Posts tagged ‘Phoenix’
Belatarr: the Next Generation.
We’re delighted to be able to announce that Phoenix, the Top HWV Brood Bitch of 2014, has been confirmed in pup with what will be her final litter:
Some of the new Belatarr babies in development.
For this very special litter we have chosen Fürdöházi Álnok of Amiryck (Cézár) as the sire.
Cézár doing what he loves best.
Cézár is a super example of the breed. He displays the correct, harsh wire coat, has a loving, outgoing, confident and friendly temperament and is very well constructed throughout with an excellent head. He derives from similar lines to our own boy Mingus but also has some of the same physical characteristics as Phoenix, so we hope that they will compliment one another and make for a good match and we excitedly await the outcome. Both parents are HUU tested and the puppies from this litter will not be affected by the Urate Stone disorder. Thanks go to Karen & Richard of Amiryck for giving us the opportunity of using Cézár.
Pups are expected to arrive around 3rd Feb. They will be suitable for show, working and pet homes. If you would like to be considered for inclusion on our list for this exciting new generation of Belatarr HWV’s or you would like to discuss the litter in more detail then please do contact us at: renfromail@aol.com with details of the home and lifestyle that you could offer a Belatarr pup.
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 4
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.
A month old already and huge changes in the pups this week. Nearly fully weaned they’ve learned how to polish off pretty much every morsel of their raw food diet and now manage to eat in a very orderly fashion:
Team 2 tuck in.
They also started to come out of the whelping box into their indoor run about a week ago, and now merrily hurtle up and down squeaking and yipping as they go. They have also taken to their cozy mini-dens (aka cat carriers) with the same enthusiasm as did their older brothers and sisters and can regularly be found in randomly piled arrangements within in or more often spilling out of the dens:
Meanwhile… an unusual new puppy joins the litter.
Puppy Portraits: Week 3
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.
Probably the busiest week of all for the pups. With eyes and ears now wide open and fully functional the pups have started to explore and investigate their environment, and one another, with increasing curiosity and an ever increasing range of vocalizations too!
At the same time appetites are growing exponentially and so we started the process of weaning on Sunday, when the pups were 19 days old. This was 3 days older than with our previous litter and that extra bit of maturity meant that the process of lapping (which is obviously a very different skill set from that required for suckling) seemed to come much more easily to these babies. Still, as with any babies, progress was initially slow and messy, with each pup being taught individually twice a day whilst Phoenix took care of their main food intake.
By Day 23, though, their lapping skills had increased sufficiently to try the pups out on their multi-stall “WeanaFeeda“, which they took to with huge enthusiasm. So now, after another day or so of their starter mousse, we’ll start to blend in their raw food diet and by next week they should be happily tucking into a pureed version of the same diet that their parents and big brother already enjoy.
Miss Fawn winding down.
Can I eat this?
Mr Black.
Mum comes to sort everyone out., meanwhile Mr Bronze discovers that he can climb…
Mr Green looks thoughtful.
Miss Fawn winding further down.
Everyone on the go.
Puppies have arrived!
Tuesday saw the arrival of our excitedly anticipated new generation of Belatarr babies as, right on schedule, Phoenix and Mingus’ second dozen were born.
The whole gang together
Miss Orange was the first to arrive, at a very respectable 10:53AM, with 10 of her brothers and sisters duly following in quick succession and puppy number 11, Miss Lime, making her appearance at 15:15 that afternoon.
Miss Lime & Miss Orange.
All of the births had been very quick and very easy, with just one or two contractions and then a new arrival. So far so good. However, after puppy number 11 things ground to a halt, although it was very evident that at least one more pup was still waiting to arrive. After a few hours of waiting and no signs of any further action we all decamped to the vets (11 puppies included) where two shots of oxytocin, a 15 min IV drip of liquid calcium, a vigorous walk up and down the road and 5 hours later puppy number 12, Miss Fawn, finally decided to put in an apperance, arriving (in the car boot) fashionably late to the party, but (despite our fears over the worryingly long wait) very fit, healthy and at a good weight.
Mr Red takes centre stage.
Now, some 48 hrs later, all 12 babies – 7 girls and 5 boys – are feeding very well and all are gaining weight at almost identical rates.
Random puppy pile-up.
As with Phoenix’ first litter there are no tiddlers or weaklings amongst the bunch and all twelve are vigorous indeed! With mum having only 6 functional feeding stations we have, as before, divided the pups into two teams and feed them one team at a time, every two hours, night and day to ensure that everyone gets their share.
Team 1 take their turn.
Whilst team 2 wait to be called into action.
Phoenix herself has been a wonderfully attentive mother, as ever, but today she surprised us by deciding that she wanted to go out with the boys for a swim in the river and a quick hurtle around the land before thinking that she really should zip back up the hill to return to her offspring.
Mum forms a comfy resting spot for Miss Yellow.
That’s the story so far.. .more pics follow below and watch this space for ongoing puppy antics and the ever-popular weekly puppy portraits too!
Mr Black and Mr Green.
Mr Blue hangs out his teeny-tiny ears.
Miss Purple.
Mr Bronze, who is so dark that his collar often looks as though it’s disappeared…
Mr Black, on the other hand, is the palest of the pups.
…and a good contortionist too!
Miss Yellow.
A snoozy heap.
…and another.
Everyone together once again.
