Foxbriar Malinois

29th January 2012

2012-01-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

I was out for my normal walk yesterday morning. I had Lily, Daisy, Pippa and Spice with me. We were walking along minding our own business when up ahead I saw a woman with a smallish brown terrier on a lead coming towards us.

As soon as he saw my dogs the Terrier started barking and lunging at the end of his lead. As they got closer to us I could see the lady was struggling to hold him and was being pulled along by him even though he was quite a small dog. In the interests of avoiding any trouble I decided the best thing to do was to move off the footpath and stood in a driveway to let them both pass.

My dogs were very good, they just stood with me and waited while the lady and her ferocious hound passed. They did look fairly incredulous at the amount of noise the other dog was making but they didn't bark back.

As she drew level with us, the lady stopped, looked at me and my dogs just standing there and said to me "four dogs?!!. Gosh, you have got your hands full with those, haven't you!!. Then proceeded to drag her dog off away from us. He was now hanging back still trying to get at my dogs and still barking his head off. It was a real struggle for the woman to pull him away. Once they were safely gone we carried on with our walk. All four walking nicely on the lead.

16th January 2012

2012-01-16T07:00:00.000-08:00

While the weather is so cold and wet we have to
make do with playing ball in the house. Which is fine except that sometimes the ball lands in the wrong place.

Poor Daisy desperately wants to get her ball but won't walk on the wooden surface to get it. She insists on keeping 2 feet safely on the arm of the settee and stretches as far as she can to try to reach the ball. To make sure I am aware of the fact that her ball has landed on the table she makes the most horrendous shrieks and howls and pathetic sounding wails until I come and rescue the ball.

I just wish I could get her 2o2o contacts as good on the a-frame as they are on the settee!

14th January 2012

2012-01-14T10:41:00.000-08:00

So many people have comented on the fact that I have not updated my blog for such a long time and asked when I would start it again that I thought I had better start updating it more regularly.

We have had a very good year competing at agility. We won into Grade three at the beginning of the season .

Lily has only been competing for a year but is doing very well. Regularly getting placed which is quite an acheivement considering the large grade 3 classes usually have nearly 200 dogs in them.

The photo is Lily with the rosettes and trophy she won at Wilmslow show last weekend where she won a 3rd and 4th in agility and a 14th in jumping

Milo also started competing last year and has had several places in grade 3. Daisy is also doing well with several places in grade three culminating in winning into grade 4 at the end of the season last year.

Ruby has now retired from agility due to having a fall from the dog walk which reawakened her fear of the contact equipment. I am finding running 3 dogs is plenty, Running 4 was getting to be hard work.

28th January 2011

2011-01-28T15:39:00.000-08:00

The Boston Babbies are now 6.5 weeks old. Very lively and into everything. I wanted to take pictures of them standing but that proved a lot more difficult than I expected as they just don't like to stand still.

We have had several people round to visit. It seems as if they know when we are expecting visitors as they run round and play and play until the visitors arrive and then fall asleep while the visitors are here then wake up once they go again

This is James who is now Theo

Jesse

Belle

Jingle

22/01/11

2011-01-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

Today was Agility Addicts Show. The first one we have been to for absolutely ages and it was really nice to be back competing again. Unfortunately Lily is still in season so she had to stay at home so it was just Ruby and Milo, who was competing for the first time.

Ruby was first in the ring. It seemed to be quite a complicated jumping course and I wasn't sure how well we would do but Ruby surprised me and jumped clear. She did everything I asked and I was able to handle her exactly how I planned. Actually that is not really unusual with Ruby as she is always really good at following my cues, the problem is more often that I get it wrong and she does what I say. We got a clear round but were just outside the places.

Next was Milo's agility runs. He did really well. We did get eliminated but it was because I didn't make sure I got close enough to the tunnel to pick him up so he got a bit confused about which jump to do next. Once I got him back we carried on and everything went smoothly until we got to the sea-saw. He loves the contact equipment and in spite of me yelling sea-saw he shot straight up it and into space. Thankfully he landed well and the judge told me to put him back on it again to make sure he hadn't frightened himself too much. He went straight back on but much slower this time and did it properly. Although we were eliminated I was really pleased with how he ran. He went where I said most of the time and going over strange equipment didn't seem to bother him at all. On the next run we corrected the previous mistakes but did something else wrong so got eliminated again. He did do the sea-saw properly though.

Next was Ruby's agility runs and as we are still working on her dog walk phobia I decided to do them not for competition and just do a couple of jumps and then the dog walk and leave the ring. She was a little unsure but didn't get too stressed out about it. We will keep working on it and hopefully will get over it again.

Finally was Milo's jumping run and it was a very nice course with several changes of side but each one was at the tunnel which made it quite easy. His first run was fantastic, he did went exactly what I said and got a clear round. Not bad for his first ever competition. He was 6th but unfortunately the places only went to 5th, but I am still really pleased with him.

Milo was measured as well and I really was not sure if he would be small or medium. He is so close to the cut off point for small but luckily the measures decided he was just small enough to be small. I am glad about this as he is quite a stocky dog and he would struggle to jump the medium height jumps. I just have to hope he doesn't grow at all in the next year.

15th January 2011

2011-01-15T05:22:00.000-08:00

The puppies are almost 5 weeks old now. They are full of life and really getting playful now.

The weather is quite mild at the moment so they have been outside a few times now.

Today Clare and Eryn came for a visit.

10 January 2011

2011-01-10T22:53:00.000-08:00

puppies 4 weeks old playing with mum.

06 January 2011

2011-01-06T04:14:00.001-08:00

I have been quite ill with flu so haven't updated the blog for a few days. The puppies have now moved down stairs into a pen in the living room where they can get used to household noises and meet the other dogs.

They have started on solid food but are not eating a huge amount as Daisy is still feeding them quite a lot. She seems to be managing 4 puppies better than 6. They like toddling round the living room and love to meet the other dogs, especially daddy Milo. He thinks they are great fun too.

27 December 2010

2010-12-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

7he Boston Babies are 2 weeks old today. The time goes so quickly. They all have their eyes open and are starting to get up on their legs now. They move about a lot and I have had to put up a barrier to keep them in the crate now as they can get out. I will move them down stairs to the bigger pen some time this week.
Daisy is still feeding them and they are very solid chunky puppies they all weigh about 750m grams each. James was the smallest but he is now the biggest. Daisy is eating much better this time than when she had her last litter.She is still thin but thankfully not suffering from the calcium deficiency this time. She is eating about 1.5 pounds of chicken a day which is a lot for a dog that only weighs 14lbs.

Jingle

Belle

Jesse

James

25 December 2010 - Christmas day

2010-12-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas day. Now the children have all left home apart from Robin things are much quieter on Christmas morning. As Robin was still asleep I took the dogs for a walk as soon as I got up. then when we got back it was time to open the presents.

All the dogs had a new squeaky toy and a back of treats. They all managed to open their presents. Then things got a little noisy as they all walked round squeaking their toys until Casey managed to de-squeak his and then tried to steal the others. I put the toys away so we could have a bit of peace.

For breakfast the big dogs had a turkey wing each and some of their treats. TheBostons had a bit of turky neck so no-one missed out on Christmas dinner apart from the baby Bostons who just had milk.

22nd December 2010

2010-12-23T04:26:00.000-08:00

The puppies are doing very well. They are feeding well and putting weight on regularly. They doubled their birth weight today. They are very active strong puppies. Daisy is looking after them very well and is eating much better than when she had her last litter. I am hopeful she won't suffer from a recurrence of the calcium deficiency she had last time. She is obviously feeling much better after her cesarean as she keeps demanding I get her favourite toy out and play with her , but I am very mean and refuse as it would strain her stitches too much to be playing tuggy so soon after an operation.

Jingle

Belle

Jesse

James

14 December 2010

2010-12-14T03:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted for some time but thought it was time for a catch up.
Many things have changed since I last posted, the main one is that Saffy no longer lives here. I had been having increasing problems with her dislike of living with other bitches and she turned against Ruby and would attack her on sight.

It was proving very stressful having to keep them separate all the time so eventually had to make the heartbreaking decision to look for a new home for Saffy. She could have gone back to her breeder Jan but as Jan has lots of dogs I thought is would be better to find her a home where she could be an only dog, so in mid October Saffy moved to Norfolk to live with Gareth and Bobbie. She has settled in very well and is obviously loving being an only dog.

