Bella's siblings left us yesterday, so last night Bella slept in a crate for the first time on her own and we did not here a peep. 
Last night around 11 pm she settled herself down in the crate to sleep and I just shut the door as I went to bed and then this morning at 5 am, as my husband was back to work this morning after a week off of milking cows and I woke her and put her outside for her ablutions.
Bella is off to have her second Lepto4 vaccinations tomorrow and then off to her new home on Wednesday.

Henry decided he liked the look of Bella's crate and tried it out for size, but I think it is a bit small for you Henry.

This year saw our first litter of Cavalier King Charles Spaniel cross Brittany Spaniel pups and for me it has proved to be a Grand Alliance. To get the title of this blog you will need to understand a bit of European history and thus why the orange and white coloured Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are called Blenheim.
Here you can find out about the Battle of Blenheim https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blenheim and how it prevented the collapse of the Grand Alliance, the European Union of its day back in 1686. This union ended because us British got dissatisfied by how much money we were putting in to it and it will be interesting to see if history will repeat itself.
John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough was instrumental in victory at the Battle of Blenheim and it is from this battle that stems the tale of the Duchess of Marlborough stroking a Blenheim coloured Spaniel bitch's head whilst waiting for news of her husband from Blenheim. The bitch was pregnant and then produced a litter of pups with an orange thumbprint on each of their heads and thus the legend of the Blenheim thumbprint was born and until this day it is still thought desirable for a Cavalier of Blenheim colouring to have this thumbprint marking on its head. 
The spaniels  bred by the Duke were originally known as the Marlborough Spaniel, but with the building of Blenheim Palace    
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blenheim_Palace as a reward to the Duke, somewhere in history the Marlborough Spaniel became the Blenheim Spaniel, eventually being unfortunately merged with the King Charles, being bred a lot smaller in frame and with the flat faced breeds becoming popular in the Royal courts during the Victorian era, we see the shortening of the muzzle until almost into non existence.

The 1st Duke of Marlborough was an English soldier and statesman who must of been a pretty astute fella because he managed to serve under five monarchs with out losing his head, dying in his bed at the age of 72, for his time that was no mean acheivement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Churchill,_1st_Duke_of_Marlborough 
Many think Marlborough is the greatest British commander in history and some are not so taken by him, but this may be more to do with where their politics lie. Marlborough was ruthlessly ambitious, relentless in the pursuit of wealth, power and social advancement, which with many earned him a reputation for being greedy and mean, but he probably was made of his time. The historian George Trevelyan says of Marlborough, "nearly all other statesmen of the day were engaged in founding families and amassing estates at the public expense; Marlborough only differed in that he gave the public much more value for their money" Although one could argue quite robustly, that not much has changed there then, when you look at some in high office today. The beast may change, but the nature rarely does.

The family type spaniel we are trying to breed at Poundlane are more reminiscent of the Marlborough Spaniel and the Toy Spaniels of the Royal Courts before the influence of the flat faced breeds. Toy Spaniels it is thought from the time of King Charles I and King Charles II were influenced by Far East dogs such as the Japanese Chin and Pekingese. This may be the case later on in their history, but I would put my money on the Papillon and Phalene having a lot of influence in Toy Spaniels of King Charles I and King Charles II time, due to the head shape being spaniels with most defiantly a length of muzzle, but a lot of the King Charles Spaniel's history is conjecture, as most breeds are, but that won't stop a breeder spouting out the history of a breed like it is totally factual. Most breeds histories are word of mouth sprinkled with a good measure of fairy dust. 

This painting is of the Blenheim Spaniel in 1816. It is very much like the Marlborough Spaniel, but we can see a reduction in leg length ratio-ed to back length. These were small cocking spaniels that were very sought after, as they worked seemingly indefatigably in dense cover flushing anything and everything. Used in packs, but apparently prone to breaking. Breaking means they would bugger off on a jolly, oblivious to the huntsman's cries. Sounds like a few of my Cavaliers still have the Blenheim Spaniel very much about them. Lol
Then fast forward to 1898, the Victorian era and we can see what showing is starting to do to the Blenheim Spaniel and the idea of closed off gene pools. These Blenheim Spaniels are notably smaller and many of them you can see the muzzle is disappearing, as they start to be primarily a lap dog and certainly at this time looking at these dogs that the flat faced breeds like Japanese Chins and Pekingese are influencing the look of them and as the Pug become ever more popular in Victorian England we start to see their influence as well on the Toy Spaniel. 

