A Lovely Time In Cwm Dulyn

 Nico and Jezi On A Big Rock

 A Smaller Rock For An Old Man

 Everyone Having A Great Time

 Oh Jezi!

What Have You Two Seen?

Not Just Me Then

A nice message was posted on my facebook page from the owner of the bitch that won the Vintage class yesterday. I must admit I was horrified to see such a lame wobbly animal win the class, a slight insult to the others to be honest ... but NOT the dog or the owners fault! ...
"Well done Rhian - And you were robbed in Vintage - Your Tali moved like a youngster and should have taken that class easily. Our judge must have been looking at something else when I attempted to move wobbly Katja in an elegant straight line lol!"
Anyway Tali doesn't care!!!!





Take a look at this ... The GSD grad class yesterday. Again showing the diversity in type and then the total inconsistency of the judging! Loki was first, the last English type dog was 2nd and Bella with Ian was 3rd! With all 4 putting on a reasonable performance, then depending on your interpretation of the breed standard the English dog should have been 1st or last .. they just don't compare, well in my eye anyway!

Caernarfon C.S

No photos in the ring today ..

 Loki won Graduate and was RBOB

Sammi was second in Open to the BOB winner

Sadly no photos of my "Grannies" at all.

Asha was 3rd in Veteran and Tali sadly last in Vintage

(And yes I think she was robbed!)

Sad News

We are just back from the vets with Finlay. It's not great news, but we both suspected it and were at least a little prepared. The vet can feel a large growth in his spleen/liver area. At his age we have decided not to put him through scans or further invasive procedures. We will let him enjoy the rest of his life without further stress as there is no treatment available anyway .... On the plus side she assured us that he is not currently showing any signs of pain and his colour is still reasonable though not normal ... Plod on day by day now

A Year On ...

Twelve Months to the day and the youngest member of the family is no longer the smallest! 

Mikey is sinking as Loki had to be returned to his spot three times

Mikey likes to get it right!

Fun In The Sun

 Sammi wouldn't let Loki out of the lake

So he resorted to "Teef First" and RUN!

The freedom in this place makes it just perfect for my kids

Who cares that they are on the other side of the lake???

There is no reason for them not to be! 

Woohooo

Finlay's day

Just a short walk up to the cattle grid and back was more than enough today. He was very enthusiastic to get going but lagging behind within minutes. We waited for him to mooch and sniff about but I think he was glad to come home early whist I took the others further. At lunch time he ate a piece of fish, thankfully he has eaten his tea tonight and seems a little brighter. 

Another Male In The Running

Clynalwin’s Kayson
 BVA / KC Hips 7:7 - BVA / KC Elbows 0:0 Haemophilia Clear, DNA Profiled

Another Bad Day ..

This morning I struggled to get Finlay out of bed. At 8.15am it was already pretty late for us to be getting up, but he had no go about him at all. Once up his mobility did not seem any worse than normal,  it looked like a lack of motivation, he just couldn't make the effort to get up. (I guess we can all understand that to a degree!) Again he hasn't eaten and he has a very fed up, sad expression. I can't imagine that he is feeling too well!

Soon I'll be taking the troops out, I guess that'll be the time we'll see how he really feels. Won't be going far myself as I'm full of a cold and can't use the van as I've broken the gear stick! Happy Days!!!

No Camera!

Just a Smart phone

 Where did the path go girls?
Happy Tali somewhere different, though she took exception to the gorse and came to a full stop a couple of times! 

Sammi and her boys on the mountain.

No third photo, the niwl (Mist/fog .. whatever!) came down thick and fast so no point really.  Bit blustery too, but not cold or raining thank god!

What Do We Think Of This Guy?

With rumors flying around about my original choice of dog for Sammi I've started looking elsewhere. I'm not saying the rumors are true, he is currently very popular and they could well be malicious ... so I decided to dig deeper. Similarly to all walks of life there are the good and bad in this breed, people that are in it for themselves and the people who are in it for the good of the breed!....So the rumor that I'd heard was that my favoured dog, the Louis look a like was producing bad/sharp characters ... I kind of know where to go for advice and this is what was given ... "yes I had heard that but I never listen to it, sometimes you see the same people with the same problems re character, The dog has a super character himself and I don't like to put dogs down ..  but I had heard the SV scores are not as advertised .. not seen the paper work just whats been said...I think it will soon be public knowledge .. just saying if you are considering check it out x."
So I guess I'll sit on the fence a bit longer with this one and see what we hear over the next few months! I do have time on my hands!

So Plan B - Keep Looking - and I've come across a couple .....
Number one... 

Have a look at "Fin Von Popland."
(V1 IPO1 HD ED Normal)

Described as " A great character and so correct constructionaly - a good moving dog as well. Strong male of correct size"

As Victor Would Say ...

I don't BELIEVE it!!!

