It's Sunday evening and as the children trickle off to bed, I'm grabbing a moment to blog. First is a very sweet update from Mollie. Thanks Rhian for the update and glad that Mollie is fully recovered from being spayed. Good idea using the babygrows if your dog gets upset and distressed by wearing the collar, to stop them pulling at the wound left after being spayed. Lovely to see Bobbie and Mollie together, thanks again, Rhian.

Hi there Jane

Sorry we haven't been in touch we've been galavanting around the country with the caravan, and so here is a little update on what's been happening, written by Mollie.

Hello Auntie Jane and all my brothers and sisters

I have been very busy lately, we have been on holidays quite a lot. I made lots of new puppy friends, and although I shout at them when I see them first because I get so excited, once they meet me properly they all love me and we run around and have lots of fun. Mum and Dad say that I am like a headless chicken, I don't know what that is, but I hope it is something nice!!! We have just come home from Yorkshire and now I am waiting for my next trip in the caravan, I am very very good in the car and I go to sleep straight away, and
only wake up when my Daddy stops the car. I sit in the back with my Bobbie (my big brother) and we wear our seat belts to keep us safe.

I am sending some photos of me in my Mickey Mouse outfits, I had an operation before we went away and I didn't like the lampshade they gave me to put on my head, and so Dad bought me two babygrows instead and I think I looked really chic, and they were so comfy to wear that I didn't complain once and I couldn't reach my tummy to scratch or pull out my stitches. I wasn't very well for a day or two but after that I was running around again like I did before. I have just been weighed and I am 6.9kilos and on two meals a day, and so I have my food the same time as Bobbie, but if he doesn't eat his quick enough I run over to his bowl and finish it for him ( so we eat on different sides of the kitchen) and mum and dad watch me ('cos I am really fast on my feet)! Something I love doing is running upstairs and getting shoes and then chasing around the house with them, mum laughs so much she can't catch me, it's a really good game. Another game I like is taking treats from Bobbie because he is quite old and quite slow now, and so I eat mine and then if I'm fast enough I can get to it before mum
can stop me. I love ice cream and so does Bobbie, and when we have ice cream we share, one spoon for me and one for him and we take it in turns. Mum took a photo of us last week when we were sharing and we had got to the end of it, so we are sending you a photo for you to see how good we are. 

As you can see I am allowed to sit on the settee, and when mum or dad get up I jump into their place and then they have to move me for them to sit down, but they don't mind. I can be a little bit naughty sometimes but it's because I get really excited and forget my manners, and I get told off and then I have to be extra good for a little while before doing something naughty again, but most of
the time I am VERY good. I have got a new bed now because I kept going in Bobbie's bed and he was jumping into my crate which I wasn't very happy about, and so we have a nice bed each for the day and then I sleep in my crate in the night, and I sleep until 8.30 in the morning. When we were on holidays in the caravan I slept until 9 o'clock one day. Mum and Dad say I am marvellous, but I know that anyway.

My paws are getting tired now so I am going for a sleep. Sorry I went on so long!!!!

Lots of love to all of my brothers and sisters

Mollie

This morning I was milking, so up early and caught a couple photos of all the Cavalier girls cuddled up together.

After milking last night, as I was leaving I asked the person, Adrian who I was working for, if he would mind me taking a couple photos of Shep and Belle to put on my blog, as I mention them occasionally  on my blog and it might be nice to put a face to their names. He thought me utterly mad, but was happy for me to do this. So this morning camera in hand, I got a couple photos of Shep waiting for me at the Dairy door, as I get the Dairy ready for milking before setting off up the road to get the cows in.
Belle is Shep's canine companion on the farm, being a Springer Spaniel and both dogs are neutered. She has little interest in herding but Shep has a lot of interest in hunting with her and her two brothers that often appear from the other farm, Adrian's brother has.

I also tried to get a bit of video footage of getting the cows in, but this morning we had no moonlight and a very heavy mist, so what I got was me talking a lot with the occasional glimpse of Shep and the cows. The field I walk out across is normally strip grazed, but as we get into the later part of the year and grass growth and quality has dropped, the cows now run larger areas as we wait for the weather to break and they come in for winter. It has been such a good Autumn here in the UK, it's hard to believe it's October in a few days time and for farming hopefully this will make the Winter seem shorter. When the weather breaks this late now, it may be a bit of a shock to the system, as we plunge from almost Summer temperatures during the daytime, straight into Winter.
In the video I talk about cow lameness and the fact that if you keep many heads of stock, you invariable will have health issues such as lameness and we don't see animals in the wild that often lame, because if you become lame being a prey species, you soon will be prey. I won't deny though that lameness in Dairy cattle is a very big problem and some herds, it is shocking the level and amount of lameness they have in their herds, many factors are involved from genetics, enviroment, feeding, husbandry and infectious causes.  I could write a lengthy piece on this, having milked cows for 27 years now, but I will spare you that rant though.
I mention how lovely the silence is of the morning, I know it is not zero silence, but in this time when constant stimulation and noise seems to be the elixir of the masses, it is silence. I like silence.
If you watch the video right through, as unfortunately there is not much to watch, you don't have to worry that suddenly Freddy Krueger is going to appear behind me. I have been walking around the North Devon countryside in the dark hours since a child and have yet to see or hear anything unusual, not even the odd alien and I am pretty approachable, I think.

Ending now with a bit of a red face. Treacle and Primrose are on heat at the moment. On Saturday morning, I had my first morning of from milking all weekend for the last four weekends, so it was nice to wake up without one of us jumping out of bed to go milking. When we had done breakfast and run the dogs out and fed them, I had to make a trip to Mole Valley Farmers for dog food and bulk buy toilet roll, as they sell packets of 24 rolls of a good brand toilet roll a lot cheaper than any where else. With six children, we tend to go through a lot.
I set off thinking that Primrose and Treacle were safely secured in one of the stables, but on my return, my husband greeted me with the news that, he on my leaving had gone indoors to use the toilet (as he was outside sawing up wood and splitting logs when I left) and had made a cup of coffee and on coming outside to the stables, he was greeted by Treacle with Reggie tied to her. Reggie is Treacle's Dad !
David, my husband had already rung the vet to find out about injecting her, which terminates any conception that may of happened and told me that she should be injected from 21 days on heat and no further than 40 days from coming on heat and it's two injections 24 hours apart. I then stomped around like a bulldog chewing a wasp, muttering how did he let that happen and berated my husband, of course it was every one elses fault but mine.
I then jumped in the car and drove off, not in temper, but to go and pick up six chairs I had just negotiated buying from my husband's Uncle Pat, on my way back from getting dog food, who owns an Emporium at Umberleigh selling antiques, bric-a-brac and and general household items. This gave me a twenty minute cooling off period and I saw reason, that if any blame was to be pointed it probably should be at me, I put them in the stable and did not check that all bolts were well enough secured, that a bit of rattling and a nose pushing the kick bolt over would suffice in gaining entry and I had done rather a good deal in getting six chairs for the kitchen table, I wanted to share my successful acquisition with my husband. So when I returned I apologised for berating him so, my husband knows that I struggle to stay angry for any length of time, and I had some chairs I wanted him to look at. Lol

