The two girls we kept back from our first litter ever of Cavalier cross Brittany are now just over five months old. Yesterday evening whilst I was milking my husband, David took this bit of footage of the two of them playing out the back, with Dad, Henry and Granny Millie watching them. They are around 8 to 9 kilos in weight and around 11 inches and 13 inches at the shoulder.

Just some photos of the Poundlane pack relaxing over the weekend. The photo above of Blottie and Toby was taken by our oldest Bert of the two of them waiting on me sat at the computer,  just out of shot. It does make a good photo to look at the change in head shape from a pure Cavalier, Toby to a Cavalier/Brittany Blottie. 

Just had a bit of fun on a Sunday, when earlier my Father-in-law returned our son, Thomas, who had been out yesterday with his Granddad watching deer. We thought the gates had been shut, so on going out to have a chat, allowed the dogs to follow us on out and by the time we realised the gates were open, Smudge, Jessica, Primrose, Henry and Blottie had disappeared. We live rurally with several areas of copse around us, so dream country for spaniels. 

Henry and Primrose returned not long after leaving and I then found Blottie just down the road, making her way back. She is only five months old and luckily she probably was on the tail end of Mum, Smudge setting off hunting, so missed the break and decided it best to make her way home. So this left Smudge, who today has just come off curfew of being on heat and Jessica still AWOL. Even though Jessica lost her leg over a year ago, she is very mobile and still loves to hunt. With these two it would be probably more luck than judgement to find them. See Smudge and Jessica suffer from an affliction called selective hearing and once on a scent the only sense receiving signals to the brain are their noses.  

Thankfully after an hour of me looking for them one way and my husband the other way, my husband rang me to say he had found them and I could hear them making those excited-ed noises dogs do when out and enjoying themselves. By the amount of Roe deer we saw about the place, Smudge like her Mother, Millie may of been having high hopes. 

Last night I got this lovely photo of Hayley's family at the beach with Bella along with a message from Hayley. Bella is from Primrose and Toby's litter born the 9th June this year and was the last pup to leave us for 2015.

Hayley lives in Cornwall and yesterday I mentioned "The Scone Wars" between the counties of Cornwall and Devon. The peace is now kept though because Cornwall has built up a massive arsenal of weapons of mass indigestion aka the 'Cornish Pasty'. Known to take a healthy adult man down after only a few mouthfuls. Our petite Devon pasty is no match for these mother of all savoury pastry goods, they even make the Pork Pie look lame.

Yesterday got this email from Sue, who has Lucy aka Lucinda. Lucy was a bitch we got as an adult and we re homed her with Sue and Jim. 

Thanks Sue. Lucy is looking well. Lucy will be a house guest with us come the end of October for four weeks, whilst Sue and Jim visit their daughter's family in Australia. 

Last week I also got this very sweet update for Tilly doing her first day at her doggy 'Day Care' from Karen.

Sounds a lovely place for Tilly along with Hugo her new doggy friend. Thanks Karen for sharing the lovely moment of Tilly asleep with Hugo.

Last week I received an email from Tracey, who has one of Primrose's litter siblings, Foxy. Foxy was a very special little girl, because at around 5 weeks old we realised she had an inguinal hernia, which is a hernia where the abdominal contents protrude through the inguinal canal or inguinal ring, an opening which occurs in the muscle wall in the groin area. Foxy's was an uncomplicated hernia and at the time of noticing it was causing her no problems, but as she grew it could, as her body weight growing would put more pressure on the area and there was a risk that her bladder, uterus or a loop of intestine could fall through and be strangulated. So it was decided that it would be repaired and at six weeks old Foxy had it repaired.
She was a little star, flying through the surgery and Tracey who was having her and had already chosen her before we realised she had a hernia, was still happy to have her little girl who has just turned five years old.

Thanks Tracey for getting in touch and to hear what a help Foxy is being whilst you are undergoing treatment for breast cancer. One of the best complimentary medicines you can get, a dog and sounds like Foxy is giving you plenty of TLC.

The next updates are for Foxy's nieces and nephew, from Primrose's litter born this June. The first is from Paula for Bertie and Rose.

Thanks Paula for the update. Using treats may help with getting Rose to stop sitting on walks on her own and it might be good to ask the trainer at your puppy classes to show you techniques, you can use to encourage her to walk on when she sits down.

The last update is for Bertie and Rose's sister, Bella. Bella was our last pup to leave us for 2016 and Hayley sent me this lovely update for her.

Thanks Tracey for the update. If she is scooting a lot, it might pay to check out her anal glands. Puppy classes are not a necessity, especially if like Hayley and her family you are experienced with dogs, as Cavaliers happen to be one of the easier breeds to handle. Cavaliers love chasing things, but often are not that keen on retrieving, looking at you and then the object you have thrown as if to say, "In your dreams mate", but over the years I have had a couple that would retrieve all day if allowed. Sounds like you are doing a great job training your Bells.