While we were having to deal with keeping Saffy and Ruby separate Daisy also came into season and it became clear recently that somewhere our system of keeping all the various dogs separate there had been a miscalculation. At the end of November I noticed Daisy was getting fatter. A quick trip to the vets confirmed my worst fears Daisy was pregnant. Thankfully (?) with the size difference the only possible father could be Milo but it was still a shock as I didn't want to breed from Daisy at the moment. I was also very worried about the pups as Daisy had been going to agility, competing in competitions and playing wildly with her toys. Not things I would usually do with a pregnant girl.

Another problem was not knowing when the pups were due. The vet scanned her and said she was at least 6 weeks which meant that she almost certainly caught right at the end of her season.
Things started happening on Sunday but no puppies arrived until 5:30 Monday morning when a little girl arrived, then at 8:00 a very big boy who got very stuck and when I finally got him out I was unable to get him breathing. Next at 11:00 came another boy. No problem this time thankfully. Unfortunately after this things ground to a halt so at 2:00 it was off to the vets for an oxytocin injection. This failed to get things moving and the vet said there was a puppy stuck so the only alternative was a cesarean. Thankfully the vet was bale to get both remaining puppies out and the stuck one was still alive so we now have 4 puppies 3 girls and a boy.

18 August 2010

2010-08-18T01:53:00.000-07:00

Friday 13th certainly lived up to its reputation as Ruby badly cut her paw when out for a walk. I noticed her limping and when I checked there was a lot of blood.
Unfortunately we were due to go to the Working Belgian Shepherd Society agility show that night and this meant she would not be able to compete.
Much to her disgust I decided to leave her at home and not even take her with us in the caravan as I know she would not rest if she was at an agility show, sore paw or no sore paw.

When we got to the show it was raining quite heavily but I managed to get the caravan set up without too many problems. Unfortunately the rain carried on to the following morning and I had to run the first couple of classes in the rain. daisy did really well in her first jumping class going clear. although a couple of handling errors by me meant our time wasn't fast enough for a place.

Saffy also had a very good day getting 2 clear rounds in jumping and agility and also coming fourth in her agility class. She was also best BSD in 3 of her classes.

Sunday was not quite so successful. Saffy ran two very nice agility rounds but just missed her A frame contact in both of them. A real shame as she was much faster than the winning dog so would have won if she had got them.

Daisy had a mad moment in her agility class and ran over to the pole picker and then the judgeto see if they would make a fuss of her. She loves people and finds it hard to ignore them. Hopefully as she gets more experienced she will learn to wait until she has finished her runs to speak to people.

6th August 2010

2010-08-05T23:03:00.000-07:00

I am back from a lovely 9 days away staying in my caravan with the dogs. We went to the Adams Agility show, then stayed on the site until the Derbyshire Agility show the following weekend. Ruby did very well at both shows getting numerous clear rounds.

Finally Saffy has managed to get a couple of clear rounds too. One in a pay on the day class and one in a jumping class so she has actually got a point in her agility record book. Only 199 to go to get her Bronze agility warrant!

The venue was a lovely place with lots of space for the dogs to run and play

In the week there were some fun games to do and training too. Saffy did really well winning the tennis ball dunking game, getting 6 tennis balls out of a bucket of water in just 17 seconds. She also had a go at the the teddy bear rescue where they dogs had to retrieve teddies from a square. At first she seemed to think she was doing a scent exercise but then got the idea and brought them all back.

Lily entered her very first agility competition. A fun class consisting of just jumps and tunnels. We did the anysize class with low jumps and much to my surprise she won it. She was delighted with the squeaky toy that was her prize.
Daisy was entered in several classes and did really well getting mostly clear rounds, although she did disgrace herself in one class by running up to the pole picker and trying to get him to stroke her.

On Saturday as a break from agility we went along to the BSDA Championship show which was being held just down the road.
Lily came second in Junior which was very good as she is such a baby, only just out of puppy.
Ruby did really well winning Limit, and then went on to come second in the obedience.

Unfortunately I made a mistake with the entries so Saffy wasn't entered in the obedience.

21st July 2010

2010-07-21T23:11:00.000-07:00

Today is Lily's first birthday. It is amazing how quickly they year has gone.
We started agility last night and once she settled into the class she did very well. She happily jumped the jumps and was really good at following my body language . She wasn't sure about the A Frame but I am sure she will soon get the hang of it.

Rosie and Lily playing

18 July 2010

2010-07-18T23:18:00.000-07:00

Saturday was National Working and Pastoral breeds show. This was Lily's last show as a puppy as she is one on Wednesday. She did really well winning best puppy in breed.

Gordon has now left home and gone to seek his fortune in London, so it is getting much quieter here.

Italy is still here at the moment and she is getting more like her mum every day

Here she is making sure that Splodge knows who is Boss.

Splodge has been rescued.

16th July 2010

2010-07-16T01:12:00.000-07:00

Every morning I take Lily Daisy and Saffy up to the golf course for their walk. Once there we play ball. Well Saffy plays with her Frisbee and Lily and Daisy have their tennis balls. Both Daisy and Lily have their own personal tennis ball and will not fetch each others ball If they run to a ball and find it is not their ball then they just give me a filthy look and come back without the ball. Luckily they are pretty good at keeping track of which ball I am throwing.

Saffy

Lily is very enthusiastic and hurls herself in the air to catch the ball while it is still in the air.

11th July

2010-07-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

It is much quieter here now as some of the puppys have departed for new horizons. Maggie was the first to go, sailing off yesterday morning for the channel Islands. Gizmo has not gone quite so far, staying in the county. Bob came with us down to East of England show where he met up with his new owners and made his way back to Kent.
Milo was entered at the show and did very well, coming Second in Puppy dog in a large class. This qualifies him for Crufts next year.

Italy posing on the wall. Ears well on the way up.

Gordon and Splodge, Gordons ears are almost up now too

Splodge is too big to use the baby step now.

Gordon finds the flags nice and cool.

07 July 2010

2010-07-07T08:40:00.001-07:00

Maggie is the first puppy to put her ears up

Bob and Milo having an afternoon nap

Bob and Lil

Naughty puppies. I am getting down low to take a picture and Maggie Bob and Gordon think the camera strap makes a good toy.

4th July 2010

2010-07-04T12:17:00.001-07:00

This weekend I have been away in the caravan to Dashing Dogs agility show leaving Robin and Ashleigh looking after the babies.
Saturday was not very successful as although Ruby ran well, silly errors on my part meant we got eliminated twice. We did get an eight place our Agility class though.

Sunday was much better as I really made an effort to handle properly and it really paid off as we WON our first class of the day, Grade 1 agility. This now means we are now grade 2.

Ruby also got a clear round in her jumping and a 6th place in the combined 1-2 Agility so we had a really good day.

Ruby does like her agility but what she likes most in the world is playing in the garden with her sticks and as you can see from her photo the first thing she did when she got home was go outside to check they were still where she had left them.

02 July 2010

2010-07-02T08:13:00.000-07:00

Puppys teaching Robin to Dance!

Maggie wants Uncle Milo's ball

The don't play all the time. Gordon having 40 winks under the chair

Bostons do like their comfort and prefer to sleep on a piece of vet bed rather than the cold hard floor

Italy snoozing in solitary splendour

30 June 2010

2010-06-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

New pictures of all the puppies

Splodge. He is the biggest puppy

Maggie who is the smallest

Italy

Gordon

Gizmo

Bob

2010-06-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy couple of days. Friday was Blackpool Championship show and Milo was entered. We had to be in the ring for 9:00 so had to leave home at 6:30 to get there in time. It was Milos first championship show and I did wonder how he would be at such a big show but I needn't have worried as he had a lovely time. There were so many other dogs there to meet and lots of people to talk to. The only problem he had was that I wouldn't let him off the lead to run around the showground with his new friends.
Milo did very well in his class getting placed fourth in a very large puppy class. He moved really well and behaved perfectly.
Saturday was the Boston Terrier Club show. this was a much smaller affair than Blackpool and it was just Boston Terriers. Again Milo was a very good lad and came 3rd in both his classes. We also received some prize money at this show. 25p for each place. The winner had £1. Some people think there is money in showing dogs!

Today Claire and Cathrine came round with their babies. As you can see from the photos the Boston puppies loved the babies and the babies loved the Bostons.