By the end of the 1800's the King Charles Spaniel has lost its muzzle and has been turned into a shadow of its former glory and prowess as a spaniel in the field.

The English Toy Spaniels of King Charles I and King Charles II did not originally have a flat face, as we are lead to often believe and did not look like the King Charles Spaniel we see today. The photo below is a young King Charles II with two of his sisters, with  the type of Toy Spaniel he was brought up with and looks nothing like the King Charles Spaniel we see today or neither the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

The Cavalier King Charles Spaniel was an attempt to get back to what you see in the painting above sitting at the knees of King Charles I's three oldest children, but it has become stagnated and halted by one simple thing, a closed off gene pool. When the Cavalier separated from the King Charles around 1942, it only had five stud dogs to move the breed forward and the inbreeding that took place and still does, has now caused that much damage to the general health of this breed, it is questionable without looking outside the closed off gene pool, that the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel will soon be bred into its own extinction in the foreseeable future.
At Poundlane we are trying to move the Cavalier in to the 21st Century, breeding from a widened gene pool to create a small/medium spaniel type dog, being less exaggerated in the head and going back to the more elegant and refined head of the Marlborough Spaniel, reduce the heavy coat and improve the all round structure of the dog, so it is a spaniel that could do an occasional days work in the field still, whilst retaining what really makes a Cavalier special that sweet, friendly, gentle nature that make them such a wonderful companion dog.  

Six years ago I crossed our first Cavalier with a Miniature Poodle and this produce a lovely litter of fluffy family dogs and although I think the Cavapoo is a lovely sweet little dog. I did not see the Cavapoo as the end game, but rather a stepping stone in the game. From the Cavapoo litters we have bred, we have retained one Cavapoo bitch, Treacle from a litter bred in 2013. Our Miniature Poodle, Reggie is Treacle's Dad and Treacle's Mum is Dolly and she is now eight years old without a heart murmur, being Cardiologist examined over five without a heart murmur. Treacle was MRI scanned last year and has no sign of Syringomyelia (SM).

Then three years ago after trawling through breed after breed, researching, I set my heart on the Brittany Spaniel as the other breed to bring in to the mix. Henry came in to our lives just over two years ago and my research proved me right, unless I have just been lucky with Henry. Henry has been a joy to have in our lives and his colourings and type seemed ideal to cross with our biggest Cavalier bitch, Smudge. 

One of the most important things Henry brings into the mix is his temperament. Brittany's seem not as driven as working Cockers and Springer Spaniels. They love to run and if they can have a good run out every day you have yourself a very gentle, sensitive souled, loving spaniel. I also hoped that with his less exaggerated head this cross would improve the skull shape of the Cavalier more than the first cross with the Poodle. The Poodle improves the muzzle, but the cranium is still more brachy than I hoped for. I'm glad we never used the smaller Toy Poodle as a cross, as I can imagine that little improvement will be achieved with the cranium size using such a small breed of dog, as a cross.
Spring this year saw our first litter of Cavalier cross Brittany pups arrive. A whopping litter of nine vigorous pups, Blenheim in colouring with five of them with the distinct Blenheim thumbprint on their heads. Five boys and four girls.

As they grow you can see the vast improvement in the head conformation and at just over four months old now, they have no where near the profuse coat of the Cavalier and seem to all have the lesser moulting single coat of the Brittany. The temperament of them is very laid back, active when on walks, looking like a type that could easily be at work in the field flushing and retrieving being very biddable, thus showing a good aptitude to being trained and above all of this retain that gentle loving a cuddle temperament of the Cavalier.

