Ebene and Novaforesta Dudley (Ooli) both have had clear eye certificates issued by the one and only Ian Mason ( BVA Eye Scheme Chief Panellist).
If you see a eye certificate for a barbet it will be normal to read under descriptive comments, the words no ocular disease or similar wording. This is due to the fact that as the breed is not known in the UK, the BVA specialists normally just check the eyes, but as a breed club we request from breeders just that little bit more and ask for checks on the eyelids and eyelashes.
Next on the list will be Betsy and Bepop, another job to add to my growing list of things to do.

Barbet Puppy time at nearly 6 weeks

Two girls and a boy all reserved

 A lovely visit yesterday at Annettes to see the puppies who will be 6 weeks on Thursday.

I know he is having a scratch but he remained still for a second! This chunky boy is reserved.

This boy is still available, he is very sweet and just loves the big dogs.

Health tests for the barbet online

This is a start, not all are online but I am working on it

http://services.thekennelclub.org.uk/a7230035efe349eb8f3ef894bc6e6d66.healthtest