William looks a little unsure at first

But Bob soon shows that he is not a threat.

Bob then turns his attention to Eryn

Maggie and Gizmo soon join in

24 June 2001

2010-06-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

The puppies are getting very lively now. they gallop around as a herd. I still take them outside in the carrier and put them down on the grass but they often beat me back inside. They rarely bother with the little steps, they prefer to hurl themselves off the steps en masse.

When I am getting their food ready they buzz around my feet following me as I collect bowls and prepare the food. It makes it very difficult to walk sometimes as there is a sea of little black and white bodies round my feet. I wish I could video it.

They are all going to the vet this morning for a checkup and to be micro-chipped. They haven't been in the car since they were a few days old so it will be an interesting experience for them.

Little angels. They look so sweet when they are asleep it is hard to believe they are such hooligans when they are awake.

Although you can just see a glimpse of Gizmos mischevous side here.

Poor little puppies got put in jail yesterday as I thought I would see what they thought of the kennel. They weren't over impressed with the curtailment of their freedom. They did soon decide that they would eat their lunch and then settled down for a snooze. It is nice and cool in the kennel as it is in the shade and after I let the puppies out Daisy went in and had a siesta.

Gordon trying to work out how to escape.

Maggie and Gizmo living dangerously trying to steal one of Daisy's tennis balls.

21st June 2010

2010-06-21T04:53:00.000-07:00

Italy having a light snack.

Daisy prepared to fight to defend her ball from the other dogs

Milo and his army launch their attack.

Gordon, Gizmo and Splodge.

17th June 2010

2010-06-16T23:10:00.001-07:00

Lots of pictures today. I m trying to catch up. There should have been some videos too but I have been having problems up loading them.

Lots of Bostons

Daisy and Gizmo. Gizmo's home has fallen through so I was trying to take some pictures of him but Daisy wants to get in on the act.

Bob fell asleep in the doorway. Casey thinks it s a strange place to sleep

Italy also likes to sleep in strange places. Here she is on top of Milo. It is nice and warm for her.

Splodge playing with a ball that is bigger than he is

Gizmo shows Maggie how brave he is climbing on the wall.

12th June 2010

2010-06-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Todays update is a Malinois update. There will be more Boston pictures tomorrow. We had a day out and went to the Northern Belgian Shepherd Dog Championship Show leaving the puppies in Robins capable hands.
In the morning Ruby and Saffy were entered in the obedience class. Saffy went first and did some very nice heelwork, and just losing a few marks on this and her retrieve.
Next was Ruby and she also did a very nice round, again not losing many marks so when I checked their scores they were tying for first place.
I assumed Saffy would not do her stays as she has had a problem with these recently but they both did their stays perfectly so we had to do a run off to see who would get first place. We did a recall to decide and Ruby did hers almost perfectly but Saffy forgot herself and instead of sitting in front of me she bounced up and hit me in the stomach with her paws, so the final result was Ruby first and Saffy second.
After lunch we did the breed Judging. Lily was in the puppy class and she won that, then Saffy came third in Post Grad and finally Ruby came 5th in the open class. All of the dogs had very nice critiques and were all graded excellent. The Lily had to challenge for best puppy and she won that too so was awarded Best Malinois Puppy in Breed.
Ruby was awarded a very nice shield for her obedience and Lily had a silver rose bowl for being best puppy.

10 June 2010

2010-06-10T04:47:00.001-07:00

The puppies are now 5 1/2 weeks old. they are a lot more independent now. Daisy plays with them and watches over them but does not feed them very much now. They are all eating solid food really well. I usually put 2 or 3 bowls of food down but they all still like to gather round one.

House training is coming along well. As soon s they wake up I put them all into the carrier and take them outside. They have a play and then they start finding their way back to the house. I have made little steps for them so they can get down from the grass and back into the conservatory.
Splodge and Gizmo trying to pluck up the courage to use the steps for the first time.

Gizmo has made it into the conservatory

Next comes Bob

and Maggie too

05 June 2010

2010-06-05T02:11:00.000-07:00

As the weather has been so nice and warm the puppies have had several trips outside. They seem to really enjoy snuffling about in the grass and watching the other dogs play. At first they stuck very closely to each other but were soon brave enough to venture a bit further afield.

Milo and Lily watching the puppies.

Italy and Gordon wander over to see what Ruby is playing with

Ruby is not sure she trusts Gordon near her stick. He might run away with it!

02 June 2010

2010-06-02T12:32:00.000-07:00

The puppies are now four weeks old. Although I was only away for a couple of days it was amazing how much they changed in that time. They are now playing with each other and getting better at running about.

They are now getting teeth and every now and again there is a loud squeak when one bites another puppies ear rather hard.
They are eating more solid food now and Daisy is not feeding them as much now. and is spending more time away from them.

Milo and Lily are both very intrigued by these little dogs running round the living room. The puppies seem to think that anything big and black and white must provide food so they do chase poor little Milo round a bit

He looks very confused if they catch him and start checking his under carriage for milk!!!

Bob has found a comfortable bed.

30 May 2010

2010-05-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

As usual these days I am behind on the updates. I went away for the bank holiday to an agility show camping in my new caravan. I carefully made sure I charged my camera battery and put the camera in the caravan so I could take lots of pictures, but unfortunately I realised when I came to use it I had left the memory card in my computer so no pictures : (
We had a very good weekend even though it rained all day on Saturday. Ruby did really well getting a 12th place in her agility class and 2 clear rounds in the jumping classes.

Sunday really lived up to its name as the rain stopped and the sun shone all day. The ground dried up and it was much more pleasant to run the courses. Once again Ruby excelled herself getting another 3 clear rounds and a 5th place in a jumping class.
Saffy did enjoy herself but just gets a bit carried away with the excitement of it all and makes silly mistakes so we have still not managed that elusive clear round. Still Ruby does make up for it.
The dogs seemed to like staying in the caravan. It was nice not to have to rush off home at the end of the show. At first they were a bit unsure about going in and out of the caravan but they soon got used to their strange new home.

25 May 2010

2010-05-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Amazingly the puppies are 3 weeks old today I don't know where the time has gone. It has flown past. They are doing well with eating the solid food although still getting most food from Daisy who is eating a little more.
I have set the puppy pen up down stairs and yesterday they had their first trip down stairs . It was all a bit much for them and they fell asleep almost as soon as I put them in the pen

Today they managed to stay awake long enough to have some lunch

Splodge always seems to be first to the food. He has a very good appetite. In the picture above Splodge is the one in the food, then behind him is Italy, then Bob and Gordon on his own.

Daisy helped clean up the left overs and the puppies retired to the box to wait for their lift back upstairs.
Gordon seems to have found the whole experience a little overwhelming.

21 May 2010

2010-05-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

I have started weaning the puppies now to make life a little easier for Daisy as it is a strain for her to feed so many puppies. All of the puppies got the idea very quickly that this was food and started to tuck in enthusiastically. Weaning is a very messy job as puppies are quite happy to go wading through the food. Table manners will take a week or two to arrive

Maggie and Italy

Italy

Gizmo

Gordon

18 May 2010

2010-05-18T05:00:00.001-07:00

The puppies are 2 weeks old today so I have taken individual photos of them. They are getting very big now and are much more active. they are feeding well and have all put on lots of weight. they all weigh over a pound now.
Daisy has been much better although still not eating as much as I would like. She is on calcium tablets every day so with any luck she will be fine now.

Splodge

Gordon

Bob

Gizmo

Maggie

Italy

16 May 2010

2010-05-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

We had rather a traumatic day yesterday. Daisy started staggering round, her legs went very weak and she could hardly stand up, then she collapsed and was almost unconscious. She had been fine at lunchtime but a couple of hours later was seriously ill. I immediately grabbed her and dashed off to the vets which is thankfully only 10 minutes away.

The vet took her in to do blood tests and put her on a drip. I had to leave her there to come home to look after the puppies. I already had substitute milk and a bottle just in case of emergencies, but I have never needed to use it. The puppies soon woke up wanting feeding but they were not too impressed to find me and a bottle instead of their mum. I did manage to get them to take some milk by dripping it into their mouths with a syringe, but they were really not keen on it at all.

The vet called about 2 hours later to say that Daisy had a calcium deficiency. she was making so much milk for the puppies who are getting so big now that her body just ran out. She is not a big eater and I am struggling to get her to eat enough food to feed the puppies as well as herself. The puppies are getting fatter and fatter while Daisy seems to be getting thinner by the day.