I got six of these chairs for £30, which I think is a bargain. These are from a cafe clearance and Uncle Pat said, "He bought them with a job lot which did not cost much" They are very sturdy chairs and ideal for the kitchen table where the children do painting, glueing etc. There were twelve all together and husband and I think the other six might come in handy for when we have family, friends around, so Monday might see me offering Uncle Pat £20 to clear the other six for him.
So, I got my head around the fact that Reggie had mated with his daughter, accidents can happen and now it's taking her in the day after her last day of her heat and getting the two injections 24 hours apart, which is around the 8th October. My only concern is that this may have an effect on her future fertility, but there is no way she is going to proceed with a pregnancy when her Dad is the father, although only up to a few years ago matings as close as this, was accepted by the Kennel Club, you might get away with it once, but the problem is when you repeatedly close mate within lines.
This happening to me for the first time ever with my dogs, reminds me of a story told to me by a top Show Poodle Kennel owner (The owner used to Judge all around the world) that also did a couple other breeds, one being Cavaliers and that is how I knew them, due to using their stud Cavalier dogs.
This gentleman told be of a Cavalier that stayed with them for a couple days, to be mated with one of their Cavalier boys and all seemed fine and the pups were born and as the days went by, the pups started to look like Dad might of been more Poodle than Cavalier. When the owner of the bitch contacted them conveying their concerns of parentage. He said, "He visited the litter and it was apparent that they were not pure Cavalier pups and as the bitch had been kennelled with them, the only way a Poodle dog could of got in with her, was it climbed the very high fence to her kennel mated her and then climbed back out before anyone noticed, probably over night." 
So tonight I blog a bit embarressed by Reggie's behaviour, he though has no shame.Lol. Seriously though, I blogged about this mishap, so that people understand that even if your bitch accidentally mates with a dog, you have plenty of time to stop the pregnancy, as soon as off heat the bitch can be injected to stop her carrying the pregnancy. As the vet said to my husband when he rang them about Reggie and Treacle, "This can happen to the best of us"  

Quick follow on from yesterday evenings blog, as I think my cameras SD card is going on the blink, as last night when I took some photos of Reggie after being bathed and dried the SD card did not connect with the computer, but has decided to work now. Think I might need to get a new SD card before it packs up completely.
So here is Reggie after his bath and our son Bert had dried him with the hairdryer. We are not fans of the bouffant look for Poodles, so Reggie looks much the same as before his bath, but believe me he smells a lot sweeter.

One more photo, which was taken of some of the dogs cuddled up in a morning melee, in one of the dog beds in the back house (utility) as I was preparing to leave to go milking just after 5 am this morning.  It's feeling a bit more Autumanal over night now but still glourious sunshine during the daytime and very warm for the time of year here in the UK. This morning was our Autumanal Equinox, as the Sun crossed the celestial equator and the more seasonal over night temperature is reflected in how close the dogs are sleeping together, a month ago, they would of been strewn about the floor taking advantage of the ceramic tiles to keep cool with the more balmy summer nights, but as the nights cool, they get closer and closer until it's hard to tell where one dog starts and the other ends.

Birthday greetings tonight for Maisy, Archie, Milly and Jenson who had their second birthday today. Maisy, Archie, Milly and Jenson are from Primrose's first litter, with their Dad being Reggie. Thanks Sue for getting in touch and sending me the sweet bit of video of Maisy in slow motion shaking water from her coat. Hope Maisy and her siblings are all doing well and had a lovely second birthday.

Hi Jane,
we've just realised it's Maisy's birthday! Here's a little video of her at the beach (hopefully it will come with the slow motion bit in it?!). She's practising for a L'oreal advert!! She continues to be a complete joy. Hope you're well.
Love
Sue 

I was hoping things had quietened down with inquiries about pups, as we won't have any now until late Spring 2015 and as our 'Buying a Puppy From Poundlane' page explains, we will open waiting lists, as bitches are confirmed in pups. Over the last week though my inbox has filled up and I will get back to everyone, but when I say that we do not have a waiting list open at this time, I don't mean, I have one out the back you can go on. There is no waiting list at this time, or a waiting list to go on the waiting list.
We are also not taking visitors until and as bitches are confirmed in pups and this is because a few years ago we had open house all year round to visit us, whether we had a litter at the time or not and it was getting to a stage, that every weekend we would have visitors and when we kept back a Cavapoo, so you could also visit us and view an adult Cavapoo, it came apparent that some were visiting us just to view a Cavapoo as an adult with no intention of waiting for our next litter and few days after visiting us would email to thank us for letting them see an adult Cavapoo, it had made up their mind to have one and had found one within a few days of visiting us, so to save wasting our time and us wasting your time, we will open waiting lists and our doors as and when bitches are confirmed in pups by scanning around 28 days into their gestation's. At the moment I'm enjoying the next few months and we will start health tests at the end of the year into the beginning of next year and although we will have in mind litters for 2015 at the end of the year, only once health tests are all completed will we be sure of each pairing going ahead and that will be around the beginning of 2015.

Photos and video footage of our dogs all come courtesy of  our oldest son Bert. As I was getting in laundry off the clothes line and putting more out (laundry is never ending with six children and with my husband and me working in agriculture) Bert came out with the camera taking photos of the dogs up on the lawn with me, watching me. 

