Barbet Puppies

 

Our puppy pile is getting larger. Now 11 days old, the pups will begin to open their eyes and ears in the next few days. They are already wobbling around the box on all four feet. The boys are red, green, gray, and purple collars. Girls are blue, yellow, white, pink, orange, and black collars. Solene is the perfect mother!

June Dog Fun

Russell

Russell won Best of Winners in Canton, OH June 10 under Barbara Alderman for two more points. He has settled in nicely with dog show training and is really enjoying his time in the show ring.

Otis

 The amazing Hickory Tavern Superdog JH, Otis, is owned by Sam Descutner and the two of them have worked very hard training for field events. Otis has a ton of drive and I recently competed with him in Mantua, OH at an NADD dock diving event where his one and only splash resulted in a Master's level jump of 20'6". I'm really looking forward to more dock diving with this fun guy!

Finally, Flynn got an OFA rating of 'Good' on her hips. This was great news as we prepare to breed Flynn later this year.

The puppies are one week old today!

We are treasuring our time with them.

Whippet Puppies on the Way

Our other big news is that Calla is confirmed pregnant!! We are really looking forward to our Whippet puppies, who will be here in no time at all. While Calla is getting fatter and fatter, here is a picture of athletic daddy Tanner racing in the Pacific Northwest.

Day 51 of 63. How much bigger will she get??

Tanner

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!

Portraits of the Puppies -- Claire x Thunus Georgii

Finally we had some sun and good lighting to take individual pictures of the puppies. These are the Claire - Georgii pups, born April 8, 2015.

Claire's Blue Girl

Claire's Red Boy

Claire's Yellow Boy

Claire's White Girl

Claire's Light Blue Boy

Claire's Green Girl

Claire's Orange Girl

Claire's Puppies Are Here!

Claire's beautiful little George puppies were born early this morning. Just like Nessa, she started exactly at 5:00 AM. All of Claire's pups are black, and there are 4 girls - 3 boys.  They are extremely strong puppies, and the yellow collared boy was sitting up and nursing when he was an hour old.

5:00 AM    #1    Girl   305g    black    blue collar
5:08 AM    #2    Boy   263g    black    red collar
5:25 AM    #3    Boy    227g    black    yellow collar
5:33 AM    #4    Girl    225g    black    white collar
5:45 AM    #5    Boy    323g    black    light blue collar
6:18 AM    #6    Girl    242g    black    green collar
6:50 AM    #7    Girl    225g    black    orange collar

I always use the same colors so that I know which order they were born, i.e. blue = 1st, red = 2nd

One hour old and sitting up to nurse

Light Blue Boy

Green Girl

Every day, the puppies are gaining 30-40 grams, and are getting stronger. Already they are trying to stand on their wobbly little legs to get around the box. Nessa continues to be an attentive mother, although she did decide that my bed would make a more comfortable home for her babies when she started carrying them to my room after arranging the pillows and blankets. Unfortunately for her, the puppy she was carrying was very loud, and she was quickly thwarted! Silly girl.

The puppies are handled multiple times a day, and I am doing a version of Early Neurological Stimulation that provides mild stresses in order to strengthen the puppy. It's really enjoyable to see the changes in the pups each day.

Snoozy boy

Getting bigger!

American Barbet Puppies!

Our Dutch import, Nessa, gave birth to 8 beautiful puppies this morning, sired by Canada's #1 Barbet, Murdoch. A first time mom, Nessa easily delivered her babies in under two hours. All of the puppies came out head first, fully encased in their sacs, for a smooth passage into the world.

5:00 AM    #1    Girl   228g    brown    blue collar

5:36 AM    #2    Boy   263g    black    red collar

5:51 AM    #3    Girl    200g    black    yellow collar

5:58 AM    #4    Girl    202g    black    white collar

6:10 AM    #5    Boy    233g    black    light blue collar

6:36 AM    #6    Girl    197g    black    green collar

6:50 AM    #7    Boy    250g    black    orange collar

6:57 AM    #8    Girl    256g    brown    purple collar

Birth size doesn't really indicate adult size, but it's interesting to watch as they grow. Sometimes the biggest pups in the litter stay the biggest, and other times the smaller pups end up being the exact right size as adults. I'll get individual shots of the pups posted over the next few days.

