Babies in the pipeline :-)

I'll start with the cats, unfortunately Sybil is not pregnant, just a big fat lump :-), but her grandaughter, Bob, is! She is due on or around the 31st March

After what seems like an eternity, Dime is finally in season! This will mean that the rest of the entire girls will follow suit very quickly. Dime will be mated to Cash (who is already pretty keen on the idea, lol) so hopefully we will have a really special litter of silver babies towards the end of June. Spirit will also be mated this time, with the hope of a mixed litter containing phantoms, blacks, apricots and or reds.

It is going to be chaos here over the next few weeks, making sure that the boys are kept well away from the girls. Cash has seen all this before and was very good about being separated, I suspect that Morse will be a little more vocal about the situation, and will hate being away from his best mate, Tiffany, but his turn will come, just as soon as he is old enough and has had the relevant health tests. Of course, it goes without saying, both girls and both their prospective partners are health tested (as are most of their parents):-)

R.I.P Rhonda Apr 2003- March 2014

Yesterday started much like any other day, all the dogs were happy, ate breakfast and then enjoyed a good 6 mile walk, no hint of how the day was going to finish.

I had to go out in the afternoon for Cash's eye test and to do the school run, when I got home Rhonda was very quiet, although I could see she wasn't right I wasn't unduly worried, and in fact when she turned her nose up at her dinner, a couple of hours later I still wasn't particularly worried as she has always been a fairly sensitive girl and it wasn't the 1st time she had missed a meal. Through the evening she remained quiet, but showed no signs of any distress, my plan at this point was to pop her to the vets in the morning if she hadn't picked up by then.

It was only when I put the dogs out for their last wee that it became apparent that she was now far from right, she was wobbly on her legs, her heart was racing and her gums were very pale, all of which points to an internal bleed, the emergency vets were called and she was taken straight in, here my vet confirmed what I suspected and after a lengthy consultation and supporting blood test results, I made the heartbreaking decision to let her go.

I first met her mum when she was just a puppy herself, at the time I bred black stds, but I absolutely fell for Taladayga Miss Scarlett (who later became a champion), I spoke to her owner/breeder, Anita Bax, and booked a future puppy from this girl. I waited nearly 4 years to get my puppy, but she was so worth the wait. Rhonda was very lightly shown as a puppy, but neither she or I enjoyed it so we didn't pursue that activity, Rhonda was much more in her element out on a good walk, I suspect that Audrey inherited her hunting instincts from her mum, I can still recall waiting hours for Rhonda to return from her hunting expeditions at Bracknell forest and Virginia Water!

Right to the end Rhonda loved her walks, though her deteriorating eye sight put an end to her hunting days. Last night was the 1st visit she had had to the vets other than for neutering, she had no arthritis or other age related conditions, I am totally in shock at loosing her so quickly and unexpectedly. I suspect Alfie will also miss her terribly as he worshiped the ground she walked on and never left her side on a walk, that I will find very hard to see. 

Rhonda produced some fabulous pups in her lifetime, Audrey was of course one of them. Her line will continue through Audrey and some of her siblings.

R.I.P Rhonda.

Day trip to France

Last weekend was a busy one as we were taking Steve to meet his new mum in Calais and collecting my new puppy, Morse, also in Calais. Going away, even for just a couple of days, is like a military operation, trying to ensure that all the animals are catered for in our absence (thank goodness for some very good friends!) But on this occasion we had a few extra things to worry about, my daughter was going to stay with her older sister, so that involved a 2 1/2hr journey to meet her (on a day when the storms were raging and all you heard on the radio were warnings not to drive unless it was essential!), then we went on to stay at my mums for the night as she lives much closer to the Eurotunnel than I do. I thought I had remembered everything but unfortunately I forgot Steve's pedigree.

We set off from my mums very early on Sat morning and arrived at the tunnel in good time, at check in we were informed we could travel on a slightly earlier train, which was great, but unfortunately it did not come off and in fact we were almost half an hour later than the planned departure. Fortunately once in Calais we found the meeting place without any trouble and enjoyed a very pleasant couple of hours in the company of Morse's breeder and Steve's new owner. We started the homeward journey late that afternoon and the trip home was uneventful, Morse traveled beautifully. Again we spent the night at my mums, to break the journey, and Morse did not put a foot wrong, within a short time of arriving, he had eaten his dinner, with enthusiasm, been outside for the toilet and started to play a bit. He was happy to settle for the night.

The following morning we went for our first walk together, and Morse's 1st trip to the beach. His tail didn't stop wagging and I felt confident to let him off the lead. He had a good whiz about and although other dogs proved quite a strong distraction he came back (eventually) when called.  His integration with the rest of the Itzapromise girls and boys has gone smoothly and he went out for his 1st group walk this morning (in the blooming rain of course!), he was a little star, and already there is improvement in his recall, and he looked to me for reassurance if we met anything that he wasn't sure about, so I am confident that he is going to fit in here beautifully.

I have also had several updates on how Steve is doing in Denmark, and so far he is settling equally well with his new mum and her std poodle :-)

Not long now

Next week I get to collect Morse, I can't wait to meet him for the first time. Initially I booked him because of his colour possibilities, combined with what is a very nice clean pedigree, but on top of that he is a very smart looking boy, with a good shape and lovely head. Add into the mix all the work that Big Cheyenne poodles has put into socialising him and getting him ready for his new life, I really couldn't be happier with him.

I am meeting Morse's breeder, Sabine, in Calais and this is where I shall also be waving Steve goodbye, as he starts his new life with Signe (and Sally her std poodle), in Denmark. This little kitten has been a character right from the start, he has a big facebook following and I know that everyone will be pleased to know that there will be regular FB updates from his new mum. The one thing that is making me look forward to his departure is that Margo has started calling, and having been well and truly caught out by Gary and Diva, when they were just kittens, a few years ago, I am not allowing them any contact! Needless to say, no one is finding this arrangement much fun.

I am hopeful that we may have some Devon kittens on the way, Sybil was mated nearly 5 weeks ago and as yet hasn't called again, she looks pregnant, but then again, Sybil always looks pregnant, lol. Bob was also mated a couple of weeks ago, hopefully she will do slightly better on the numbers this time as her last litter consisted of just 1 kitten, but she was stunning so that made up for lack of numbers.

We had sunny morning yesterday, so I took the opportunity to get a few pics of dry poodles (dry poodles have been a rare sight here over the last few months), I have attached a few of the pictures, but as always you can see many more if you click the link to my flickr page, on the right of this page.

Who's the Daddy?

I don't normally show my dogs, it just isn't my thing, but Cash has something a bit special about him and I have been persuaded to put him in the ring this year. Today he had his 1st show. He was a little star, didn't pup a foot wrong and he has qualified for next years Crufts, I am so proud of him. Then as if that wasn't a good enough day, we had a phone call from the owner of a bitch that visited Cash a few weeks ago to say that he is now the proud daddy of a beautiful litter of pups :-)

We may be wet, but are we letting it get to us..

Well the dogs couldn't care less about the filthy wet conditions that we are currently experiencing, but I have to admit that I will be glad to see an end to the rain we have been having. Bringing home 8 filthy big dogs (the little ones find they get too cold, as they are up to their armpits in mud and water if they join us) is not much fun and I am finding it hard having to clean them after every single walk, but hey, it's all part of the joys of dog ownership, so I just have to accept that. I have attached a few pics of one of our walks to give you an idea of what I mean. As always, there are more pictures on flickr.com.

Everything else is just ticking along nicely, it i all a bit of a waiting game at the moment, waiting to collect Morse next month, waiting to take Cash to his 1st show at the end of this month, waiting to take Steve to meet his new mum (she lives in Denmark so we are meeting in Calais), waiting to see if either Sybil or Bob is pregnant and most impatiently, waiting for Spirit and Dime to come into season!

2014

I would like to start by wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

I apologise for the lack of updates/photos in the run up to Christmas, but like many others, it was a very busy time for us. I was then poorly over Christmas and it has taken a few days to get back to some sort of normality.

Last year was an interesting year for Itzapromise, we had some beautiful pups from Audrey in the spring, one of which stayed with us, but we also had the disappointment of Spirit not producing any pups and the terrible time that poor Dollar had with her pregnancy. We had several litters of naughty Devon kittens, again we ended up keeping one (well I have wanted a Sybil baby for many many years). On top of that we brought Cash over from Sweden and said au revoir to Sioux/Zen (who is living the life of Riley as an only dog)

Thank you to all those who have kept in contact, with news/photos of your Itzapromise baby, I really do appreciate it, seeing my babies as important family members is what it is all about for me. I do try to respond to any messages that I get, but sometimes I open them when I don't have time to sit and respond, and unfortunately sometimes it just goes out of my head later, so please accept my apologies if I have not responded personally.

Next year promises to be an exciting one. I will be collecting my phantom carrying black boy from Big Cheyenne. From all the photos and messages I have had from his wonderful breeder, Sabine, I just know he is going to fit in perfectly.

I am currently waiting for Spirit and Dime to come into season, due Feb/March. I plan to mate Cash with Dime, which should result in a silver litter. I am still not 100% sure who Spirit will be visiting, but it will be a dog that should give us a % of phantoms in the litter.

Bob has been calling and has been spending time with Manuel, so there is a possibility of kittens in a couple of months.