Posts filed under ‘Observations’
Finley – Belatarr Art Tatum
We’re extremely lucky to have the very handsome Finley living approx. 2 miles from us here at Belatarr HQ. This means that, right from the get-go, we’ve been able to see lots of him. He and his brother Django (along with their parents) have enjoyed many romps together as well as both having been obedience trained by Tracey and her team over at Puppy Gurus, just like their parents before them:
Django at 5 Months.
Hard to believe that our little bundle of fluff is now this mature, but Django is now 5 months old and suddenly looking very grown-up. We took the pack to the beach for only the second time since Django’s arrival and a high time was had by all:
Django update.
It’s been ages since we’ve had a chance to update the blog and a mountain of pup images have accumulated over the last month or so, so this update is definitely long overdue.
At the ripe old age of 4 months Django is now very thoroughly integrated into the pack and into our daily routines. Like his parents he’s incredibly affectionate and, if anything, even smarter and quicker to learn than they were. Ringcraft and Obedience training both started a few weeks back and, as with everything else, he’s taken them in his stride. Confident, calm & ever-curious would probably be his key adjectives right now, as he explores his world and we take him on his little daily adventures in the garden & river and, just occasionally, the beach too:
After a few tentative first introductions to water (not helped by him plunging into an icy pool one freezing day at the beach) Django now shares his parents love of water and excitedly heads for (and into) the river on his short morning walks. He also regularly demonstrates his HPR qualities and likes to Hunt, Point & Retrieve whenever the opportunity presents itself:

Unlike the rest of the UK we've only had a light dusting of snow, but it was still something new for Django to experience.
Puppy portraits – 8 weeks.
Most of our boys and girls have now left for their new homes but we are still looking after three pups until their new families are ready for them, so our new, slimmed-down puppy-pack are now out and about with us and their parents throughout the day, and back in their whelping quarters at night. The warmer weather has also allowed them to take regular trips outside, several times a day, as well as individual trips in the car and round and about town in the baby sling, just like their parents before them.

Thelonius Monk (Milo) - bad weather prevented us from getting a 7 week head-shot of this handsome boy, but we've managed to crack it this week.
Puppy portraits: Week 6!
The gang have really grown-up during this very busy week – bounding around their run and (when given the chance) the living room, wagging like crazy and giving little puppy barks. They’ve also braved the atrocious/freezing/wet weather to take three supervised trips to “the great outdoors” where, with great confidence and excitement, they encountered such wonderous new things as grass, leaves, herbs, puddles, rain and, of course, mud all for the first time:
Meanwhile Tim started stacking the puppies into their show stands to start to assess their potential:
The Kennel Club approved all of their pedigree names (more of which anon) and we’ve begun the very exciting process of matching puppies to their waiting new homes.
No longer squish-nosed babies, by 6-weeks the Belatarr dozen have become proper young dogs:
THE BOYS
THE GIRLS
Week 3: Pup Update.
Another huge week for the Belatarr babies – and for Phoenix too whose 3rd Birthday was on Friday!
With appetites growing daily and Phoenix down to just 5 functional teats, we started the process of weaning at 16 days of age, when the puppies still had only limited vision.
As with teaching any new babies to feed, much mess and general hilarity ensued, but all learned to lap on their first day of trying, and by day 20 they had progressed from their starter mousse (which looks and even smells just like Brussels Paté…though no, we haven’t tried it on toast as yet) to their first raw food – the same as the adult dogs get, but puréed for ease of digestion and blended 50/50 with the mousse.
Now, at 3 weeks of age, they are all feeding with what’s best described as frenzied enthusiasm, with Phoenix popping in to top them up with milk every 4 or 5 hours.
THE BOYS
THE GIRLS
It’s all about Phoenix.
Although she scored some very nice Champ Show class wins last year, Phoenix has been very lightly shown since being awarded top HWV puppy just over 12 months ago as we have concentrated on Mingus in the show ring. Phoenix has also had to take something of a back seat on the blog too, so we thought the time was well overdue for a celebration of the world of Phoenix.
Phoenix has a hobby, and one that we’ve never got around to documenting on the blog before. She loves, and I do mean LOVES, for inanimate, “previously-still-things” – sand, soil, mud, and most especially water – to come alive and start to move. Of course she loves hurtling around after deer, pheasants, sticks, toys as much as the next gundog, but she saves her most intense concentration and her most excited response for when she gets to act as goalie and dives this way and that to catch “previously-still-things.” Mingus can be quite obliging, and when he’s digging in the soil or sand Phoenix invariably positions herself right behind to catch the flying dirt….
But Phoenix is a total water-baby at heart, so it’s no great surprise that her favourite variation, and one with which she is now semi-obsessed, is the flying water game:
Snowbeards.
Yes, like the whole of the rest of the UK, the snow has finally arrived here in Wolfvalley. Approx 6 inches fell overnight with mild drifting creating around a foot of depth in places, rendering the road/lane impassable (no change there then…) and once again transforming our valley garden into a “Winter Wonderland”; to whit: