Barbet Puppies in the UK soon

Ebene (born in Canada)

Ooli (born in the UK)

YES YES YES YES.

After a long wait for Barbet puppies in the UK I can now confirm a litter is expected on the 23rd March.
Congratulations to Annette Dinsdale who owns both these beautiful barbets.
For more details please contact Annette directly on netisspinone@sky.com




I am lucky as Annette lives near me, so I get a frequent dose of barbet fun with Ooli and Ebene, and I was lucky enough to take Ebene to Paris for the World Dog Show, camping with a barbet is a great way to bond!. Ebene is a fun loving dog, very feminine and has wonderful manners, I couldn't fault her behavior in Paris, she was a dream dog and did well in the show ring (she is a Canadian champion) with Excellent given by the judge. Ooli just loves life, and has just discovered 'flushing wild pheasants' which shows he is truly the Son of Bepop, As for showing in France, he has also been awarded excellant. Ebene and Ooli have both been confirmed in France. Real dedication to the breed by Annette, its still early days for the breed in the UK and the work and commitment at this stage is vital, the future is the next generation of puppies. These puppies will have French paperwork, hooray.   .

Novaforesta Dudley( Ooli) and Quaciendas Alba Aqua-Aura (Alba)

What a beautiful  announcement, I think Ooli is a lucky boy as Alba ( Quaciendas Alba Aqua-Aura) is absolutely wonderful. I have seen her in the show ring in Europe and also in the UK without the glamour when she had weekend break (with her dedicated owners) to meet Ooli last year.To travel overseas to meet at the time a possible sire is real dedication and devotion to the breed, so I am thrilled they were happy when they met dear Ooli in the flesh. Alba already has a connection to the UK as in 2011 her photograph was a winning entry in a competition run by the KC and was proudly displayed at Crufts last year.

Barbet symposium in France

An important date for the breed is the 4th August in France.
If you are on facebook, there is an events page where questions can be asked:
 https://www.facebook.com/events/224078101012018/
There will also be an opportunity to request headphones for translation as obviously the meeting will be conducted in French.
Currently the barbet in the UK is entwined with France and quite rightly so as the barbet is a French breed..The French Kennel Club is our governing body until the time comes that the Kennel Club will accept the barbet. We hope to have at least 6 or 7 barbet owners attend this meeting with dogs, as far as I know the meeting is focusing on breed standard changes, so all barbets that attend will be measured for height and hopefully weight.One can only hope that commonsense will be used, it would be good for the breed to have an ideal height and weight for males and females but my personal opinion is no max or min height. The barbet is rare and extremely low in numbers worldwide, no dog should be overlooked for breeding over its size. Its all down to the commonsense of the breeder, if you have a tall female then use a smaller male and be selective with the offspring. All the Novaforesta dogs that are being bred this year are smaller than my girls who were both imported from France, so we are heading the right way with the first generation born in the UK. This is my personal view from a working point of view, most breeds working in the field are smaller than  the examples shown in the ring.            

Three barbets in a row

I think these three are in order of commonsense.
Betsy, lovingly called ''The walrus'' by the kids! is the furthest away and definitely the most sensible and grown up. Bepop is next, she always has ''ants in her pants'' and the closest dog is Ooli who just oozes naughtiness in this photo even though he is a completely well behaved adorable boy. When Betsy sits for a photo, she will stay totally still till she is told its over, unless you use a new camera, then she is off. The better you know your dogs, the more fun they are, the more quirky they are, the more impact they have on your everyday life, and the more you remember once they are gone.

A Barbet who is short and stocky

I have no idea who this barbet is, it looks like a male but then so does Betsy in a lot of photos because she is such a stocky barbet.
Whoever it is, its a good photo

An update as this is Axel Opus Un En O Majeur, a female barbet aged 5 or 6 when the photo was taken