Just received a message from Albey's family

Still waiting for Bumble to come on heat, but the bigger the gap between our next two litters if her sister Blottie has gone on in pups will make rearing them easier. 

Blottie it under the Willow tree catching some Autumn sun. Hopefully Blottie is now getting near 3 weeks pregnant with Ernest's and her first litter. We are now Just counting the days until we get her scanned around the end of next week.

I could waste a lot of time watching Ernest patrolling our property against bird invasion. He has a beautiful lightness and effortless to the way he moves with the rhythmical wagging of his magnificent brush (tail) as he catches sights and smells.

The other day I said to one of our daughters, "He has a bit of the Phalène about him." She asked me, "What is a Phalène?" So I searched it on the computer to show her. You can certainly see a passing resemblance to the painting of a Phalene below and you can certainly get a feeling how the Phalene came about or could be reproduced if you wanted to go down that road to bring more gentic diversity in to this very small gene pool breed. Imagine if the Poodle bit in Ernest was Toy instead of Miniature which would of produced a smaller dog if we also selected very small type Cavaliers alongside that. Personally though I believe breeding for such small heads even though not brachycephalic is fraught with health implications for dogs. We are seeing more and more cases of Syringomyelia not only in brachycephalic dogs with Chiari-like Malformation, but also in breeds without Chiari-like Malformation, but have been very miniaturized. As these studies show that not only malformation at the back of the skull may be the only conformational pointer to a dog's likelihood to later in life develop syringomyelia The prevalence of Chiari-like malformation and Syringomyelia in several Toy breeds in the Netherlands (ONDERZOEK 11-12 P.G.Limburg (SM prevalence Netherlands).pdf) and Association between frontal-sinus size and syringohydromyelia in small-breed dogs

Received an update from Jersey last night for Molly, who literally flew the nest to Jersey back in September 2013. She is from Dolly's last ever litter of pups. So she is Treacle's litter sibling. 

"Hi Jane and family, 

Hope this email finds you all well. 

We caught up with events on the website today and were saddened to read about the loss of Dolly, Molly's mum. 

This must've been a very hard time for you all but undoubtedly you did the best thing for her. 

We saw what a wonderful mother she was to her litter and Molly has undoubtedly inherited the best of Dolly with her wonderful nature.

All well here in Jersey. Taking this opportunity to send a couple of pictures of Molly.

With best regards 

Lynne, Andy, Alfie and Emma and of course Molly" 

Received a busy update for Mollie from Rhian and Russ. Mollie is from Smudge's litter of Cavapoos born in 2014. Mollie has been busy caravanning with Rhian and Russ all over the UK.

"Hi there all

Have just been reading your blogs, and am glad to hear you had no bad after effects from your accident.
We have had a busy year so far and have been away for two weeks each month in the caravan. We've been all over the Country and Mollie's been with us on all our hols, she loves it and gets really excited when she sees the caravan being packed up. She is such a good girl and we can take her anywhere as she is so well behaved. I'm sure her brothers and sisters are the same, people are always stopping us and asking us about her, although most think she is a cockapoo so we have to tell them she is cavapoo.
She is so intelligent we have to spell words like food, walk, out, also Madam  (as she is known as Madam, Mollie moo, Millie mol and Mols. Sometimes Russ forgets and says something and suddenly finds her standing in front of him staring at him it is so funny. I am sending a couple of pics for you to see. 
Mollie on sentry duty at home and in the caravan "where's my dinner mum?"
All the very best to you all
I can't believe how fast your family are growing up. 
Love Rhian and Russ 
And of course Mollie"

"Hello Rhian and Russ,

lovely to hear how well Mollie has fitted in to your caravanning around Britain. The photo of her on her back legs like a Meerkat is just like her Grandmother Millie, who we also call "Millie moo." All going well with her half-sister Blottie, Millie will hopefully be Auntie Millie just before Christmas. 

I can't believe how our children are all growing up so fast as well. Seems only a wink of an eye since you are nursing them and next thing you know they are grown up. 

Hope all your family are well.

Love from us all at Poundlane

​Jane x"

Around a week ago Heather sent me a wonderful update for Albey, who is Ernest and Lily's litter sibling. Albey is from Treacle's litter born April last year Thankfully all is safe. Albey has been on his first holiday.

"Hello Jane,
At the end of September Mum and I took Albey on his first holiday, we stayed in a little house in Newton, Wales that backed onto sand dunes and a dog friendly beach. We were a little anxious about how he'd respond in a completely new environment for long amounts of time but we need not have worried, he loved it! I've attached some photos of his holiday adventure :) In fact, the beach seemed to help with Albey's training... on returning home we noticed how much calmer he seemed. He's grown up into a really lovely dog. 
I saw the painting I did of Dolly on your blog while on holiday, painting Albey's Grandma was one of the most emotional paintings I've ever done. Seeing it framed in your home really touched me, thank you for sharing it. 
Hope your recovering from your accident the other day, ouch! 
Exciting to think that Albey could be an Uncle soon, quite strange too... it seems like yesterday they were puppies themselves! 
Heather x"

"Hello Heather,

thanks for yet another wonderful update on your Albey and great to hear he enjoyed your holiday so much. Thanks for your beautiful painting of Dolly. I must admit I did wonder how emotional it would of been for you painting Dolly. I can see your emotion in the striking likeness of her you produced and when I catch a quick glance of the painting, it is as if she is still here. When I first saw it, it did produce a tear or two. That reminds me, I must get myself in the right moment to get her life story wrote up. The started blog has been sitting in my blog drafts folder for a few weeks now waiting for me to feel up to finishing it. It was hard watching her being taken in such a way. 

