All sad and poor news today I am afraid. Firstly the sad news. Peppone father to Grace's last litter died very suddenly earlier this week. Whilst he had been a little unwell following some treatment this was unexpected and came as a big blow to us all particularly Bri too whom all our thoughts go. Peppone besides being a magnificent hound was also the perfect gentleman - a real ambassador for the breed. We see so much of him in our Hedge. We will be visiting Bri in a month or so and in the meantime send her all our love.

Secondly Grace is not well. We rushed her into the vets at the weekend and even after two days of tests we still don't know what the problem is. She came home a few days ago and improved with the anti-biotic's but is not once again showing signs of problems. Another course of anti-biotic's are being tried and some more tests. As you can imagine we are very upset and are all keeping our fingers crossed for her speedy recovery

On a more positive note Elli-May has recovered completely from her operation and is a naughty as ever... it's not until you have a serious problem that you start to appreciate naughtiness!

Two bits of news one good and the the one a mixture of bad/ good. First the not so good. Ellie-May is in the vets -she bloated and twisted on Sunday afternoon. We rushed her in and within an hour of us spotting her problem she was being operated on. Today she is doing well (Although not out of the woods for at least another 24 hours) she is however eating some small meals and is returning to her normal self. Hopefully we will get her home tomorrow when we can look after her ourselves. We always feel better when we have them home. In passing we must also thank Mandy and Colin who have been so kind - they recently had a bloat problem with their 'Ted' so they understand the problem. Thanks Colin and Mandy your support is very much appreciated.

The other bit of news is about Annie (from Graces last litter) she and her owner visited Bri in Switzerland a few days ago to visit Annie's father - Peppone. As the picture shows Annie has grown into a really fine bloodhound. It is really good to hear that her owner is also doing so well.

This second picture shows all the Swiss 'relatives'

Just back from a great week in Malta visiting out friends who own Paula. Paula is looking really well (I will try and get some pictures up on the site shortly).

Today Eileen has been at WELKS Championship Show with Strudel and won the Bitch CC - so we now have two CC's for Strudel - just one more and we will have another Champion for that litter (Finger crossed.) Many thanks to Janine who showed Strudel so well - Eileen just can't run fast enough!

Last week Strudel was Reserve Best Bitch at the Association of Bloodhound Breeders Open Show. So the show season is certainly underway.

In response to all those who asked about the photograph of Jean Robertson's new Working Trial Champion in the Bloodhound Club magazine - yes its one of mine. I am actually using it to promote my new photography business - Cholmondeley Photography (www.cholmondeleyphotography.co.uk - the web site is still a work in progress but I hope to have it fully operation very soon - feel free to take a look)

Still with 'business' I have just put together a web site for one of the leading Otterhound breeders a really nice lady called Rae. her site is at www.keepcott-otterhounds.co.uk and I know that she will be pleased if people 'pop-in' for a visit'.

So all in all a very busy time at the moment (when isn't it!!!!) I hardly have a moment to call my own - so Eileen is threatening that she will take over this news page - so be prepared for anything in the near future!!!

We have just seen the Judges write up of Keano's Crufts win in Dog World and thought that we would share it with a wider audience.

Judges Report (Leo Podogdinski) - It is an honour to be invited to judge your breed at Crufts. I thoroughly enjoyed my day. Coming from a Bloodhound Trials background, general health, eyes, soundness and movement are important to me, as is size, the Bloodhound is a dual purpose breed and should be able to fit into the show ring as well as work at Bloodhound Trials and vice versa. I was able to find my type here which pleases me.

.....Working Trail Dog - CC Winner - Wt Ch Cilgwri Uncanny Keano black/tan, nice compact hound, looks small but well within the Standard, have always admired this hound from when I first judged him at Darlington five years ago, he has personality & charm, genuine dual hound who for the past four years taken the Wuthering Dual Purpose Trophy. Has a pleasing head, excellent eyes, good bite, ample wrinkle, skin and coat that is thin to the touch, in tip-top condition, well muscled & moves well with drive, right amount of bone for his size, good feet & well let down hocks.

We particularly liked the comment about his 'personality and charm'. All the dogs from that litter 'smile frequently '(as does their mother Phoebe) and have personality in buckets so its nice that someone other than us and the owners recognise this trait.