Quick drunken blog tonight, been a little busy this week. Early dinner saw me able to load up Bumble and Blottie, along with their Dad, Henry and Grandmother, Millie, along with our two oldest children and head down to the river, as it was a glorious evening here in North Devon and I got a lovely bit of video footage (on my somewhat dodgy camera, that switches itself on and off , of its own free will) of Dad, Henry swimming with his daughters, Blottie and Bumble. 
I have also included some footage of Blottie and Bumble following Dad and at just over four and a half months old, they are not that far off old Dad in pace. I think when they reach full maturity, they will be giving Dad a run for his money.

Bumble and Blottie are now totally crashed out on the sofa, still in the position of the photo below.

The photos below taken by our daughter Molly, show me chilling out with Henry, while I wait for the video above to load.  I have some updates and some emails to answer. T'is the month of madness I feel, concerning email inquiries. Please, if you email me telling me, you have read my website and then ask me if I export pups or the price of our pups, maybe you ain't done that much reading of this website. I may not believe in Gods, but I'm a stickler for manners. Also don't ring me and then think sending me an email gains you any kudos on the waiting list front. The delete button is an option, a very easy option.  The waiting list starts, when we know a bitch is pregnant and not a minute before. I play the game to get you off the phone, "Yes, send me an email", but unless you contact me when a waiting list opens, you might as well piss into the wind. Sorry, that was a little blunt, but seeing as this week I truly pissed off the Vicars Wife at the Junior School our children go to, I'm feeling a bit blase at the moment about life. When more time I will explain, but nearly apologised for my outspokenness. but thankfully I have a husband who is of high morally virtue and pulled me up by my bib and braces before I perjured myself . Lol
Now are you getting it, this is not about big business, it ain't about profit. I'm not trying to corner the market or take over the world, so no need to brown nose me or even slap on the sun screen , because I know what comes out of my arse and it ain't sunshine. 
You may of guessed that I'm slightly cut to the wind writing this, but caution rarely catches the wind. Basically what I'm saying is  "patience, patience and more f###ing patience" Getting in here may seem harder than getting into the Freemasonry, but you won't have to show me your breast. Lol

Just about to shut up shop and this lovely update was in my inbox from Calvin and Nic's family who have Harry. Harry was the first pup to leave us this year from our first ever litter of Cavalier cross Brittany pups from Smudge and Henry.

"Hi Jane,


Sorry it's taken so long for us to send you an update on how Harry is settling in. We have been reading your blog and it has been really nice to see how all the other puppies from the litter have been getting on.


Harry is really growing fast and we think he takes more after his dad (we call him "Hairy" Henry around here to distinguish between him and "Skinny" Henry, our son) than Smudge but definitely has some obvious Cavalier features as people always mention it when asking what breed he is. He is very popular around here amongst the dog walking fraternity; everyone tells us what a gorgeous looking dog he his (we agree!)


We have just started puppy training classes and it's clear we have a lot of hard work ahead. I think in our last update we said how relaxed and laid back he was; I think he was just storing it all up for when he got a bit bigger. He has so much energy and he is so strong already. While the other puppies in the class seemed to just be happy to sit around and take it all in, Harry just wanted to play! I think we may have been a little bit too soft on him and let him get away with too much, so now it's time for us all to knuckle down. The trainer seems very good and the techniques are very much reward based with no punishment (accept for ourselves if we don't stick to the principles).


Apart for the odd playful nip, which has significantly reduced in the last couple of weeks and the very rare toilet accident he is an absolute joy. We have been out for loads of outings and discovered some amazing dog walking areas right on our doorstep. I have attached some of pictures for you (he seems to have formed a very close bond with Elliot, they're both as cheeky as each other!)


More updates soon...


Calvin, Nic, Henry, Elliot & Harry"

Thanks Calvin and Nic for updating us on Haryy and the lovely photos of Harry, especially the ones with Harry and your son, Elliot. 