She was given calcium in a drip and miraculously in just a couple more hours she was bouncing about, ready to come home. You would never have known there had been anything wrong with her. The puppies were pleased to see her and imediately latched on for a good feed. Daisy has some calcium tablets to take each day. I will start trying to wean the puppies soon as I think Daisy will struggle to feed them all as they get bigger.
At the moment they are quite contented all snuggled up in a big pile.

And Daisy now fully recovered takes a few minutes off to play with some babies of a different kind.

14 May 2010

2010-05-14T06:45:00.000-07:00

we have eyes today. All the puppies have opened their eyes now. Splodge is the last one. His eyes are still only just opening. Gordon is looking very alert.
Gordon

Splodge

Daisy giving Gordon a bit of a clean while I change the bedding in the whelping box.

Everyone in their nice clean cage

12 May 2010

2010-05-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

the Boston puppies are 8 days old today. They have all doubled their birth weight. They still look a bit like little black and white moles and their eyes are still closed.
Daisy is still spending lots of time with them , feeding and cleaning them. We have given them all temporary names.

This is the bigger of the two girls. We have named her Italy

This is Maggie the first girl to be born.

This is the biggest boy his name is Gizmo at the moment.

This is the Second biggest boy, given the rather topical name Gordon

This is Splodge

And last but not least is Bob

09 May 2010

2010-05-09T02:58:00.000-07:00

Daisy and the babies are doing very well. They are gaining weight every day. They are feeding well and Daisy keeps them spotlessley clean.

She has to be persuaded to leave them at all.
These are the 4 boys. The one in the front is the biggest baby, he is well on the way to doubling his birth weight.

Their noses were almost all pink when they were born but they are already turning black.

This morning so I took Saffy and Lily up to the golf course with their new frisbee. It is lovely there, lots of space to run around. Unfortunately the frisbee did not last long

It wasn't wasted though Lily and Milo found they could still play with it.

07 May 2010

2010-05-07T05:46:00.000-07:00

Again, we have had a very hectic few weeks. Computer problems and the lovely dry weather have conspired to stop me updating my blog for a while. As I work on a computer all day I would much rather go out for a walk with the dogs or do some training than spend my spare time on the computer. Anyway a few updates.

Poor little Lily has been on the injured list as she damaged some tendons in her foot. I have absolutely no idea how she did it she just became very lame out of the blue crying if I so much as looked at her foot. Both myself and the vet thought she had broken something and she was booked in for xrays but luckily the orthopedic vet had a look and decided that it was just a tendon injury so rest and Metacam for a few days took care of it. the hardest thing was getting her to rest as Lily lives to play and would still have fetched the ball on three legs if I had let her.
Milo has missed his playmate as I had to keep them separate so Lily could rest. Thankfully she is better now and back to chasing Milo again much to his delight.

Saffy has been a very good girl. at the last agility show we went to Saffy got a clear round and a fourth place in her jumping class and she ran beautifully, turning exactly where I said and she finished only a couple of seconds behind the winner. We are looking forward to our next KC show to see if we can finally get a clear round there. Ruby also got a fourth place in her agility class. She has now got more than enough points to upgrade but I think I will wait and see if we can get that elusive win.

The next picture is Daisy a few days ago looking extremely fat and fed up. Although she is lying down there, she is another dog who has to be forced to rest. She would still be running after her tennis ball on walks if I let her but I have been extremely mean and stopped taking it with us on walks.

Thankfully daisy now has something else to occupy her time.

On Tuesday I came back from my walk with the Belgians to find Daisy cuddled up in her cage with a puppy. She wasn't due until Friday and had not showed any signs of being in labour so I thought she was safe to leave for an hour. Unfortunately after producing the first puppy so easily she then stopped and by 9:00 still had only one and there was no sign of any more so we went along to the vets where she had to have a cesarean. Thankfully all the puppies survived . we have 2 bitches and 4 dogs. Both mum and babies are doing really well.

10 April 2010

2010-04-10T02:49:00.000-07:00

I am way behind on updating my blog again. We seem to have been so busy recently.
the 28th march was the BSDA open show which we went to with Ruby, Lily, Saffy and Rosie. It was a very nice day the weather was pretty good and it was nice to catch up with old friends.
The results were pretty good too. Lily came 4th and Rosie came 5th in a very strong junior class, then Saffy came second in her post graduate class.
We also entered the Obedience and Ruby came third in Novice and Saffy fourth. Saffy would have been placed higher if she had done her heelwork properly, but the ring was marked out using agility jump uprights and poles so every time we headed to the edge of the ring she dashed off to try to jump the poles!! This meant we only did a training round in our A round. She did however redeem herself by doing a lovely scent discrimination, and as I haven't done much obedience training recently I was pleased with this.

While we were at the BSDA show Mum took Milo along to the Northern Boston Terrier show as this was on the same day. He did really well getting second in the minor puppy class. I was also pleased to see that Bernie, the father of Daisy's forthcoming litter got best dog and reserve best in show.

Bernie (Above)

Last weekend it was TAG agility show, our first KC show of the year. Both Ruby and Saffy were entered. Daisy was too but obviously didn't run her.
Friday Saffy was obviously very pleased to be doing agility outside. Her first run was a complete disaster, she leapt off the top of the A frame with out even trying to run down the ramp never mind touch the contacts. She then crashed through a couple of other jumps and totally disregarded anything I was saying to her. Thankfully by the end of the weekend she had calmed down a lot and we were just a hairs breadth from getting clear rounds, I just need to tweak the handling slightly and we might actually do it.

As always Ruby was a little star. She got 5 clear rounds out of 6 runs. The only one she missed was down to me getting lost. She also got a 6th place and a second place in Agility.
Best Friends

22 March 2010

2010-03-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

We went to West Torrington Show on Saturday. Lily came second in the Junior class and Rosie came third. Milo came 3rd in the AVNSC Utility class so not a bad day at all.
While I was there I treated the Bostons to new beds as there was a stall there with a sale on. I put the beds in the kitchen. When I went in a few minutes later there was Ruby curled up in the larger of the 2 beds! Obviously making a point about who is the boss as she never sleeps in the kitchen normally

This photo is of a rather fluffy Lily. She had to have a bath this morning much to her disgust.

On our morning walk we went past the pond in the woods and there were a couple of ducks on it. Lily paddled in to see what they were up to . The ducks obviously didn't like the look of her so they both flew up into the air, closely followed by Lily. The ducks sailed on over the hedge and away, unfortunately Lily does not fly quite so well, and crashed back down into the pond, up to her neck in smelly black stagnant water!! This is the same pond that she fell into when she was a small puppy, I would have thought she might have learned to be more careful around it.

18 March 2010

2010-03-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

We had a very good time at Crufts last week. Due to the fact that I was not showing most of last summer due to having the puppies only Casey had qualified. He came second in the Veteran Class.

Unfortunately I missed watching most of the Malinois judging as I had booked Casey in for an eye test and the time clashed with the judging. I am pleased to report that his eye test was clear, no sign on any eye problems which is good in a nearly 10 year old dog.

Lily came to Crufts too as we had volunteered for Discover dogs which is the section of the show where people can go to meet all the different breeds of dogs. Both Lily and Casey had a lovely time meeting all the people and getting lots of pats and strokes. Even by the end of the day after 7 hours in the booth Lily was still happy to cuddle with visitors, especially the children. Both dogs got lots of compliments about how friendly they were.

02 March 2010

2010-03-01T23:15:00.001-08:00

March already. This year is racing past. I can't believe the puppies are seven months old already. We went to North Lincs Show on Saturday and Lily came 3rd in the Junior class and Rosie was 4th.

Now the weather is starting to improve I am able to get on with a bit more training. When Milo came back it did make life a bit more difficult to do much training with Lily as I had 2 puppies to take out and socialise. I kept saying that once Milo had gone to a new home I would start training Lily in earnest. 5 months on and of course Milo is still here. We have done quite a bit of training in little sessions so today I worked out what Lily knows and actually she has learned quite a few things.