Oops! I am definitely in the 'dog house' today. I have just been 'reminded' that I forgot to put Strudels picture in the news following her Reserve Best Bitch win at the Bloodhound Club Open Show on 3rd February - so to make amends her is her picture...with a smiley Eileen!

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Just received this picture of Keano with a very very proud Ian at Crufts.

I sat down and watched the Crufts TV coverage again last night and managed to spot Eileen, Bri and Elin sitting in what appeared to be almost the front row... they look like royalty! Its interesting to look at the coverage with someone who wasn't there and of course did not get all the TV 'commentary' whether good or bad!

OK ... I know that its been a while since the last entry but this is a quiet time of the year except for work which is hectic... some news came in yesterday which prompted me to get back to news reports.

Firstly Hubert in Moscow continues his winning ways He has just been to the biggest Russian Show Eurasia 2008. This is a 2 day show with over 6,000 dogs each day. Hubert won CACIB and Best of Breed each day. His next major show is the World Show in Stockholm - and its possible {just} that we might make it over there.

And then trialing news Ruby (Owned by Alan Taylor) won Intermediate at the Bloodhound Club trials on Thursday and then Jean hound Bouquet (Ruby's training partner) won Senior in what was apparently a very fast time. Congratulations to Alan and Jean and Duncan and to David and Helen Powell who bred Bouquet (Trailfinder Endearing at Floralis) and this is their first CC win for their breeding at the trials... One more win and they will join us in an relatively small group of Breeders - I think its just 3 current breeders that have achieved this Cilgwri, Chasedown and Sherlock - that have bred both Show and Trial Champions.

Finally time to sit down and catch up a bit. And also a belated happy New Year to all our site visitors.

I am afraid that its a bit moore of sad news to start the year off.. Firstly just before Xmas we found out that Strudel was not pregnant so its back to the drawing board for a planned mating of her and Ellie-May when the next come into season - late spring/early summer. And then the saddest news.

Our Ben - aged a grand old 16.5 yrs reached the end of his long life yesterday. Right up to the very last morning he was very much himself - even eating my supper for me the night before. For such a little man he has left an enormous hole in our lives that at the moment we don't know how we will ever fill. As you can imagine the last 24 hours have been filled with a mixture of tears and very very happy memories

"We know that he is once again chasing balls in the fields and standing guard over our lives from above rather than at our gateway...

He will be so very missed"

19.00 hours and I am just back from the vets (and fending off multiple telephone calls from interested parties). Unfortunately at the moment we hope that its a 'no news is good news' story on Strudel's scan. There was nothing to see but the vet says that we may have been a little over eager in trying at 30 days. So its fingers crossed again until Friday when its back to the vets again.

Any and all fingers being crossed gratefully accepted!!!

2nd of December all ready!!!! How has so much of this year disappeared so quickly? Time for a little update. We have had a long chat about Ellie-May and with the incredible support of Colin and Ruth (Chami's owners) we have decided to try for a mating again next time she comes into season. She is a very good hound and has all the attributes that we are in danger of loosing in the breed so yet again it will be all fingers, toes etc crossed....

And we are down to the last two weeks before Strudel's scan - I don't think we have anything else left to cross!

Elin has had a spectacular picture of Dusty done by a super artist Amanda Baker who has put it on to her home web page click here to look at it.

On a slightly sadder note Ben our honorary Bloodhound/Sheepdog is starting to show real signs of his great age (heading towards 17). he has come back very well from his major operation earlier this year, but is now very stiff when he gets up and is starting to be a little incontinent. Although when up and about he continues to get around and is now eating for England. But we are starting to realise that he may not be around for too much longer - so we are treating every day as a special blessing.

Not very good news this morning I am afraid. We had Ellie-May scanned yesterday and she is not in whelp. This is a bit of a blow as we had really hoped that she would produce this time. We now have a difficult decision to make as to if we try again. She is rapidly approach 5 years of age and we may well decide that she is now too old to try for a litter. We don't have to make this decision just yet but will do over the next month or so. We would like to thank Colin and Ruth for all their assistance in this mating - no one could have been more helpful and supportive.