We have kept two girls back as potential brood bitches, Blottie and Bumble. So now the next stepping stone. We have just had our Cavapoo bitch Treacle on heat and on her next heat, just before she is three years old, we plan to mate her with our pure Cavalier boy, Toby. This will produce what is called an F1b litter. The offspring from this pairing will be 3/4 Cavalier, 1/4 Miniature Poodle. Litters I have seen with this ratio of Cavalier and Poodle, revert very quickly back towards the look of the Cavaliers. We hope that from this litter, to keep back a male pup as a potential stud for our Cavalier/Brittany bitches Blottie and Bumble in the future and this would produce in the future pups that are 1/8th Poodle, 2/8ths Brittany and 5/8ths Cavalier. 
See, having a bit of Poodle in a Spaniel is not a new thing, you just need to take a look at the Irish Water Spaniel thought to have Poodle in it and then to go back to two breeds not around any more the Norfolk and English Water Spaniel.

Both these breeds were thought to have Poodle ancestry and are thought to be ancestors of the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Ever wondered where some Cavaliers get their very curly profuse chest hair from ? 

So for 2016, at the moment we only have plans for one litter of pups and that is from Treacle with Toby. With her just gone off heat, she should be on again around Feb/March 2016 and the next stepping stone starts to be laid down.

So we just have Bella now. The last to leave us of our 2015 pups. She leaves us on Wednesday and I know that there is three excited boys waiting to play with and love her, and I think also, a very excited Mum of those three boys.
She is a real little sweetheart, which I think can be seen in the photos of her. We are fascinated by her ears. I said to my husband the other day, "I'm not sure who's ears they are, because by the size of them and the size of Bella, I don't think there hers." Lol

Bertie and Bumble left us this morning with Paula and her family for their home in Chiswick, London. Bertie and Bumble have been such cute and sweet natured pups to rear and I'm sure they will have wonderful lives with Paula, her husband and their two children. It seems very puppy quite here now with just their sister, Bella.

And I have just received an email from Paula to tell me they got home safe and sound with no major problems.

"Hi,

Just wanted to let you know that we had a very good journey back!

The pups slept for 2.5 hours then we woke them, spent an hour at the services and then they slept for another hour, and then we were home.

They are now busy checking out our garden.

Paula"

Thanks Paula, any problems, you know where I am.

The time is near. Tonight is Primrose's Cavalier pups last night altogether. Tomorrow morning Bertie and Rose will join the Read family heading back to London and then we will just have Bella, who will leave us on Wednesday morning.
We took them down to the river this afternoon again and I wish I had taken the camera, because we took Henry and it was hilarious watching them trying to keep up with him in the long grass.

The last couple days there seems to of been a lot of wasps about and Dolly seems to like destroying them and from what we saw today, she must be immune to their sting, as she swallowed one and then puked it back up. So I thought lets get to the vets, she might of got stung by it, but she just wagged her tail and trotted off, none the worst. Kept an eye on her, but nothing.
On the other hand, this morning I was checking my emails. Thought I had an itch on my left wrist, did not look down and went to scratch it and it turned out to be a wasp, that then stung me. 

I have been a little behind in getting Primrose's pups out in the car and with only a couple days until Bertie and Rose leave us, this afternoon we loaded the three of Primrose's pups up in the car for a little road trip and as they have had their 2nd Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvo (DHP) vaccination over a week ago, I decided to stop off at the river and also give them their first run about off the property.
In the video you can see that they are pretty ready to explore the world. They meet two Labradors, took it in their stride and they did look very cute running about in the long grass. 
I have yet to have a Cavalier that travels bad and these three arrived home from their first road trip without one speck of sick in the car. 

Blottie and Bumble's sister Daisy has been out all weathers and Laura as been sharpening up her recall.

Thanks Laura for the update. Daisy is becoming very attentive to you. I have contacted Joan and Colin and I have just received a lovely reply to your invite to Alfie to join the spaniel walking group, along with an update on what Alfie has been doing whilst in France from Joan.

"Thanks Jane, all good here. 


