All went well today with Reggie, Smudge and Primrose being given the all clear  when eye examined by Vet Chris Warren. Reggie being a  Poodle (Miniature) although is clear for prcd genetically is annually checked for Generalised PRA which does not have a DNA test yet.  The Cavalier girls are checked each time before breeding for Multifocal retinal dysplasia and Hereditary cataract. 
Quick blog tonight as its my husband's Birthday tomorrow and our Wedding Anniversary also. Yes, 14 years ago tomorrow morning on my husband's Birthday I entered the bedroom holding the cocked shotgun steady and as I asked him if he would like to get married today I gentle raised the barrel to his head height and said, "No pressure of course." No. actually it went more like this, I entered the bedroom with a Birthday Cake with candles and said, "We could get married today, no pressure this licence last 12 months" and I then knelt and did the puppy eyed looking up at him and he said , "Yes."
See I thought getting married on my husbands birthday would be a plus for him to remember our wedding anniversary and a year later I produced a birthday present and proclaimed , "Happy Birthday !" for my husband to then present me with a present, did confused look and asked, "Why are you giving me a present, " and he reminded me we had been married a year. Looks like we got married on the wrong persons birthday !  I'm off now to decorate his Birthday cake now.

Full house tonight for updates . A couple days ago I sent out emails to all the families who had pups from our last litter, that left us in October from Ysobel with Dad being our Reggie. I send out emails around a couple of weeks or so after pups have left us just to make sure all is going well and that any problems I'm here to help. All have already replied, so a full litter of updates tonight.
In the whole things are going well with all the pups but two of them are showing some separation anxiety, in the daytime rather than being left at night. Dogs are pack animals and when left on their own they don't like it, some cope with separation with little outward stress shown and some need to have help to cope with the stress of separation. Its a good one to talk through with the trainer at puppy training classes but if they cannot help and things are not improving it is a good idea to seek help from an animal behaviourist. An animal behaviourist will normally come to your home and go through the routine that you do with your pup when leaving them and can really help you in showing you ways to decrease your dogs separation anxiety before it escalates into a bigger issue. Nipping things in the bud with a puppy is a must and this is one that really benefits getting help sooner rather than later with for the novice dog owner.
We start the updates with Dexter.

Hi Jane
 Lovely to hear from you.
 Thank you Jane. Yes everything is going very well. Dexter is adorable and has certainly grown in the last six weeks.
He's doing really well with his training and will sit and stay, down and stay, rollover and is brilliant at fetch then dropping the item.His recall is also good with Steve and I at the park, spread out, with yummy treats in hand, Dexter cheerily comes to each when called. The only time he didn't come to me was today when he found a dead mouse, put it in his mouth and ran off. Thankfully he eventually dropped it. Yuk!!.
 He doesn't particularly like being left in his pen and will whimper and pant and feels really sorry for himself. So leaving him in there for anytime other than bed time really pulls on the heart strings. Thankfully he's great at bed time and will sleep from 9.30-10.00 until 6-7am. Any advice on this?. I have had people tell me that I need to leave him and go out for a couple of hours, which I have done but always wondering wether he's alright.
 Hope you are all really well at
Poundlane. 
I've attached a few photos, one of
Dexter in his Christmas jumper ( just to take a cute photo and not to wear all
the time).
 Love Caroline & Dexter

Hello Jane,
Yes mate all is going good thank you.
Charlie has settled really well however he still doesn't like to be left on his own, & continues to bark quite a lot when left. He loves his walks & has lots of doggy friends as well as human friends :-) He has gone for his first shampoo & trim today so a nice smelling boy he should come back lol :-) 
I hope you are all keeping well
 Best wishes 
Tracey :-) xx
 
Hello Jane,
Charlie has had his first shampoo & set lol Fay said he didn't stop crying all the time she was doing him it must be a boy thing lol she even gave him a little trim xx :-)

Hi Jane
 Sorry for the late reply. Yes it's been 6 weeks today!
We can't really imagine life without Olive now, she is part of our family. She is so funny!
Since her arrival she has given us many laughs. She is very clever and a quick learner, and she is doing well at puppy training. She has been really quickly house trained too.
The 1st photo is after her first bath she found a dummy in the boys room and the other I took a few moments ago.
 Thank you very much for your very professional and helpful approach, and knowing you are at the end of the phone
is great.
We will keep in touch and let you know updates.
 The Shoesmith's