So we now turn our full attention to Strudel....roll on mid December when it will be her turn to be scanned...fingers are crossed right across Europe and beyond.. Thanks to everyone for all the good luck messages.

What a few weeks the last three weeks have been. We have been overwhelmed with work and in the middle of that we have had a 'hopefully mating between Strudel and the most lovely Norwegian dog Foenix (owned by Britt Oye). Foenix is the son of Nineveh's Pilgrim a brother of Peptone (owned by Bri Cappello). The mating was by AI and there lies a story.

After considerable efforts particularly by Britt in Norway we finally managed to track the semen heading towards the UK carried by Fed Ex. We watched on the internet as it left Norway and went to Paris. And then watched as it when from Paris back to Norway. Then it returned to Paris (And this is not a little load it is a 15kg cryogenic tank!) But finally it arrived in Stansted just in time as Strudel came into season.

Stage two of the epic then started...We had samples taken for progesterone testing...the first results were predictably low and our specialist vet expected about 12 days before she would be ready. But as usual Bloodhounds like to pull the unexpected and only 5 days later she was ready...and where was the vet...why in Milan at an international reproductions seminar. Mad panic resulted in Eileen collecting the vet at 20.30 from Stansted, traveling to Cambridge with her and a sucessful AI around 22.00. Eileen then set off back to Nantwich with a very tired Strudel arriving home at 02.30 the following morning. I of course had to leave for work at 04.00 the same morning ...talk about ships crossing in the night! We are all very excited by this mating - but to read more click the litter link above or click here .

Well Strudel has now come into season and we expect to mate her next week (around the 14th...) update after the 'event'!.

Ellie-May is well - thank you for all that have emailed asking how she is..There are no real behavior changes yet (There often are when they are pregnant) but its still early days and only 2 weeks until her scan.

Christmas and the New Year may prove to be VERY busy this year.

News again on all fronts.

Firstly some very sad news. Boradin (sire of Grace's second litter) and owned by our close friends Jean and Duncan passed away on Friday at the grand age of almost 11. He will be very much missed by us all and I was so glad to have seen him on the Thursday.

Hubert continues his triumphal path winning the top Russian Bloodhound Show becoming Best Of Breed. We also here that his daughter has also started winning ways being made best puppy at her first show.

On the home front 'love is in the air'. Well almost! I take Ellie-May off to Guilford for a mating with Chami on Wednesday. report. And we have waiting for Strudel to come into season any day now for her mating. Watch this space for progress

I must today with some very sad news. Phoebe (Cilgwri Star Burst - one of Grace's children ) owned by Phillipa and her family has died. She had been diagnosed earlier this year with a congenital enlarged heart problem. Phillipa and her family are devastated by this loss as they so loved Phoebe. We are also very upset and our deepest sympathy goes out to Phillipa. Words cannot express the loss we feel.

On a happier note we have just returned from a great trip to the Belgium Bloodhound show and then traveled on to Zurich to spend a few days with Bri and her hounds. The Belgium show was not the planned Championship event due to a problem with getting permission for the authorities but instead was called a 'happening' - and with 85 hounds it certainly happened! It was a great show with the bitches judged by Ken Millar. Colin and Ruth Avery where also there and raffled a limited edition print of Bloodhounds in aid of the shows special catalogue and raised a fantastic E650.

Then picture shows Eileen in her 'merging camouflage colours' with the rest of the UK contingent!

Yes I know what all the regular readers will say "why have you not kept this up to date" - No excuses, just been busy...but there have been lots and lots of things happening...so where to start.

Well illnesses first. Grace has managed to slip a disk - very very painful, and is currently undergoing caged care for 6 weeks followed by 6 weeks on minimal exercise. At the monet it looks like its working as s she is no long in pain. She has got used to the cage and is quick 'resigned/happy' with her lot. It does mean middle of the night toilet trips but other than a few disturbed nights things are on the mend.

