Congratulations to new CM Winner Alainn!

This beautiful dog is UKC Ch Hickory Tavern Finally Friday CM. "Alainn" is one of the Claire kids from her litter sired by Quaciendas Thunus Georgii. Alainn earned her Certificate of Merit this past weekend, becoming the 9th Barbet and the 4th Hickory Tavern Barbet to earn the CM title! Alainn is owned by Lynn Vogt-Kinsey and Leslie Woodward and is shown by Leslie. They have done a beautiful job raising Alainn into a wonderful show dog and super fun pet!

Wonderful Weekend

We had a really nice weekend showing the dogs in muddy Pennsylvania where Marlee finished her CM3 title and Solene won Best in Miscellaneous to bring her within 6 points of her CM2. Solene was beautifully shown by Barb Follett. In Illinois, Micah (Hickory Tavern Secret Liaison CM) won several Best in Misc with Robin Novack and Gris Gris (Hickory Tavern Final Approach) made his show debut, winning his first point toward his CM with Margie and Brian Lentini! We are so proud of these sweet dogs!

Hickory Tavern Secret Entourage CM3

Hickory Tavern Intl Intrigue CM with Barb Follett

Au Revoir Francois

Today we wrap up the birthday season with a hearty Happy Birthday wish to the Secret litter. David drove Solene to Repentigny, Quebec for her tryst with Bosch. While in Quebec, David enjoyed skiing at Mont-Tremblant and the wonderful hospitality of Francois Menard, the owner of Bosch. Francois sent David off each day with a beautiful box lunch, and welcomed him back from the slopes with a great meal and fine wine. The weather was terribly cold, but the breedings were successful and Francois sent David off with yet another nice meal for the road.

Bosch, David, and Solene at Francois Menard's home

With Solene's registered name being 'Intl Intrigue,' we chose 'Secret' as the theme of her litter. Solene is so special to me and her first litter was filled with emotion. I remember the fun of Neil Fournier flying in from California when the puppies were 11 days old and our joy of sitting in the whelping box sharing these beautiful babies. I think of the lost promise of the 3 stillborn souls who did not take a breath. When the puppies grew, Grandma Claire became a surrogate mother to the pups and she and Solene shared in raising the 9 sweet babies. I have been so proud to watch these pups grow and accomplish so much. So today, on their third birthday, I remember our friend Francois Menard, who passed away last Saturday. Francois was special, a swashbuckling sort of handsome and proud man. He had a distinctive handling style that said 'Of course you're going to choose this dog.' Yet he didn't just expect to win; he put in the work and earned titles in Conformation, Rally, Obedience, and other events. He was the first to earn an American Rally title. He won the first group placement at Premier with a Barbet. With his gregarious heart, he hosted wonderful cookouts while we camped at the shows. Francois donated prizes to our specialties, he became a SPOT evaluator, and he made friends for the Barbet wherever he traveled with Bosch. Francois and I shared the bond of being cancer survivors, but sadly, his recurred and no more treatment was available. Our deepest sympathies go to his wife Manon. Francois, you were one of a kind. 

I am honored to own my Bosch daughter Marlee, and I know that Francois is proud of her and all of the other Bosch kids. Happy birthday to Marlee, Micah, Meg, Clea, Charlie, Clovis, Teddy, Ernie, and Libby.

Francois Menard   1957-2017

Happy Birthday to the Final litter!

Today we celebrate the birthday of the Finals! At the time, we thought this would be Claire's last litter, so the puppies were all given a Final name. A change in plans led to one more litter from Claire, and they were called the Epilogue litter. The Final group was sired by Quaciendas Thunus Georgii and they were a delightful group to raise. Happy birthday to Gris Gris, Marcel, Dallas, Fia, Alainn, Magic, and Blueberry. A beautiful group!!

Happy Birthday to the Claire - Pascal Pups

April 6, 2016 was a special day here last year. Claire, our fabulous foundation mama, had her last litter of puppies. Papa Pascal stopped by with his owners Josh and Maria to meet all of the babies before they went on to their new homes. Happy birthday to Brigitte, Gavroche, Rex, Lucy, Lila, Rush, Max, and Pink Cotton Candy (CC)  We are so lucky to have such wonderful owners for our puppies!!!

Claire's Pups Start to Depart

Today the first pup of Claire's last litter left for his new home. Hickory Tavern Epilogue Edwin - Rush - has gone to live with Mallie, one of our Nessa/Murdoch pups from last year, in the Allegheny National Forest of Northern Pennsylvania. We are so happy that the Steber Family has chosen to add another one of our Barbet puppies to their family and we wish them all the best. 

Claire and Pascal Pups at 8 Weeks

Today the pups went to the veterinarian for their first shot and microchips. They all were very brave and were great for the ride in the car. I cannot believe these guys are already 8 weeks old and will be starting to leave this weekend. This litter has been such a pleasure!

Extra Special Visitors!

This morning we had some extra special guests for our puppies - Dad Pascal and his owners Josh and Maria stopped by en route to Arlington. Claire and Pascal are the proud parents of these beautiful 8 puppies who will soon be headed off to their new homes. It was a thrill to get them all together! We are grateful to Stephanie Dixon of Northrock Barbet for making this breeding possible.

Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend around the farm and some of our dogs were out competing with great results!

 Fia (Hickory Tavern Final Grade RN CGC) earned two legs toward her AKC Coursing Aptitude title at her first events! Fia is so naturally keen to the lure. What fun to see her enjoying the chase! Thanks to the Tena Family for always giving Fia such great opportunities.

Hickory Tavern Secret Garden, Meg, went to Canada and won a Group 3 from the classes over Specials with Leslie Woodward. 

Our first puppy went home yesterday. Hickory Tavern Wishbone, Almonzo, has gone to Boston where he will assume the role of Top Dog. 

Finally, my son Sam made me this fantastic sign for my birthday. His machining skills are pretty amazing!

Our puppies continue to grow and thrive. The older litter of Solene's will be going to the vet this week for their first vaccination and microchip. Saturday they will be 8 weeks old and the first will begin to leave for their new homes. It is unimaginable how fast the time goes when we have puppies here with us.

We had a special houseguest over the past weekend. Stephanie Dixon of Northrock Barbet came from Toronto to meet the Claire & Pascal puppies. Stephanie is the breeder/co-owner of Pascal and she wanted to see his beautiful first litter for herself! We are very pleased with how this litter is turning out. 

Judy Descutner & Stephanie Dixon

Claire's Pups Go Outside

We've had a rainy week but this morning we took the younger puppies outside for a short visit. Claire and Solene supervised the puppies while they explored a bit. These little guys were 4 weeks old yesterday. The time flies!

Chilly weather, but enjoying the outdoors!

The Whole Crowd

Mom Provides Security

Claire - Pascal Puppies at One Week

These aren't my greatest pictures. I really miss having Isabel here to help me with puppy photos! At least she will be home from college in three weeks to help with the pups when they are more time consuming. At any rate, here are each of Claire's babies...

Blue Collar Boy

Green Collar Girl

Orange Collar Boy

Pink Collar Girl

Purple Collar Boy

Red Collar Boy

White Collar Girl

Yellow Collar Girl

Barbet Babies :)

Claire and Pascal have a most consistent and pretty litter of pups. Here are a few photos from this morning. The boys are blue, red, purple, and orange. Girls are yellow, white, pink, and green.

Claire's New Puppies!

Our wonderful foundation girl Claire has whelped her final litter and she has given it her all! With 8 puppies total, we have 4 black girls, 3 black boys, and 1 brown boy. All of the pups are very similar in look and weight, and were whelped very easily! We expect this litter to excel in temperament as both Claire and Pascal have super sweet and confident personalities. We are really excited to watch this beautiful litter grow.

Can/UKC Ch Neigenuveaux's Ermagarde x Can Ch Northrock's Athos Pascal

Claire is the first Best in Show winning Barbet in North America, and she has won Bests in both AKC and UKC. She is our special girl who started our love affair with this breed!

Fia Wins Her Rally Title

I could not be more proud of the Tena Family and their devotion to their Barbet, Fia. Every member of this family has played a part in Fia's training. This weekend they went to their second ever Rally trial, where Fia won first place in each of her classes and completed her Rally Novice title. Fia is not yet a year old. She has a big future in performance events!

Hickory Tavern Final Grade RN CGC

Neigenuveaux's Ermagarde x Quaciendas Thunus Georgii

Our Second Spring Litter!

Our wonderful Claire was confirmed pregnant today and our second spring litter is on the way! More than likely, these two litters of Solene and Claire will be our only 2016 breedings. We are very excited to welcome Claire's pups. This litter is Pascal's first and Claire's last. Puppies due April 7.

Practicing with my Barbet Junior Handler

Fia is one of our puppies from this spring's Claire x Thunus litter and her 11 year old owner, Kate, has been working very hard learning how to handle her for conformation competition. We've been meeting up at South Park, and Kate works with her own puppy as well as Solene. It's a lot easier for Kate to concentrate on learning when working with a settled, mature dog. This helps her understand what Fia needs to be able to eventually do. For now, we are happy with a little less attention from Fia and are having fun. Kate is a model student!

All of our 2015 Barbet Puppies are in new homes

Blueberry with Anthony, Heather & Family
Hickory Tavern Final Fantasy - Claire's Blue Girl

We bid a fond and bittersweet farewell to our puppies of 2015 with Blueberry going off to her new home in New Jersey this morning. Blue got to stay extra long with us, and we were all smitten with her calm, confident, and super sweet personality.  All of the pups are now in their own homes, with Kit staying here with us. What a wonderful group of pups they were. We wish them all happiness in their lives!

We have no plans to breed a litter until Solene is in season again, which we anticipate in January 2016.

The final boy left us and headed to his new home in Atlanta with Brian and Margie. They both have lots of experience with heavily coated dogs and enjoy training for various dog events. Can't wait to meet up again with this beautifully bodied and very sweet pup.

Gris-Gris left for his new home in Atlanta with Brian and Margie (Claire's big light blue boy)
Hickory Tavern Final Approach

Marcel, now living with Sam and Emma
Hickory Tavern Final Fore  (Claire's Red Boy)