On tuesday it was Millie's Cavalier litter first Birthday, so Smudge who we kept back from this litter is now 1 years old & we got a lovely card from one of her sister's Maddie & photo's & greetings from one of her brother's Oliver. Maddie is doing really well & is just getting over being spayed a short while ago. Maddie looks very much like Mum & has her very affectionate temperment which Dad Charlie also has. Oliver also is a very affectionate boy being very athletic & enjoys the running & walking which Madeleine does with him & he also is a very keen retriever. Oliver will be coming to visit on Sunday so very much looking forward with seeing Oliver & catching up with Madeleine with all they have been getting upto.
Happy Belated Birthday to all Smudge's siblings !

A week has passed since my last blog & at the moment my pace of life leaves me with less time to blog. With the children & dogs keeping me busy all day by the evening the lure of the sofa is more than the computer.
Being English I will start with the weather. The weather has been exceptional for the time of the year which does make everything just that much better, although a little chilly still by nightfall with still firing up the woodburner each evening just to throw some heat through the house. The dogs are all really well & on Monday I received an email with an update from Rachel on her lovely Cavapoo boy Sammy & some great photo's of Sammy with Rachel's two children. Sammy is from Lucy's Cavapoo litter born the 2nd December 2010 so now is over 5 months old. Racheal says that Sammy is going to do Puppy training classes with her daughter & will be fun to see how he gets on as he gets very excited when meeting other dogs. Puppy classes are a very good idea as will help you with any problems & is really good for socialising your pup, teaching them manners & basic obdience. Thanks Racheal for letting me know how Sammy is getting on & the lovel photo's.

Oscar all going okay with meeting Marian's little old dog will leave tomorrow for his new family life with Marian. Oscar has been fine after being neutered over a week ago & will be sad to see him leave us as he is such a friendly & gentle boy.
We are still waiting on Lucinda coming on heat she is now approaching 8 months since her last heat so would hope to see her any day now on heat but as a lot of things in dog breeding you have to just wait & see.
Tonight I have a photo selection of mostly the sleeping Cavaliers with Reggie joining in as the sleeping Poodle. One thing Cavaliers can do is sleep & in most cases also snore for England too. Look out for the lovely photo of Reggie & Primrose together on the lawn, these two are great friends & you rarely see one without the other. Well look at the time, I think I am going to do now what my Cavaliers are so good at & thats not snoring hopefully.

Today we got to meet Little Poppy Plater, she is one of Lucy's Cavapoo pups who is now  5 months old. Mick & Debbie whos family she is part of now came to are home for a visit today with their very special whirlwind of a girl Poppy. She is such a beautiful colour, really cute & playful & now while typing this I have realised I took not one photo of her whilst she was here, luckily Mick keeps sending me photo's to share on my blog so hopefully they will send me some of the ones they got of Poppy with her Mum Lucy today. Poppy looks so happy thanks Mick & Debbie for taking the time to let my family & me see her again.
 Now the not so good news about Oscar, as it turns out from his semen sample that he only has around 42% normal sperm & a dog should be around 75% to 80% normal sperm for good fertility. My vet has told me from advice from a Canine fertility specialist that the cause will be most likely from an infection sometime in his life anywhere in the body which probably did not make him ill but has left him producing more than normal abnormal sperm & they do not know what causes this to happen & in most cases will not reverse its self. We have never had him ill & infact he his a very fit & healthy young man but the prognosis for him is poor & he will more than likely keep on producing more abnormal sperm until he becomes totally infertile. I could retest him every 3 months for the next year to see if he does improve rather than decline but as no signs of infection present now this is a long shot. We could still use him until totally infertile by using artificial insemination so we would have to get his semen from him then remove abnormal sperm & then pipette into the girl  but I decided on Thursday after talking to the vet that neutering Oscar was for the best. Oscar was neutered yesterday which was a hard decision as Oscar is about as good as you can get to look at for a black & tan Cavalier & he also has the most wonderful temperment. Oscar after his little operation though is doing fine not really noticing anything missing. Oscar is being rehomed with Marian hopefully who has already meet Oscar, as she was listed on his first litter & on learning that Bonnie was not pregnant said that she would have an older dog if we ever rehome any of are older dogs. Marian has had Cavaliers before & has an old dog now who will be company for Oscar. Hopefully Oscar will leave next weekend to have a chilled out life with Marian.
We have not had much luck with are male dogs lately but thats the nature of the job & you have to take the rough with the smooth. Certainly having the rough times makes you appreciate the smooth times even more so, so roll on the smooth times.

Thanks everyone for the kind words, support & patience after the news about Millie & Bonnie not being pregnant.
Tonight I have some lovely photo's of Roxy which where sent to me last week by Tracey & shows Roxy sunbathing & on night watch in the back garden. Tracey will be getting Roxy neutered next month as she will be around 6 months old & if you do not wish to have the surprise of an unexpected litter or the worry & mess from the blood that comes away from a girl whilst on heat from around 6 months for me is a good time to start thinking about getting them spayed. Thanks for the lovely photo's Tracey.

Tonight we also have an update on Little Poppy who is one of Roxy's sisters & their Mum is Lucy. Poppy is a very pround member of Mike's & Debbie's family & they say "she has massively rocked are world & we are so proud of her." I also hope to see Poppy this weekend as Mike has asked if they can pop in over the weekend for a visit to see Poppy's Mum & I look forward to seeing Little Poppy & catching up with what she has been getting up to. Thanks for the lovely photo's mike & hope to see you at the weekend.
May must be a month for visitors as Madeleine contacted me today about coming down from Leistershire on the 22nd to bring Oliver for a visit. Oliver is Smudge's brother with Millie being their Mum. This will be almost a Birthday get together as both Oliver & Smudge are one years old a few days after the 22nd. Looks like May is going to be fun catching up with everyone !