Scan Time

It has now been 4 weeks since Chase was mated to Reef and so it was time to get her scanned. My first choice of scanner was unavailable until 11 January, which was way too long to wait, so I booked Chase in with another recommendation - Anne at Pet Breeding & Scanning Services in Littleover, Derbyshire. 

Both Lauren and I had been unsure whether Chase had taken as she hadn't behaved in the manner you would expect of a bitch in season.  On the first day at Bowerlands, Reef managed to catch Chase unawares and they tied for the first time.  They tied again twice the next day, but then on the third day (the optimum day) Chase  decided that Reef should not under any circumstances go near her....the little diva!

So now the waiting was over and it was time to find out if the mating had been successful.  I was both nervous and excited at the same time.

At 2.20pm on Wednesday 29th December 2010 we discovered that Chase was indeed an expectant mom *massive grin*  The scan showed 4 very clear pups and as Anne moved around she saw another 2.  She did however tell us not to go to bed after the 6th one as there may be another in there! 

This picture shows one of the pups in the bottom centre.

I just know the next 5 weeks are going to fly by as the last 4 certainly have, and we will soon have the patter of tiny paws.

It's so very exciting.

I will keep you updated as matters progress.

Chase x Reef Third Generation Pedigree

Thank you Anadune:

Bottlesford Chequers at Dreamchart x Darleyfalls No Feer

Chase is Finally in Season

I'm so pleased my little girl timed her season so perfectly; coming in, we think, the day we flew back from Miami (Saturday 20th November) :-)

However, as we're not 100% sure, I took her for a pre-mate blood test on Monday, which (as expected) was negative and she went for another yesterday, which I'm waiting to hear from the vets on as I type.  I've also brought some Canine Ovulation Pads which are showing some small dark patches, which apparently indicates ovulation, so it will be interesting to hear what the blood test results come back as.

Dependent on the results, it's safe to say that Chase will be off to meet her new husband in the next few days.

It's an extremely exciting time, but also very nerve racking, given this will be my first attempt at breeding. Lauren has already been amazing and so supportive and I know she will be there to help me through any difficult patches.

I'm pretty sure the pups will be amazing though. Reef has recently sired pups with Popi, who, like Chase, is quite a petite bitch and they are just gorgeous.

If all goes as planned, I would expect pups to arrive the first week in Februaury 2011.  I obviously do have a waiting list but as we all know people drop off for various reasons, therefore if you would like to be added to the list, please contact me and we can chat further. I'm going to attempt to put a link up of the Pedigree.

Well the timing could've been better!

I had it worked out that Chase would be ready for mating a week or two after we returned from our holiday on 21st November, however it would seem that Chase may be having other ideas!  She has all but blown all of her coat now (making her look like a youngster again) which, if past experience is anything to go by, means she will be coming into season in about 2-3 weeks time, which leads to her being ready to mate in about 5 weeks time - smack bang wollap in the middle of our second week away.

Fingers crossed that a) I have my timings wrong and/or b) she decides to hold out for a bit longer this time around.  Thankfully though, I have contingency plans in place where Chase may end up getting her own little holiday with Lauren and Reef :-)

I'm getting very excited now and nervous all at the same time.  To think (hopefully) in a few months time we could have little babies to welcome into this world :-))

Happy Birthday Chase

I can't believe that my little bundle of fur has been with me now for 4 years!

I'll be picking up a birthday cake on the way home for us all to share tonight.

Happy birthday also to the other Bottlesford Babes - Lottie, Lexie, Mole and Diesel.

Wigan Show

This weekend we were at Wigan agility show and being the last weekend camping for us, we were looking forward to it.  However, the great British weather had other ideas!

We turned up and it was raining and had been for the best part of the day.  The poor folk at Wigan were told on Tuesday that they couldn't have the field they were expecting and were given a field at the bottom of the site which was basically a bog, so we promptly got stuck when trying to tow the caravan to our pitch.

It continued to rain during Friday night and we all woke to very wet, squelchy, muddy conditions.  Nevertheless the show went ahead.

Thankfully all our dogs are now in grade 6 so we didn't have to walk too many mud filled rings. 

I ran Rio first in Christine Robson's graded 6-7 agility, but the slippery conditions and the fast weave entry caught Rio out.  I then got a bit lazy and pulled her off the tunnel to pick up the big E!

Darren with Copper and me with Chase were to run in the same class about mid-way through but with the conditions getting worse we really didn't expecting much.  However, Copper pulled a clear out of the bag, even though Darren did go into panic mode (!) and took the lead.  Chase and I followed, again not expecting anything, but my little girl was on form and we beat Darren and Copper by half a second to take the lead from him. 

Unfortunately we didn't hold onto that lead and got knocked into second and third places, but I can't complain as it was by a dog that has already won into grade 7 and was seeing out his last grade 6 runs.

Our second runs were the complete opposite, Rio had a good run but pinged her contact (so unusual for her) and Copper and Chase got E'd lol

The rain continued on and off, with a few hard downpours over night and early Sunday morning.  The show committee therefore had to make that hard decision and called the show off.  In the circumstances, this was absolutely the right thing to do, even though I'm sure there will be those that didn't think so!!

The Wigan members were like super heros, helping anyone out in need.  Lisa and Pete Jones also sprung into action and were towing people out of our boggy field onto the hardstanding roadways.

It was a sad and soggy end to the weekend, but the atmosphere was still brilliant and I hope to be back again next year, where I'm sure the sun will be shining.

Hello and Welcome

Hi, I'm new to this blogging malarky but thought what the heck!

I'm hoping to have a litter of pups from Chase (Bottlesford Chequers at Dreamchart) at the end of this year, so I thought this would be a great place to keep everyone up to date on progress.

I made the tough decision earlier not to use a friend's dog as stud, as I have really loved watching the Darleyfalls this year and decided that was the type of dog I would love to own.  So after some investigating and talks with people, I am extremely happy to say that Darleyfalls No Feer (Reef) is the dog I will be using for my little girl.

Lauren and I have chatted and we both think they'll make beautiful babies.

So, watch this space....

If you wish to know more about Reef, please visit Lauren's page at http://devondogs.blogspot.com/