Douai Dog Show June 2016

This year there will be 6 or possibly 7 Barbets from the UK heading to France for confirmation and to take the TAN. Our weekend in Douai is a social trip, and is certainly not about winning a dog show.
Our Barbets will be judged, and then the critique that they get will be used along side their height for confirmation. Although our Barbets born in the UK have pedigrees from France, we still go over to a show for confirmation as that is the French way of working . So at the moment there will be 3 dogs from Hallies litter in 2014, 3 dogs from Marthas litter last year and a French boy who lives in the UK ( who has to go through the French system as he was born in France)

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!,  ,  

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......

Martha taking the role of a gundog

 We don't do character checks in the UK (yet) but it did get me thinking about how a days beating on a shoot with a dog is a real test of character.
On small shoots you will sometimes get children, some are as young as 18 months milling around at the start and finish but often messing around with the beating sticks.
The dogs cannot be gunshy, but they also have to accept that people have either flags that they wave or they have sticks which they use and bang on trees.
Dogs have to be very obedient, they have to have perfect recall, it only takes one badly behaved dog to ruin a drive.
On Saturday we travelled between drives in a landrover, Martha had to jump into the vehicle  (which is a fair height) into a space that she could sit in, but not turn round in, 4 adults and 1 dog is a squash to say the least, you just about get the door shut.
Martha has to deal with barbed wire, fences,gates, electric fences, cattle grazing, and normally running deer. Martha also has learnt patience, as you can stand in the rain for 20 minutes waiting for the guns to be ready.
Martha is a pleasure to take on the shoot, she has a good range and will always return on the whistle, she flushes the birds well and once flushed she will return to the cover.
She knows that the horn sounding means the end of the drive, and she emerges to locate us. I have to admit that on Saturday I was very pleased with her, as after one drive she was walking at heel, and then suddenly she turned and went back to the hedge we had passed, she froze at the hedge with her head down so we thought we should take a look......it was a young partridge sat there, not injured just hiding in cover. A clever girl who has been allowed to think for herself, my sort of dog. She didn't flush it, nor try and retrieve it, she just told us it was there......and the partridge will live to tell the tale of its encounter with a Barbet.

Douai Dog Show 2014

Yes, we were there and a mighty fine weekend was had by all.

There will be a write up on the GB site, and I will post the results of the show. The good news is that there were 5 Barbets from the UK, and 3 Barbets from Holland

Anouk , Claude, Distel,Hector,Sade, Bisous,Martha and Hallie.

Novaforesta Eton was very well represented as Anouk, Distel, Hector and Hallie have him as their Father, and of course Martha is the daughter of Etons' sister Novaforesta Effie. It was a lovely sight to see so many offspring together and to see what beautiful dogs they all were.  

First Paris dog show 1863

How amazing that so much time has passed and yet we can suddenly put pictures to text.
Thank you again Philippe Touret.

  CLASS 24th. - Barbets and stop Griffons.

1st   SUBCLASS. - Dogs spaniels.
Barbet large breed. - Grand Russian Barbet, etc..

1 ^st Prices Gold Medal 100 fr. - Mr.Hubert, Poodle (Mouton).

2 ^nd   Prices Silver Medal 75 fr. - Mr. Dei Ze (Rustic).

3 ^rd Prices Silver Medal 50 fr. -Mr. Jerome, Poodle (Mouton).

2nd SUBCLASS. - Dog griffons.
Griffon French or Chow. - Austrian Griffon, etc..

1st PRIZE: Medal golden100 fr. -Mr. Gasnier, Retriever French griffon (Minos).

2   PRICE:. Medal money 75 fr. -Mr. Masson , Dog to stop Griffin (Brushwood).

3   PRICE:Medal money50 fr. - Baron Roger De Brinont, French Dog (Marius).

4 PRICE: Medal money. -Mr. Mii.leret On omirecourt, Bitch scribbles stop (Lamiche).

5 PRICE: Bronze Medal. - Mr.BORDEAUXGriffon stop (Sultan

Mate Select Kennel Club

I am pleased to say that so far some of the Barbets are showing up :)
Novaforesta Duplo, Novaforesta Eton, Novaforesta Dudley and I am still looking.
We are slowly making progress

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/test/Default.aspx


http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/Default.aspx

If the links do not work then just go to mate select, and then health

CLA Game Fair

Keeping cool 

We are back safe and sound from an amazing weekend with the dogs. I have to admit it was very hot especially on the Friday, but as all the dogs love swimming (well they should really!) it was easy to keep them cool, most of the dogs were not so impressed with being put under the water tap but they coped.
This year we managed to have a grand total of 11 Barbets throughout the weekend, and 99% of the time we had a male and female in the pen on display showing the difference not just of the sexes but also coat colour and coat length. The CLA Game Fair attracts people who like the great outdoors, not just those that shoot and work their dogs in the field so the visitors to our stand in the sporting dog pavilion are generally interested in what are Barbets like as a breed .
The most common questions I was asked were:
What is a Barbet like to live with?
Do they require much grooming?
Where do they come from?
What are they like compared to a labrador/Beagle/Spaniel/poodle/Spanish waterdog , the list was endless!

This year was perfect, we only had Barbets on show that have coats maintained by their owners, and having Barbets with different coat lengths was definately a real talking point.