Funny how you don't go out from nearly one year to the next and then you feel like proper gadabouts. The last couple months my husband, David and I have been invited to several celebrations and on Saturday night it was the 40th Wedding Anniversary Celebration for a Rob and Ann who are not only my father-in-laws cousins, but I also milked their herd of cows until they retired from Dairy farming, must be some ten years gone now. Ann, I see regularly to cut all our families hair. If you can call having your haircut every 3 or so months, or when it starts to annoy me, regular.
I milked all weekend, so this would be a dry event (Not partaking in alcoholic beverages) for me. Saturday we also had our oldest, Bert doing cricket and Bertie who has been staying with us was due to be picked up by his family, back from their holiday in Spain. Somehow we managed to get everything timed right to find ourselves at Umberleigh Village Hall just after 7 pm to sit for food at 7.30 pm. Rob and Ann lay on a wonderful night of food and entertainment with live music, and their love of dancing, saw most of the room were up on the dance floor for the best part of the evening. On the dancing front David and I don't need any encouragement. We left at midnight, because I had a 5 am start next morning and the celebration was very much still swinging. We had a lovely evening and at 47 and my toy boy husband being nearly 45, we were considered youngsters at the party, so whats not to like.  
As I said above, Bertie left us Saturday evening. Bertie is from Smudge and Henry's litter born back in April, Cavalier cross Brittany. Emma who had Bertie, her family had a holiday booked in Spain and asked if I could have him for the two weeks. They picked him back up Saturday evening, but unfortunately I was busy milking and picking up our son, Bert from cricket, so the hand over was done by my husband, David. 
Emma emailed me later to say, "To Jane & family, both human & 4 legged! Thank you so much for looking after Bertie for us. I can't believe how much he has grown. He's huge. We contemplated calling him Digby, it would have suited him! Lovely to have him home. He's very chilled. Thank you again. Will keep in touch with updates.
Em & Co xx"
Thanks Emma, it was a pleasure looking after Bertie, especially watching his sisters gang up on him when playing. 

The slideshow, shows the last couple days Bertie was with us. The photos of me sat with him, his Dad and siblings were taken Saturday morning, when I had returned from milking and was sat talking to my husband and they all decided to sit up with me.
The photo of Henry on my head, he is trying to lick the side of my mouth. I had moved on to the red sofa and Henry decided it was time I got out with him for his run, as he knows the routine. 
When dogs stir each other up to go hunting in a pack, going around licking each others faces and winding the pack up is the precursor to the off. I have observed this in our dogs before and recognised it as a precursor to the off several years ago and then a couple years ago watching some wolf footage saw that they display this behaviour also, as a precursor to starting to track and hunt. Notice in the second photo of Henry's ambush, that Ysobel appears as if from nowhere taking advantage of the moment to clean my ear for me.

One thing you can see in the photos with me in, is what our summer here in the UK has been like this year. I don't sunbath, but working a lot outside I normally catch the sun on my arms and have brown arms most years, as you can see I ain't caught much sun this summer.

I have been a bit behind with updates and answering email inquiries, so an intense hour yesterday evening and another two hours today. I have nearly got on top of replying emails. So now to catch up on updates.
Three updates and all for pups from our first litter of Cavalier cross Brittany pups born back in April. The first update is from Tracey who has Bertie 1 aka Mushroom and arrived with me over a week ago.  I do reply updates by email within a reasonable time, but may be a little while before I get them on my blog. 

Thanks Tracey for letting me know how Bertie is doing. He looks very settled in with you, especially Steve.

 I'm wondering if the collar you are putting on Bertie is a flea and tick collar I was talking to my vet about the other day. There is a flea and tick collar on the market now only available through your vet that lasts eight months called Seresto www.seresto.com  from the pharmaceutical company Bayer. My vet told me they cost about £30 and I have worked out against regular pour on flea tick products, I would save about £10 per medium sized dog and around £7 per small dog over an eight months period. 
Flea collars are not a new thing and I use to use collars that worked around five months. When I had children I stopped using them as I was worried about them touching them, so stopped using them. My children are old enough now that would not be so much of a problem. The other thing I would be concerned about with going back to collars is, they do lose them sometimes and at £30 a time, that's an expensive decoration for a tree up our local woods, but if you have a lot of trouble with ticks with your dogs, these collars giving eight months of cover at a time might be worth a consideration.

Another product that has come on the market recently for fleas and ticks as well, giving twelve weeks cover at a time is a tablet called Bravecto us.bravovets.com from the pharmaceutical company Merck. This again is only from your vet or prescription from a vet. 

Now I do a naughty think with pour on flea treatments. I use Frontline most of the time and some say this product is not so effective as it was, but I have never had a problem using it. I also use Advocate a couple times a year, which I get from my vet as it is a prescriptive medicine. I have been told by a vet who has read up about Frontline, that Frontline can also be used as treatment for ear mites, if you put a drop behind each ear and the rest on the back. Frontline treats for fleas and ticks and because it has been on the market long enough it is now a none prescriptive medicine, so can be bought without seeing a vet or having a prescription. Now I have the majority of our dogs at around 2 to 10Kg, but I don't ever buy 2 to 10Kg vials for our dogs I buy the next size up 10 to 20Kg and I split the liquid in half treating two dogs under 10Kg in weight. If buying six vials at a time, this takes the cost of treating each individual dog from £3.95 a time to £2.10 and with eight of our dogs being under 10Kg that is a saving of £14.80 each time I treat those eight dogs. 

