Puppies!
We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to announce the arrival of 12 (yes, you read that right, 12!) bouncing bonny Belatarr babies – 3 girls and 9 boys 🙂
Pup-alanche!
Temperature monitoring suggested that Phoenix would deliver her pups on Sat eve or Sunday morning, and so it proved, with the first arrival showing up after one single contraction at 17:53 on Saturday evening. 3 more pups followed quite quickly, and then Phoenix decided it was all over and went into a kind of happy, grinning rest phase, as if to say “Aren’t I clever – look what I’ve done!” we knew that there were more puppy travellers waiting in the departure lounge, though, so after 2 and a half hours of inaction we all zipped off to the vets for a shot of oxytocin to speed things along.
Clever mum.
Everyone home safe and sound.
Puppy number 5 duly arrived at 22:50, and another 7 followed, with the final baby appearing at 01:49 on Sunday morning. Just to add to the fun, these last 8 were all born in the boot of the car, parked up at the veterinary hospital, with Tim as midwife and Adam and the vet zipping back and forth with supplies (clean towels, cups of tea – the essentials!)
Big pile of snooze.
With a litter as large as this you might expect a few weaklings amongst the bunch, but all 12 of the Baby Belatarr’s arrived kicking, and (quite literally) squeaking with vigour. They were all born at a good weight too, with relatively little variance between them. All drew breath within seconds and all were suckling within a few mins. Before announcing the news “officially” we’ve been anxiously waiting these last few days to make sure that all 12 were gaining weight nicely, and were developing as they should, and we’re delighted to say that they are all currently going from strength to strength, day by day.
All part of the snooze/eat/snooze/eat continuum.
Once they had all arrived, then the fun really began…with a litter of this size (and only 6 decent teats to feed from) we have, from a few hours after the final birth, had to split the pups into two teams, and feed each team separately to ensure that everyone gets a good meal and that the bigger boys don’t muscle out the smaller girls. This we do every 2 to 3 hours, day and night, so sleep has become something of a fond and distant memory, but who needs sleep when there are puppies on board…
Team 1 hard at work.
Team 2 waiting to be called into action.
Phoenix is a quite wonderful, utterly attentive and completely devoted mother, answering her babies every squeak (of which there can be quite a chorus!) and absolutely fastidious about keeping them all clean and content. She was very anxious to be with them 24/7 for the first few days, but as of yesterday, has decided she also wants to come out for occasional short walks in the autumn sunshine with Mingus, and it’s wonderful to see her trotting around having fun again before deciding that she needs to head back to check on the gang indoors.
That’s the story so far…watch this space for regular updates.
It's all exhausting work.
Mr Red, the first born, blissed out.
Mr. Red again, with his (probably temporary) tiny white head-spot.
Mr yellow-and-black, impersonating a baby bat.
Mr Green takes a nap.
The Milkbar is open for business.
Zzzzzzzz...
Mingus’ gains a title.
Amongst all the excitement and anticipation of the puppies-to-be Mingus headed off for what will be his last show of the year – the Okehampton & District Open. He picked up another Best of Breed, but this one was particularly special since it gave him the final score that he needed to be awarded the Kennel Club Show Certificate of Merit.
Mingus is only the 7th HWV to qualify for the Certificate, and, at 22 months old, he’s also the youngest ever male, and the second youngest HWV overall to achieve the award.
From now on Mingus full name becomes: Morehay Lars of Belatarr ShCM
He celebrated, in usual style, by chasing lots of young pheasants that have recently been released into the surrounding woods.
Focussing on a target.
Mingus in pursuit.
Puppies on the way!
Phoenix - 5 weeks down, 4 still to go.
Phoenix has gained LOTS of weight over the last week and looks very obviously pregnant. She’s also pretty-much ceased running, preferring a genteel trot instead, although her love of all things watery certainly hasn’t abated any. When not sloshing and trotting she’s now spending most of her day snoozing on the dog sofa, as shown above.
After quite a bit of searching for a specialist ultrasound scanner we got a hot tip from Sam of Farlap (thanks Sam!) about a mobile Sheep/Pig/Cow/Alpaca and Dog scanner operating in north Devon, and duly booked him to come and scan Phoenix at 5 weeks into her gestation. The equipment these mobile scanners use is more sensitive than the equivalent machines found in most vets, and (as we discovered) almost no vet will make an estimate as to the size of litter. So that scan is now done, and, much to our extreme delight, 8 puppies were seen, very clearly, on the ultrasound, each with a healthy heartbeat.
