At Club And Weights

Beautiful Kate at club last night. She is a lovely young girl, lovely colour and coat. A little heavier than I would have her, but that's personal choice at this age, here's hoping for a great future in the ring for her. 

Zavi was over the moon to see Owen. He did a fab job of handling him and Kate. With luck and good fortune, Owen has the potential to be one of the breed's top handlers! 

Paranoid about the fact that Kate is still bigger than Zavi, I decided to weigh him at the vets today. Their scales are much more accurate than mine. He was 21.4kg - after coming home I checked Orin's weight at 5 months. (There was no mid-month measurement.) He was 56cms at the wither and weighed 24.2kg. Zavi is not 5 months till the 24th, by then I would imagine he'll be 23 - 24 kg, but I don't think he'll be quite that tall, he's about 52.5cms at the moment! So yeah, I'm happy with that! I do find that females slow down after 6 months; actually, it's said they grow roughly 2.5cms after 6 months, and males grow approx. 5 cm. (Though no one told Meerah!) 

I really don't mind if he ends up a smaller male than Orin. Actually, 63 - 64 cms would be ideal! 

This ear is still pissing about, I guess I'll have to wait now whilst he's teething! 

Meerah At The Vets

Mostly it's great to be right; honestly, we want nothing more, but sometimes, just sometimes, it would be fantastic to be bloody wrong. Back in February 2025 I made some comments about Meerah's hindquarters, and that was followed with numerous posts in March 2025, culminating in this post  

https://talistails.blogspot.com/2025/03/i-want-to-talk-about-hips.html. The main aspects from that blog to consider are :-

1. "I'm going to write about this just once more this side of the time when I will be considering health test, because I need to to clear my head. I'm still convinced that Meerah's left hip is poor, and I don't just mean maybe a score of 12 or so, I think there is an issue that is unfamiliar territory for me in this female line."

2. Meerah is not lame, Meerah is not crying out in pain, and Meerah is full of fun and happiness and is a pleasure to share a life with, but what I have noticed I can't unsee. Firstly there are the constant stops and starts in the field; this could be due to discomfort and instability in her hip joints. Dogs are good at finding their comfortable positions, though she doesn't bunny hop. Following resting after a walk, she has a stiffness when getting to her feet; her front takes most of the strain, and then she has stiffness for the first few paces, something I would only expect to see in an older dog. On noticing these issues, I have tried to flex the joints; when I have tried with the left hip, she is guarded and will yelp. As a reminder, Pano (growing pains) affects long bones, not joints. 

Well, with my big girl pants on, I took Meerah in to the vets today. The plan was to x-ray her hips, and if they were poor, as I thought they would be, then she was going straight through to be spayed. If I was wrong and they were OK then we'd continue to x-ray her elbows and send them up to be scored. I had explained to Beth that even though Meerah appears sound, is lively and has no stiffness now, I couldn't unsee what I had seen when she was a youngster. 

Rhys was there placing the dogs, as he always does, and Beth was in charge. I had been allowed to stay with Meerah until she was out for the count, and then I stood in the corridor. As soon as the x-ray was taken, I saw Beth's face. She said 'Sadly, you were right, these are not good.' I went into the room and saw for myself, bloody shocking, no wonder she'd had issues as a youngster. As Katrina was waiting to check them out, Beth suggested I still send them for her expert opinion; she replied, "Oh goodness, I'm sorry!" 

I left Meerah in their capable hands; I cried most of the way home as I relived that day with Kaiah. I was home about an hour when Rhys sent me this photo of Meerah sat up in her pen with the simple message, "All good!" It was such a huge relief, and I cried again. 

Meerah is now home, safe and sound. She won't be rehomed; she will live her life here with us, she'll walk the mountains and the woodlands, and she'll go to shows ... Of course I'm disappointed, but I can't say that I didn't see it coming! 

Changing Weather

There is a story to tell - but another day will have to do. 

Zavi's Critique

I was chatting with a friend about AI this morning, she was introduced to Chatgpt yesterday and was amazed at what can be done. Then I wondered if it would give me the text from a video - I use Gemini, but it's all the same thing. So I uploaded the video explaining that I couldn't hear/understand all that was being said; this was the reply ...

Here is the judge's full critique from the audio clip: 

 "Second dog, also a well-constructed dog. He has not that much ring routine. He has at the moment not the wither. He has a little bit more pigmentation, but all in all, very correct anatomy with correct structure. Congratulations, very promising."

Well that makes a lot more sense, doesn't it! 

Presaddfed Aeron Of Blanik

We were lucky to get a few photos after the judging. I've deleted the shit, but these 4 are really all very nice. Regarding the first two, to be honest, I find it hard to choose. I guess, if I had to, I'd go for the second pic simply because his head/neck is more forward than upwards. 

Photo number three is also a cracker, but for perfection, GSD's are always photographed with their mouths open. 

Another I like, but his near-side hind leg (near to the handler) is pulled in too far forward. 

