Barbet Puppy Napa is 8 Weeks Old Today!

At 8 weeks, our baby Napa continues to thrill us with her beautiful conformation and bold and brave personality. Big sister Solene and 10 month old Nessa enjoy playing with her. Breeding Claire and Bango has produced exactly the kind of puppies we were hoping to get from this combination, and we really look forward to their future contribution to our breeding program. Working with the American show and breeding system in the infancy of the Barbet in the United States is very exciting and rewarding. Breeders throughout Europe have made foundation dogs available to North America and we are very proud to be continuing on with the development of the Barbet in America.

Barbet Solene OFA Prelim Results: Good!

Yesterday I received very good news in the mail from OFA. Solene's OFA Prelim xrays received a rating of Good. Even though she won't receive her permanent rating until she is 2, it is good to know that her hips look great as we make her future breeding plans.

Barbet Puppy Napa

Napa is now 7 weeks old and is such a beautiful puppy. We are really enjoying her last weeks here with us!

Barbet Grooming Shape

I am often asked how the Barbet is to be groomed for the dog show. Many styles are seen in the ring, from fully blown and brushed out to an ungroomed, untouched appearance. I prefer a moderate style, nicely shaped but naturally presented. This picture demonstrates my preferred Barbet appearance for my dogs.

Barbet Puppy Napa Outdoors at 5.5 Weeks

Napa has been enjoying the warm weather and being able to play outside. She's such a smart and sweet puppy.

Bob's New Agility Titles

What a weekend we've had at the Mountaineer Kennel Club Agility Trials. Bob won his Novice Agility Preferred and Novice Jumper Preferred titles, and qualified for his first legs in Open Standard and JWW. Training and working with Bob to learn Agility has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. He tries so hard and is always smiling. I wish I had started in Agility years ago, but I'm happy that we did finally give it a go, and I plan to get some of the other dogs ready while continuing to work with Bob. As always, none of this would have been possible without the patient, excellent coaching from Irene Barrie. Next...agility with a Barbet!