Just before I had come out to get the laundry out, I had been getting dinner ready, roast chicken for Sunday dinner, so it was chicken stew tonight for dinner, I had just put the dough boys (dumplings) in and thought twenty minutes to do the laundry change over on the clothes line and had been talking to Bert and had suggested if he liked, he could give Reggie a bath, as he was a little whiffy (stinky), so I left the kitchen with him preparing the bathing chamber for Reggie.
I was getting on with doing the laundry and did not realise Bert was still running a bath for Reggie, when Bert appeared with camera taking photos of the dogs and asked me to pose with Reggie and then Henry, also as you may realise, I thought at first he was taking photos, not filming. In this video you will see how much Reggie likes to lick and his tongue almost resembles that of an ant eaters. The vet I use for testing my dogs eyes, said that a dog that licks a lot, can be an indication that it was hand reared or weaned early, though seeing as many of Reggies pups display this habit, I consider with Reggie, it might be more nature than nurture.
Thankfully our youngest, Tilly comes out to me to ask why a bath is being run, and then Bert forgets he is still filming as he runs in to find the bathroom like a sauna. Excuse our sons expletives, I really don't know where he gets such a potty mouth from. Lol. 
I was going to start measuring heads and getting on with the blog with all the dogs craniums measured and cephalic ratios worked out, but you know I said about our children, " if it ain't nailed down," well our oldest son in his wisdom thought my measuring calipers were a bit stiff to use and has took them apart with the intention of improving the mechanism but has buggered up the mechanism, so they are even stiffer to move now. I think I can sort them out. Children, who'd have 'em. 

Monday I started this blog and I'm back here Thursday to finish the job. What was going to be a quick blog with just the last photo on here on Monday, has now grown into an almost epic blog. So I should get on with the job at hand before more updates arrive or I am distracted by life beyond the computer key board. The other day I was reading a blog and a person commenting on it was saying or it rather seemed more like bragging that they write eleven blogs about dogs, I struggle with one, how the hell do you write eleven blogs and actually fit life inbetween writing on eleven blogs. I'd rather take quality over quantity any day and some may consider I deliver neither on my blog, but there you go, beauty is in the eye of the beholder or for many sadly the pressure of the collective, choose your path to contentment carefully, firstly making sure it's your path to start with. Contentment is a gift, that only you can give to yourself.  "What's going on Jane, you turning into an old sage."  "Yep, just got to get the sex change and I'm good to go." "Jane, planet earth please !"
"Planet Earth you want, planet Earth it'll be." Let us start with updates and the first up is from Liza and Harvey. Harvey is from Smudge's litter born 24th February this year. Harvey is getting on well as a London commuter with Liza and recently Liza and Harvey visited the Lake District. Looking at the photos Liza sent of Harvey doing the Lakes, you really can see why we don't really need to travel of shore when we have such beauty on our doorsteps, get out there and enjoy this green and pleasant land, it ain't called that for nothing.
One thing I'm going to pick up on in Liza's email is her vet thinking that at 7 months old that Harvey at 10 Kilos is going to grow a 50% again his size he is now and they add "minimum" to their estimate of his adult size.  Small to medium dogs do most of their growth uphill (height) in the firs six to eight months and then as we say in Devon, "They fall abroad," which is they grow outwards, hormones kick in and they lay down more body soft tissue. Harvey would of had an extremly good start in life because he had unhindered access to breast milk until he left, so plenty of growth hormones from Mum's milk to help him make good fast growth in his early months, most pups don't get this with domestic rearing, in the wild making growth fast is a big plus to your survival.  My vet when my pups are first vaccinated always comments on how well grown my pups are at eight weeks old, for their breeding, hybrid vigor and Mum's milk help in this noticeable factor. I would expect Harvey if not allowed to get overweight at adulthood weigh around 13 Kilos. His Mum is our biggest Cavalier and she is around 13 Kilos, as is the dad, Reggie. If Liza's vets are up for a bet, I'd happily put money on this. Most species, the smaller of the species will reach full body size earlier and much earlier when a huge size differential, as we see in dog breeds. If Harvey was a St Bernard, they might be right in thinking that at 7 months old the dog will grow another 50 % of his size at 7 months, but this is not the case for small dogs.
Thanks Liza for the update, the stunning photo's of Harvey up in the Lake District and if your vet wants a friendly wager, they know where to find me.

Hi Jane & Family 

I hope you are all well and that you have had a lovely summer. I am so sorry it has taken me so long to get in touch - it was not intentional, work has been busy and I have spent a lot of time with the gorgeous Harvey…playing and more playing. He is doing so well and I love him to bits. He has the sweetest manner, is very clever, has a lovely nature and is also very naughty. I guess you were
right..not much between him and Brian. His house training was great from the start and he got it straight away. He loves socialising with other dogs and despite being in London he has a pack of at least 6-8 doggie friends to play with at 7am everyday before getting on the train at 8am to come to work. He is the baby of the pack and is always getting told off as he annoys all of them but if a dog out of the pack comes near him then they all look out for him. We spend
most weekends in Epping Forest or across Walthamstow/Hackney marshes and he loves to swim in the River Lea. We have just returned from a week in the Lake District and he he had the most amazing time as you can see from the photos. He is so lovely and great company and is very well loved by my neighbours and at
work - some of his bad habits include ….eating any type of food left in the park, destroying shoes, running around the house with the toilet brush, stepping/pouncing on snails and dehoming them, bin diving at work and eating the TV controls all the time.  

He is getting quite big now and is already 10KG,, probably more now an my vets reckon he'll be 15KG minimum. He loves his food and I was wondering when I should stop his lunchtime meal as he
is still on 3 meals a day?  

Anyway I should sign off as it is getting late - I'll be in touch soon and send his post haircut photos 
  
Liza & Harvey x

The next two updates are from our last two pups that left us from Primrose's litter born on the 9th May this year, Lottie and Dottie. We start with Lottie, with Daphne who has sent me the email and photo below. Felicity is who Lottie lives with and Daphne is Felicity's mother. Thanks Daphne for the update, when you go to training classes ask the trainer about ways to stop or lessen Lottie vocalising, when she gets excited. There are ways to reduce a dog over vocalising and these are best shown to you than described. Glad to hear that Felicity and Lottie are settling in together.  

Hello Jane
Afraid Felicity's computer playing up so I am emailing you instead.  We heard from Sue that Dottie is doing very well - how times flies by but I don't think we will be able to meet up yet.  