Almost 6 months to date from her last season and Ziva has come in. Now what's wrong with that? Well bloody everything, Ziva has always and I presumed always would go 7 to 8 month between seasons! But no, not this time! We have just endured weeks of Sammi Belle's prolonged season, things are just getting back to normal, and bingo here we go again! My poor boys won't know their arse from their elbows again now. Here's hoping it will be a shorter, more normal season this time.... especially as I can't safely leave Ziva the Houdini in a crate! 

I've just been through to the Utility room where she had filled her crate with cat bowls and cutlery, and in her quest to get them down off the work top and sink she had had to stand on a shelf

therefore managing to pull most of the dog towels down. To add insult to injury a cat .. I think Tia ... had been up in the dog bedding and knocked a lot of it down ... the room looked like a bomb site! The joys of living with a house full eh, but no I wouldn't have it any other way! 

Tremadog Nursery

With Loki and Sammi today - One of my favourite childhood haunts! 

One Of Everyone

Would You Come In?

The youngsters and Mikey from the big group making the coal man feel a little short of welcome this morning. Asha and Tali giving the odd bark but generally more composed and standing by the door. Jezi and Nico were throwing themselves about in the middle room ... and Finlay? Well I guess it all probably passed him by! 

So would you come in? Could you? Well I never make people walk in through the big group like I use too, unless they are friends and I'm confident they are happy to do so. There's nothing funnier than seeing Loki throw Linda against the wall for Sammi to then jump all over her with muddy paws! Well for me anyway!!!
These days I put the dogs away or shut them in the top field when people visit, I let the people sit down and then bring the dogs in. I'm confident that my dogs will be fine with people who visit .. unless those people are idiots and do stupid things. I remember one person who should have known better whimpering in a youngsters face. I think it may have been Tali but I'm not too sure, and even as the pup reacted badly they continued and laughed. Total lack of knowledge and understanding which could have led to trouble!

I'm confident my dogs will be fine if the person is confident around them. But in these days of stupid laws I think it's best to be cautious and keep my kids safe! Did you know that the new legislation states that if a trespasser. ...burglar...rapist or what ever enters your back garden or yard intending to kill or rape you. ...and your dog attacks them...you are liable. This has been brought in to protect the accidental trespasser like a small child that wanders in. Only defense is if they actually attack them inside the home itself. If any dog greets, say the postman and jumps up affectionately giving them a minor scratch, then the could be prosecuted. That could be a poodle a pug or any breed. And if they happen to slipped out and they knock any one over in excitement, guess what? ....we could all be prosecuted for that too.
It's all gone too far absolutely ludicrous in my opinion!!! 

Meet Up With Gail ...

.. In Bryncir, and to keep the peace after yesterday's geriatric strop,
Tali came out with the youngsters

Loki found his way down a steep bank and into a river

Tali - "Errr how did he get down there?"

I think not Tali!!!!

So She's sulking for the posing picture! 

*****

Another New Walk

But it was crap, so we won't be going back there again! 

To be honest I only wanted somewhere to take them close to the vets as Tia had her B12 injection appointment. Bless her she's was such a good girl and has really made me look like a liar at the vets! 

As I was there I decided to weigh Finlay, I was quite shocked to see he was now down to 35kg. So that's over 5 kg down from his weight when he was in his prime, and just under 4kg lost since September!

Still he enjoyed this short walk in a new place today ... I wish I had a magic wand right now!

My Super Duper Stud Dog

Last night there was a conversation in dog club about Nico, and his offspring, I wasn't originally involved in the conversation, but I could hear it going on ... (at the time I was hiding in a corridor as Ian tried to get the best out of Loki.) It all started as the assessor for the night complimented Loki' on his beautiful head and expression, a club member replied by saying "his sire really is stamping his mark on his progeny!" Aww that was nice!
Well just my opinion - Nico has produced super puppies to bitches of pet quality with a mixed bag of pedigrees, I'd love him to be used more on show line bitches, like Ziva and Milli as I think he could produce something outstanding. Loki's mum's pedigree is an inconsistent mixture of show line, working type, working police dogs and something I can't find out anything about... and look at the puppies! Another 2 of the bitches had pedigrees that were a mystery to me, but they too were  stunning litters ... Margo the sable bitch from one litter is lovely, and very true to "Nico" type whilst Hans the singleton is outstanding .... but hairy!!!
I know I'm fussy with the bitches that visit him and have turned down 3 in the last few months, they must be standard coloured,  health tested and be sound in mind and body, but really I don't think that's too much to ask. Sadly I can't use him again, unless for some reason Sammi doesn't conceive, then I would breed from Ziva and Nico again ... but that is hopefully not likely to happen. (well unless I leave them together when him indoors is out and say nothing until it's too late ... too devious???)
Anyway he's still a young guy, so hopefully there is still chance of some show-line bitches coming to him in the future ...

Another Beautiful Walking Day

On home turf for everyone, which didn't please Tali very much!!!!