Hi  Jane,
I think the E-mail you sent me has gone to the wrong person.
But it does give me time to catch up with you about Bailey
Sorry  I haven't been in contact, time has gone so quick.
All ok with Bailey,   he is learning very quick at puppy
class will go to the toilet on command ( we use the word "empty”)
starting to walk to heal, leave his treats until told,  now doing a
puzzle board to find his treats.plus lots more. being good most of the time, his mum & dad will be proud of him.
 Bailey loves meeting new friends, Human  or Animal.  He will
chase our cat around (she does put him in his place if he gets too
much). 
Everyone who meets him  love his colour,  and soft fur. we also
get a lot of comments on how big he is getting. Hhoto’s attached.
 Kind Regards
Carol & Paul  Blomfield
(Licks from Bailey xx)

Sorry Carol about the email mix up, I must of sent yours to someone else. Thanks for sending me the photo you took of Molly with Bailey at around 4 weeks old.

Thanks Caroline, Tracey, Fay and Carol for the lovely updates and cute photos of Ysobel's last litter of pups.

Off to Tavistock tomorrow with Smudge, Primrose and Reggie for eye tests and my bacon and egg butty at Sourton. No sign of MRI scans still but I have had my tape measure out measuring noses and craniums. Seems stupid that I have not thought before to record these measurements. Interesting and I will publish my findings in a blog soon which will be like a Brachcephalic Breed part 2, as I will look at the cephalic index and breeding a dog away from being brachycephalic.

We decided to get a new arm chair but after the last weeks activities in the chair, the dogs are pretty sure I have got them a rather up market dog bed.Lol
Photo's below of the dogs enjoying the new chair, I mean dog bed.

We also have just put in a new multifuel burner after the old one after 13 years hard labour decided to spring a leak from the back boiler. All our heat and hot water comes from the multifuel burner, so it was important to get it replaced as soon as possible. My husband proudly with a little help from me removed the old one and put the new one in himself. Showing his alpha male status of putting metal box in home with fire. Lol.
The dogs rightly consider its nice that the humans have replaced their old fire with one that seems to throw out even more heat than the old one. Henry below enjoys the heat from the new fire. We are also in the process of repainting the front room or should I say covering up all the childrens hand prints, hence the two tone colouring around the fireplace.

We have yet to have news of Smudge's, Primrose's and Belle's MRI scans. On the 25th we have Smudge, Primrose and Reggie booked in at Tavistock for their eye tests. Smudge is due any time now to come on heat, she has cycled 7 months and has gone 8 months. Seven months will be December but with it being forecast for a very cold winter, we may be looking at January. Although condition of the bitch plays a part , I also do believe that the weather and light plays its part as it does in other animals. Smudge's Mum Millie cycled every 12 months and came on in the early Spring and once went 10 months but we had a very mild  January which is why I think she may of come on a bit earlier than her usual 12 months. This type of cycle is throwing back more to her wild ancestors, as most small domestic dogs come on heat, on average every 6 months.
In the last group of photo's tonight you will see a group of Henry with Dolly who is watching out the window, she likes doing this and I believe a few of her offspring also like sitting watching out the window like their mum.

Just a quick one to say, "Today Smudge and Primrose on examination by Cardiologist Vet Mark Paterson, no heart murmur was detected on auscultation (listening with a stethoscope) to the heart of both dogs", I'm now going to wipe my brow and say, "Phew !" This is the test I worry about the most and to get a thumb up from the vet just as he finishes listening then jump starts me into breathing again.
Watching Mark Paterson as he embarks on listening to my dogs hearts I think he might be praying or saying to himself, "Please let this dog not have a heart murmur." Forgot to ask him if he is offering up a little prayer, hoping for divine intervention, I'll ask him next time, as I seem to be able to have a joke with him and he did say with my ideas that I ought to talk at the lectures he does, well that will be a sell out then, not. 
Unless there is divine intervention crossbreeding is the only other option for the Cavalier and if  this is not generally excepted soon it might even be to late for even that to help.
I will get on with the POUNDLANE Spaniel page soon, so many ideas its condensing it to be manageable not to bore people. My free time (When I'm asleep) is spent doing breeding strategies and doing generational lines running in together using the Poodle and Brittany with the Cavalier. I'm even thinking Springer might even be an option to bring in. Saw a Springer cross Cavalier dog the other day and it looked like Toby but slightly taller and a longer nose. I must stop now as this was meant to be quick and once the mind starts rolling the finger follows on the key board. I think this may be evoking madness upon me but as my husband says, "How can it be making you mad, when you already are mad, Jane." Lol