And then Ben our 16.5 year old sheepdog. If I could make a very bad taste joke - Ben has finally after all these years become a Bloodhound - he has had a BLOAT. he was not very well a few days after he came back from Malta and I rushed him into the vets. An X-Ray showed a classic twisted stomach. The vet was a little reluctant to operate, in view of his age, but we wanted the best for him. He got thru the operation amazingly well (a full gasoplexi) and then we lived on the edge for the next few days to see how he would survive the after effects (We have lost a hound 3 days after a similar operation). 3 days later I brought him home and spent a very worrying few days trying to get him to eat. Eventually he decided to eat warm chicken breast meat hand-fed. Over the next week he slowly recovered and whilst he is not quite the dog he was he is now well and eating for England. he is frail and does not often walk out with the others, but he has a good quality of life - and is happily back barking at visitors and passers-by.

News on the relatives - Ruby (Alan Taylor's hound from Grace's first litter) gave birth this week to two healthy puppies (one of each sex). It's a little disappointing for the great list of people who we had passed on to Alan as most will have to wait again.

Perhaps there is a little good news for the 'waiters'. We have now firmly decided to mate both Ellie-May (To Chami) and Strudel (To Fonix - a Norwegian boy) when they come into season in October time. Ellie May Litter Site Strudel Litter Site will be set up shortly.

Just back from a fantastic few days in Malta, visiting Paula's owners. We are constantly amazed how Bloodhounds cope with the heat (over 35C when we were there) but they do. An early morning run, breakfast and then sleep until early evening is the pattern, and then come play time. It is an idyllic life for both hound and humans - thanks for a great time Wibke and Michael.

Whilst we were away we got more news from high-flying Hubert. He attended the Kokola 2007 Show in Finland and won CAC, CACIB and was Best of Breed. He can now add Finnish Champion to all his other titles.

More news from Russia. Hubert today arrived back form Estonia were he competed in the Dog Show "Estonian Winner 2007". Hubert has received CAC, CACIB and BOB, and also became the Champion of Estonia. On their way home they decide to visit "Hollywood" and sent me a picture.

The epileptic draw (raising funds for the University Missouri and Animal Health Trust's project) took place at the Bloodhound Club Championship Show on Sunday. well over £300 was raised which the Club will pass on to the researchers.

Sad very long telephone call on Sunday evening from a lady who's hound started to fit in January. She is getting lots of support from the breeder but wanted some practical advice and really a shoulder to cry on of someone who knew what she was going through, which we are always happy to give.. She is going to take part in the research project and we will be contacting owners of the 'relatives' over the next few days to invite them to take part in the project.

More good news from Russia - Hubert continues to win. This time at a show in Riga. Hubert won 2xCACIB and 2xBOB and became the champion of Latvia. Hubert's full name and title is now - RUS & EST JCH, RUS & BLR & LV CH CILGWRI MORNING STAR

It seems that I constantly come on to the site and apologies for not updating it a frequently as some would like..well this time I have an excuse. Unfortunately last week I had a major computer crash and it was only after 4 days of constant 'fiddling' (As Eileen calls it!!! that I managed to retrieve the system. It then promptly fell over again ...but hopefully all is now up and running.

As many of you will already know we have some bad news - Ellie-May did not have any puppies last weekend as expected. She appears to have reabsorbed them (perhaps when she was a little unwell a few weeks ago). This is a not unheard of problem. We have had her at the vets and besides having the 'phantom pregnancy from hell' she is well in herself and starting to settle back into her old routine. We will be having her more fully checked out by a specialist shortly and then pan to mate her again with Chami on her next season...watch this space.

Some good news for all of you waiting for a puppy - Ruby has come into season so Alan should have a mating in the near future. We will keep you all informed of its progress.

Great weekend - Dusty won her third ticket at WELKS (Strudel stood behind her in the class) and then went on to become Best of Breed . This third CC now means that (Subject to KC confirmation) she is now a Champion. Eileen and I are over the moon for Elin. And pretty chuffed with ourselves as we have now bred a Show Champion, a Working Trails Champion and an International Champion (the Hat Trick!)

Other good news is rather more mundane but no less important. The new Whelping room has been completed and Ellie-May and either Eileen or myself will shortly take up residence in it to get Ellie-May comfortable with her new surroundings before the birth (pictures on her whelping log page.)