She can sit, down, stand, spin to the right and left and walk backwards, all on verbal cues.
Standing still for breed showing still needs work as she doesn't do still.
She plays with lots of different toys, she is not just obsessed with one toy like her mum. She fetches the tennis ball, and the ball on a rope endlessly. She plays tuggy with lots of different toys and will play almost anywhere.
I haven't done much obedience training with her but she is learning the retrieve and picks up the dumbell and holds it.
I have been doing lots of little bits of foundation training for her agility. She can circle cones left and right which I am hoping will help with turns. She can go ahead of me over a very low jump and she can wait so I can recall her over a jump. She really blasts through pipe tunnels. I haven't tried the flat tunnel yet.
She has really got the hang of the baby seesaw now. (a scaffolding plank with a 4 inch pipe for a pivot) She gallops along it and really bangs it down. I hope this will transfer to the real one when we start that.
She can run along the planks of the contact equipment on the ground and she is also getting the hang of the 2o2o contacts.

Her most useful trick is turning the floodlight on in the garden. The light is operated by a PIR detector so it goes on when we go outside and then turns off after a few minutes. The sensor doesn't pick up movement on the lawn so when we are playing on the grass every now and again we are plunged into darkness. When that happens I say to Lily "go turn the light on" and she dashes down the garden, on to the patio just far enough to turn the light, spins round and then gallops back at top speed to carry on with the games.

24 February 2009

2010-02-24T03:49:00.000-08:00

Another busy weekend. On Saturday we went to National Working and Pastoral Breeds Society show taking Lily, Rosie, Foxy and Sharna.

There was no puppy class but Lily won the post graduate class and Rosie came 3rd in the open class. The two girls then ran off for best puppy and Lily won. We didn't stay for the puppy group as I was feeling under the weather having had a really bad cold for a few days.

Dad also had a good day with Foxy winning her class and getting reserve best of breed.

On sunday I had planned to go to Tailwaggers agility show if I was feeling a bit better.
I had a bit of a surprise waking up to heavy snow as there was none when I went to bed but when I woke up there was a blizzard. After problems getting up the road I did make it to the show. It was a bit late starting and some people didn't get there but it was surprising how many people had braved the weather to get to the show.

We missed our first class but arrived just as our agility class was about to start. Both Ruby and Saffy were entered. Ruby did a lovely clear round and came seventh. Saffy also did very well going where I said but just knocking a pole.

Next was the up and under class which was just jumps and tunnels. Saffy loved this class and got a clear round and 3rd place. Ruby didn't like it so much so went much more slowly but still got a clear round and 7th place.

Last was the Triple A class which was a jumping class where the A frame was taken 3 times. Ruby did much better in this as she does like the contact equipment so she got another clear round and came 3rd. Saffy once again did really well but just knocked a pole. I was still really pleased with her as she went exactly where I said, didn't miss out any jumps and got all her contacts so maybe this year we will get a few more clear rounds.

14 February 2009

2010-02-14T02:00:00.000-08:00

What a busy but successful week we have had this week.
Wednesday was Northiwich Canine Society's limited show and Milo, Lily and Rosie were all entered. Milo won first in both Minor Puppy Dog and Special Yearling Utility.

Lily got second in Minor Puppy Bitch and Special yearling Pastoral. And last but not least Rosie got Seconds in Puppy Bitch and Open Pastoral.

Then on Friday it was the Begin to Win club competition for beginner dogs. I entered Daisy for the first time and she was absolutely wonderful getting first in Small-Medium agility and being beaten into second place in Small-Medium jumping by only 2 tenths of a second. What is really good is that she is really starting to listen to me rather than just running around the course on her own. She is a dog that does think she knows best and often doesn't see why she should do what I want. Bostons are great fun to live with but Malinois are much easier to train.

After the competition had finished I took Lily in and had a play with her around the equipment. She really blasts through the tunnels now and comes out for her toy. I put some jumps down to the very lowest height and practiced sending her over them and calling her over them. She had a lovely time doing this. I think she is going to be much faster than her mum but hopefully she will have her mums sensitivity so won't go galloping through the jumps sending poles flying like Saffy does.

Ruby and Saffy competed at the gundog agility competition this weekend. I know they are not gundogs but they also let non gundogs in too. Ruby got two clear rounds and the only times she didn't go clear were down to me either losing my way or dithering about which way to go.

And now for the really AMAZING news. SAFFY GOT A CLEAR ROUND!! for only the third time ever in her life and the first time in competition. And not only that she came Third in the Anything But a Gundog class beating Ruby into fourth place! I always knew she would do it one day.

06 February 2010

2010-02-06T08:25:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Newark & District Dog Show with Rosie and Lily and Milo. Mum also came with Foxy and Shana the pyrenean Sheepdogs. It was very noisy at the show with lots of dogs and people coming and going but Rosy and Lily took it all in their stride. Lily loves going to shows as there are so many people there who will talk to her.
This show had Malinois classes so it was nice to go up against other dogs of the same breed. Lily did very well and came second and Rosie came fourth.
Unfortunately we missed Milo's class as the show organisers didn't have a ring allocated for it and didn't seem to know when it would be and then when I went along after the Malinois classes I was told that the Utility class had just finished. I have no idea why in a show with over 200 classes the two I am entered in are on at the same time.
Milo didn't mmind and enjoyed his day out. All the dogs had a lovely run together on the showground afterwards.

1st February 2010

2010-02-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

Milo is 6 months old today. He is nearly as big as Daisy now. and turning into a very handsome boy.

Daisy Milo and Lily are best of friends. I am sure Lily thinks she is a Boston Terrier as she does spend a lot of time playing with them

26th January

2010-01-26T13:19:00.000-08:00

Rosie went home today and suddenly the house feels very empty. Rosie is definitely the naughtier of the two puppies and forever leading Lily into mischief. She was very happy to see her mum. Lily is now feeling a bit lost as she has lost her playmate.

24th January 2010

2010-01-24T13:03:00.000-08:00

we went to Manchester Championhip show yesterday as Lily was six months old on the first day. there were no Malinois classes so we went into AVNSC. Lily was second in minor puppy bitch. Lily had a lovely time there as there were lots of new people to talk to. She was very interested in the dog food stands as some of those had samples to test.

Today we started her new puppy training class. It was held outside so was very cold. Lily really enjoyed it. She is learning to walk nicely on a loose lead. Stays are a bit harder as she doesn't like to be still for more than a couple of seconds.

22 January 2010

2010-01-22T06:10:00.000-08:00

Early morning fun. Rosie and Lily have such a good time playing together on their walks.

20 January 2010

2010-01-20T05:35:00.000-08:00

While Rosie is here I thought it would be a good opportunity to take some family photos for the album. First got Ruby into position. She doesn't like having her picture taken much but is a good girl and will stay where I ask her.

Next I persuaded Lily to get in position. She is not sure why I want her to stay on the settee rather than the floor but if it involves a biscuit then she will go along with me.

Next Rosie. She does not want to get on the settee. Not that she normally has a problem being on furniture. Anyway she poses nicely on the floor so that will do.

The plan was to get Casey along next to add him to the photo but then Milo came along to see what he was missing. He discovered that the others were getting biscuits for sitting nicely.

The girls decided that playing with Milo would be more fun than sitting still looking pretty.

15 January 2010

2010-01-15T06:26:00.000-08:00

The dogs have been a bit bored while we have had the snow. They love going for walks in it but Agility training has been cancelled for a week.
Saffy has been passing the time by watching TV. her favourites are programes with dogs in . She likes Victoria Stillwell.
I got a couple of Agility training CDs for Christmas and she loves watching those too.
When agility starts again I will see if she has been paying attention.

10 January 2010

2010-01-10T06:17:00.000-08:00

We have a visitor for the next to weeks. Rosie has come to stay while her owner escapes the snow by going to Jamaica.
Lily is loving having her sister to stay and they run and run through the snow.
This is Lily

And this is Rosie,

Stereo!

08 January 2010

2010-01-08T06:16:00.000-08:00

We have had no more snow since Tuesday but it has been really cold here. Minus 15 last night. It is as cold as a freezer. This picture of Saffy was taken when we got back from our walk. It was so cold ice crystals formed on on her eyebrows and whiskers, and the hair in her ears and ruff also turned white with frost. It made her look like a really old dog

05 Jan 2010

2010-01-05T13:13:00.001-08:00

At last we have some snow. The rest of the country seems to have been snowed in for weeks but we have remained very cold and frosty but snow free. We have about 3 inches of snow now whih is great for the dogs as they love playing in it. Even Daisy and Milo have been out playing although they don't stay out as long as the Belgians

The forecast is for frost over night so the snow should be around tomorrow too. The only downside is that agility was cancelled tonight which is a shame as we were looking forward to it after the winter break.
I was working today and people who had to travel into the office were sent home early. One disadvantage of working from home is that you can't use snow as a reason for not going to work.