When I treat the five dogs between 10 to 20Kg by splitting 20-40Kg vials bought six at a time the cost goes from £4.32 a dog to £2.34 a dog making a saving each time for those five dogs of £10, so by splitting vials like this I save around £24.80 each time I treat all my dogs and my dogs are not getting fleas. How I split it is by using a small syringe and remove it all from the vial and then work out half of the amount and apply thus from the syringe on to the dog. 

If you really want to save and have several dogs under 10Kg to treat at a time. Buy six vials of Frontline for 40 to 60Kg and divide each vial by six and this makes the cost for treating each dog 2 to 10 Kg 98p each. You see a vial for a dog 2 to 10 Kg contains 67 mg of fiprinol. A vial for a dog between 40 to 60 Kg contains 402 mg of fiprinol, six times as much fiprinol as in a vial for a dog between 2 to 10 Kg, so splitting it like this you will give exactly the same dose as buying individual vials for 2 to 10 Kg dogs, but saving £2.97 per dog per treatment. When you start looking at this, you start understanding how much mark up and wrapping you pay for when buying these products. Over several years using Frontline like this, if you have more than one dog, it really adds up to a big saving and also saves on a lot of packaging, especially plastic, so eco friendly to.

Any way less of my miserly ways and another update and this is from Bertie's litter sibling Alfie, who must be back in the UK now from France, as I got this email last week.  

Thanks for the lovely update Joan and hope you traveled back to the UK without to many delays. Funny you should mention about dishwashers, as the next update is from Karen who has Archie's litter sibling Tilly and they have just managed to stop Tilly climbing in the dishwasher. 

Thanks Karen for the update. Tilly sounds very happy and content with you. I'm afraid I gave Karen what to some might seem gross advice about tear stain. "There are products on the market to reduce tear stain, but I have never used any of them. I just use a bit of cotton wool with some of my spit on. Having observed our dogs cleaning each others eyes by licking and our dogs have very little tear staining. I think that the enzymes we have in our saliva are probably as good as anything to clean around the eyes and lessen tear staining. I know it might sound gross, but I find it works. Treacle especially likes cleaning eyes and most evenings you will find her going around the pack, that are all slumbering, cleaning eyes that need a bit of her attention. It is very interesting watching dogs in a pack interacting." 

Yesterday saw Bella leave us for Bude with Hayley and her oldest son. Bella is our last pup to leave us for 2015, so that is a wrap for 2015 on the breeding front for Poundlane and we will now be looking towards 2016 before we breed our next litter.
Bella has been a joy to have around and she has been a forward little girl with the first of the litter to open her eyes and  at eleven days old (On average pups open their eyes around fourteen days old). 
Just getting used to not seeing her scampering around the place keeping up with the rest of the pack. 
The slideshow shows Bella the day before and he morning of leaving us.

Yesterday Hayley let me know she had got home safe and had a question about the umbilical hernia Bella has, which Hayley new about when she first visited us and meet Bella at six weeks old. 

"Hi jane 

We're home all good! It's hot so we're in the garden. 
Just double checking the lump protruding on her belly is the hernia?? As its a lot bigger than last time I saw her.  Will it get any bigger and aggravate her or did your vet reckon that was about as big as it gets? 

Will email you again later 


Hayley x"

When Hayley first saw Bella, she was nearly half the size she is now at twelve weeks old, so the hernia has just grown with her and my reply to Hayley was,


"Hello Hayley,

the hernia has just grown a bit with her and is stable. It does not cause her any discomfort or pain and the hole is small. All that is protruding through the gap in her stomach wall is a bit of fat and fluid. It will not get any bigger and should cause her no problems.

Good to hear she traveled well.

Kind regards

Jane"

Hayley then got back to me later about Bella eating and I gave her some advice and she then sent me the photo below, which actually shows the umbilical hernia. This is a small hernia that should not cause any health issues and when later on Hayley has Bella spayed, it can be easily be repaired then and I reduced this cost of repair from the cost of the puppy.

Thanks Hayley for the photo. Hope all is going well with little Bella.

Bella went to the vets today for her second Lepto4, traveling out and back from South Molton, which is around 8 miles from us and is a windy old road. She traveled in the car without and problems. At the vets though she did cry a little after being injected, but back in the reception with everyone admiring her and falling in love with her, she was soon back to her cheeky little self.
Bella is off to Bude tomorrow morning. Look forward to seeing Hayley tomorrow when they pick her up.