Lottie is going to doggie training classes but gets so enthusiastic when seeing other dogs and people.  However, is sitting (most times) at the roadside now and definitely knows what 'good girl', 'no', 'leave it', 'down'and 'come here' mean and what treats are!! . 
 
When she gets excited, barking can go right through you, and yes, also weaves from side to side looking for anything to pick up when out for a walk. They are certainly strong puppies. She loves cuddles and licking, as you know, and her toys. She has stopped complaining when in her car cage and improving a lot when
Felicity goes upstairs.  I heard this morning that it was a 4o'clock at toilet demand today though,but I think it is usually around 5.30+  now and she goes back to sleep in the bed-time cage next to F's bed.
I have attached a photo of Lottie I took yesterday. Hope all is well
with you all and the doggies.

All for now
Best wishes
Daphne.

Last puppy update now is from Lottie's sister, Dottie. What can I say, Dottie seems to be a little Dot and as I suspected would take most of life in her very bouncy stride. Thanks for the update and great to hear from you, Sue and Colin, keep those aerobics classes up. Lol

Hi Jane,
      Just a update on Dottie, I have attached a photo it was taken at Hever Castle,its such a lovely place to visit,and with it being on our doorstep we have invested in a season ticket so we can go more often.I think it is one of Dotties favourite places, she is quite intrigued with the ducks! While we were there Gloria Huniford was
there doing some filming,she spotted Dottie and wanted to know all about her, apparently she has two cavaliers of her own.Dottie took all the fuss in her stride.My son was upset with me as he thought I should of got a selfie with Dottie and Gloria!
Dottie is such a delight, she makes us laugh she watches telly and will have quite a conversation with any dogs that appear.I gave up watching Paul O' Grady's show, for the love of dogs! Dottie also seems to think her reflection is another dog! We are on our
fourth week of puppy classes.classes. Dottie can do all the sit, wait, leave commands at home, but in class she is just so excited to see the other dogs, I end up coming out feeling like I've done an aerobics class!
I do hope all of Dotties siblings are doing well,we have been in contact with Daphne and felicity who had Lottie, we were hoping to meet up,but it turns out that we are further away from each other than we first thought. Dottie loves other dogs and can't understand if they are not interested in playing with her. I am sure she remembers your children, she always makes a beeline for them, then looks quizzically as if to say oh its not who I thought
it was after all.
Thank you Jane for giving Dottie such a good start,she is a real treasure.
 
Kind regards 
 
Sue and Colin

I have a lot of men in my life, husband, three sons and my three canine boys. Reggie is top canine boy and in the slide show below he is playing with his ball and this involved chewing it for a bit, dropping it off the sofa, looking at it, looking at me, to see if I was going to get it for him and when realising I was not joining in the game, jumping down and getting it and repeating the process again. He loves playing with toys and if he can break into a dog bed. loves pulling the stuffing out of them, they say that this trait is from the hunting instinct and if you think about it, killing an animal, they then would rip and pull to get into the animal, so ripping and pulling stuffing out of a dog bed, sort of recreats this, with a lot less mess though. I know many don't like it, but the fact is dogs are predators, and to except this and to understand this about them, will help you live with them a lot better. It's one of the reasons they have clicked so well with us as another species, we have a lot more commonality with them, than we like to think.

Next is Henry who really needs little introduction, as he gets his mug on most blogs. He and Toby sit roughly on a par, with Reggie as a positive male alpha figure,  the care we take to keep bitches out the way when on heat and matings are done out of sight of the other dogs, this helps to keep the pack sociable and the males from feeling the need to challenge each other. Even down to taking care with feeding and when they have treats, that can be highly prized, thought and care in administration of your dogs when you have more than one, will help to keep aggression low and take away the need or feeling to challenge each other within the pack. You also need to be positive member of the pack,  showing that you are of worth to them and they will then hopefully follow you. What goes round, comes round.
The photos of Henry, show him having a play moment with my husband David, number one man.

David, my husband has yet to replace his broken mobile phone, which I mentioned had broken on the last blog, I think, I did mention it. So this has opened up an opportunity to veer off the beaten doggy path some way with the blog.
David has expressed to me that he is not missing having a mobile phone  and actually feels happier not having the responsibility of one. I suggested it might be because he does not have to worry about me ringing him up, annoyed about something, but apparently that's not the reason, or should I say, "not the primary reason." The reason is the responsiblitiy of looking after the thing. During the summer months, other than when in the milking parlour, he struggles to have a suitable pocket to carry it about his person, so he can be out doing field work, puts the phone down and has to remember to keep remembering to pick it back up. He has left his phone twice on top of the car at work and drove off. The first time, he retraced his steps and found the phone, the second time he was not so lucky. He has also wrecked two phones bending over in the parlour and his phone shooting out of his overalls breast pocket to land in a bucket of detergent. He's only ever used pay-as-you-go and at the moment he seems in little hurry to go and get a new phone. We do have one working mobile phone in the home which the older children use for school trips, so we are covered for an emergency. Lol
As some know I do not have a mobile phone and I must admit this has caused the odd uncomfortable silence, when asked for my mobile number and my reply is, "No, because I don't have one", because I think some assume everyone has a mobile, a bit like some assume every woman has read '50 shades of gray', I blow both those theories out the water, I don't and have never had a mobile and I have never read '50 shades of gray', why would I want to read a book about how many colours gray, comes in. Two jokes in one there, think about it for a minute.
I think some people think I'm lying about not having a mobile and I just don't want them to have my mobile number, I'm not lying, although when one or two have followed asking for my mobile number by saying, "So I can text you," maybe if I had a mobile phone, at that moment I might of lied, you really think I want you texting me every five minutes.Lol
The mobile phone or my husband not missing it prompted us to discuss the amount of upkeep needed these days when courting someone and my husband declared that we would be useless in the modern courting world and he cheekily told me I was pretty bad at up keep before modern forms of constantly annoying each other, sorry, I mean, lovingly contacting each other thoughout the day, minute after minute, hour after hour, every day, constantly wanting to know what you are doing.  "Jane , we get the point, calm down."
See my idea of courting is together attentive, when not together you're doing other stuff, that when you are together again, you can attentively tell each other about, simple and remarkably effective in the day. Imagine dating like that today, yes, fantasy world, most people seem to be high upkeep these days or they think they need to be, t'is one or t'other or maybe both. Lol
Now my reasoning for not having a mobile phone you may of already guessed, I simple lack the responsiblity to be set free with one, one things for sure I won't have it for that long anyway. When I had our first child a few months before my 32nd birthday, I realised I was entering into the "I'm an adult now world", and not only an adult, but an adult woman, I was going to seriously need to get tooled up. Tooling up for a woman is purse, check, handbag that you can fit everything in for every eventuality that could happen when leaving the home, check. The only time I had come into contact until then with a handbag, was the odd clutchbag bought for a wedding etc and then gathering dust in the back of the wardrobe. Purses have always intrigued me from a child , as with parents as a child owning a doorstep milk delivery business, my siblings and me would be collected from school on a Friday, to then go door to door on milk money collection, knocking on doors collecting payment for the weekly milk delivered to them and while doing this, I got to see lots of purses and would watch intrigued as loose change was pushed with a single finger around the open purse often in pursaunce of an errant penny or half pence, so purses bring back fond memories of my childhhood.
Well, I tooled myself up with purse and handbag, my plan was going to plan, to nail adulthood but for one failing, me !
No one told me about constantly needing to be vigilant, constantly keeping an eye to them. I was not safe out with them, unless my husband (sometimes known as my carer) was with me. I was great with them until I  put them down, there my failings shone, as I would then forget to pick them back up. Lost the count of how many times I left them behind. My husband thought my predicament funny and would often walk back to the car with me and as we got in the car he would ask, "forgot something" and would produce what was by then becoming my nemisis, my purse and handbag. He would laugh and I would exclaim, "that it's not kind to laugh at the inflicted." 
Thankfully our last child born came out of nappies over three years ago, so I burnt my handbag and purse, liberating myself from their encumbrance. I understand that the mobile phone has been a good thing for businesses, as my sister had a horse transport business, until a couple years ago she sold it and she had one of the first ever mobile phones which revolutionised her trading, but I think with my history with the purse and handbag, only a fool would consider that a mobile phone would be safe with me. Being an adult ain't for all of us, tried it but I had to go back to using pockets. Lol