30th December 2009

2009-12-30T03:09:00.000-08:00

We had a small inter club agility competition last night and I took both Ruby and Saffy along. I think they were pleased to be doing agility after having a couple of weeks off. Saffy managed to get her first ever clear round in a competition in the jumping and almost got another clear in the agility but spoiled it by stopping at the top of the A frame and then jumping off from there totally missing the contact. She did redeem herself by getting 5th place in her jumping round.
Ruby did even better getting a clear round and 4th place in her jumping round and then got her first ever win in the agility class. She ran beautifully.
Lily came along too for some socialisation and had a really good time talking to all the new people and at the end she got the chance to have a go at the tunnel and as soon dashing through like an expert. Another agility dog in the making?

25th December 2009

2009-12-25T03:28:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice Christmas. For the first time in about 20 years I was up before the children and I walked all the dogs before they got up to open their presents. The dogs all got presents. Squeaky toys, tennis balls and chews. The Bostons got nice new red jumpers to keep them warm. The video shows Lily, Daisy and Milo playing with the squeaky Christmas wreath which was their favourite toy until someone chewed a hole in it and took out the squeak.
The dogs had a very nice Christmas breakfast of a whole turkey wing each.

21 December 2009

2009-12-21T04:13:00.001-08:00

Lily is 5 months old today. Time goes so quickly.

the pictures were taken on the golf course, one of their favourite places to play. All the dogs particularly like the bunkers and love to chase each other round and round.
We must be one of the few places in the country who don't have snow. It is just really cold here.

The video shows Lily , Milo and Daisy playing. Lily gets hold of Daisy's tennis ball and runs off with it. This is a favourite trick to make Daisy chase her.

21st November 2009

2009-11-21T22:58:00.000-08:00

We went to Wilmslow Agility show today. Ruby did really well getting a 10th place in Combined 1-3 jumping.
Saffy enjoyed herself but we are still looking to get that elusive clear round with her. THe good news is she got her weave entries and did two sets of weaves correctly but she just knocked a couple of poles in each run.
Lily and Milo came along for the experience and had a great time. as there were lots of people to talk to .

17 November 2009

2009-11-17T04:48:00.001-08:00

I took Lily and Milo for a walk on the golf course today. The sun was shining and it was really nice to be out. Milo wore his coat as it is still a bit chilly. He has nearly grown out of it.

The puppies love playing on the golf course as there is so much room to run and play. I like it because there is no mud.

It makes a really nice backdrop for photos. Here is Lily looking quite grown up.

03 November 2009

2009-11-03T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am off work this week catching up on all the things I have been too busy to do. Yesterday and today I have been gardening and have taken down a couple of large conifers that made the garden look dark.
Of course the dogs love to help out.

Ruby absolutely loves stripping bark from wood. She eagerly waits for me to cut off a branch or dig up a stump, then strips the bark and adds the stick it to her collection. I do wonder if Ruby has beaver in her ancestry. She can strip the bark from a large log in just a few minutes
Lily is not really sure what her mum is doing but is willing to help.

Daisy, Milo and Lily all wondering what Ruy finds so interesting about sticks.

Lil getting rather caught up in the branches.

02 November 2009

2009-11-02T09:10:00.000-08:00

I am way behind updating the blog. Life is pretty hectic at the moment. Chilli is still with us although he is now called Milo as it was a bit confusig having two dogs called Lily and Chilli. Daisy and Darcy is bad enough.
Here he is wanting to come in from the garden

And having a snooze with his mum Darcy.

Last weekend I went to Midland Counties breed show with Saffy. The first time We have been to a breed show for over a year. Saffy was rather puzzled as she couldn't find any agility equipment anywhere. She was very well behaved considering she is so out of practice. She came second to her sister in her class.

17 October 2009

2009-10-17T03:12:00.000-07:00

The weather is still dry but getting colder. One of the big differences between the Malinois and the Bostons (well apart from the size, the colour, the length of the nose....) is the coat. Bostons have very short fine coats with no undercoat which means they feel the cold. Belgians don't seem to mind how cold it gets. Although the Malinois have short coats they have lots of thick undercoat to keep them warm on the coldest day.
So this morning I took Lily and Chilli on an expedition to the local petshop to look at coats. It took a while to get through town as Lily insists on stopping to talk to everyone. She loves people especially children. Chilli hadn't been to town before but soon decided it was fun to talk to all the people too.
We got to the petshop eventually and started trying coats on Chilli. Lily kept getting in the way but then she noticed the rabbit hopping round the shop out of its cage so that kept her attention long enough to find a coat to fit Chilli. Then it was Lilys turn. She doesn't need a coat but her body is similar in size to the Daisy so I could be fairly sure that if a coat fitted her it would fit Daisy, and we got the next size up for Darcy who is a bit bigger than Daisy. On the way home Chilli got lots of attention because he looked so smart in his new coat.
Don't they look nice all kitted out for the winter.

Lily wanting to get in on the action

Bostons don't like sitting on cold hard floors so Chilli often makes use of Lily as she is nice and warm and comfy to sit on!

10 October 2009

2009-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

We are still having some lovely dry weather so while we can still use the garden I decided to get some of the agility equipment out. I haven't had the tunnel out for ages. Saffy immediately claimed it as her own and stood in the entrance to stop anyone else going in it!

Lily and Chilli are both not really sure what it is but think it looks like fun. Once I persuaded Saffy to go through the tunnel properly they both followed her through several times.

09 October 2009

2009-10-09T03:47:00.000-07:00

Poor Lily had a bad day today. we went for a little walk round the wooded area near the house. There is a little wooden bridge which goes over a very smelly stagnant pond. There is not much water in it and it is covered in duck weed. This can make it look like solid ground. Unfortunately I forgot that poor Lily had not been here before and she didn't realise that there was water under the green stuff so she stepped off the bridge and discovered the pond. She quickly scrambled up on to the nearest tuft of marsh grass and just sat there.
The water is not very deep but as I didn't have my wellies on I really didn't want to wade in and get her out. after a lot of calling and cajoling she finally manged to find her way back near enough to the bridge so I could reach her and pull her out.
Unfortunately for Lily when we got home I really didn't fancy carrying s smelly dripping puppy through the house to the bathroom so decided the quickest way to get her clean was to hose her down. She really didn't like that at all, but soon forgot about it once she was clean and dry again.

5 October 2009

2009-10-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

Rosie (little Red) came to visit. she and Lily had great fun playing in the garden with Chilli. William tried to join in but can't run fast enough

I took the opportunity to take some pictures but they didn't really want to stand still.
Lily

Rosie

04 October 2009

2009-10-04T11:21:00.000-07:00

I took Lily and Chilli with me to mums this morning. As soon as we went in the garden Lily discovered a mole hill. Her mum Ruby has an obsession with molehills and loves digging in them. Maybe it is hereditary?

Lily has never seen dogs with that much hair. At first I think she was not really sure they WERE dogs but soon discovered she could play with them

Lilly and Chilli discover giants really do exist!

03 October 2009

2009-10-03T13:13:00.000-07:00

Laurel has now left for her new home. I was very sad to see her go as she had been here such a long time but she has gone to live with a lovely couple so should be very happy. Her name is now Betty or Foxbriar American Dream.

30th September 2009

2009-09-30T07:25:00.000-07:00

Well the peace and quiet didn't last long. Due to an unexpected change of circumstances Hardy is back home. He will be staying until a suitable new home is found.

Laurel is not sure she wants him back as he does play rough.

Daisy is trying to work out how to place an advert on the internet for him

28th September 2009

2009-09-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Laurel seems to be very relaxed. Obviously enjoying the extra space now Hardy has gone.
Poor Lily has to sleep on the floor.

27 September 2009

2009-09-27T13:39:00.001-07:00

We went to Dashin dogs Agility show today. Ruby and Saffy were entered and Daisy and Lily came along for the ride and the socialisation. Ruby hasn't been to an agility show for several months as she has had time off while she had the puppies.
I think she was happy to be back as she jumped very well getting a clear round and being placed 10th in combined Grade 1&2 out of about 100 dogs.
Saffy is getting better but silly mistakes by her handler (me) are preventing her getting that clear round

Ruby with her reward

26 September 2009

2009-09-26T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hardy has gone to his new home today. He will now be known as Chilli or Foxbriar Orlando Prince. Laurel is staying another week and will go next weekend.