Alfie is doing well although he's had a bit of a setback with training as we ve had my three grandchildren staying too, which he loved. They went back yesterday so we re back on track with clicker training now. The funny thing is that Alfie just can't make out what s going on with the cows all around us. Their bells ring constantly and their colouring is identical to him. He is very curious but is quite happy just to sit and watch them. 


We ve had some lovely experiences with him. Things you woudn t normally get a chance to do in the UK. No 1 was going with us to Geneva airport to meet the family. you see lots of dogs there of all shapes and sizes. He was on his best behaviour, very calm and walked beautifully through crowds of busy people with trolleys and children. He was very admired and complimented how good he was. No 2 was going to an adventure park for a picnic where the children were climbing though the trees and descending on zip wires then watching the parapenters (paragliders) jumping off the hillside into the blue beyond and meeting more dogs and children. No 3 was going into Annecy to the lakeside and seeing birds and ducks and generally just watching the world. The only thing to mar the visits is that he is still travel sick everytime. I'm assured he'll gradually grow out of it so fingers crossed...( it seems to be the bendyness of the mountain roads that set him off.... motorways are fine).

At the moment he is doing a mountain walk through the forest, with my husband, which he loves, while I m supposed to be doing hoovering and clearing up!

He also now sleeps in a crate and is quite happy with it. It was a matter of necessity as the 2nd night here he jumped out of his puppy pen, but with the crate he settled immediately.

I would love to meet up with Daisy's family when we get back... I had noticed they couldn t be too far from us as the Ashdown forest is barely a stones throw from us.So I'd be glad if you passed the message on for us.


Better get on with the hoovering now before they get back as it takes twice as long with Alfie "helping" me!!!!


Love Joan and Colin"

Thanks Joan sounds like Alfie is having a wonderful time in France with you both.  He sounds like a very loved and lucky dog.

The two Cavapoos below I have received updates for are full siblings, but not litter siblings. Darcey is from Dolly's last ever litter born June 2013 and Bella is from the litter before born near the end of 2011. Reggie is Dad to both of them and Bella is from Reggie's first ever litter.
The first update is from Karen, who has Darcey and now also has a little canine friend for Darcey called Milo.

Thanks Karen for the lovely update and great to hear about the arrival of Milo in Darcey's life. You are so going to enjoy watching the two of them together. Good to hear from you and wish you every success with your first art show.

The next update is for Darcey's sister Bella from Margaret.

"Dear Jane,

we all love Bella more than anyone can say.  She is the topic of conversation with friends and loved ones and I don't know why - adores, loves children (may have something to do with your wonderful training with your six beautiful children).

Her intelligence is astounding and we understand her language and she under-stands a lot of what we say and how we say it.  She still prefers people and children to other dogs apart from her boy friend a grey miniature poodle and any cavalier King Charles spaniel she sees.  How does she know she is half of one.

Bella is predictable and continues to be at nearly four a very special member of our family.  I thank the day I found your website
and Bella.

Kind Regards to your family and all the gang.  I still read your blog and drool over the puppy videos and photos.

Best Wishes

Margaret Wynn"

Photo 1 Bella birdwatching on holiday in Northumberland
Photo 2 Bella fast asleep in the caravan after running on a huge beach in Northumberland.

Thanks Margaret for the lovely update for Bella. I know you so love Bella and that she is such a special member of your family.  Great to hear from you.

The sun is out and the three B's, Blottie, Bumble and Bertie are out enjoying it.

My husband, David and me are having some time off paid work this week. So, this morning after I had run the dogs out and we had all had breakfast we found us having an Executive Meeting (Mum And Dad sat having a cup of coffee together) to pre-plan (If you can actually do that) for the day. First thing on the agenda to discuss was the transitional functionality of our lawn mower.  The lawn mower had broken the other day and David has now got the part to repair it today. He told me he would re-mobilize the lawn mower this morning, optimizing its output by incentivizing the children 110% in getting the lawns mowed before lunch. 

Whilst David was synergizing the children I would leverage my talents getting the vacuum cleaner out and bring to the table my food technology skills. Then after lunch we would paradigm shift are attention to our children, move forward and tee off with an holistic approach to enabling them to operationalize their tents.

