Hickory Tavern Over and Out

From too much sun to too cold! The top photo is our Bruce, now called Sunny, leaving for his new home with long time Whippet owners Ed & Pat. Sunny is bringing some excitement to the older dogs in the house! Sunny is such a sweet boy who is being totally spoiled by Ed & Pat.

Below is our little Tina, leaving with David for her new life. Tina has been super special to us for a lot of reasons, and she was really a tough one to let go. We're fortunate that all three pups live very close to us so that we can all get together. David & Tina will be great pals!

Hickory Tavern Tina Vallerina

Momma Love

This is Calla with her boy Bruce. She loves playing with her puppies!

Pupdate!

The Calla & Tanner puppies are doing great at 3.5 weeks. They have started to eat solid food and play together. All of them are so beautiful! Calla is a really good mom although she is starting to spend less time with the pups. Soon we will start taking them outside for short play periods. Bruce and Margot now weigh over 4 lbs. Bruce is next and little Tina is the smallest. She is growing faster with the addition of solid food and we are really pleased with the entire group

Russell

Margot

Tina and Bruce

The puppies are one week old today!

We are treasuring our time with them.

Calla's Puppies Are Here

Just after midnight on July 29th, Calla went into labor. Her contractions were consistent, but sadly her first puppy girl presented breech, out of the sac, and stillborn. Calla then delivered a girl and two boys in quick succession, took an hour break, and delivered girl #2. Immediately her instincts kicked in and she began to care to each of her perfect little puppies. After her huge appearance, we expected a large litter and were very surprised that Calla's size was only from 5 good-sized puppies. We had a quick vet trip for an xray to make sure that no other puppies remained, and Calla has now spent the day attending to the new crew. We are so excited to see these pups grow and feel blessed that Calla has successfully delivered these beautiful new babies.

Calla immediately loves her babies

Boy #1

Girl #1

Girl #2

Boy #2

Upcoming Whippet Breeding

Calla has finally come into season and we are preparing to breed her for the first time. We have selected a gorgeous Sporting Fields dog who lives in Oregon. Tanner is a champion show dog as well as a speedy racer. We are hoping for a successful outcome!

Calla Lily is Back!

Today is a monumental day for Calla Lily. Dr Radcliffe examined her and has cleared her to begin normal exercise! Last November, she broke her hind leg at the hock, and tore the ligaments that held it. After months of cast and bandage changes with weekly 3 hour round trip visits to the vet, she has spent the past weeks with very limited access to the small yard. Now we can begin long walks and gen...tle running. This may prove to be difficult, but we will monitor her and use the golf cart to exercise her.

We deeply appreciate all the good thoughts and care shown to Calla from our friends, from Facebook, from the dog world, and from the impeccable care of Dr Jim Radcliffe and his staff at Town & Country Veterinary Hospital, Wheeling, WV. I hope that all injured Whippets are able to get care of the quality given by Dr Jim. Calla may return to the ring later this year!

Puppy Visitor

While Solene was outside for a short break, Calla decided to investigate our new little pups. She was so gentle and inquisitive, and seemed to be very happy to meet them. 

Whippet Calla is 3 Today

Our stunning Whippet Calla is celebrating her 3rd birthday today. Although it's been a rough year for her with her leg injury, she is recuperating beautifully and is now enjoying more time outside. We feel so lucky to have her in our home; she is an absolute treasure.

Calla Is Home!

The excessive drainage from the surgical incision has finally stopped, and Calla was allowed to come home today. We are so happy to have her back with us! She is bandaged, splinted, and wrapped together, and has to remain as quiet and still as possible to allow her ligaments and bones to heal. Dr Jim Radcliffe at Town and Country Animal Hospital in Wheeling, WV has done a beautiful job of repairing the damage to her broken bones and shredded ligaments; now it is up to us and Calla to follow the instructions that will help her get better!

What A Weekend...

