Barbet Bepop is so quiet

This is not a normal position for Bepop, I threw some crumbs which Bobby and Martha hoovered up immediately and Bepop remained where she was......she is soooooo tired.
Bepop is the dog I know best, followed closely by Bobby, Martha I am still working on how her brain functions and Betsy seems to have her own rules which Julian understands better than I. Jazz will be 13 years old shortly, and since his eyesight and hearing have almost gone he has his own agenda and  does his own thing in his own time!!!!. So back to Bepop, she is needing cuddles and attention, she is definately feeling a little out of sorts. The cat watching is very half hearted, she just seems as though she cannot be bothered. She is not outrageously hungry, she eats everything still but no teeth chattering at meal times. Bepop weighed in 4 weeks ago at 30kg, but when you feel her she seems a bit boney so I am increasing her food as her undercarriage is already showing signs and we have over 5 weeks to go.      

Barbet Club GB Breeders

This is further information for all those who visit my blog, some of you will own a Barbet and some will be researching the breed thinking you may want a hairy beast to join your family:)
It is early days for the breed in the UK, we are laying strong foundations by carefully choosing dogs for breeding that will give us a concrete future, the charactor and health of these dogs is paramount in those choices.
Betsy and Bepop have not been overbred even though they are both excellent dogs and both are a credit to the breed, so laying the foundation is certainly not about money, it is about taking care and waiting to see how the offspring mature before continuing.
Plan 1:
Betsy and Bepop are not related so sires were carefully chosen, so that the offspring would be able to mate.
This has now occurred with the recent litter from Novaforesta Eton and Novaforesta Dora, COI over 5 generations is 6.15%
 http://pawpeds.com/db/?a=p&id=1091198&g=5&p=bar&date=iso&o=ajgrep

Plan 2:
Betsy has had two litters, her first litter with Boree and her second litter with Bacchus, they are two brothers and it gave us a selection of dogs for our foundation that were 0% COI over 5 generations.

  http://pawpeds.com/db/?a=p&id=865894&g=5&p=bar&date=iso&o=ajgrep

Plan 3:
It has been important to produce sires in the UK that can be used by the International Barbet community, we obviously have a small genepool in the UK so some breedings will produce males that  will have limited use, but with a rare breed you need to share your genes.

  http://pawpeds.com/db/?a=p&id=1091190&g=5&p=bar&date=iso&o=ajgrep

Plan 4:
The importing of new blood is also vital, but this is carefully planned, as I have said before one quality dog is better than 5 of dubious quality.
The import of Ebene from Canada has been the most recent import, and a sucessful litter has been born, with 4.68% COI over 5 generations.:

 http://pawpeds.com/db/?a=o&id=832587&g=5&p=bar&date=iso&o=ajgrep

All the breeding dogs in the UK by Barbet G.B. Club members have been confirmed in France, that means that a judge has examimed the dogs including teeth, height, tail set and coat quality..Bepop has not been confirmed, had I known more about the proccess in France in those early years she would have easily been confirmed as she attended a club show and was ranked 4th with 3 different judges grading her as `Excellent`....hindsight is a wonderful thing. If I can fit in a confirmation show before she has her last litter, I will just for the paperwork.

So if you are thinking of importing a Barbet, please do get in touch as we would love to hear from you and to include you in the British history regarding the foundation of the Barbet in the UK.It is vital to make sure that the Barbet you are importing is from healthy stock, as at the moment we do not want to introduce problems to the foundation we have.
The Barbet breed must grow slowly in the UK, the lines we have will be bred together as this is of upmost importance to understand what health issues we may have and therefore what health issues need to be dealt with.
As most of you will be aware,  there are hundreds of dogs in rescue and no one  should just breed to make up the number of Barbets in the UK. I will try and write some questions that you should ask a breeder before you buy a puppy from them,

Hallie and training

Charamese Hermione aka Hallie

Grandma Be-poppy aka Bepop

Training a Barbet is not hard work, but you need to understand that you have to go at their pace and look at what they are good at and turn that to your advantage. I am learning about training once again with Hallie, she is very different to Effie who lived with me till 16 weeks old and so I had the opportunity to start early basic training. Hallie is very sensitive, showing any displeasure means she walks away in a huff and as you know training always has to be positive especially at a young age.At the moment she is very much a family dog, she loves us all and shows no real attachment to anyone in particular but the other day I did witness her showing a preference of trust. Julian and I took her swimming, the water was deep and the entry was tough for her as she had to jump in, Barbets can be very careful over water entry so we are just seeing if early jumping into water will make her less worried as an adult. So she became more confident as she jumped after the duckwing, however getting out the water was an issue as she needed to be hauled out by her collar. I was in charge of the camera and you will not see any photos of her getting out the water as she would only let me do it, when Julian tried to grab her she swam away, after three attempts I decided to intervene and bingo so we tried again and the same happened. I like to know my dogs and how their minds work, so this fascinated me, so when more quirky things happen I will keep you posted.   

 

A wild child !

This is a photo of Hallie, not yet 5 months but very obviously related to Bepop who also has this rather deranged look at times.
This photo is for Demi :)  

Barbet Puppies 7 weeks

I definately don't have all 14 in the photo, but I can say they are lovely puppies and an amazing achievement to have raised them and see them all together. Bonnie is looking great, and Julie and Richard who are coping with these 14 rascals are also looking remarkably normal. They are all sold, so all will soon be joining their new owners and starting new lives.