Was it going to rain on the day of the Regional Retriever Club show ? It was to be held outside with no wet weather facilities, if it rained you got wet!

We left home at 5.15 in the morning and no rain. After 2 ½ hour journey,The Laird, Hazel and I arrived. The grass had been cut short, the rings fairly close to the cars and still no rain.

The Laird was first in the ring, in his first open class as he had just had his 2nd birthday. I was not expecting too much as all the others were older and more mature and there was a champion entered. Well, he did his stuff again and the judge placed him 1st, saying he won it easily, the champion came 2nd.

Hazel’s turn in the ring. There were 2 entered in veteran. I think it is 2 years since she had an outing. Hazel thoroughly enjoyed herself, strutting round the ring. Her FIRST FIRST was gained at the age of 10 years old.

Ellie, Hazel’s daughter was there and got 3rd, 2 grand sons and a grand daughter also did well. Megan, Ellie’s daughter was Best Junior in Show.
As BEST in Show was being judged the heavens opened. Time to put the dogs in the car and go home, having spent the day meeting old friends and making new ones.

On 21st June, David set off to collect Tierney from England to return the following day. On 22nd June, Rowan decided to go into labour and gave birth to the first one at 5.30pm. She carried on until number 9 had been born at 10pm. 6 little The Lairds and 3 little Rowans She is proving to be an excellent mum like before, the puppies are growing fast.

Just after David arrived bringing with him a little live wire with a red & white coat. There was no way that Rowan would let him anywhere near her babies, so Tierney is confined to the front garden when Rowan is outside.

It has to be said the flower beds are suffering a little!!! Still it can’t be helped.

In his first full year of showing The Laird did quite well I have to say! Not wishing to show off – well I’m not – can’t say the same about him!! but here’s a photo of him I took last week with some of his prizes

This year I’m hoping he’ll do just as well ………………….

Thursday morning I was going about my normal routine when Clover decided to tell me she wasn’t going to wait any longer to have her puppies, they were coming now! I wasn’t expecting them until Sunday but at 8.30 am she had the first – a little girl, and by lunch time another 8 puppies arrived! So we have 5 little boys and 4 lovely girl puppies all fit and healthy.

Clover is taking to it really well – this is her first litter – but you would have thought she was a seasoned mum. Very easy with her puppies and not at all stressed.

Now we have 8 weeks to enjoy them growing up before they go off to their new families.
If you would like to talk to me about owning one of these puppies please contact me using this form…

I took 4 of my Goldens to the CACIB show at Montlucon – boy that was hard work – but lots of fun!

Dickens showed off as usual – well he always does! He recieved a 3rd Excellent. I guess I would have liked a 1st -but as David tells me – we can’t always get a 1st!!

But then The Laird went in – and he did get a 1st Excellent – so I had the chance to tell David I still got a 1st!

My Sable was next in – didn’t disapoint – another 1st Excellent – she is a bit of a show-off and hasn’t been in the ring for a while as she had puppies not too long ago. But she really did enjoy her day out.

Our new puppy Thyme had a day out as well. It’s always a pleasure to show little ones as thay don’t really know what to expect, but she didn’t disapoint – receiving a ‘Prometteur’ I was very proud of her as it was a very busy show with lots going on.

Next week, 21st March, sees us at another show, this time at Montluçon.

This is an International show, which means there are CACIB’s on offer. This type of show always gets a good entry and for my sins I have entered 4 dogs;
Dickens in open dog;
Sable in open bitch;
The Laird in intermediaire dog; and
Thyme in puppy bitch.

For a variety of reasons, Dickens has not been shown for 3 years. The last time was at the Championnat at the same venue, he was placed 4th

So this week I have a lot of preparation to do. Each will – of course require a bath, and I have to say – of them all The Laird simply loves the attention – typical male! Then they each have a good grooming and their nails trimmed. On average it takes me about 5 hours to fully prepare each dog – so I’ll be very busy this week!

Some 7 weeks into her confinement Clover (Cloverdale Jewel de Hareswith) has started to get fat, and her puppies are due in 2 weeks time. She is starting to get a little uncomfortable – and of course very hungry!

As usual the father The Laird doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about!

I do think she will make a very good mum, mind you, she will have to be with her mum Rowan, Grand Mother, Hazel and Great Grandmother Grace ‘helping’ her out!

In the next few days I’ll get the whelping box out ready for her to get comfortable in – I expect the puppies will arrive over the weekend of 27/28th March, and looking at the size of her now I think it might be a busy weekend!

The 21st February saw the start of the showing year for us at the Bourges CACS dog show. The Laird was entered and Thyme was making her debut.

Now, having a sat nav has made finding the shows much easier. Bourges has always been like the Bermuda Triangle to me!

The Laird walked in to the show ground like he owned it, Thyme did not know what to make of all the different sorts of dogs, and they were not all golden! She did meet up with her brother (Enjoy Me de Hareswith) it was his 2nd show, so well experienced.

The Laird was first in the ring, in class Intermediaire. He won this and then competed with the other male class winners and was awarded the RCACS. Winning yet another cup and plaque to add to his mounting list!

Thyme, although a little overawed did very well and was graded Très Prometteur. She was given her first plaque – one of many I hope!

All in all – a great start to the 2010 show season.

Very pleased to anounce we’ve just made a new mating. This time it’s between
Clover

and The Laird
Everything went very naturally, so we are hoping that early in March we will have a beautiful litter of Golden Retriever puppies. If you would like to learn a bit more about these puppies and how they are getting on then please visit our puppy page or drop us a note using this form ……………………………..

So, you have a lovely girl Golden Retriever and you want her to have a litter? There are many things you need to consider when choosing a stud dog, and some of these include:
Temperament – you need to ensure your puppies are biddable – like all Goldens should be.
Long term Health – ask the stud owner about any health issue the dog might have – no one want hereditary problems
Hip score – important consideration – but it shouldn’t stop you from using an otherwise perfect dog.

Currently we have two wonderful stud dogs

Dickens

a lovely 6 year old – father to many adorable puppies over the last 4 years

and

The Laird

who is simply stunning – in all things temperament, health and perfect AA hips with 0 elbows. He’s started his stud dog life very well with a number of litters to his name by the start of 2010.

If you’d like to know more about our stud dogs or family in general please visit our website
English Golden Retriever Stud Dogs