So with a month or so to go, it’s official – Phoenix & Mingus’ puppies are on the way!
Not much for moving these days.
Expected Litter.
Phoenix’ previous two seasons, and the physical and behavioural changes that accompanied them, were documented, day by day, in the hope that we’d be able to clearly follow her progress through this crucial third season and see where she was. Those first two seasons followed a very clear pattern, but not so this one!
….to cut a long and somewhat nail-biting story short, our initial attempts at securing a mating weren’t met with much enthusiasm, particularly from Phoenix, who was much more interested in sleeping, but a few swift trips to the vet later, (and following much useful advice from Granny Diane & Aunt Emma – thank you!!) we discovered that she ovulated much later than expected (and well after the so-called tell-tail signs had indicated) after which things went a WHOLE LOT better. In the end we secured three very easy matings, all with good ties, and all without any distress from either dog, so patience (and blood testing) was the key!
So, all being well, we should be expecting the pitter-patter of tiny paws round-about October 25th – watch this space!
A baby Belatarr - Mingus at 6 weeks.
Planned Litter.
Phoenix glowing in the sun.
So, the exciting news can now be shared – as some of our readers will already know, we have long been planning to have a litter with Phoenix at her third season, which was due this October/November.
This week, though, our plans were accelerated quite a bit when Phoenix came into season on Monday night – a good two-and-a-half months earlier than expected.
Ever since Phoenix first came to live with us we’ve been looking carefully, and at length, at potential stud dogs for her and have given serious consideration to several very fine males. After pondering all of the available options we’ve decided that the sire of Phoenix’ first litter will be….our very own multi-award winning, breed-record-breaking Mingus.
Mingus hears the news.
Although we certainly didn’t acquire Mingus in order to use him with Phoenix, as time has gone on, and his very considerable strengths and attributes have become more and more apparent, we’ve concluded that no other available dog better combines the coat/head/temperament qualities that we so love in this breed. We’ve also been fortunate enough to meet and/or assess almost all of both Phoenix and Mingus’ siblings to get a clearer idea of how their genes & pedigree lines might express themselves in a litter.
As if to confirm our decision, we had Mingus eye-tested on Monday afternoon (which he passed with flying colours) and within hours of Mingus’ all-clear results Phoenix had come into season!
The prospect of bringing together our two successful show dogs and the possibilities of combining their strengths is extremely exciting and we are now able to take enquiries from show, pet and working homes, about this planned litter. All puppy homes will be carefully selected to provide the best possible start in life for this new generation of Belatarr HWV’s.
If you would like to be considered for inclusion on our puppy list or would like to discuss life with this wonderful breed in more detail then please do contact Tim at: renfromail@aol.com.
Phoenix in the long meadow grass.
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 in the meadow.
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:
Stalking...
Focussing....
Bouncing...
Back-Flipping...
Leaping...
A contented Phoenix, post-splash.
Mingus scores Hat-Trick. Four-in-a-Row.
UPDATE:
Following hot on the heels of his 1st at Crufts and then again at last weekends HWVA Championship Show, Mingus scored another first Junior Dog under judge Pam Blay at today’s W.E.L.K.S. Chamionship – giving him a hat-trick of three 1st places at three consecutive Champ Shows.
Mingus pre-show - looking quizzical in the garden.
Today wasn’t Mingus’ best performance and he was unusually fidgety and distracted in the ring – probably due to close interaction, immediately before entering the ring, with a bitch who’s kennel mate was in season …we won’t be making that mistake again!! – but, luckily his movement was as solid as ever and the judge took little time in awarding him 1st place.
Practising stacking with Mingus.
AND THEN…8 days later it was the National Dog Show Championship, another big entry of 67 HWV’s and Mingus’ final ever appearance as a Junior. Following the previous weeks rather unsatisfactory/wriggly behaviour in the ring we took a different approach with Mingus’ pre-show preparation. The result was one of his best ever performances; he stood immaculately, showing total focus and requiring just the lightest of touches to maintain his position – a total joy for his handler this time out!! – and his movement was as powerful and animated as ever, all of which brought him his 4th Champ Show first place in a row. The perfect way to exit Junior and move up amongst the big boys!