The nights are closing in and time seems to be flying by with such short days. Tonight I start with some updates. The first is from Tracey who has Roxy and Charlie. Roxy is from Lucy's litter back the end of 2010 and Charlie is from Ysobel's litter born this year on the 31st July. Thanks Tracey for the update, photos and video of your two. Lovely to hear all is going well and Roxy is getting on well with her new canine companion.
Hello Jane, 
Just a quick update the let you know Charlie has really settled in with us now. After making the decision to let Roxy & Charlie sleep together he no longer barks at night anymore & he is a lot more settled during the day!
He is a dear little soul & he & Roxy get on like a house on fire! Everyday Charlie will have a mad ten minutes where he will run around the dining room like a nutter letting off steam as he goes lol he is so funny to watch :-)
 I hope you enjoy the photos & will update you again soon. 
Best Wishes
Tracey, Roxy & Charlie Xx  Whoof    Whoof

Next is an email received from the Sutton family about Pippa who is from Dolly's litter born this year on the 14th June. Thanks for this Sheridon and you are a great example of how you should go about getting a pup. You did your reasearch and most importantly you where patient.

Hello Jane
 
All is quiet in our house this weekend with 3 of the children and Martin at their grandparents, so I'm getting around to emails and one to you is long overdue. Pippa is sat next to me on the sofa
while I type this trying to have a sneaking chew of the laptop, she just loves being with people but is also very good when left in the house on her own, which is never for more than a couple of hours at the moment. A friendlier puppy you could not meet, she gets so excited meeting people and has become well known in our neighbourhood, though I have learnt to read peoples expressions as to whether they want to be ambushed by a wet, dirty puppy or not. There has a lot of comments on how pretty she is and lovely colouring but the most important thing for us as a family with 4 children was to have a well socialised, good tempered, loving dog and that is what we have, the look of the dog was unimportant. The vet made a comment about how if more people took the time as we
did to research the right breed and then as importantly the right breeder they would not see the problems they do and the amount of dogs being rehomed and he said Pippa was a great example of when buying a puppy how it should be done. Never having had a dog before we are learning as we go along but she is making things quite easy for us and just fits in to our busy everyday family life. She
loves being outdoors, walks, her recall is great and chasing leaves but most of all just being with us, we adore her and hopefully we make her as happy as she makes us, she certainly seems very content.
Hope all is well with your family and enjoying the half term break.
Best wishes
Sheridon
Sutton

Now a quick hello from Archie. Archie is from Smudge's litter born Spring 2012 and Archie came and stayed with us this summer for two weeks while Angie and her family went to France on holiday. Thanks Angie, good to hear from you.

Hi Jane,
Thought you would
like this photo of Archie ! He is full of beans but chilled out with it!

Friends call him the surfer dude! 
Hope all good with you all and Reggie back to full fitness.
Love Angie

Last update is from the Pearce family and Milly who is from Primroses litter born Autumn last year. Thanks Lindsey for the cute photos and update on Milly, and around two they tend to start acting more grown up.
Hi Jane
Hope you, your family and all the dogs are well!
Just wanted to update you on Milly's progress. She is turning into a lovely dog! Although we have hit her teenae period and she can be rather cheeky and she is a master thief of socks (well anything she can get her paws and mouth on/anything is thinks she can steal) and is prone to over-excitement on meeting people and dogs for the first time , when she has got over her excitement, she is amazingly gentle and docile (especially when we are all  just at home, and with the girls).
I am hoping she might calm down a bit when she is older :)
I have attached some pictures for you to see what a fine dog is she growing to be, they are the latest pictures we have and we're taken on her 1st birthday. 
Best wishes
Lindsay Pearce

Now for some Poundlane news. No news on scans yet for Belle Primrose and Smudge. Smudge and Primrose are off to Abbotskerswell tomorrow to have heart examinations with the cardiologist vet. Fingers crossed. Smudge and Primrose are both over three years old now, so I would hope no murmurs are heard and being MRI scanned a couple weeks ago nothing was picked up then when they where put under anesthetic.

Now for some pictures of the pack and I have singled this one out as it shows in profile Belle our Cavapoo that is two years old with her half sister Primrose who has the same Mum, Ysobel but is a pure Cavalier. You can already see how much change has occured in the face with lengthening of nose and more slope to the front of the skull. Lets hope the MRI  scan confirms an improvement to the back of the skull.

Lastly some photos my son Bert took of me after returning from milking on Sunday morning,  having a cup of coffee and a piece of toast with Henry giving me some good old cupboard love. Thank fully my son was more interested in capturing Henry than me in the photos.
That's me done, quick blog tonight and will be back as soon as possible with news of heart examinations.