And one final bit of very hopeful news. The front page of this weeks Dog World featured the identification of the Genetic markers for PRA in English Springer Spaniels. This is particularly interesting to us as it is the same team Cathryn Mellersh (Animal Health Trust) in the UK and Dr Gary Johnson (Missouri University) in the UK who are working on Epilepsy and who we are supporting. It was also interesting to note that they found this marker after testing only 98 dogs. So the more we manage to get into our end of the research project the better. Roll on the day when we can identify hounds with an Epileptic gene marker.

Well what a Crufts!

On the larger scale we as a breed have had the first win for many years in the Hound Group - Sue Emrys-Jones and her wonderful bitch Bertha (Ch Marksbury Wistful) stormed around the ring to a fantastic win - . We will all be watching TV tonight with everything crossed to see how she does in the final- we think she has a great chance - repeating the sucesses of previous years. Unfortunately the Bloodhojnd did not getany further leaving Elin Richards Group 4 as the current target to beat..

On a more local level our hounds did great as well.

Dusty got the Reserve Best Bitch award standing behind Wistful - which can't be bad can it?

And Chrissie won the Working Bitch Class.

Sirius came second in a very strong Post Graduate Dog class.

Whilst Ellie-May's 'husband' Chami (see planned litter) got the Reserve Best Dog award.

And Hedge charmed everyone with his tireless work in Discover Dogs. We arrived home last night exhausted to watch Sue victory on the TV and the phone has not stopped ringing since. (picture Hedge on the left and Chrissie talking to their fans)

Some very sad news from our friends in Russia who should have been at Crufts yesterday. They unfortunately lost their older hound Ferdinand last night and are devastated. Ferdinand was a spectacular hound with a huge number of wins behind him - we only hope that Hubert can fill his footsteps if only a little. Our thoughts go out to Konstantin and Marina and I hope to see them when I am in Moscow in a few days.

Well where do I start Crufts is on the horizon in 2 days and Strudel decides to come into season just in time to stop her from going. So we will set off early Saturday with Chrissie in the Working Dogs class and Hedge who is making a special appearance in Discover Dogs. His task is to charm people and I just know that he will love the experience.More good news from Moscow on 24th and 25th February Hubert was shown in the largest show of Russia. Winning on both days with a CAC and R.CACIB. His owners also proudly announced 'a wedding' on 24th February. Hubert mated his first bitch and they hope to see 'small bloodhounds' in two months. I am off to Moscow myself in two weeks and will hopefully catch up with Hubert in person. Unfortunately the planned trip to Crufts has had to be put off as Hubert's owner has had a stay in hospital and is not fit for such a long journey ...hopefully next year.

And now the BIG news yesterday we had a successful mating with Ellie-May. Her husband (to use the Russian analogy) isChami (Ch Chami Truffe Medievale). More details on the litters page...

4th February 2007

Bloodhound Club Open Show and AGM today. Strudel won her class (Open) and then got really rattled/spooked by something outside of the ring and didn't do anything in the final. However lots of people said that it had been hers for the taking....isn't it always the way something always comes along and upsets things! Still that's a really good start for 2007...roll on the shows... Strudels sister Phoebe and her owner Phillipa narrowly escaped a very nasty accident - they were hit by a waste disposal lorry - totally the other drivers fault ...but luckily all is well with them both..

Crufts heads towards us at 100 mph and we are really looking forward to having our Russian friends staying and seeing everyone at the show. We plan to show Strudel and Chrissie, whilst Hedge is having an outing in Discover Dogs...on Hound day (Saturday) everyone welcome so make a point of coming over to see us...