The eye is healing well, thanks. 

Only around another two weeks and we should know if Albey will be an Uncle. Fingers crossed!

Love from us all at Poundlane

Jane x"

And you can see the likeness that Heather painted of Albey's Grandmother Dolly on the blog My little shadow

Found an update for Poppy in my email folder this morning, sent to me last night. Poppy was six years old yesterday. Poppy is from Dolly's litter of eight Cavapoos Dolly amazes us again ! born in 2011 and were the first litter of pups born to our Miniature poodle Reggie. So a Happy 6th Birthday to Poppy and her seven litter siblings The usual suspects ! Chilly, Luna, Bella, Cyril, Betsy, Alfie and Edward.

"Hi Jane

Just a quick hello and a couple of photos of Poppy as she is 6 today!! I can't believe she is that age already but then again we really can't remember what life was like before her. 

Sue, who has Maisie, her half sister, sent these to me when she was looking after her in the summer. You can see Maisie in the background on the first pic. The second one made us both laugh as it looks like she is doing a bit of fountain appreciation. She obviously a very cultured dog (when she isn't trying to roll in smelly stuff!).

Fingers crossed for your future litter - it will be interesting to see how they compare to a pure cavalier. 

Love to you, and both your human and doggy family. 

Julie x"

The photos above were taken whilst we were clearing up after having a big breakfast this morning after I came home from milking and show the four Brittany cross Cavalier girls we have kept from the two Brittany/Cavalier litters we have bred. Blottie and Bumble are from the litter we bred from Smudge in 2015 and Bertha and Sasha are from the litter we bred from Primrose in 2016. They all share the same Dad, our Brittany Henry and their Mum's also share the same Dad Charlie. So I think that makes them 3/4 sisters.

Photos taken by our son Thomas

with our son Thomas

on my feet whilst I'm on the computer.

Caught this bit of video footage this morning of Blottie digging what might be the nursery? 

Notice all the dogs they depict as ideal type for their breed have severe Stenotic nares and Jemima Harrison says, "Dogs are as near-as-damn-it obligate nose breathers. And even if they can supplement by mouth-breathing when they are awake, they are unable to do so when they are asleep, meaning thousands of these dogs live lives of interrupted sleep as they have to wake up in order to not asphyxiate.

Study after study has shown that these dogs pay the price for not being able to pull in a decent lungful of air and that starts with the nostrils.


These pictures are all the proof you need that the Kennel Club is not taking this issue seriously; that at its very core the KC is paying nothing more than lip-service to the demands for reform by the veterinary profession and animal welfare campaigners.

At one of the first meetings of the Brachycephalic Breeds Working Group, then KC Chairman Steve Dean expressly said that he didn't want "changing the breed standards" to be at the top of everyone's list of actions that could be taken.

And indeed, it hasn't been."

So for me these photos are hard evidence that the Kennel Club is lying when they say on their website home page, "We are the UK’s largest organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting the health and welfare of all dogs." It should say, "The Kennel Club are the largest organization dedicated to protecting and promoting the torture breeding of dogs." 

Looks like Bertha is a chip off the old Henry block

The utility room (below) is where most of the pack sleep at night (as the old girls sleep in the living room) and is the holding area for them to dry off if wet and muddy before coming in the rest of the home. This area is cleaned every day and I use old duvets on the floor to help take most of the wet and mud off their paws as they come indoors. It has been exceptionally wet and muddy the last few months. I put fresh duvets down at least three times a day when wet and muddy, so that converts to around three loads of washing most days at the moment before I start on the laundry for the rest of the home. Yes, I do question my sanity most days.

Just got back off an afternoon walk with some of the older children and three of the dogs Smudge and her two daughters Blottie and Bumble. We did a good 4 mile walk up and down dale.  Blottie we hope is in pups and at this stage still needs to be kept up on exercise and intake of food watched, so any weight gained is not just her getting overweight, although Blottie has so far proved to be a dog that is easy to maintain a trim body weight. Her sister Bumble if not kept in check though can easily run a pound or two heavier than she should be like her mother Smudge.
​A few months back she was looking a bit heavy and I took her from eating freelance with the main part of the pack when fed to being fed in the utility with what is our diet group for dogs. These are the dogs that like Bumble I notice their waistband expanding because they tend to like their food a bit too much and are then fed a set amount in individual bowls. This group is frequented mostly by the older spayed bitches, as spaying a bitch takes away a part of the body that burns calories and as they get older just like humans, the metabolism slows up, so the calorie intake needs to be adjusted. The diet group at the moment consists of Bumble's Grandmother Millie and Mum Smudge, Ysobel and her daughter Primrose. 
The photos show Bumble after just being hosed off after her walk, as here in the UK walking dogs off road involves them getting plastered in mud, as it has been so wet the last few months. As you can see she is looking trim now and as we are now waiting for her to be on heat any day now, this should make her chances of conceiving better. A bitch coming up in condition will conceive much easier than a bitch with too much condition. You can apply this to most animals when breeding.