Posts tagged ‘pack dynamics’
Belatarr Reunion.
This last weekend saw the gathering of the clan as we hosted our 3rd Belatarr reunion. After weeks of daily rain we were incredibly lucky and blessed with unbroken summer sunshine for the entire afternoon. Â 20 Belatarr Wires were present, together with special guests Oz and Bertie the Labs, Molly the Golden and teeny-tiny Frankie the “Shorkie”. Needless to say much wiry romping in and out of the river and around the garden ensued and it was wonderful, as ever, to see our babies all grown-up and very much enjoying life to the full!
Many many thanks to everyone who came to the day and who braved the holiday traffic travelling back and forth to us in Devon – we couldn’t do it without you all – and particular thanks to Sarah for fulfilling the role of official photographer for the day and for supplying all of these great pics. 🙂
Mama Phoenix in full flight!
Belatarr at Bournemouth.
A super day for the Belatarr babies at the Bournemouth Championship Show… The heat was often stifling, but 4 Belatarr dogs from 3 generations of Phoenix’ puppies took to the ring today, and judge and breed specialist Karen Richardson did us proud.
Billie stacked in Open Bitch.
Billie’s examination – (camera facing straight into the sun, unfortunately!)
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM (Billie) was awarded 1st Open Bitch and went on to take Best Bitch, as she had previously done at the same show in 2014.
Her younger brother Belatarr Scluptor (Kofi) was 1st Post Graduate Dog and went on to take at excellent Reserve Best Dog, whilst, very excitingly, it was also the show debut of two of the newest generation of Belatarr puppies – the Hitchcock litter – as Belatarr North By Northwest (North) and his brother Belatarr Vertigo (Sabi) took to the ring at just 6 months and 2 days of age. Both boys looked terrific and though the heat made concentration and focusing very difficult indeed for them, they both acquitted themselves very well and both managed to qualify for Crufts 2016. Thrilled to have been there to see (and, in Sabi’s case, move) them in the ring 🙂
Belatarr Vertigo (Sabi) – a hot pup!
Sabi on the move in the ring.
A very hot North on the move in the ring.
Puppy Portraits: Week 6.
Last week’s drab and damp weather has given way to a wonderful week of Spring sunshine and the pups have been enjoying being outside every single day this week, where they have experienced tractors and low-flying aircraft and watched pigeons and numerous other birds (and cats) come and go about their Springtime routines.
The gang sunbathing in their outdoor run.
Monday saw their first attempt at tackling raw chicken wings – an essential step towards the chewing and chomping or raw bones that will mark their adult lives.
Mr Bronze gets stuck into some serious chicken-wing chomping.
The pups (and their now needle-sharp teeth) took to them with huge enthusiasm and quite a bit of curiosity, excited at the prospect, yet unskilled at how to tackle such a large prey item. Approx. 60 mins later they had figured out what to do and all meat had been stripped and consumed and all bones had been cracked and (mostly) swallowed. Time, then, for a long and satisfied snooze for all of the babies. By the end of the week, though, they had all grown considerably more savvy at tackling their new foodstuff, and today’s wings were dispatched within about 15 mins or so.
After many, many hours of watching, stacking and photographing these babies we can also now reveal their new, Kennel Club identities and formally introduce the Belatarr Hitchcock litter:
THE BOYS
Mr Black – Belatarr Secret Agent.
Mr Blue – Belatarr Notorious.
Mr Bronze – Belatarr Vertigo.
Mr Red – Belatarr North By Northwest.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green – Belatarr To Catch a Thief.
Miss Mint – Belatarr Thirtynine Steps.
Miss Orange – Belatarr Topaz
Miss Pink – Belatarr Rebecca.
Miss Purple – Belatarr Marnie.
Miss Yellow – Belatarr Jamaica Inn.
It’s tiring work being 6 weeks old.
Brother and sister – Belatarr Notorious & Belatarr Thirtynine Steps
Puppy Portraits – week 4.
The last two days have seen some wonderful Spring sunshine arrive in Devon allowing us to get the pups outside to experience the big wide world for the first time. The thermometer showed 70 degrees F in the sunshine and the pups were able to spend 4 hours in the fresh air on two successive afternoons. Sadly the forthcoming weather forecast suggests that they may not have another opportunity to get outdoors again for the foreseeable future, but we were just delighted to see them frolic in the fresh air and were also able to take this weeks portraits outside too.
THE BOYS
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Bronze, again.
Mr Red.
THE GIRLS
Miss Green (sleepy!)
Miss Mint.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss Yellow.
The gang get their first taste of the outdoors!
Mr Bronze takes a nap in the sunshine.
…and has a snoozy snuggle.
When indoors and out the pups love nothing more than to pile into one or other of their cat-carrier dens, which have been equally enjoyed by all of their older brothers and sisters before them.
The gang pile into their micro-den (note the chew marks from previous pup inhabitants!)
For the last week we have also been weaning the pups onto their solid food diet. Starting with Royal Canin weaning mousse the kids went absolutely nuts with excitement at their first sniff of the solid stuff and within a few days were lapping very efficiently. From mid-week they were old and tidy enough to be fed from their super-duper Weena-Feeder and by this weekend they have been transferred onto their raw food diet – essentially the same as their mum eats, but put through a food processor to remove all of the chunks and lumps.
Meanwhile teeth are erupting and everyone wants to chew everything, so new rubber chew toys and plastic bottles are going down a treat, when human arms, toes and ears are not available. Their nails are still being filed regularly too, and, when they are sleepy enough, each pup can be gently wiggled upside-down on your lap whilst having their teeny-tiny toes attended to, as beautifully illustrated below by a gently snoozing Mr Blue.