Regional News

Yesterday we were playing in someone else's playground as we attended a Regional with Zavi. His class was "Baby Short Coat Male" and the boy did us all proud.

It was an early start for Zavi as I left home at 5.15am. His breakfast was in the van for him and he'd scoffed it before we got through the gate. Beti came with us for moral support – and we picked Jackie up in Groeslon. We met up with Thelmas and Louise, Errr Jane and Sarah just off the M6, everyone picking up their coffee and/or running to the loo. (Apart from me as I always bring my own flask - for the tea! 😁)

It was like a summer's day in Ellistown and we were there in good time for Zavi to see it all before judging started. He had a mooch around with Beti and as I stood looking around, I remembered a baby Ross arriving here for the first time, and I remembered the mud, OMG the mud! 

There were four baby puppy classes, 2 for females and 2 for males, between 4 and 6 months. The largest class was L/C female, with only one in S/C female, how I wished Kate had been there. After a panic from my backup team – 2 of them came to get me, as they thought all the baby puppies were going in together – I faffed and fumbled and ended up ring-side with a puppy I hadn't even brushed. Thankfully they had misunderstood, and we had plenty of time to watch the other 3 classes. 

Reacher, Zavi's brother (Blue Collar), was in the Baby puppy L/C class. Like Zavi he'd had no training for this kind of showing, but other than being a little loud, he did really well. He was VP2. He is a big-boned, heavy pup with so much potential; he is no taller than Zavi but has a huge frame, with luck and good fortune, I'm sure he'll grow into a very impressive male. 

Zavi was "abandoned" with Jane before his class, and when Mandy came to take him in, even from the other side of the ring, I saw the absolute confusion on his face. There was nothing for it; I had to leg it round and walk out in front of him till he got the hang of it ... and he did! He was pulling out a little too hard at times I guess, (maybe a different collar will help?), but he wasn't bothered by the puppy in front or behind him. Well done Zavi - VP2 as well. (VP-Very Promising - the highest grade that can be given to a puppy - and 2nd in the class) The German judge gave him a lovely critique, the negatives being that he doesn't hold his wither height, which I see and I agree with, but he also said his pigment wasn't great. Well, I beg to differ; actually, he has great pigment. Maybe the judge meant something else was not pleasing to his eye and got his words mixed up? Possible, isn't it? The puppy pulled out as the winner was only 10 days short of 6 months, making him look much more like the finished picture than Zavi and the 3rd pup, he had also obviously received much more training... a nice puppy, but looking back at the videos, something wasn't quite right! 

The journey home was fun, it's great to travel with someone who manages to eat more than you do, it's great to feel a little bit more positive, it's great to have a van like this to drive, and it's great to have spent time with Thelma and Louise. We missed Owen and Linda - but hopefully next time we can all be together again. 

During the day I saw some beautiful dogs, but I also saw one of the worst I've ever seen at a show. Surely someone close to them should tell them? If it were me, I hope someone would tell me! 

A Quick Post About The Regional

Lovely day with baby Zavi at The Midland Regional yesterday. Obviously not a clue what he was doing, but managed a VP2 in the s/c baby puppy class thanks to Mandy's kind handling. Thanks to the special people for sharing the day with us. 

Apple And Tree Again?

This is Zavi's brother Bryn, Mr Green. He looks so much like a young Nico, honestly, I just see a Nico son, no Orin. Weird, isn't it! 

Then there's Zavi. In the nest I didn't see Orin, especially as I kept seeing his eyes being closer together than I usually see in a Blanik nest, but look at him now, OMG - so much Orin! His head is still less masculine than Orin's was. (I'm not saying he's feminine – just not as strong at the moment.) Is my eye always drawn to the same look? Do I go for the same type? Hell I must do, at the moment Zavi is just so father typical. 

... and yes, this is Orin!

Sunshine In Tremadog

Another successful walk with Beti the mentor, and Zavi her student. We saw three dog walkers and a family with a bubbly, loud child; all went well. Beti is such a super star. 

The sun was beaming, and the grass was wet with dew; everywhere just looked so beautiful. 

My favourite photo today. 

Since we used the name Zavi, I've heard it twice in TV characters; one was on Van der Valk and the other just this week, but bloody hell I can't remember on what! (It will hopefully come to me!) 

This afternoon we are watching an old episode of "The Dog House" and there is someone, originally from Canada, on it called Orin! Well, that's a first. 

All Good In The Rain

Zavi seems fine today, and we took advantage of a few minutes between the showers to play in the garden. One of the big acers in a pot had been blown over, so the gardener came out to deal with it. The amount of cardboard, plastic and general "recycling" that has blown here over the last few days is crazy. I think someone has lost the lid off their recycling box, or something. Anyway, Zavi was happy with a plastic bottle! 

Did you watch Traitors last night? OMG I'm totally hooked already. It must be one of my favourite programs now ... and with a few of my favourite celebrites in it, it just makes it better. (James Blunt, Michael Sheen, and Rob and Romesh, of course!) Honestly, I sit on the edge of my seat watching it!