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Still raining here this morning. but rain does make lovely imagery to capture in the hedgerows. So much going on in them at this time of year, as we start to see the blossom fall and the fruits arrive. Not long 'til Blackberry picking time.  Smudge and Henry with their daughter, Bumble following me around as I take photos of the hedgerows.
 Treacle's two pups left, Ernest and Lily. Who we are keeping.
A couple days ago I got some more beautiful photos of the very handsome Albey, one of Treacle's pups who left us two weeks ago.
Thanks for the photos. He has got such a lovely expression to himself. I'm afraid the digging holes is a bit of a dog thing.
After the first retrieve I ask Henry if he wants the toy and unfortunately because I'm concentrating on giving him the signals not only verbally but physically to ask I miss his facial expression as he does a sort of rumble and then on being asked to ask "Properly" he then barks clearly. He reminds me of my old boy, Smidge when he does that. I then don't ask for a retrieve, but walk towards him crouching to engage in play with him. He playfully lunges downward and runs off with little Pheasant, but on walking away from him and going back in to bring it here mode he obliges.
Working on the computer and husband, David came home from work just now. I thought how lovely to come home from work to have lunch with me and realized the England vs Wales game is on now. Anyway he took these couple photos of me at the computer. When I'm on the computer I seem to collect sleeping dogs. That is Ernest and Lily fast asleep on my lap with their Granny, Dolly under the desk with hopefully a pregnant Primrose beside her.
A few days ago I got a lovely as usual update from Joan and Colin who have Alfie, who is from our first litter of Cavalier/Brittany pups born last year Smudge has nine little Hudges "Hi Jane and all, just thought I'd give you an update on Alfie. But firstly I'd like to say how beautiful Treacle's puppies are. They are a very handsome little quartet. I'm especially taken by Ernest, as he is so like my first lovely cavalier, Guysie. Also many congrats to you for primrose also expecting puppies( all fingers crossed). It will be really interesting seeing how they are compared to Smudges litter. I think Alfie must be the largest of the pups from Smudge and Henry as he is weighing in at 18 kg with not a trace of fat on him. He is Very fit, long, with huge webbed paws and is quite tall enough to reach the back of our kitchen work tops! He is eager to learn new skills but remains quite stubborn to recall (unless there is a very tasty treat available) and turns on a deaf ear in favour of using his nose to sniff out anything more interesting. He too has a love of chewing anything plastic or cardboard! He is, all in all a very bright and loving dog who keeps us on our toes, which is no bad thing! Colin is preparing to go off on the Hadrian Wall walk next week and we have builders in at the moment so that should be interesting to see how he copes with just one of us. We love him to bits and he gives us so much joy and laughter with his antics. I've attached a pic of his favourite relaxing spot on the back of the sofa near the window, the funny thing is that as soon as we took the photo he tried to scratch himself and fell off..... Not hurt.... Just his dignity! I've been making your scones regularly and my granddaughter loves them so much she's asked me to teach her how to make them, so she's coming to spend the day with me on Thursday and we'll have a baking day. I love seeing your blogs and seeing how your lovely family are. Take care love Joan and Colin X Thanks Joan and Colin, lovely to hear from you. Males are normally bigger than females. Alfie's sister Bumble was one of the smallest of the litter. His other sister we kept, Blottie is a couple inches taller than her and run up and fit she weighs a couple more kilos than Bumble around 15/16 kilos. Their Mum, Smudge was weighed before being spayed the other day and she is down very slim (Although being a chunky build, does not look slim, but a hand across her back and her ribs are easily felt} at the moment and weighed in at 13.5 kilos. Henry weighs around 18 kilos.
I always think it's funny when they sleep on the back of the sofa and fall off and look up as if to wonder what happened and did anyone notice. Toby loves sleeping like that. Thanks for the nice comments about the litter we have now. I must admit I'm very pleased how spaniel looking they have turned out. Ernest is a bit of a character. He was a bit shy to start with, but now seems to be in to everything including eating compost and twice flying of the sunken patio wall. landing on the floor seeming to take no notice and caring on as normal. Glad to hear the scone recipe has come in useful.. Got a lovely update and birthday greeting yesterday from Karen who has Darcey one of Treacle's litter siblings who I blogged a Happy 3rd Birthday to a couple days ago Happy 3rd Birthday to Treacle's littermates  Darcey "Hi Jane, I just wanted to say happy birthday to Darcey's litter mates, here is the girl herself in reflective mood on her birthday. She has had a busy year welcoming her little toy poodle brother Milo who she loves (most of the time) and her usual squirrel chasing/ fox poo rolling antics! I have joined a cavapoo group on Facebook and it being a very small world made contact with someone who has one of Treacles litter. Hope you are all well and thanks again for my beautiful girl xxx Ps I am part of another group that encourage health testing of dogs before breeding and the organiser wanted to know if you would join? I warned her you probably don't do Facebook but if I judged you harshly let me know and I'll give you the details X" Good to hear from you Karen and that Darcey and Milo are well. You have not judged me harshly. I have share buttons on the website with Facebook and Twitter. A few years ago after taking a look around each place and using Facebook for a short while, I decided it was not my cup of tea.