24 September 2009

2009-09-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

video of the puppies playing. Hardy is one side of the gate having squeezed through. Laurel and Lily are he other side with Laurel sitting on top of Lily. Daisy is watching from the kitchen and when someone squeaks loudly she hurries in to make sure no-one is hurt.

in the second video Daisy seems to be trying to pull Hardy out from the other side of the gate and when she fails poor Lily gets the blame.

21 September 2009

2009-09-21T02:54:00.000-07:00

I took Lily to mums yesterday and the Boston Babies came too for their first car ride. They slept through the car ride and bounced into mums garden without turning a hair.

exploring

checking out the water feature

worn out

20th September 2009

2009-09-20T01:23:00.000-07:00

It has been a really busy week. Although we are down to only three puppies life seems more hectic than ever. Lilly the Malinois started ringcraft on Monday night and then there is puppy class on Wednesdays. The other dogs still have their agility classes and then there are trips out to meet people, trips to the vet for vaccinations and on top of that I need to work to support them all.

Laurel the Boston has a new trick. She squeezes under the baby gate and then climbs the stairs. Then she sits at the top and yells until someone comes to rescue her. She can actually get down herself but I think she likes the attention.

Hardy follows her to see why she is making so much noise

And Darcy likes to keep an eye on them too.

Lily and the Boston puppies are great fun to watch playing. Much better than television.

14 September 2009

2009-09-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

we are down to Just one Malinois puppy now. Pink is the last puppy here and she will be staying. Her name is Foxbriar Naughty but Nice. She will be getting another name but for the moment she is staying Pink

Pink

Of course the Boston puppies are still here so Pink is not totally without anyone to play with.
Laurel and Hardy are big enough to make good playmates these days.

Hardy

Hardy

There is only one picture of Laurel as she refused to stay still long enough to take more than that.

13September 2009

2009-09-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

Turquoise
A Busy weekend Both Big Red and Turquoise went to their new homes on saturday. Big Red is now known as Ruby or Foxbriar Femme Fatale and is living near London. Turquoise is now known as Saxon or Foxbriar Dashing Desperado .
Sunday morning saw us all off in the van to meet up with Blue's new owners. As they live in the West Country we agreed to take him half way. Pink and Little red came along for the ride as did Ruby, Saffy and Casey.
Although it was the first time in the van for the puppies they settled down quickly and traveled very well. Thankfully no one was sick.
When we got to the meeting point all the puppies bounced out of the van to meet Blues new owners. They didn't seem phased at all by all the sights and sounds of the motorway.
Blue will probably be keeping his name but his registered name is Foxbriar Bold Brigand.

On the way back I called into pick up some bones from my butcher. He had saved me loads from a cow so the dogs had a good time this afternoon chewing those.

Little Red was the Last puppy to go to her new home. She will now be known as Rosie or Foxbriar Shady Lady. Rosie is staying in Crewe so we will see her very often.
Little Red

Little red

Little Red

11 September 2009

2009-09-11T12:24:00.000-07:00

I have to keep Ruby well away from the puppies when I feed her otherwise she refuses to eat her food and gives it to her babies. This morning I put her in the conservatory with her breakfast but she could see the puppies in the garden and so she wouldn't eat until she had given them a piece of tripe.

The puppies do like tripe. Usually I cut it up very small for them but they had a tug of war with the bit Ruby gave them.

Then they went back into the conservatory to see if there was any left.

Big Red found another piece, Pink wanted it too and the Bostons also want their share, so poor Big Red lost it to the others. I did give them all some more afterwards and Ruby finally sure her puppies had had enough to eat consented to eat something.
Sometimes it is like feeding the wolves at the zoo here!

The other puppies are settling in to their new homes well. Orange or Vaux as he is now known has also started a blog, with the help of his young owner Johnathan.
http://my-malinois-vaux.blogspot.com/

Tomorrow Turquoise and Big Red are off to their new homes and on Sunday Little Red and Blue go too so it will be a very sad weekend. Then we will just have Pink and the two Boston puppies. until they go at the end of the month. Pink is staying here with me.

10 September 2009

2009-09-10T07:38:00.000-07:00

Another one has gone. this time Yellow or Blitz as she will be known has left for her new home. Registered name Foxbriar Pick pocket. Another one of the naughty ones gone. Life s much much quieter here now we are down to 5 Malinois puppies.
The Boston puppies are doing their best to fill the gap. I used to have to be so careful to watch the Mally puppies to make sure they did not hurt the Bostons but now they are mixing and playing together all the time. Quite often if I investigate a squealing puppy I find that it is a Boston chewing on a Belgian.
The Bostons do find the Belgians useful for other things apart from teething on.
Belgians make good matresses

Good Pillows

They are lovely and warm for snuggling up to as Bostons hate to be cold.

Belgians also like suggling up together. They have a very large bed that was big enough for 9 puppies but here are 3 of them squashed into one Boston bed.

09 September 2009

2009-09-09T01:51:00.001-07:00

well it has been a fairly sad couple of days as 3 of the puppies have now left for their new homes.
First to go was Green, who is now going to be known as Keegan. registered name Foxbriar Masked Marauder.

Purple went next and he is now called Zeke or Foxbriar Gorgeous Gunman. He has gone to live
with his great uncle Rubin and he has his own blog. http://www.moimalinois.blogspot.com

Orange went last night. We are still waiting for the final confirmation of his pet name but his registered name is Foxbriar Brave Buckaneer.

First reports are that they have all settled in really well.
The first night without them all was really strange, very quiet, I think the ones who have gone must be the noisiest liveliest ones as the rest are so quiet, but this morning they are back to their usual playful selves.

06 September 2009

2009-09-06T11:47:00.000-07:00

We had a visit from the girls and their babies today. The puppies took it all in their stride even when all the babies were crying at once.
Blue and green immediately claimed Ellies car seat as their new bed.

Orange preferred to sleep underneath her walker

When the other puppies abandoned the car seat Big Red took the opportunity to have a quick snooze

Yellow and the Bostons had their afternoon nap under the desk in Darcy's bed

05 September 2009

2009-09-05T11:07:00.000-07:00

Today is Casey's birthday. He is 9. We had a visit from Hilary today. Casey used to spend the day at Hilary's house while I was at work. he hasn't seen her for several years but he recognised her as soon as she walked in.

I finally managed to get more individual pictures of the puppies. these will be the last ones of them all as they are going to their new homes this week.

Blue, ears on their way up now but still not quite there. He is the darkest of the puppies

Blue

Big Red. She is the darkest girl

Big Red

Green

Green

Little Red

Little Red

Orange

Orange

Pink

Pink

Purple

Purple

Turquoise

Turquoise

Yellow

Yellow

04 September 2009

2009-09-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

Darcy's previous owner came to visit today to meet the puppies. Her children came too. They loved all the puppies and spent more time playing with the Malinois puppies than the Bostons. The Malinois loved having people to run round the garden with and new shoes to chew. The Bostons are still a bit small to run round the garden but loved all the cuddles and attention. We get people coming almost every day but most people want to see the Malinois so the Bostons liked the extra fuss.

Darcy and Laurel worn out after all the excitement

03 September 2009

2009-09-03T02:41:00.000-07:00

The puppies dash about wildly for an hour and then fall asleep.

The Bostons don't want to go to bed yet.

Little Red and Orange

Blue

Whats Hardy doing in there?

Green.

1 September 2009

2009-09-01T04:20:00.000-07:00

6 weeks old today and getting wilder and more adventurous by the minute.
Yellow and Blue want to know what is on the other side of the gate?

Yellow has made it underneath, Blue is following closely behind.

What are these? Yellow gets one and Blue catches the other one.

Saffy thought she was safe upstairs...

When you are a 6 week old puppy everything is a toy.

Green wants to play outside but there is lots of water falling from the sky.

31 August 2009

2009-08-31T02:59:00.000-07:00

Today should be a quieter day. Just catching up on the housework and lots of puppy watching. They are such fun to watch now. The Malinois are 6 weeks old tomorrow and the Bostons were 4 weeks old last Saturday. The Bostons spend quite a lot of time out of their cage now and do spend time with the Belgians. I do watch them carefully as the Belgians can be a bit rough, especially as there are a lot more of them

The Bostons have taken to solid food like ducks to water and they both just dive in and make sure they get enough. Both of them seem to spend more time in the food bowl than anywhere else.