In other words my husband will be mowing the lawns and I will be doing the house work this morning whilst the children drive us crazey, without any exit strategy. Lol

Photos are from the meeting this morning attended also by Primrose's three pups and their Auntie Jessica. The holes in the knee area of  David's trousers are not a fashion statement, but are from wear and tear.

Primrose's pups rather like Big Bertie's bed and earlier I caught them not only enjoying his bed, but also playing with his toy.
Big Bertie did not seem to mind. He was to busy outside digging up the lawn with his sisters Blottie and Bumble. Lol

Primrose's three Cavalier pups are now  eleven weeks old and will start to leave us this Sunday. They are little characters scampering around the place getting up to mischief. 

Canine Wheel, if you let one of these off in your home, you are going to be have a whole load of combustion and some spectacular effects happening. 

Blottie and Bumble's brother, Bertie who is staying with us at the moment whilst his family are on holiday, because they have an elderly dog sleeps in a crate at night. So not to get him out of his bedtime routine, we put up a crate for him next to the Primrose's pups and he has his own bed and blanket in it. At night he is shut in and is a very good boy. We don't hear a sound from him and in the daytime we leave the crate gate open and when he wants a nap, he will choose to sleep in the crate, but sometimes he has been having company.

It has been a bit miserable here in the UK over the last few days, with a lot of rain. It is my husbands fault as he announced on Friday he was taking this week off, then down came the rain. Yep, we don't plan much ahead and I milked through the weekend and as the family I milk for were away, I also had the job of putting their two horses in and out for them. This morning I was milking and then asked if I could not milk for them Friday and Saturday, due to husband deciding to take week off, only telling me Friday evening. Luckily they have nothing on, so husband and I after this evening have until next Monday before we do any paid work. David rarely takes a whole week off . We were hoping to finish painting the outside of our home, but it has yet to be dry for long enough to start up painting.
Yesterday with the children getting a bit of cabin fever from the weather, we threw caution to the wind and headed out with the six children to Instow beach in the afternoon bringing along Millie and her two Granddaughters Blottie and Bumble. This would be Blottie and Bumble's first trip to a beach.
I took Millie with them, as Millie is spot on when recalled. Her daughter, Smudge who is Blottie and Bumble's Mum on the other hand can be a bit hit and miss. She always comes back, but often in her own time, whilst you have kittens. 
It was windy at the beach, but from the noise on the video you might think we were walking in to a hurricane, so it might be best to keep the volume down when watching. In the video you will hear and see me recall Blottie and Bumble. As they approach me I ask my son, Bert to take over the recall, get them to sit and treat them. I could not do it easily, because I had my hands full with children's discarded clothing.  Millie rather crashes the whole situation but they they do eventually sit and have a delayed treat. Not the best footage of recall and sit on the internet. Lol
I could go in to the do's and don't's  of recall and the sit command, but as I have said before, "I don't confess to being a dog trainer" and I'm not going to start now.
Millie does show us a lovely balance on her hide legs, then in to a sitting position. Millie normally only has treats to get her to walk on her hind legs, hence the way she behaves and my son is not used to training two dogs together and just needs to learn to have the treats ready before the dogs arrive expectantly at his feet. 
I love this footage because it is Granny Millie out with her Grandchildren. I think Millie is looking pretty good for a nearly eight year old Cavalier who has also had three litters of pups. Her Grandchildren are growing in to beautifully athletic and hopefully healthy dogs. Really enjoying watching the development of this cross between the Brittany and Cavalier. They are lovely tempered and I think they are good looking dogs, not that I would be biased or anything and blow my own trumpet. Lol 

Q: What do puppies do when it rains ?

A: Sleep

Bertie arrived yesterday evening for his two weeks stay, whilst his family are on holiday. Bertie is from Henry and Smudge's litter born back in April this year. We originally named him Freckle Nose because his nose was not fully pigmented black as quick as his siblings and as you can see now he does not have a Freckle Nose.
Bertie has settled right back in with the pack and as you can see from the photos is a very handsome chap. Really pleased how well this cross with the Cavalier and Brittany spaniel has turned out. 

