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Took this photo yesterday evening when I found four of our dogs asleep with Ernest and Lily in their crate they sleep in over night at the moment until a little older to sleep over night with the main pack. If crate training is done right, a dog should not see a crate as a cage.  Blottie, Bumble, Ysobel and Toby sleep alongside Lily and Ernest in their crate.
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Slideshow of Primrose's pups at 15 and 16 days old. Video tonight was taken this morning and shows Primrose's Cavalier/Brittany pups at 16 days old calling for their Mum. Mum does not come when they call, but stoically waits for the squeaking to cease. You will see Mums start do this with their pups at around two weeks old and it is not Mum rejecting them. They seems to know better than them, when they need feeding. You will see the first born pup who we have called for now Cliff or Clifford is pretty much up on all fours and walking the most confidently of the litter at this time. I have found with pups that the less exaggerated in morphology the earlier they are up and mobile. I have a feeling being born first is going to be the first of many firsts for Clifford. Watch out for waggy tails.  English breakfast for dinner Archie's back with us, as his family take their annual holiday in France. Archie is from Smudge's first ever litter of Nine cavapoo pups back in 2012, Reggie being the Dad. He has come back each summer and today as he came up the drive he gave me a lovely welcome and has settled right back in to the fold. And tonight when we did a full English breakfast for dinner, he assumed his place under the table fixing whoever looked at him with his puppy eyes stare.
Primrose's pups are now 15 days old and all have their eyes open now to varying degrees. Their vision is blurry to start with and focusing of the eyes occurs around 28 days after birth. Their ears are opening and it is apparent now that they are starting to hear noises around them. Tiddler as you will see in the video is still very much of concern and as his eyes open unfortunately they are looking as if they are set in a way that is a classic symptom of hydrocephalus (water on the brain). The best description, welfare impact and prognosis for this condition I have found on the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) website. UFAW description of welfare impact and prognosis for Hydrocephalus on a puppy/dog is written first and foremost about the impact for the puppy/dog having this condition. Any treatment given for this condition is most often palliative and 'unless successfully treated, the problems are likely to persist and become progressively worse until the animal dies or is euthanased.' Having an enlarged head with open fontanelle, being very small and eyes that appear to gaze downward (called the “setting sun sign”) Tiddler's chances for successful treatment would be very low. I will speak with my vet on Monday about my concerns with Tiddler. This is becoming a very big conflict of head and heart for me.
An update for Barney from Treacle's first ever litter born April this year Thankfully all is safe
Thanks Jan and Viv. His two litter siblings we kept have devastated one of our flower beds and several new holes have appeared on the lawn as well. "Puppies, who'd have 'em!"
I've been a bit waylaid with updates the last couple weeks and the update for Beasley hit my email inbox over two weeks ago. I did reply promptly though. Beasley is from Smudge's litter last year Smudge has nine little Hudges  "Hi there Jane, Hope all's well with you, your family and all the Pound Lane pups! Attached are a few recent pictures of Beasley. He just won a ribbon for MOST HANDSOME Dog in a local Somerset fete, dog show! As I work from home, he's been with me, by my side for the past year, (and getting lots of frequent runs in the lovely fields). But I have to visit America soon for a 6 weeks + business trip with my job. I can't bare to leave him, but I have no choice, as it's crucial business with my work. You are the one person that I would trust fully to look after him, that would make me feel reassured he's safe and loved. Would it be at all possible to look after him in August into early September? I don't have a confirmed date of departure yet, because it's all dependant on when the US business Visa gets approved. I'd really appreciate it. Giving me some reassurance with my beloved Beasley. I'd be really grateful if you could consider it and let me know. All best wishes, Myfanwy x" Thanks for the update Myfanwy and of course he can come here whilst you are away. He sure has grown in to a handsome young man.
The next couple months we are going to have a few house guests, with Archie's two half brothers coming to stay with us. Bertie Boo and Beasley from Smudge's litter last year Smudge has nine little Hudges will be coming to stay with us. Bertie Boo will be with us on the 13th August and staying for two weeks whilst his family holiday and Beasley will be with us sometime towards the end of August for around 6 weeks, whilst Myfanwy is away on business. We will also get a visit from Sheila and Vincent with Primrose and Smudge's Dad, Charlie in September. He is now 10 years old.
Myfanw
 Blottie running across Instow beach
Yesterday my son, Thomas filmed me just after I had finished eating a scone whilst blogging and Blottie was trying to work her magic on me for a bit of scone. We have been getting a lot of rabbits this year out the back of our property in the paddock. The other day Blottie brought a 2/3 grown rabbit in to the front doorstep. Watching her out I thought she had the ability to catch a rabbit. She has had some near misses out walking her. Unfortunately Blottie had eat around half of the rabbit on sharing her catch with us, so it was not fit for the pot. Takes a fair dog to catch a rabbit or a lucky dog.. The video shows how to exercise your children whilst exercising your dogs. Yesterday we had a totally internet free day with the Wi-Fi turned off all day. So more time for children and chilling with the dogs. You sit down in our house, that is enough of an invitation for our dogs to use you as a dog bed.
Just for a bit of fun I pulled out the photo of my birthday in 2013, just to see how much our children are growing up. The 2013 photo is minus Henry as he was just a pup then and not quite big enough to reach the table.
Got this bit of video yesterday of Ernest keeping on with Henry, who is a lot bigger than him and shows how gentle Henry can be with pups.
Tiddler is not out of the woods yet, as he has been born with open Fontanelle. I have had a puppy many moons ago (Before I had the website) born with this condition that by 8 weeks the opening had closed and has gone on to have no problems. Tiddler's opening is a bit bigger than that pup's though. It is a little smaller than the tip of my smallest finger. You might ask Why Would A Puppy's Skull Not Fully Develop? and we don't really know the answer to that, but many Apple headed breeds suffer with this condition. Open fontanelle can be seen with any type of puppy, but is more common in toy breeds, especially apple head shaped breeds. King Charles spaniels are commonly born with open fontanelle and when we see this condition expressed in the Cavalier King Charles spaniel it probably has a connection to their not so distant shared ancestry with the King Charles spaniel. Tiddler's head is apple shaped.  Tiddler now 10 days old A lot of people do not realise that the King Charles spaniel is a separate breed than the Cavalier King Charles spaniel, but up until around 1942 they were the same breed with two distinct types being bred and is why the separation in the end. The Cavalier King Charles was an attempt to breed the spaniels nose back and to look more like the spaniels of the courts of King Charles I and King Charles II. The King Charles is very much like the Bulldog and is basically a caricature of what that type of dog originally looked like. Breeding for defect rather than health and function.
Back to Tiddler who although small is gaining wait in ratio to his siblings and at this time looks to be developing okay cognitively. Nearly up walking and is first to the milk bar when Mum arrives. My main worry is Hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and that I'm afraid is just a case of waiting to see. Tiddler also has the name Garry Baldy, which is a play on the biscuits called Garibaldi that my children love. Given to him by our son, Alfie, because when he was born prematurely he was a bit of a baldy. Let's hope for happiness and not heartache with our little Tiddler aka Garry Baldy.
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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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