Yellow

30 August 2009

2009-08-30T02:45:00.000-07:00

Another busy day. I have been meaning to replace the carpet in the conservatory since we moved in but having 11 puppies galloping on it and having accidents has rather forced the issue. The pupies house training is doing very well. When they wake up I let them out of the pen straight away and they all follow me outside for a wee but they don't always make it right outside. We now have rather nice slate coloured cushion floor in the conservatory which is much easier to keep clean.

Big Red having a rest

Turquoise's ball

Yellow wants to know what Daisy has got

Turquoise

29 August 2009

2009-08-29T02:18:00.000-07:00

We had a bit of a break from puppies today. There was a companion show in our local park I took Saffy Daisy and Ruby for a day out.

Saffy and Daisy both came 3rd in their classes. All 3 had a go at the companion test which was a bit like the good citizens test and they all passed, even Daisy although she lost marks for her walking on a loose lead as she spent more time in the air than on the ground.

There was a small agility course there so we all had a couple of goes. Ruby got two clear rounds and looked really happy to be doing something other than looking after babies. She only jumped low height jumps as she is probably a bit out of condition.

Saffy did everything at her usual breakneck speed. She did all the jumps but missed the weave entry. this seems to be a bit of a problem when running courses. She can get the entry in the garden from lots of angles but always seems to miss it when running a course.

Even Daisy had a go over very low jumps and really enjoyed it The crowd loved her as she is so fast.

then we went home to play with the babies.

28 August 2009

2009-08-28T04:28:00.001-07:00

The Malinois spent ages this morning playing with Daisy in the garden. She plays really well with them even when they all join in.

Purple

Little Red

I put two bowls down with food in but everyone crowds round one. Spot the odd puppy out. There was also a separate plate of food for the Boston Babies but Laurel chose to fight with the Malinois for their food!

I suppose that might have been because Hardy ate all theirs!

27 August 2009

2009-08-27T07:24:00.000-07:00

All the puppies are doing really well. The Malinois are just about weaned. Ruby only feeds them very occasionally now. I hadn't planned to wean the Bostons yet as Darcy has plenty of milk for them but they took matters into their own paws. Both Bostons were out while I was feeding the Malinois and I turned round and there was Hardy helping himself. Both him and Laurel ate quite a bit. Much easier than the Malinois puppies who needed to be helped to try the food.

I have taken the collars of the Malinois puppies now. They play so wildly It is safer for them not to wear anything in case they catch them on anything. I can identify all the puppies if I am close to them but it is not as easy from a distance.

Yellow making sure no-one pinches her bone

Turquoise

have we got 3 Boston puppies now?

25 August 2009

2009-08-25T04:01:00.000-07:00

Little Red in the tunnel

breakfast in the run.

Turquoise, Pink and Green

Purple eating his chicken wing

Orange sitting comfortably

24 August 2009

2009-08-24T03:46:00.000-07:00

The Boston puppies are really growing up fast now. They love to come out of their run for a toddle round the living room. Today I took them outside for the first time. They seemed quite happy in the sunshine. They did not make the awful howling that the Belgians made the first time they went outside.

Daisy helping Darcy look after the babies

Hardy (left) and Laurel (Right)

Ruby thinks Darcy's puppies are a lot more civilised than hers

23 August 2009

2009-08-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

The puppies have spent quite a lot of time in their run outside today. I think they like the extra space. We took more individual photos of the puppies again.

Blue Boy

Blue Boy getting a little help with his ears.

t

Green Boy

Green Boy refusing to stand still

Purple Boy

Purple Boy

Orange Boy

Orange Boy

Turquoise Boy

Turquoise Boy

Dark Red Girl

Dark Red Girl

Little Red Girl

Little Red Girl

Pink

Pink Girl

Yellow Girl

Yellow Girl

21 August 2009

2009-08-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

The Malinois puppies are one month old today. They spent quite a lot of time in the garden today learning about all the important things a Malinois needs to know.
Green has a go at the A Frame and Pink tries the channel weaves. Starting their agility careers young?

Daisy shows little Red how to bite sticks

Ruby might love her babies but not enough to let them play with her stick and takes it back up the garden.

the puppies set off in hot persuit

and soon track her and her stick down

Then Aunty Saffy comes along and starts teaching them how to play

Tomorrow is the WBSDS Obedience show so I will be out all day. Robin will be looking after the puppies.

20 August 2009

2009-08-20T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ruby's toe is still very sore. the claw has fallen off entirely which has helped a bit as she is not catching it when she walks but she is still being very careful and obviously doesn't like the puppies going too near it. Yesterday she really didn't want the puppies feeding but today she is letting them feed provided she can lie on my bed and I bring her the puppies, a couple at a time!
The puppies are now eating well and trying lots of different food. They are learning to drink milk from a bowel too. The girls are still ahead in with ears. Pinks ears are up today and Green is the only boy to have an ear up

Today Darcy and her puppies have come down stairs for the first time. They are almost 3 weeks old now and they are toddling about. they are very fat compared to the Malinois puppies but there is much more milk available for each puppy.

19 August 2009

2009-08-19T04:50:00.000-07:00

Poor Ruby is not happy today. Her problems started yesterday. I gave the puppies their food and shut the pen and went off to tend to the Boston Puppies. When I came back Ruby was in the puppy pen and the food had gone. More worryingly there was quite a lot of blood on the floor. Then I realised I could only see 8 puppies. Panic set in and I had a good look round but couldn't see the mising puppy, Purple boy as it turned out, so I caught up all the other pups and put them in a cage so I could move the furniture to search for Purple.

I carefully moved the settees and looked behind the TV unit, but no Purple, and I was really starting to panic when I head a small squeak. Purple had climbed over the barricade and into the cage in the corner and had obviously gone to sleep.
I was so relieved to see him.

Checking over all the puppies it was obvious the blood didn't come from them. As there were Ruby sized foot prints in the blood I checked her over and found some blood on one of her hind feet. I couldn't really see where it had come from and it didn't seem to be hurting so thought it wasn't too serious.

This morning however she was really lame. Her foot is very tender and I can now see she has cracked her nail almost where it joins the toe. This meant a trip to the vets for poor Ruby. Luckily the vet thinks it will resolve without needing to be removed but I need to watch carefully incase it gets infected. She will also not be able to go any walks for a few days.

Please can we come out

Daisy wants to play but does not want thew puppies to have her ball.

Darcy thinks it smells like a puppy but it is not black and white

Saffy thinks the safest place to be is on my chair

18 August 2009

2009-08-18T02:55:00.000-07:00

The puppies are 4 weeks old already. Time is going sooo fast.
To celebrate both Little Red and Yellow have put their ears up.
Little Red girl on the settee

Yellow girl

Yellow girl and Purple boy. Purple's ears are doing their best but are not quite there yet.

17 August 2009

2009-08-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

The puppies went out into the run again this afternoon. They are still not sure about it so didn't stay out there very long. They were much more adventurous and explored the shed as well as the run.

Then they went back inside for a snack and afternoon nap.

Laurel and Hardy don't go outside yet but they are nuch more active now they are up on their legs now although that is quite difficult as they are such chubby little puppies. Darcy is obviously feeding them really well
Laurel

Hardy

15 August 2009

2009-08-15T08:32:00.001-07:00

The puppies went put into the garden today.

They were not sure what to make of it all but then Ruby suggested a picnic they were happy.

Then I threw them in Jail! Well actually I put them in the run. Ruby is not sure why they are in the run while she is outside.

13 August 2009

2009-08-13T13:45:00.001-07:00

Individual photos of the puppies. I have tried to get them all standing side and from the front on but it was quite hard as they kept moving
Green Boy Front view

Green Boy Side View

Blue Boy Side View

Blue Boy Front View

Purple Boy Front View

Purple Boy Side View

Orange Boy Front View

Orange Boy Side View

Turquoise Boy Side View

Turquoise Boy Front View

Dark Red Girl Side View

Dark Red Girl Front View

Light Red Girl Front View

Light Red Girl Side View.

Yellow Girl Side view

Yellow Girs Front View

Pink Girl Side View

Pink Girl Front View