Also managed to get some video footage of Bertie playing with his sister Bumble.

I'm now off to do an afternoon milking, then back just after 6pm, when our house guest for the next two weeks will be arriving. We have Bertie aka Freckle Nose coming to stay with us while Emma and her family go on holiday. 
Bertie aka Freckle Nose is Blottie and Bumble's brother being from our first litter of Brittany cross Cavalier pups born April this year.Henry and Smudge are his parents. Looking forward to seeing what a handsome dog he is growing in to and posting photos of him with the Poundlane pack over the next couple weeks. 

Yesterday I also received a lovely email from Alfie, who is Daisy's brother, so also Blottie and Bumble's brother, sunning himself in the French Alps.

Thanks Alfie. With the weather we are having in the UK at the moment I wish I was there.

Yesterday I got the lovely photo below of Daisy, who is Blottie and Bumble's litter sibling from Henry and Smudge's litter born this April.

Thanks Laura for such a lovely photo of all your girls. Clicker training or whistle training are good aids to use in sharpening up  recall. 

Yesterday I took Primrose in to the vets. A couple days ago I had noticed she had been closing one eye slightly, but at that time no injury was visible. The next day I noticed a very small pin prick of white on the lower side of her left eye ball. She did not seem that bothered, I thought it would not need veterinary intervention, but yesterday morning it was obvious that the eye was causing her a lot of irritation and I got her in the vets to get some old jollop to help with the pain and some drops to help with inflammation to the eye.
I knew going to the vet, that the eye was not that bad and for me it was just about making Primrose comfortable, while it healed. Irritation of the eyes from an injury or eye condition is very painful and can make life very miserable. The vet said, "I will need to see her in a weeks time to check the eye again." I just nodded, but they know full well, that if the eye is okay, I won't be seeing them in a weeks time. If she still has a problem with the eye in a weeks time, believe me I would of been back before then. 
Primrose's Cavalier pups are now over ten weeks old and not long now before they leave us. The slideshow is of the three of them over the last few days.   

The video is some footage our son, Thomas got yesterday with my old camera, which has a mind of its own when trying to film with it.

Alfie  is from our first ever litter of the Brittany crossed with the Cavalier born April of this year, so is our Blottie and Bumble's brother with their parents being Henry and Smudge. Joan and Colin who took Alfie in to their lives have a place in France and they planned to take Alfie out to France for his first time, this summer.
A couple days ago I got  a lovely photo of Alfie sunning himself in the Alps and then an email to tell me about his journey out to France and how he was taking it all in.

The title of this blog is what I saw as the subject of an email before opening it. The old cynic in me first thought, "Someone trying to sell me something." Thinking the email was going to be someone extolling the virtues of Chilli and how you could get this in a one easy to swallow capsule for the bargain price of whatever, but imagine my pleasure on opening it and realising it was from Anne who has Chilli, who is a Cavapoo I bred from Dolly back the end of 2011, with Reggie the Daddy. In fact if memory serves me right it was Reggie's first ever litter of pups. 

Thanks Anne for such a wonderful update and extolling the virtues of Chilli. Sounds like Chilli is good for you, especially when canine strength. 

Primrose's three Cavalier pups were ten weeks old today and the vet visited us to give them their second vaccination for Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvo (DHP), and also gave them drops up the nose to protect them against Kennel Cough (KC).
The vet checked them over again before vaccinating and they were all well to have their vaccinations done. A vet should always check a dog over before administrating any vaccination, as it would not be good for an animal that was poorly to be vaccinated, whilst its immune system was compromised. 

One thing we have noticed with the two Brittany cross Cavalier pups we kept back from Smudge's litter, they are hardcore sleepers. When they decide to go to sleep, not even a fog horn is going to stir them. They go totally relaxed and even if you have to pick them up to move to another place, they do not stir.

The slideshow is a few photos of Blottie and Bumble on Sunday, on our walk at Heddon Valley