Mr Blue gets his nails filed
Belatarr at Crufts 2015
A brief day off from puppy duties saw a terrific and very memorable (historic, even!) day for us at Crufts 2015. Belatarr was one of only 6 Gundog kennels to qualify for the final of what was to be the last ever Kennel Club Breeders Competition. It was a great honour to be invited to take our place in front of a big crowd in the Crufts main arena today, where we were very proud to represent the breed alongside over 200 other dogs from all of the other groups.
The Breeders Competition was in the evening, but prior to that came the breed judging, and the Belatarr boys really did us proud today too. Young Belatarr Hercules was now just out of Junior and in his very first Post Graduate Dog class, where he was placed 3rd out of  an entry of 10 – a very nice result which also automatically qualifies him for Crufts 2016.
His big brother Belatarr Charlie Parker was unquestionably the star of the day though, and we were thrilled, and delighted for Jenny and David, to see Charlie awarded 1st Limit Dog from a very classy line up of males.
Belatarr Charlie Parker stacked in the Limit Dog Class.
The examination.
And 1st place!
Belatarr Hercules – examined in the Post Graduate Dog Class.
Charlie & Herc with their Crufts winnings!
Billie, Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM, was the third member of our Breeders Team today, and she didn’t go home empty handed, picking up Reserve in another very high quality Open Bitch Class.
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson ShCM – stacked in the Open Bitch class.
The Belatarr reunion 2014.
An overcast but just-about-dry day greeted us all in the garden here at Belatarr HQ for our second Belatarr reunion. The wonderful turn-out included sixteen  Belatarr babies along with their mum, Phoenix and Dad, Mingus, together with Copper the HWV and Oz the Lab.
Much splashy/hurtling/chasing mayhem ensued and all the dogs seemed to have a thoroughly good time exploring the river and the garden with one another. It was a wonderful day and we were, as ever, immensely proud of what beautiful and happy young dogs they have all grown into.
Many thanks to all who attended, and particularly to Sarah, Kathy & Vivien for sharing some of your photos of the day…mind you, getting all of the dogs (or even a large proportion of them!) together for a photograph or two proved a trickier prospect!
Belatarr Noctua (Kaia)
Her older sister, Belatarr Nina Simone (Ruby)
and Dad, Morehay Lars of Belatarr ShCM (Mingus)
Some of those who attended…take 1
…and a slightly more organised, take 2.
Puppy Portraits: Week 6
The Boys
Mr Black.
Mr Blue
Mr Bronze.
Mr Green.
Mr Red.
The Girls
Miss Fawn.
Miss Lime.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink
Miss Purple
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
Puppy Portraits: Week 5 (a bumper crop!)
THE BOYS
Mr Black 1.
Mr Black 2.
Mr Black 3.
Mr Blue 1.
Mr Blue 2.
Mr Blue 3.
Mr Bronze 1.
Mr Bronze 2.
Mr Bronze 3.
Mr Green 1.
Mr Green 2.
Mr Green 3.
Mr Red 1.
Mr Red 2.
Mr Red 3.
THE GIRLS
Miss Fawn 1.
Miss Fawn 2.
Miss Fawn 3.
Miss Lime 1.
Miss Lime 2.
Miss Lime 3.
Miss Orange 1.
Miss Orange 2.
Miss Orange 3.
Miss Pink 1.
Miss Pink 2.
Miss Pink 3.
Miss Purple 1.
Miss Purple 2.
Miss Purple 3.
Miss White 1.
Miss White 2.
Miss White 3.
Miss Yellow 1.
Miss Yellow 2.
Miss Yellow 3.
Puppy Portraits: week 2.
The Boys
Mr Black.
Mr Blue.
Mr Bronze.
Mr Green.
Mr Red.
The Girls
Miss Fawn.
Miss Lime.
Miss Orange.
Miss Pink.
Miss Purple.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
Pup Report
This was a big week for the baby Beltarr’s. Their eyes started to open, with Mr Green taking an early lead by opening his eyes at day 10, which is very early indeed! The rest mainly waited until day 13 or 14 and a few are still only just on the verge even now. Mostly they keep eyes closed though, and can be seen in their pics, and vision is extremely limited/blurry for now in any case.
Coupled with their senses gradually coming on line they started to wobbly-walk around day 11 and 12 and are getting more proficient each day, although mostly walks still consist of a few wobbly quick steps and then a turn-turtle.
Weight increases briefly slowed at around day 9 so we started to supplement with bottle feeding. Within 24 hrs they had also got the hang of it (rather surprisingly, since the action required is totally different from that used when feeding from mum) and they are all now piling the weight on once again, most passing 1kg on day 14.
Finally their 2-week old claws have already turned into razor sharp needles, so claw-cutting began in earnest on day 14 – here’s a very compliant and super cute Miss Purple getting her tallons seen to:
Belatarr Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker will always be a very special boy to us – he very nearly stayed on as part of our pack, and it was a considerable wrench to part with him, and a very emotional time when he left us for pastures new.
He now has a wonderful life with his new family of David, Jenny and (very importantly!) big brother Oz the Lab, who definitely takes a leading role in teaching young Charlie the ropes.  This extremely handsome boy now looks uncannily like his dad, Mingus, and will also be the first of the Belatarr Babies to hit the show ring – very exciting for all concerned! Many thanks to David and Jenny for allowing us to share these fabulous pics of their boys:
Charlie & Oz hit the beach.
Aged 5 months.
The team!
Rewind back to 3 and a half months old, and Charlie meets snow for the first time.