Now to finish on what would of been the beginning and end of the blog, if I had blogged on Monday, when I loaded up this photo on Monday evening after the children were all to bed. The title 'calm before the storm' is because the run up to this moment was, I had just picked the two youngest up from after school, Art Club and as I came in through the gates in the car, my oldest son signed to me from the house, if I wanted a drink and I thumbed up, to confirm "yes." I then came in sorted out school uniforms, pack lunch boxes and then saw the coffee on the side and it was at the right temperature to consume and dropped myself onto the dog's sofa, joined quickly by Toby and Dolly, before I made the West wing assault on our home, also known as going into the kitchen to cook tea, so this is my minutes calm before the push towards tea and bedtime for the children. Our daughter Molly took the photo, it has been lovely weather here in the UK for September which can be seen by the sun rays coming in through and casting an atmospheric sepia light to the photo, framing the moment well. I did take my dealer boots off before cooking the tea, but I think they do add a touch of glamour, not all can pull dealer boots on, let alone pull them off. Lol

Look at that, how good was I, I did not mention the Scottish referendum once, until now. You will of have to of lived in the UK for the last month to get that and this. Good luck Scotland what ever you choose, lets hope the wounds that have been opened can be healed quickly and the storm brewing is soon dispersed.

Look out I can hear Cornwall beating its drum. Westminister needs to get its act together, or they will have no one to be together with in a minute. Sorry about that political outburst, brought to you by a concerned citizen of the UK.

First tonight a couple updates with the first from Sue, who has Lucy aka Lucinda and she is a bitch we rehomed, is it three years ago now ? Lucy comes back to us every now and again, when Sue and Jim go on holiday or visit their daughter and their granchildren in Australia. Thanks for the photos Sue of Lucy with her ribbons and hope the house moving is finally moving.

Hello Jane
Just thought you might like to see a picture of Lucy after she had won two first prizes at the Winkleigh Dog show (1 for the most adoring eyes,1 for the best senior!!! As nearly 7!!!)
Hope all well at Poundlane and that you have enjoyed the holidays, sure it's a nice break now you are puppy free , interested to read you may breed Cavaliers again next year!!!
We ok still waiting on the people at bottom of the chain to have their mortgage finalised , banks don't exactly hurry these things, hopefully it will get sorted this week.
Hope all the family are well
Best regards
Sue

Next is an update from Lynne, who has Kayla , who is from Smudge's litter born this year on the 24th February. She has just been spayed and the photos are of her just returned from the vets. Hope all is going well with her recovery and that pretty pink collar is going to make a fun hat when Kayla's finished with it.

Dear Jane

Just to let you know that Kayla was spayed this morning and she's now feeling very sorry for herself poor thing.

Regards

Lynne

Children are all back at school now after the summer holidays and I thought I must get on with getting all the dogs craniums measured, so with good intent yesterday I set about trying to remember and find the measuring calipers I had bought for the job and such was the cunning that I had displayed in hiding them, that I could not for the life of me lay my hands upon them.
In our home, we have six very curious children and on bringing this measuring caliper home, much interest was shown in it, so in our home with said children, if it ain't been nailed down, when you come to want to use it, the chances you are going to find it are prettty low and if lucky enough to find it the chances it's still in one piece or still workable is probably negligible, often it has been morphed into something else or is part of something else.
So when I have something that I would like to use again and know that it has aroused interest amongst the children, I hide it and as in this case and is often the case, time had passed and I could not find it, looked in the usual places that I might hide things from the children, but with a son now taller than me and my hiding is normally a case of putting things out of reach, I was coming to the assumption that maybe the place the measuring caliphers had been lying, may of been reached by the children.
Before starting the interrogation of our children, I had one avenue to still explore and that was to ask David my husband, if he knew were it was. As his mobile phone has died at the moment I would have to wait until evening to consult him on the whereabouts of the measuring calipers.
Evening came and David arrived home from work and come late evening I remembered to ask him about the measuring calipers and he went and put his hand right on them. Seems I have been guilty of that male trait, manlooking. The measuring calipers were where I had first looked, sitting just under a book, which I had not thought to look under, duh !
So now measuring calipers in hand and children in school, I will start to measure the craniums of each dog and will try to get some side and dorsal photos of each dogs head alongside measurements and work out their cephalic ratio. Started on the blog for this and will show how you calculate a dogs cephalic ratio and show you a chart to know which skull shape they fall into.
Might interest some to take a look at the Pedigree Dogs Exposed blog http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.co.uk/ tonight as Jemima Harrison who writes it has just published details of a new paper from reasearchers at Massey University in New Zealand about the breathlesness we see in Brachycephalic Airway Syndrome (BAS) and how it is a significant welfare issue, sadly in the report they put the welfare impact of severe BAS in the same category as the feeling of drowning or being deliberately asphyxiated.
"Introducing breathlessness as a significant
animal welfare issue" by NJ Beausoleil and DJ Mellor, New Zealand Veterinary Journal, July 2014.
This paper covers across the board breathing problems in dogs and cats, not just conformation, but they are preparing another paper exploring the extent and impact BAS has on welfare in dogs and cats.