Belatarr wins Top Puppy of the year… again!
Mingus strides out in the ring.
Yesterday saw the long-awaited first ever Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla Championship Show, judged and extremely well presided over by Frank Kane – one of the country’s most senior judges, and possibly the ONLY British judge who could be said to be a household name outside of show households. This was the second ever show (the first being last months Crufts) at which CC’s (Challenge Certificates) were being awarded to the breed. The combined draw of Frank and the CC’s attracted a phenomenal 164 entries from 126 HWV’s spread across 23 Classes…without question the largest gathering of the breed anywhere in the world, which ably demonstrated that Wires have most definitely “arrived” in 2011!!
Hot dog (& handler) preparing the stack and nicely showing one of the secrets of his success - Mingus' powerful shoulders & upper arm.
...and stacked in the Junior Dog class.
The day was blisteringly hot, which certainly caused ongoing problems for both dogs and exhibitors, many of whom were wilting to various degrees.
First!
Mingus was up in Junior Dog – at 10:50 AM, but already boiling in the ring. Frank certainly put the class of 6 young dogs through their paces, moving them on four occasions to examine structure & movement from all directions, but we were absolutely thrilled to be awarded 1st place once again, consolidating on Mingus’ 1st in the same class at Crufts.
Mingus' 1st Junior Dog award.
We like a bit of silverware and Mingus received a natty engraved silver platter for his win too, but, much like the temperature, things were only just hotting up for him…
The annual awards were announced at lunchtime. At last years awards ceremony our Phoenix took Top Puppy and Top Scoring Puppy Bitch for the year. We knew that there was some very serious competition this year from, amongst others, two superb young bitches (from Herlinga & Morganna Kennels respectively) both of whom had excelled through the year at Championship and Open shows and who we knew would have amassed substantial scores….
Mingus & Handler having a team-discussion whilst awaiting their results...
As the tally of points was pinned up and the awards announced it became clear that one of these bitches had beaten the existing Puppy Show Points record by quite a large margin…but Mingus had managed to go ever further and, with his score of 581 points, took Top Puppy Dog, winning the Leiborschy Tankard, and then Top Puppy of the year, allowing Belatarr to retain the Leiborschy Flask that Phoenix won for us last year. In the process Mingus also set a new record for the highest score ever attained by a UK HWV show puppy. Needless to say we were brimming over with pride at our boys amazing achievements – what a day to remember!!
The two award certificates and more 1st's!
1st at Crufts!
The 3:15AM start could mean only one thing – it was the “Big Day”…..yep, Crufts had finally arrived.
A huge HWV entry of 104 – surely the largest gathering of the breed that has ever taken place outside Hungary? – converged on Birmingham’s NEC, with us amongst them.
Mingus hit the ring at around 09:15, keenly watched by his “Grandmas” (Jacqui of Morehay & Caroline of Starshot HWV’s) and did both them and us proud by winning his class and being awarded 1st Special Junior Dog, from a class of 6 dogs. All very exciting!
Another wonderful result to add to his tally, but also a real milestone in his Show career:
Mingus stacked in Special Junior Dog class.
Being awarded 1st in Class.
Mingus on the move
...and in the Best Dog Challenge.
Hips-Hips Hooray.
Following the extreme weather over the tail end of last year 2011 has (so far) been fairly quiet with not too much excitement here in the Belatarr camp.
Mingus has continued to do very well in his first handful of shows as an adult, and has added another three very handy BOB/BNSC’s to his scores over the last few weeks.
This last weekend also definitely proved to be notable too, as Mingus’ hip-scores & X-ray arrived…actually, they almost didn’t arrive at all since our postie somehow delivered them to the wrong address altogether, but our near-neighbour kindly brought them round (thank goodness!!).
And the scores on the doors were: 4/3 (total of 7), which is an absolutely excellent score for an HWV, and puts Mingus very nicely amongst the best of the breed, hip-wise. Cue happy grins and wags all ’round.
Here he is (nearly)stacked at last weeks Plymouth & District Canine Society Open Show, somewhere between getting Best NSC Gundog and being short-listed for Best Gundog in the group:
Semi-stacked
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 