Belatarr: The Next Generation
We’re delighted and excited to be able to announce that we have a forthcoming litter, confirmed yesterday by ultrasound:
This snapshot shows a few of the pups as they are now, at 31 days gestation, only around 1cm in size and each sitting at the top of a gestational sac (the dark, circular areas on the image). Amazing to think that these small marble-sized embryos will have grown to the size of plump guinea-pigs in just another 4 weeks or so! We saw approx 7 or 8 pups, which is exactly the same result as our 2011 litter, which turned out to comprise 12 pups…
We have been absolutely delighted with the uniformly healthy, sound, happy and high quality pups from our 2011 litter and have been fortunate to be able to watch many of them regularly and at close hand as they have grown into the superb young dogs that they are today. Four of the pups from that litter have gone on to have great success in the show ring and several others of their brothers and sisters could undoubtedly have followed suit, so it was an easy decision to undertake a repeat mating, using Mingus as sire, when Phoenix was ready for her second litter.
After an initial mild panic when the progesterone testing lab that we were using had their machinery break down, resulting in a 3 day delay in getting Phoenix’ blood test results back (urghhhh!) we achieved 3 very easy matings, all with excellent ties, commencing on the same day in Phoenix’ season that her previous litter was conceived.
Phoenix’ due date is 23rd/24th July and we are now able to take enquiries from show, pet and working homes, about this forthcoming litter. All puppy homes will be carefully selected to provide the best possible start in life for this next generation of Belatarr HWV’s.
If you would like to be considered for inclusion on our puppy list or would like to discuss Belatarr dogs and life with this wonderful breed in more detail then please do contact Tim directly at: renfromail@aol.com.
Big Beach day out.
After seemingly endless rain the sun has finally made a return, so what better time to take everyone to the beach for a sandy romp! Little Django is now 9 months old (time certainly flies…) and is looking not so little and all-grown-up all of a sudden….looks can be deceptive, however!
Django in a rare moment of stillness.
This is a more usual pose.
Racing with dad.
…and with mum too.
The family emerges from the surf.
Django leads the charge.
A brief pause to pose with a stick.
…and swiftly back to bounce mode.
Strutting his stuff, showing off that awesome stick, whilst Phoenix looks on and hatches a plot.
In tandem with Mum…who, having hatched her plot, now has ownership of the stick.
So much sand, so little time.
And relax.
Puppy Portraits – The Final Week!
Where has the time gone?? This is the last week for the Belatarr babies before most head to their new homes and start their lives away from the pack. Sadly the appalling weather (incredibly low-light levels, freezing temps, endless hail sleet & rain) meant that the final week head-shots were very tricky to get, and not very high quality and very washed-out when we did get them, with pups (and us) shivering and looking rather glum in the driving sleet…but at least we have something to represent them as they were at 7 weeks old and before they all change once again into mature young dogs.
So, dozens of refuse bags full of soiled bedding, weeks of missed sleep, much cuddling and hundreds of chicken wings later, these are Phoenix and Mingus’ dozen, all now with their Kennel Names (Jazz themed, to follow on from Mingus) just before they leave us:
THE BOYS (minus one)
Belatarr Art Tatum (Finley)
Belatarr Charlie Parker
Belatarr Dave Brubeck (Otto)
Belatarr Dizzy Gillespie (Gryphon)
Belatarr John Coltrane (Otis)
Belatarr Miles Davis (Huxley)
Belatarr Oscar Peterson (Digby)
Belatarr Thelonius Monk
(pic forthcoming…)
THE GIRLS
Belatarr Ella Fitzgerald (Ella)
Belatarr Mahalia Jackson (Billie)
Belatarr Nina Simone (Nina)
Final Week Shots from the Dog Sofa (whilst Mum & Dad are out for a walk)
A Snoozy Ella Fitzgerald, with her fabulous (fathers) coat.
...nearly asleep...
Under scrutiny.
A very intense Thelonius Monk.
Adam & friends.
Puppy Pile-up.
Twin-Level Puppy Pile-up.
Complete take-over.
Tim & co.
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
Mr. Grey.
Mr. Indigo.
Mr. Green.
Mr. Red & White.
Mr. Red & Blue (he was very sleepy for this pic!)
Mr. Blue.
Mr. Brown.
Mr. Red.
Mr. Black.
THE GIRLS
Miss Orange.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow.
Week 2: Pup-update.
An eventful week for the Belatarr Babies:
Day 10: They doubled their birth weight.
Day 12: They started to walk, like wobbly spiders.
Day 13: Mr. Blue & Mr. Red were the first to open their eyes, everyone else more-or-less followed over the next 24 hrs, although they certainly can’t yet see and so tend to keep their eyes closed almost all the time.
Day 13: They hit 1KG each with only 50/60 grams difference between the heaviest and the lightest – so, all 12 are now pretty much identical in weight for all practical purposes.
Day 14: They all had their claws cut for the first time (that’s a total 216 claws!)
Day 14: Ears opened.
Also, due to some difficulties with instantly recognising which colour was which, (something that became increasingly important as the pups started trotting around much more speedily!) three puppies have been re-branded, so Miss Pink will, from now on, be know as Miss Yellow; Mr. Magenta becomes Mr. Green; Mr Purple morphs into Mr. Red & White (or candy-stripe, if you prefer) – we promise we won’t have to do that again! so without further ado….
THE BOYS
Mr. Grey.
Mr. Indigo.
Mr. Green.
Mr. Red & White.
Mr. Red & Blue.
Mr. Blue (with tongue just peeking out).
Mr. Brown.
Mr. Red.
Mr. Black.
THE GIRLS
Miss Orange.
Miss White.
Miss Yellow - waving.
SHOTS FROM THE WEEK
Pile o' Pups.
Peaceful Mr. Green.
Mr. Blue shows off his handsome ears.
Snuggled.
Brother & Sister.
Miss Orange flumps out.
Team A hard at work.
Everyone with Mum.
All very organised.
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 