Well yes we are still alive - and I sorry that I have not been updating the site as often as I would have wished...I can only blame a mixture of work, lots of overseas travel and some illness. But I am trying to get back on track...To bring some of the more 'interesting (!) news' up to date.Showing has been going well all around - although we had a bit of a problem following our win with Strudel at Leeds back in July. Someone objected to her win and whilst this was certainly vindictive the Kennel Club took some time before they got round to reviewing the case and then just threw it straight out!!!! So Strudels award is now officially recognised.Dusty (Strudels sister) won her second CC at LKA and now only needs 1 more to make her a Champion.And Hubert continues his winning ways in Russia and attended to World Show in Poland. There he came second in and intermediate class but seems to have been a big hit with the ladies as there have been many enquiries about using him as s stud dog. Travelling on to Minsk in late November Hubert won CAC, CACIB and BOB and is now a Champion of Byelorussia. He has also become quite vocal in the show ring speaking as he moves around. He is entered at Crufts this year and we can't wait to see him.Still with a Moscow theme I spent a super week in Moscow in early December - unfortunately working all the time with little time for sightseeing and no time to visit Hubert. Hopefully I am going back again in late March and will have a little more free time to explore the most beautiful of cities. I would also like to see a little snow (!) as it was the warmest December on record in Moscow whilst I was there never below 4 degrees! Travelling back a little in time to late November I spent a super few days helping (along with Elin Richards) to move Bri's Capello's hounds from Vienna to their new home in Zurich. Two trips across the mountains and yet again no snow - well at little at the very top. But a beautiful journey. And the hound shave settled in well to their new home.Up to date - we have just got back from a short break with our friends in Malta. It was a super short holiday and we saw Paula (Strudel and Hedges sister) she has grown into a fine hound and definitely has one of the most beautiful (and more important loving) homes you could imagine - we stopped counting rooms when we got over 30!

My new year resolution is to try and keep the web site a bit more up to date - until then can we both wish all our friends and their hounds a very happy 2007...

Oopps! missed a show out in last notes - the Bloodhound Club Open Show is on 12th November so we still have two shows to go.

Eileen was contacted the other day by a really nice couple whose Bloodhound (not of our breeding) had just started fitting. Having read our various notes about this horrible illness they turned to us for some practical advice and perhaps more importnatly some support. They came back again a few days later - even more desperate - as their vet seemed unable/unwilling to perform certain tests that we had had done on our hounds on the advice of one of the UK's top epilepsy expert vets. I think rather than a uncooperative vet this just illustrates the lack of more specialist knowledge about certain illness if the vet has not had cause to treat it before. So we told them again to insist on certain tests. This laid to a long conversation over breakfast about what we have discovered about epilepsy and the steps we take to try and keep it in control (coupled with excellent advise we had received from some others in the breed). As a result Eileen has put together a 'checklist' of things to do and potential actions to consider if you get an epileptic hound - i.e. don't immediately start to medicate as this hides real symptoms. It is in the bits section of the web site. (Link here)

More good news around....Hubert in Russia went to an Italian Bloodhound Show (3,000km each way!!!) and got a second in the Junior Class. I have been sent a picture but its sadly a little too dark to reproduce as it shows all the hounds on their way to the show on a 'raft'! Apparently the show was held in the middle of a lake - well at least that slows the runaways down a bit. Strudel won her class at Richmond Championship Show but was overshadowed by her sister Dusty (Cilgwri Starlight) who won Reserve Best Bitch CC to add to her growing pile including her CC win at the Welsh Kennel Club... We have had strong words with Strudel and told her to pull her socks up... But it is really lovely to see Elin doing so well - she then went on last weekend and added to her success at Eastbourne Show were she was Reserve Best in Show and received rapturous comments from the judge.

The next show is not until December so we taking it easy - on the showing front, although life remains busy. The Bloodhound Club Newsletter deadline is fast approaching and work is hectic and on top of that I am due to go off 'Bloodhounding' fairly soon helping Bri move from Austria to Switzerland with 5 hounds - now that will be fun...

When you tell people that you are going on holiday they are always interested in where you are going....except if you answer Belgium... we have both spent the last few months getting completely bemused expressions from everyone whom we tell that we are really (YES REALLY) going to Belgium for a holiday... But yes we did go and are now back... And yes you guessed it was mainly to do with Bloodhounds. Each year the Belgium Bloodhound Club hold a delightful show in St Hubert (Bloodhounds are called St Hubert Hounds in much of Europe). The day after the show is a major parade through the town celebrating St Hubert's life and Bloodhound feature strongly with most of the winners from the show taking part.A word in support of Belgium - Yes Brussels can rival most cities in the boring uninteresting stages - but travel to the area of St Hubert - into the Ardennes - and its a different world....lakes, rivers and forest it's really beautiful, and the food at the hotel we stay in is 'out of this world'....(But its location is a secret!)

We also went over to pick a stud dog for Ellie-May and came back having made all the arrangements for a early spring mating. I will post details on her mating page .... that is as soon as I have managed to clear a weeks backlog of work....