Photos tonight of the pack feature a couple with me with Toby totally chilled out lying on my legs. Toby will be three years old this November and he will go up to Bristol the end of November start of December to have his first MRI scan. Not looking forward to this, so want him to be 0b and if you see how athletic he is, it's hard to imagine he could have any level of Syringomyelia, but we will have to wait and see, with fingers tightly crossed. Toby is a sweetheart and such a gentleman and a proper sporting spaniel that still has a nose for scenting and loves flushing a cover. As all our dogs, Toby has a couple name derivatives, Tobleroneous and the other is Tobylucious.
A funny story about my name calling of our dogs and a little rude, is about how I gave Millie the double barrelled name Millie Milf, without realising that Milf is also a rather rude abbreviation. If you don't know what that is an abbreviation for, look away now if easily offended and for those who can't help but look, it stands for "Mother I'd like (to) F--K", I'll let you guess that last word.Lol.  Thankfully our oldest son was aware of this abbreviation and thankfully told me about it before I called it out in a public place, whilst summoning Millie. Lol. Seems I still have a bit of innocence about me and from now on any names I come up with I'm running them past my son, to make sure I don't offend anyone.
Hope everyone caught the last super moon of the year on Tuesday night, I milked Tuesday morning and it was pretty super that morning, as I brought the cows in and one of those times I wish I had my camera with me. Shep the Border collie at the farm I was milking at, was waiting for me as I arrived and I don't know if it was the moon, but he was master keen for me to get my leggings on before heading out to bring the cows in, barking at me at the parlour door to hurry up, which is not his normal behaviour, maybe with the light of the moon, he thought I was running late ? 
Shep is a character, at first meetings you might think him a bit aloof, but drop to your knees and the offer of a chest rub he can not resist and thus, then becomes the most loving dog and often will give me a little lick of the side of my face, in appreciation of my advance dog massage and scratching skills. He shares is life on farm with Belle a Springer Spaniel and he is visited most days by two other Springer Spaniels which come over from the other farm they own, where the other brother lives. Most days this time of year, Shep does his getting the cows in duties and when I leave he often can be seen setting out across the fields with the three Springer Spaniels to spend a few hours hunting.
Herding and hunting are one of the same instincts. I often wonder what Border Collies think of herding stock loyally to their masters and what they think when their master, never makes a kill, so I'm going to finish on me imagining what two Sheep dogs make of all that herding, but their masters never seeming to make the kill, hopefully you will see the humour in this.

Sitting in the barn on the farm was Old Sheepdog and Young Sheep dog.

Young Sheepdog says to old sheep dog, "I don't get my master. Every day I run, and drive those sheep to him. Carefully I go, just whispering them, by his toe. Yet does he ever catch one, so that we can feast, together as friends, not foe. The answer is simply, no."

The Old Sheepdog replies, "I know what you mean, our masters are quite dumb, it seems. Let us be thankful, for the cupboard of never ending dog food. That seems to re-fill, at free will. Filling our tummies, until we still, and in our slumber, we can dream, the master makes the kill, and reigns supreme." Lol

Some may notice the day after I posted the "Old Sheep dog and Young Sheep dog" bit that I have added a bit more to it, posted it late last night and brain was starting to shut down.

This Thursday saw our three oldest back at secondary school with all back at school next Monday. So Tuesday and Wednesday with such lovely weather we got out with the children and some of the dogs before they started back at school to two of the many beautiful scenic places we have here in North Devon. Looking around the world today (Don't worry I'm not going to start talking politics) and looking out my window as I type this, over the Taw Valley and can see the top of Exmoor, you have to count your blessings. If there is a God, I must of done something right. 
The first outing on here is with my husband, the children, Smudge, Millie and me at Heddon Valley. Heddon Valley is on West Exmoor and I have been visiting this area to walk since a child, first with dogs, parents and siblings, then with my dogs, then with dogs and husband, and now with dogs, husband and children. Notice the one constant amongst my visits.
Heddon Valley is a lovely dramatic piece of the North Devon coast and is a very popular walking destination for locals and tourists from around the world, you can lose yourself in this enviroment and then find youself again in the friendly inns dotted along the way that are dog friendly.
This time rather than head down to the mouth, we took the path up over towards Woody Bay and although on the video the wind sounds very loud, it sounds worse than it was and after the ascension was welcome against our bodies to keep us from getting to hot, as the sun was strong that day.
When we walk with the children with us, so as to keep control of them and the dogs we normally take with us anything from one to four dogs. This day Millie and her daughter, Smudge had been bundled into the car. Smudge has got a little plump whilst on heat and not getting so much exercise, so it was felt she was in the most need of a good long leg stretch and her Mum, Millie came, as Millie will come straight away when called, so gives us a chance with returning to the car with at least one dog. Millie is my anchor dog, she is the one who teaches the others how to behave in company and to hopefully come back when called.
The footage and photo's were cut a bit short, as when we got up the top to where there used to be a Roman Fortlet, as we descended, the camera battery died on us.
Smudge and Millie really enjoyed themselves and on the descension we had a moment when Smudge disappeared off the path into the undergrowth and we spent a few moments wondering if the walk might turn into a search. Back at the car park up from Hunters Inn, we decided on an icecream from the little National Trust Shop. My husband and I spent time whilst eating our icecreams also removing several Black Legged Ticks at the nymph stage, from Millie and Smudge before we got back in the car and headed homewards.
With this surge of warm weather keep an eye out for a surge in ticks, at the moment we check our dogs every evening for these bloodsucking parasites.

