Harley update: "9mths old now"

Received this lovely update from Sarah for Harley a couple days ago. Harley is from Primrose and Henry's Brittany/Cavalier litter born July 2016 Primrose has six pups​

Heather's paintings of Harley

"Hello Jane,

I hope you and all the family are well?  I’m still enjoying reading your blog and all the updates on your Poundlane pups.  I thought I’d send an overdue one for my pup!  It’s hard to believe that Harley is 9mths old now.  It’s frightening how quickly it’s gone and also how much he’s changed.  Heather has now finished two absolutely stunning paintings of Harley at 9wks and 16wks old (see attached photo) – the difference when you see them side by side is astonishing.  He seems to have slowed up growing now and currently weighs just over 13kg.  He’s a lovely dog – but very, very excitable, especially when we go to new places.  I have had tips on how to tackle this though and he seems to be getting better.  It’s been lovely being in touch with Heather as Albey is obviously a few months older than Harley, so Heather gives me reassurance that it’ll all be OK in the end!

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Harley

​Gundog training is going well.  Harley seems to really enjoy it – it’s one of the places he gets super excited to get too, which I take as a good sign.  We passed our Foundation course with a Merit, which I was very proud of.  We’re now doing the Bronze course which is working more on retrieves and off lead handling.  Harley isn’t too keen on retrieving, he prefers to pick it up, lie down and chew it!  But after a one to one lesson with our lovely trainer, this is improving.  As part of this weeks lesson, we finished with a bit of a team relay race, incorporating elements of obedience and a couple of tiny agility jumps – we both really enjoyed it, so perhaps agility is something else to look at in the future? ​

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Harley

I can’t believe how much more confident I am since having Harley as going to a class like this prior to having him would’ve been something I would’ve found really hard, so I have a lot to thank my little pup for.  I’m also becoming a lot less stressed about whether I’m doing the right thing with Harley all the time.  I think this is because we’re now in our routine and he’s obviously a lot more settled and calm at home.  We have our blips but we’re generally doing OK.  One such blip was that since we’ve been doing the gundog classes, Harley decided that he’d much rather be fed all his food by hand (as I use his breakfast as training treats on our walk), but I’ve managed to persuade him now that he won’t get dinner if he doesn’t eat it out of his bowl!  Dogs are funny sometimes and much cleverer than I imagined! 

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Harley

​It’s lovely to see photos of Bertha & Sasha on your blog.  They both seem to be doing well.  Sasha looks very much like her Dad I think?  Harley has a definite Brittany look at times, but strangely on walks, people always ask if he’s a Cavalier (& then look at me blankly when I say yes, but crossed with a Brittany!)  I had to laugh at the comment on Alfie’s owners email about Alfie being a Cavalier inside and a Brittany outside – that is also Harley to a tee!  We get outside, the nose goes down and that’s it for a while.  He always pays me much more attention when we head back down the same path as I suppose the sniffs aren’t quite so interesting second time around?!

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Harley

Harley & I are off on holiday to Derbyshire in June with my parents, so I’m hoping he’ll get on OK with that.  It’ll be interesting to see how things go, I’ve got my fingers crossed it won’t be too stressful.  Hopefully he’ll be coming to the end of the “teenage” stage by then and will be a little calmer, we’ll see!

All the best to you, the family and the dogs (hoping Dolly is still doing well?)

Hope you like the attached photos,

Sarah & Harley (who we occasionally still call Harley Jim Bob!)"

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"Hello Sarah,

we are all well, thanks. Sasha and Bertha can both have moments of being very excited. It is the best part their age. You can really see the Cavalier in him, and I find it funny when people think they are a pure Cavalier, Not many people know of the Brittany spaniel. 

I think the nose down and selective hearing is just generally a spaniel thing, although Brittany Dad Henry and his Cavalier Mum Primrose have both always been very good at recall. Alfie's Mum though is our Cavalier Smudge, and she does suffer with selective hearing, and the two sisters we have of Alfie's Bumble and Blottie, Bumble takes after their Brittany Dad with a spot on recall, but Blottie has been a lot more work, as she has a lot more drive to hunt than Bumble. At two now though, I can't remember the last time I spent frantically calling for her, so I'm hoping we have nailed it finally. 

Heather's Munchkinmay paintings are very good, and a lovely memory for you to have of Harley growing up. Good to hear that he is enriching your life, and yes, dogs are a lot smarter than most people realize.

Dolly is really well at the moment, and I hope your family are all well. The photos are lovely, thanks. Wishing Harley and you a lovely holiday in June with your parents.

Love from us all at Poundlane

Jane x "