Jazz the Standard poodle with the children

It is hard work having a young family and getting a puppy, my youngest was only 18 Months old when Jazz arrived on the scene. However when I look back on videos like the above, its a wonderful time and the pleasures of dog ownership outweigh the difficult times. In hindsite, the best time for a puppy is probably when your  last child goes to Nursery, as this gives you more time to spend teaching a puppy right from wrong.Anyway, I have no regrets and my children cannot remember life without Jazz.
Note the immediate difference between a Barbet and a poodle, my Barbets have never balanced on their back legs and waved, that is a strong poodle characteristic!

Perfect Pet-Dogs Monthly

Good news, the Barbet is officially on a breed drop down menu on at least one website in the UK.

http://www.perfectpup.co.uk/index.php5

I can also confirm that Jilly and I have been accepted as Breed advisors after completing an extensive form, there were some tricky questions to answer but we both passed!

Well done Jilly

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETSY

Dear Betsy is 5 years old today, she is not having the best Birthday as her idol has gone away for a few days Mountaineering  and she is rather subdued. She is such a very loyal dog, I knew she would miss him.
Here is a small taster of Betsy playing with her last litter, hopefully 2011 will be an exciting year for her as she will be having pups again. Every dog is good at something and Betsy is exceptionally good at rearing pups, its what makes her happy.


http://youtu.be/YMgaFhJlLKQ

Jazz used to climb trees

Is there anything a poodle doesn't do?
He was such a rascal in his youth.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzQpNAcc5kI

Mistaken identity

The most common question asked when out with any of my dogs is:

Is that a labradoodle?

After a few years you do get used to it, some people are interested in what you have to say, some people are disappointed that they could get a dog breed so wrong.
Bepop and Betsy have been called, briards, black Irish Water Spaniels,labradoodle, PWD, bearded collie! and on occasions poodles!
Bobby has been called a SWD, lagotto, poodle, labradoodle and a cockerpoo.
Jazz who is so obviously a poodle has been mistaken for a labradoodle numerous times.

Will this situation ever change? I think it unlikely but what may happen is that people will use the types of dogs rather than the breeds, and ask ''Is it a retriever?  Is it a waterdog?  Is it a spaniel? Is it a sheepdog?''
It might be a good time to apologise to the lady I met the other day and casually asked if her dog was a labradoodle, she was kind to me and responded well....it was a Catalan Sheepdog !! (beautiful dog by the way)

Hip Scores and Novaforesta Effie

 Fantastic news , Novaforesta Effie has A hips (European system), and a clear eye test.  Effie lives with a wonderful couple in Holland, so we cannot include her results under the health reports for the UK resident barbets.




Effie swimming at 9 weeks
 She is the daughter of Betsy and Bachus and one day I hope to see her again. She is approx 54 in height and weighs approx 22kg. 

She loved retrieving, the watering can she felt was better in the house than the garden!

  The Barbet in the UK at the moment is achieving a mean average of 8 which converts to an A in Europe, although with only 6 dogs hipscored in the UK we will have plenty of  test results in the future,when more pups go through health testing, however its a very promising start.

Beaters day

Beaters Day, good weather, good food, good fun,good company,good dogs. Really sad its the end of the season, but now I can put some time into training Bepop and work on the areas that she plays 'deaf'


Julian and Graham with Bepop