If you want to know more about Heddon Valley click on this link
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/heddon-valley/ 

The next day after the walk at Heddon Valley being up top, my husband at work to late evening and with three children condemned to a return to school the next day, with yet another sunny day, at around 3.30 pm I told the six children to jump in the car with Henry and we would go to Heywood Forest down the below.
Heywood Forest is a recent discovery for us and funnily is not far from us and we often walk in Eggesford Forest not much more than a stones throw from this forest.
How we discovered it was, two brothers (who our friends with our oldest two boys) parents, help out with a private Beagle Pack and often ask our two boys along when they run them out on exercise and often they go to this forest and the boys go off and occupy themselves in the woods and as there is an old motte-and-bailey Norman Castle, what better place than for children to let their imagination come to life. This forest also has the river Taw running through it, so great for the children and for dogs.
We took just Henry and he does not go out on forest walks that often on his own. Heywood Forest is ideal for Henry who loves to run, as really good wide long paths for him to enjoy running back and forth to you. He is very obedient at coming back, although you have to be brave, as you watch him disappear at an alarming high speed, that he will return on call and so far he has always returned, touch wood.
We have just started using a harness with Henry, as he could pull on occasion with just a collar and lead, we tried a rope choker and he could still be a bit pulley at times, so before going down the route of a chain choker, which many may think cruel and I'm not so keen, but if it comes to controlling a dog and no other method works, using a chain choker, the cruelty can sometimes outweigh the benefit that can be made when all other avenues have been tried. There is some truth at times in the saying, "Sometimes you have to be cruel, to be kind."I thought lets give the harness a go and Henry although unsure of it on him to start with, as we let him wear it about the property first to get used to it, it seems to be doing the trick and if he forgets himself, one pull with the pressure across his shoulders rather than his neck, he checks back to walk at heal. Funnily he walks to heal no problem without a lead on.
It was yet again another lovely day here in North Devon on Wednesday and walking through the forest in the afternoon sun and watching the children playing in the river was a joy. When at the river, as you will see in the video, we got joined by a lovely Springer Spaniel, you will see Henry with our son Bert, watching him looking a little worried and that is because around a month ago down on Instow beach a very big Lurcher accidently knocked Henry flying and has made Henry a little concerned when dogs his size or a bit bigger approach him, he is getting over it though and although I did not catch it on camera, he did end up happily running about with the Springer Spaniel and on the walk back we also meet a collie pup, which Henry was quite taken with instantly.

If you would like to know more about Heywood Forest and it's very interesting history you will find out about it at this link
http://www.devonperspectives.co.uk/heywood_castle.html

I think I should be working on the North Devon tourist board after the above, although the tourist trade does bring valuable revenue to the area, we don't want to many of you bugger's down yer. Lol. If you come to North Devon, us born and bred Devonian's tend to like to serve our sense of humour very dry.
Wind it up now, as I have a milking to get to. The last group of photos are at home with the dogs. David asleep with Jessica ,our daughter Florrie took those and David did not wake up until after she took the second one and she said, "He did not wake up and I had the flash on, on the camera." Lol
One photo is of Henry, when we put his harness on for the first time and you can see by his body language he is a little unsure. A sweet capture of mother and daughter, Ysobel and Primrose and a couple photos of David eating a late lunch with all the dogs watching and hoping, as I say on one of the photos, "Devotion is a sandwich and a yoghurt", well, that's if you are a dog, if it's a human you might need a bar of chocolate, some shinny metal and the promise of eternal life. Lol

This morning I opened my email inbox to see that I had a comment submitted for my blog that I published on the 24/08/2014 "Puppy Awarness Week (PAW) 2014" and the blog is about making people aware of the puppy farming trade. Sadly I feel unable to publish the comment submitted and I have not published a few comments over the four years I have had a blog up and running, but these have been people trying to get a link on my website or trying to sell their puppies through my website, but not publishing this comment hurts and why  ?, you may ask.

It hurts because it is about an establishment the person contacting me believes is a puppy farm and as much as I feel their frustration, you have to be careful when making accusations about someone or something, the internet is a wonderful thing, which can build a reputation and with one accusation true or false, rip it apart.  After looking at their website though I pretty much get the feeling that this is a big commercial breeder and with the Eastern Europen staff a front for imported pups from that area, but I lack evidence to back that feeling and that is where the problem lies. The establishment is a very big concern and publishing details of them and calling them out as a puppy farm without concrete evidence, at best I could look like a dog breeder with sour grapes against another dog breeder and at worst have a libel action against me. They are probably working within the law, as the law does not care much for the mental health of a dog, just that it has very basic comfort. That is were you the public can shut down such establishments by just not buying from them, so homework is needed and patience in getting a puppy.  

The fact that they cross Pugs with the Cavalier to produce a dog they call cutely (That's sarcasm) a Pugalier shows they know very little of health and this is purely about supplying a market, these two breeds are two of the breeds with the highest occurance of Mitrial Valve Degeneration (MVD) and Chiari Malformation/Syringomyelia (CM/SM), they are breeding  health issue time bombs. Crossing these two breeds I would expect no improvement in the occurance of MVD or CM/SM. I have emailed the person back to tell her why I will not be publishing her comment,


Dear Mrs Turner,
 
I have just read your comment submitted to my website. I am sorry but I will not be publishing it and understand that this may be upsetting for you. The reason for this decision is because I don't know who you are and have no proof of what you say they are, believe me looking at their website they pretty well look like they are puppy farmers, but as I am also a dog breeder, your comments on a dog breeders site about another dog breeder might look like sour grapes between two dog breeders and without proof of what you say and publishing your comment, I could at worse end up with a court summons for libel. 

You would be better to spread the word on social media such as Facebook and Twitter, try and find others that have had problems after getting a puppy from them, and contact their local council and
report your worries and what happened with your puppy to them. If they are using the Kennel Club registery with their purebreeds, also report your worries to them.
 
I am sorry for the heartache you had with your puppy you got from these people and feel your frustration with the situation. If you really want to stop this establishment gather evidence and keep reporting it to their council and the Kennel Club.
 
I wish you all the best and I am truly sorry that I cannot help you more with this.
 