Yet more good news from Russia. Hubert continues his winning ways.. Last weekend he received the Diploma of Junior Champion of Russia and his Working Diploma. So he is now a Junior Russian Champion!!!Not only that he then travelled to Estonia where he received Junior CAC, Best of Junior, BOS, and he became Junior Champion of Estonia. This means that he now has a Crufts qualification so we hope to see him over here again next year....with his owners and Ferdinand his friend who is also a Champion in Europe.

I read some really upsetting news this week in the Association of Bloodhound Breeders Annual Report - apparently one of the members of the ABB Welfare Committee has assisted someone with putting down a healthy 8 year old Bloodhound that had lost its owners and was 'pining' - It's a real tragedy as there are so many good reliable people around who would happily have taken the old boy (OLD!) in, given him the care he needed and a good home. I hate it when dogs are unnecessarily put-down. Hopefully the negative comments about this going around the breed will stop such a thing happening in the future?. I just wonder who the original breeder was and why they did not take responsible action to recover and re-home the hound?

The Hound Show today but unfortunately Strudel is in season so no show for her. Her sister Dusty however won the Reserve Bitch ticket so the family continues to do very well. The next show (season allowing) is the Welsh Kennel Club Show on Friday - fingers crossed again.Our last lot of visitors Lily and Lucy having just left we have had a few days until the next. Our great friend Suzie and Robin with their family including Hector (Phoebe's son) and Haver (Grace's daughter) arrive on Saturday for a week. What with Eileen's daughter and grandson also staying its a very full house but as in previous years we expect a great time.

Is it a bird, is it a plane, no its SUPER HOUND... well actual its Boradin (Father to Grace's first litter). His owners were paying a very quick visit to drop off some pigs-ears - they had left Boradin at home (something he is always happy to do - as their two bitches were in season. When they had a panic phone call. Borodin had been collected from off the main (And very busy) road about 1/4 mile form their house. He was walking quite happily down the centre of the road with an ever increasing queue of traffic building up behind him. When Jean and Duncan got home they discovered that he had jumped from a slightly open upstairs bedroom window! Boradin suffered no damage and seemed completely undisturbed with his bit of excitement.

Great news just telephoned in from Eileen from the Leeds Championship Show... Strudel has just won her first Challenge Certificate (CC). We are so pleased for her...More sex stories again - this time Shane brought his pretty little bitch over to be mated with Lorraine Priestley dog. Unfortunately whether it was the heat or perhaps it was a little early for the bitch (Despite a positive pre-mate test) and neither were in the least interested! perhaps Shane will have more luck later in the week.On the medical front Grace's leg is proceeding very well she is putting full weight on it during our walks and is now back to living with all the others, so that has made life a little easier, but she is still only doing lead walking. And talking of walking with the high temperatures this last week our hounds have hardly moved a muscle - an early morning (5.00am) has been very energetic, followed by breakfast and then nothing about 20 hours sleep a day to my calculation..if only I was so lucky!

Last week Phoebe (Grace's daughter from the Star litter) went home after her hoilicay with us having apparently learnt quite a lot of naughty tricks from her sister, brother and cousins and aunties. Well what can you expect when a single dog mixes with the 'gang'. This week its Phoebe's daughter and Grace's daughter coming for their two week summer holiday (Lucy and Lily) - now they are escape artists so its been 'all hands to the pumps' putting up the red alert high security systems!!!!!

Visitors again today 1 expected and another not expected! The expected visitor is Phoebe (not our Phoebe) but one of Grace's puppies 'Phoebe' who is spending two or so weeks with us whilst family are off to exotic places. This was quickly followed by a non-doggy neighbour who had found a wire haired 'terrier type' dog in her front garden. Having no idea what to do she turned to us and I said no problem I would sort it (must learnt to keep mouth shut!!!) So after two hours visiting the local farms and houses I managed to find the owner who appeared completely unconcerned that her dog (Molly her name is) had got lost and wandered almost 2 miles from home - some people. Still that rounded off a very hot Sunday. More pictures of 'superstar' Hubert arrived - this time on holiday and obliviously very relaxed after his many successes.

Friday was Windsor Show - Strudel got second in Junior Bitch behind her sister Dusty - so it was a good if very hot day for all..