Calla - The Most Beautiful, Sweet and Special Dog in the World

The ups and downs of my dogs...it's very bittersweet for the last of the puppies to leave. I'm so happy that the families love their new puppy so much, but it's hard to see their sweet little faces go...we put so much time and love into our babies. In the midst of this, Calla had a horrific accident in the yard Friday afternoon and broke her left hind leg at the hock. I immediately knew that she had broken her leg, and she was on the x-ray table at Dr Radcliffe's clinic in Wheeling within the hour. Calla had surgery to repair the bone and ligaments on Saturday afternoon, and she remains hospitalized for observation and treatment. This evening I packed up all of the puppy equipment and the whelping box, and tomorrow I'll set up two big crates for Calla's coming months of rest and rehabilitation. Sadly, it may be up to a year until she recovers fully. Sigh.

Happy birthday to Claire!

Today we're celebrating the 4th birthday of our very special girl, BIS CKC/UKC/IABCA CH Neigenuveaux's Ermagarde. Claire is quite a wonderful dog; the first Barbet to win a UKC Best in Show and the first UKC Champion, an ambassador for the breed appearing 3 years for the huge NYC Meet The Breed crowds, being featured on tv and print breed spots, a perfect mother to her 3 puppies, and friendly and sweet to everyone that she meets. We'll always be grateful to Stacy Able for telling us about her litter, and to Florence Erwin for letting her come to America. Claire has changed our lives in so many ways, and every day she brings us joy.

Winning Best of Breed from the classes at the 2011 Purina National to finish her Canadian Championship

Boating at Deep Creek Lake

First Best in Show for a Barbet   UKC Judge Joann Hurst

Claire comes to America at 12 weeks

Claire on a fence repair day

The Farm Crew

Claire winning her International Championship

Isabel and Claire at their first show together winning a Group 2

Claire and her puppy Solene

Claire and baby Napa

Tug and Claire greet the 40,000 people at AKC's Meet the Breeds

Carol Harris of Bo-Bett Whippets and Italian Greyhounds

My hero, mentor, and dearest friend, Carol Harris, is featured in the new issue of Purina's Today's Breeder magazine. Her outlook and knowledge that she generously shares have taught me so much over the years. In addition, there is no one more fun to be with!

UKC Premier 2013 - Lots of Fun, Lots of Winning!

The UKC Premier is the highlight of the UKC dog show year. Held every June in Kalamazoo, Michigan, the show is a festival of dogs that include Breed Specialties, Top Ten Competition, 3 Regular dog shows, and Agility, Rally, Obedience, NoseWork, Terrier Races, Lure Coursing, and Dock Diving, among other events.

This year, the very first American Barbet Specialty was held, hosted by the United Barbet Club. With entries from Canada and the United States, Barbet fanciers were able to meet, talk, discuss bloodlines, and go over each others dogs. Everyone had a great time, and the dogs all looked fantastic.

We loaded up our new RV with 5 dogs, 4 of whom were entered in the show. We had a great week and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly!

We had a very spacious campsite!

Ch. Hickory Tavern Intl Intrigue - Solene - won the Champion class and Reserve Best In Show at the Specialty

High Flyer Turbo of HTF - Bob - won Division 1 Agility, scoring 198/200

CallaLily O'Hickory Tavern Farm - Calla - won Best of Winners both days she was shown

Ch Nuphar's Gift Wrapped to HTF - Nessa - won the Award of Excellence in the Top Ten Competition

Nessa also won Best of Breed, completed her Championship, and won a Group 4 in the huge Gun Dog Group on Sunday

Enjoying Spring at Hickory Tavern Farm

 Beautiful Calla Lily

 Napa and Ava exploring the farm. Ava is always a wonderful nanny to the puppies.

 Solene enjoying the river ducks in Pittsburgh during the Pittsburgh Marathon

Stunning Napa at 9 weeks

Fun Photo Day

Even though it's spring, we had 5" of snow overnight. It was fun taking Bob out for some jump practice. Calla was happy sleeping on her pilow, and we had fun with our beautiful puppy, who is getting very big!