Summer Sunshine

Here's our girl Claire enjoying some time outside today while waiting for her new pups to come. She has gained 10 pounds onto her normal 44 and she's getting a bit unwieldy! We are very pleased to learn that her past small litters seem to be due to the artificial inseminations with frozen semen and not any issues with her eggs. We're very excited to meet her little Obie puppies.

A Passel of Pups

Claire had an x-ray today to check the pregnancy and we are very pleased to see that she is carrying 8-9 babies. As my friend Pat said, a passel of pups! Just a few more days until they are here. We are very excited to welcome a new litter of Barbet to America!

Canadian Weekend

This past weekend, we had a wonderful trip to Long Sault, Ontario, along the St Lawrence River, to show at the Club Barbet Canada supported entry weekend. Along the way, we stopped in Clayton, New York, to ride the Miss Thousand Islands, a 30' Hackercraft wood boat with a perfect sounding 502 engine at the Antique Boat Museum. 5 years ago, David and I visited this museum on a trip to Lake Placid for our 25th anniversary. The Miss Thousand Islands wasn't yet in the water, and we were sorry that we couldn't go out on her to see the area. It was great to be able to go back and enjoy the water with our daughter.

Ready to board the Miss Thousand Islands

We saw this stunning old racing boat while we were out

We set up the trailer in our waterfront campsite and spent the day exploring the area. We had time before the dog shows started for a side trip to visit Vieux Montreal. The oldest part of Montreal is a gorgeous section of this huge city that is so reminiscent of France.

St Lawrence River from our campsite

David and Isabel at Place d'Armes, a town square developed in 1693

Very French!

The dog show was fantastic with Nessa winning Winner's Bitch at the Club Barbet Canada Booster for 4 points on Saturday under judge Fabian Almendrales; then on Sunday, Solene was Winner's Bitch, Best of Winners, and Best of Opposite for 5 points under judge Jose Haro. The girls got a really good chunk of their points towards their Canadian championships, where 10 points are required. We rode our bikes a lot, and David was able to go kayaking and paddle boarding. This show is so enjoyable...too bad all dog show venues can't be like this!

Nessa and Solene

The Lineup for Winners on Saturday

David and Solene

Now we will be home with Claire's pups for the next few months, with a few local Agility events coming up!

Claire Is Getting Close!

Here is a sight that we haven't seen before: Claire with a fat belly! Wednesday we will have her x-ray done as we prepare for her puppies. This is an exciting week when we set up the whelping box and get ready to welcome new little Barbet puppies. Claire is doing really well during her pregnancy, and is getting good exercise every day. 

Puppy Napa Comes To Visit!

This weekend we were very lucky to have our puppy Napa and her wonderful owners, Brian and Courtney, come to visit us at our lake house. Napa had a great time reuniting with her mom Claire and sister Solene, and we were thrilled to see the progress that Napa has made and how pretty she still is. The similarity in type of Solene and Napa reinforces how excellent the combination of genes from Claire and Bango turned out to be. Napa and Solene spent some time together at the water's edge, where Solene only swam from the shore but Napa fearlessly dove from the dock for her toys. We love this girl's attitude!

Solene, Napa and Claire

Judy with Solene and her little sister Napa

Solene brings back the toy while Napa waits to pounce :)

Solene watches in amazement as Napa flies off the dock

Flying Napa!

Fearless!