Kind regards
 
Jane Howarth  

I hope Mrs Turner understands my concerns and I why I cannot publish such comments without the concrete evidence to back the accusations in them. It's frustrating but I feel social media such as Facebook or Twitter would be a better place to find others that have dealt with this establishment in Lincoln and to compile evidence and a case against them, so the Council can investigate them. If you have any concerns about a breeders you should report those concerns to their local council and as in this case if they are breeding Kennel Club registered dogs as well, also report it to the Kennel Club.

One tip for spotting puppy farming and the selling of imported puppy farmed puppies are breeding establishments that have several breeds and several litters. The breeder mentioned in the comment I am unable to publish, on their website today they have fifteen different breed stud dogs, they have pups from litters being sold from seven different purebreeds and pups also available from litters of eleven different crossbreeds. This for me would start to ring a very  big alarm bell. Do you think that they can give each pup a lot of time ? 

They have from their website alone at this time, pups from eighteen individual litters. So let's just think about this. They have fourteen stud dogs, with eighteen litters on the place at the moment, we have to guess they have at least eighteen breeding bitches and say an average of four pups a litter, that makes before any were sold, 72 pups, so add dogs, bitches and pups together, that's 104 dogs ranging from pups to adults we know about. They say they employ ten people, some of those are employed for office administration and telesales as this is a big concern, do you think with 104 dogs, 72 of that number are pups, before leaving this breeder those 72 pups will be well handled and well socialised with humans ? 

When looking at a dog breeders website, do the maths !

We have eleven dogs and with my husband and our children, that makes eight of us giving them time and love, and I worry we don't give them enough, so how the hell do ten people (some of those work in office administration and telesales) supply enough time and love to 104 dogs and pups for them to be properly socialised. The answer is they don't. Unfortunately having a Council Licence does not reflect socialisation needs of dogs and is still basically only about the dog being fed, cleaned and having clean water.

One more tip, when they have a video of pups available, take a real close look. The bog standard puppy farm video is a pen area that looks lovely and clean with a dog bed, that is a dog bed that looks often like a human bed (they must really love their dogs, if they let them have a dog bed, that looks like a human bed, hope you're getting the sarcasm with that) and lots of toys placed around the pen, now look at the pups, if they are around eight weeks old and this is their pen and they have just been given their toys to play with, they should be bombing about, play fighting, tugging toys about, leaping on toys, basically being active and out going. If they are just sitting their nervously touching the toys and withdrawing if the toy moves at first and seem to huddle together, it's because it's probably the first time they have been in that pen, they use for show and often is the first time they have been in another pen, than the one they were born in. Pups at eight weeks old should be naturally curious and full of play. Please look back through my blog and you will find videos of our pups at various ages, once they are around eight weeks old a puppy should have two modes asleep or bombing about playing, investigating everything.

I hope this helps some and anyone who needs some help, as just starting out on the road to finding a pup, I'm here and happy to answer any questions you have. Yes, even though you won't be getting a puppy from me. Often websites by puppy farming establishments give you alot of information, that actually gives you no real information. Puppy farm breeders are often clever and come over as very likeable individuals, as often people do, that deceive. Finding a puppy from a good breeder, looking on the internet you often can't see the wood from the trees, hopefully I can help some people to see the wood.

Now for some funny photos of Smudge looking like a Gremlin. Smudge is such a lovely dog, just like her Mum, Millie, Very laid back and very cuddly.

When I look at the photos on the camera, there often is more of Henry than any other dog. Why ? He's not my obsession, but that of our son, Bert. That is because our oldest son Bert and him are best mates and Bert has even started taking selfies with Henry, so I suppose we could call them Helfies.

Henry is turning out to be a bit special and seems to be starting to morph into our old boy Smidge who passed away back in 2010 and a few of us had a tear in our eyes the other night with something he done, which our old boy Smidge used to do.The thing that Smidge used to do that Henry did the other night will either make you go, "ahh !" or "yuk !"

Thursday my husband, arrived home from work as normal around 8 pm. I had eaten earlier with the children, a curry I had made with lamb left over from the leg of lamb we had the previous Sunday. It was even if I say so, having made the curry, a curry that was exceptionally nice, more sweet than hot and this was reflected in a clean plate from each of our children. My husband warmed his plate up in the micro wave and the rest of us were sat down around the fireplace, as my husband does not like eating alone at the table, he joined us sitting on the sofa with his food. The dogs promptly positioned themselves to watch him and wait for any signs of weakness, such as slowing up eating or the tell tale scrap of the fork or knive on the plate, that indicates an oppurtunity to lick a plate is imminent.

David was sat eating his curry, with his legs up on the end of the L shaped sofa and Henry had his back legs on the floor with his front half lying beside David. As David neared the end of eating,  for the first time we have ever noticed Henry doing this, he was drooling and as David scrapped the last morsels from his plate, Henry then started to make little rumble like sounds from his mouth, the drooling and the rumbling sounds were like going back in time and watching Smidge doing the exact same things with David. Good memories, that often irritate the eyes though, remembering a much loved canine family member no longer with us.

Our oldest four children all recognised the similarity between Smidge and Henry, in fact it was our son, Bert who shouted at us to look and see what Henry was doing, saying, "He's just like Smidge." Although our youngest two would of all known Smidge and he would of steadied each of them as they took their first steps, with their little hands using his back for balast, they were a bit young when he passed away in 2010 to remember this about him. Henry obviously liked the smell very much of the curry I had made and I also got a random kiss from David and a "That was lovely darling." Don't mean to blow my own trumpet, but I'm a fairly good cook, so our family eat what I would say, "tasty good food every day", so it tends to have to be pretty exceptional to be commented on. Lol

In the photos below it may be noticed that our daughter is sporting a rather short fridge and some may recall me blogging a few months back, when she cut her own hair and to tidy it the only option was to cut it short. This time the culprit was not Tilly but her sister Molly, who did the deed and it was on my husbands watch, as I was milking and he was looking after them or not as the evidence points in that direction.Lol.

Luckily, Tilly I think looks very cute with her short hair, obviously inheriting all that cutness from her mother. Someone actually said, "she looks very hippy chick", and I replied, "I know some would pay good money to have their fringe cut like that." So if you want a hippy chick haircut for your child, you know where to come.Lol