I have to admit that Hallie and Martha were a joy to take, they were definately both tired on Sunday, but three days meeting the public and being stroked by all ages is hard work for youngsters, combined with the heat. In the evening however they would both come to life and letting off steam in the fields with the other Barbets was wonderful for them

Rugby relaxing on a break from pen duty

  

Martha the Barbet at the CLA Game Fair 2013

Do come and meet Martha in the sporting pavillion this year at the CLA Game Fair, it will be quite a test for her but I am hoping she enjoys it. At the moment I am thinking she may have accepted her new camping life by Sunday as she will be exhausted by then, but as Martha normally surprises me, we will have to wait and see.

Goodbye to Novaforesta Iron Duke

Once known as red collar, then Novaforesta Iron Duke, now called Obi. He has joined a lovely family a long way from us, but I know I will get lots of updates and photos.

Happy 7th Birthday to Bepop

2007....age hasn't changed her a bit

This was Bepop in 2007 with my son who is now 6ft 2, where does time go? We had only had her a couple of months when we attended the Beta Gundog weekend. Today Bepop is 7 years old, she has yet to grow up and be sensible but that is why I love her.

Novaforesta Demi

Always such a pleasure to see my little Demi

Seminars at Crufts

This year I attended three days at Crufts, it was heaven although the distances driven were pretty awful, just under 1000 miles....the things we do for an education.
The seminars were:
Temperament testing by Nathalie Ingham (Battersea dogs home)
Rearing a Guide Dog litter by Wendy Adams and Caroline Peacock (Guide Dogs for the Blind)
First Aid in the field by Gill Simpson (retired vet)
Taking Canine Research to Business as Usual the Guide Dog way - not sure the names of the speakers.
and the best of all for me was:
The Canine mind- How Puppies learn by Professor Peter Neville Dhc BSc(hons).

I could have listened to Peter Neville for hours, I am a bit of an anorak over dog behaviour and he was talking puppies and behaviour so a winning combination.
Now one thing I will share:
The fear factor in young puppies, on average starts at 49 days but with different breeds a huge difference has been recorded.
Wolves 19 days
GSD 35-38 days
CKCS 55 days
yorkies 33 days
labradors (might have been Golden Retrievers!) 72 days.
So where does the Barbet fit in? hopefully based on one litter (so fairly non conclusive) I will be able to tell you in about 10 weeks, although my testing will be a bit Heath Robinson as I will not have heart rate measurements or saliva checking equipment but I will enjoy it and the pups will only benefit.
  

The KCAI get a thumbs up for organising the seminars

RED NOSE DAY

It is good to make the effort, Betsy is joining in the fun for Comic Relief 2013

Dog Beds and Barbets

I have been very naughty and my window shopping at Crufts didn't go to plan as we have new dog beds!

This is a 'Megbed' and is waterproof but quite soft and suitable for two dogs to curl up, they like the fact that they can rest their chins so this has been a big hit. I can spend more as you can buy a fluffy cover. So when I feel the need, I can buy extras!!!!!
More later as two other beds to show you all......

Bepop

Bepop with quite short hair in the garden today, the BIG question is.......Is she preggies?
She is rather quiet, and a little more soppy so I am feeling quite hopeful.
Another Novaforesta litter has been a long time coming, to say I am excited is an understatement and I have a wonderful waiting list of potential owners which adds to the excitement. Her scan will be in mid March, so not long to wait.

Dog beds

Now that Martha is getting bigger we are faced with the big squeeze on the fleece in the kitchen, Barbets like to be with you and these three were quite an effort to step over!. I can't wait for Crufts as I am not only attending quite a few seminars but I will also have the opportunity of dog bed shopping......

Betsy and Martha

Betsy, Martha, Jazz and Bobby

Finally our grass is starting to dry up, it makes life a little easier not to have so much mud. This photo makes me smile, as I hadn't realised that Marthas' collar is rather oversized.

Champdogs

It is always frustrating to log onto The Kennel Club website, and search for our Barbets on their 'mate select'  page. The Barbet information is there, I have spoken to the Kennel Club numerous times, one day it works and yet another day, nothing can be found. The Kennel Club have all the hipscore records, or should I say the hip scoring done by the BVA, these are cross referenced with the DNA profiles that the Barbets have, also held by the Kennel Club. Anyway, I have taken the plunge and joined Champdogs, I really like the fact that they ask for copies of hip scores/eye tests before it goes online. They basically are checking out the breeders........that can only be a good thing in my opinion.
So Novaforesta is now on the site, and the only dog so far entered is Be- Poppy with her health tests (her recent eye test is being reviewed as I type) and that took me hours!!!.
I am not putting the Novaforesta link for Champdogs on this blog, see if you can find it?

CHAMPDOGS

Epilepsy research

As I have new visitors to my blog every day, I thought I should remind all those that are owned by a  Barbet to remember that if their dog has any  tests or  surgery at the vets, to request a blood sample to send to Helsinki Uni as they have a research project running solely dealing with Barbets and epilepsy.
We do not have any epilepsy cases in the UK, but  epilepsy has been found in the breed overseas.
 Betsy and Bepop have contributed blood and have had their details updated as it is vital to contact the research team once the dogs reach 5 years old so that they can note that the dogs are still healthy.If anyone wants more details, then please send me an email and I can put you in touch with the contact in Finland.