A couple weeks ago I received an update for Flora, who is from Smudge's litter of Cavapoo pups born February 2014 Its six ! and an inquiry about exercising dogs when very hot. "Dear Jane, I am prompted to write following your recent comment on your blog re how dogs cope with the heat. Flora ( Smudge and Reggie 2014) is amazing. She is a great companion dog but also relishes open spaces and running ....and running......and running......! And she absolutely loves chasing and taking off from all 4 legs to catch a ball. My concern is does she know when she has had enough and so should rest as she is out of breath and so hot - or should I influence that? We exercise her at either end of the day generally so not when its hot. But much as I want her to enjoy exercise and be a fit and active dog she does at times see very out of breath and panting ,and takes sometime to recover. She does tend to delay returning her ball as she gets tired, which of course we respond to , but should we limit her exercise even if she is keen to continue? I feel these are rather naive questions ( sorry) but she is so lovely we really want to look after her in the best way. Hope you are having a good half term break ( you deserve it!) Love Lucy and Alan .... and the wonderful Flora!" This is my reply: "Hello Lucy and Alan, good to here from you. Dogs want to please their owners and some will keep going until they drop to please them. Flora sounds like one of those types of dogs, she wants to please you, so as long as you throw the ball she will try to retrieve it. So when hot weather you should influence her exercise, so she does not over heat. It is not a naive question. Many dogs die each year around the world, due to owners not realizing that dogs in hot weather are dawn and dusk animals and exercise their dogs in the full heat of the day. Dogs do have sweat glands in their pads of their feet and ear canals, but sweating unlike humans plays a minor role in regulating their body temperature. The dogs main mechanism to rid the body of excess body heat is panting. The more they pant, the hotter they are. Hope this helps you. Kind regards Jane " "Dear Jane, Thanks for your response - this is helpful, weather has finally turned warm for a bit in kent , so we will exercise at dawn and dusk! Flora had her 2nd year booster and check at vets today. She got a good report and they were happy with her weight ( just over 11kilos). We start on APDT Companion Dog Award Progress Course next week, so this should be a good summer activity that will use more brain and be less exertion. Its an interesting programme with some useful bits like walking without lead , waiting until instructed to walk from a distance etc - but I am not sure about "performing a trick with a prop" ( I think I better hide the cat!) Thanks again Jane.It's reassuring to know we can come back to you for advice on our lovely dog. Best wishes Lucy" Thanks Lucy for the update on Flora. Great to hear from you and enjoy the summer training with Flora.
A couple days ago I got a lovely photo of Albey and email from Heather, who's family have Albey, who is from Treacle's litter born this April Thankfully all is safe "Hello Jane, Just a quick update to say that Albey is doing well and learning all the time, growing too! I thought I'd show you this photo of Albey and me on the 8th of May and the 9th of June. It's amazing to see how big and beautiful he's getting! Heather x"  Albey on the left on the 8th May and on the right on the 9th June Thanks for that Heather, you can really see how much he has grown in a month.
Received a lovely email this morning from Caroline, who has Dotty from Dolly's last ever litter, now some three years ago and the birth can be read about here and is Treacle's litter sibling.
Thanks Caroline for reminding me it's Treacle's Birthday. It is hard to believe three years have passed. Harry looks very cute. Will be interesting to hear if you think their is any difference in the cross with the Bichon Frise. Good to hear that Dotty likes her new canine family member. One of the nicest gifts you can give to a dog is another dog to play with. Treacle has been a wonderful Mum and is still sneaking her pups the occasional suckle still. Hope you all have a lovely day with Auntie Dotty and give her a big Birthday hug from us all at Poundlane. x
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“The greatest pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him, and not only will he not scold you,but he will make a fool of himself, too.”
― Samuel Butler 
Me (Jane) with Puddin' and Teagol, waiting patiently to flush a patch of kale, December 2019
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