Nessa is in Season!

Nessa

Nessa

We've been not so patiently waiting for Nessa to come into season, and finally she has! Tomorrow she will have her Brucellosis and first Progesterone test done, so that we can begin to schedule our trip to Toronto to breed her with the beautiful Murdoch.

Murdoch

Spay, Neuter, and Joint Disease

Solene's litter is now 9 months old and several puppy families have contacted me about spay/neuter. Although I advise waiting until at least one year, more and more evidence is demonstrating that routine spay and neuter is really a disservice to the health of our dogs. Here's another article to consider.

Barbet Christmas Decoration

Here is the beautiful Taggart posing in Pittsburgh as one of Santa's reindeer!

Bosch Wins Best of the Best

Bosch and Francois winning Best of the Best in Brampton, Ontario

"At the Maple Leaf Kennel Club (UKC) event Bosch and I ended up in Rally with two first places and one second place with an average of 97% in Rally Obedience 3 (Excellent). In conformation, one third place, three second places and one first place.Three Top Dog Award. One Best in Show and one Best of the Best in Show." -- Francois Menard

Congratulations to Francois and Bosch for their wonderful weekend! Bosch is the father of Solene's April litter: Micah, Clovis, Charlie, Maggie, Libby, Marlee, Ernie, Clea and Teddy. This litter has excellent uniformity, temperament, size, and bone. We are very happy with our Bosch pups!

In addition to his nice performance in Rally, Bosch won Best of the Best, which is a UKC competition between all dogs who won Best In Show over the weekend. Fantastic!

Fun in Pittsburgh

Here is Claire's puppy Tag, now 7 months old, enjoying the fountain at the Point in Pittsburgh. He was the green collared boy and he continues to grow into a very handsome boy. Tag is a lucky pup to have such a fun family.

Solene's Puppies Are Here!

Sweet Solene had a very easy and fast labor and delivery. Her 9 puppies are now here and doing great so far. There are 4 black boys, 1 brown boy, 1 black girl, and 3 brown girls. Solene is an excellent mother!

MBIS CH. Hickory Tavern Intl Intrigue (Solene) x MBIS UR02 CH. Neigenuveaux's Gambit (Bosch)

Solene's Health Testing Nearly Complete!

With Solene reaching her second birthday next month, plans are underway for her first breeding. Because we are unable to have a litter of puppies next summer, we hope to breed Solene within the next month when she comes in season. Yesterday we received the great news from OFA that her Preliminary Elbow reading and Thyroid test results are normal. In addition, her eye certificate came as well. Within the next few days, OFA will be updating their site with her information, but I'll list her results here. (Unlike the European scores, OFA does not give final results until the second birthday, but her preliminary results are an accurate assessment)

OFA Hips:  Preliminary Good
OFA Elbows:  Preliminary Normal
OFA Eyes: No known issues
OFA Thyroid: Normal

Madi, the Only Brown Girl

Madi went to her new home with Garry and Sheryl two weeks ago, and she spent this past week with us while they were on a relaxing vacation. Madi (Hickory Tavern Dior On Madison) joins her big brother, Clousseau the Barbet here in Pittsburgh.

Virginia Bound

Sweet little Bodhi, the only brown boy, was the very last puppy to leave us today. Such a bittersweet time for us, yet Tracy, Pete, Josephine and Lucian are super excited to get Bodhi (Hickory Tavern On The River) home to Virginia where they will have lots of fun together.

"Maverick" and His Crew

Maverick (Hickory Tavern On Deck) is our pick male from this litter, and we are thrilled that he will be living close by with his active and fun family. He'll enjoy work as a gun dog as well as being the treasured family pet of Rob, Carrie, Schaeffer and Grayson.

6 Weeks Today!

It's a soggy day here, but the pups did get to go outside for a few hours when the rain stopped. Here are a few of the pictures taken today that I sent to their owners as an update. I hope that the new families will feel a connection to their puppy even before they meet! Their little velcro collars have worn out, so they're all unmarked.

Burgundy Girl

White Boy