A moment to sit down at last! Our weekend visitors arrived and we had a really super time sitting in the sun, eating (I actually cooked!) and talking hounds through a long late afternoon early evening. The pack-hound puppy was delightful... but she really was an excellent example of why the Bloodhound Club and Association of Bloodhound Breeders are so angry with the Kennel Club at the moment (If you don't know - the KC has registered a litter of pack hounds as pure bred!!!) The puppy has half the size of our puppies at the same age and lacked many of the typical bloodhound furnishings and general look and confirmation. She was however very sweet and had a fine time running around and around with our own hounds.The other lady was seeing Bloodhounds face to face for the first time - she had seen them in books and on TV at Crufts and had fallen in love with them.... The look on her face when she first saw a full sized Bloodhound was a delight - she was amazed that they were so big. Now this is the very reason we always have potential owners to come over and stay a few hours with us, and we think that other breeders should do exactly the same. We want to get good homes for our puppies but also we want the new owners to be comfortable with what will be a large dog. Denise still loves the hounds but went away with quite a lot of thinking to do so the afternoon was a success. It reminded Eileen and I of this time last year when Heather and Mark came to visit us and see the new litter. They also went away with lots to think about and decided that their home at that time was just not suitable. So this year they have moved and feel that they can now offer a hound a good home... now that's dedication! So they are on Ellie-Mays list right up near the top.Turning to Ellie-May (pictured left) we are starting to finalise our mating plans for her. We already have agreement from Chantal Leporte in Belgium that we can use one of her dogs. We have chose her kennel for a combination of reasons including - epilepsy free, outstanding dogs and deferent bloodlines to those in the UK. We are visiting in September to select a dog, and also visit the St Hubert Show, and then we will mate Ellie when she comes into season in the new Year with puppies (hopefully fingers crossed) sometime in April/May. I have started up a mating page for Ellie-May on this site which can be accessed either via the 'Litter Menu' or by clicking here.

More news from our RUSSIAN superstar Hubert - he and family went to the World Show in Finland. Hubert finished 2nd in the Junior class and Ferdinand finished 4th in the Championship Class. Apparently all the first places went to Finnish hounds! - perhaps they have some very special hounds over there? Pictures are promised shortly. We also heard that Hubert's travels are to continue. Unfortunately we won't be able to see him in Belgium, his owners have to work - but he is off to Italy in September.

Our vet has a problem today - he doesn't know if he should put a new car on order because on our present rate of using the vets he can afford at least a Ferrari. This time its Grace who is in the wars. About a week ago she screamed with pain whilst all the hounds were playing a rough game. She was slightly lame afterwards but nothing unusual. We became more worried midweek and took her back. She finally saw the specialist on Friday and was immediately operated on - and she appears to have quite badly damaged her leg. Prognosis is excellent but we now start 4 months of no exercise building very slowly to full activity ... so that's the summer taken care of! Still she looks far happier.....and that's the important thing.Today we are also having visitors. A young couple who have bought a bloodhound from a pack. Unfortuneately they are very worried about it as it is frightened of people. We think its most likely caused by no exposure to people until it went to them, its also small. Still they are keen enough to visit and see what we can suggest to help them look after it properly. The second visitor is coming for a 'vetting' she is looking for a puppy so is starting the process to see how she gets on with our group!

Its going to be a busy weekend...

Its good news all round this week after a very difficult 2 weeks with Phoebe.First its Hubert in Moscow again. On May, 27th he was entered in the 10th Special Show of the Russian Bloodhound Club. He won 1st place among Juniors and has received a title of Junior Champion of National Club. We are all so pleased. And to add to the Russian success his owners saw their other hound Ferdinand entered in the the seven years old class (Veteran in the UK) won a class of champions and became Best of Dogs and the second to the Champion of the National Club...

And now for Phoebe - two weeks ago she started to fit very badly and we took her into the vets where she stayed over night. She then came home and started to fit again. In total she had 18 fits in one day and we did not think that she would make it. A few more trips to the vet did not sort out the problem so we decided that she was best at home and that we would do what we could. We then spent 4 days keeping everything as normal as possible for her and dosing her with Skullcap and Valerian (A herbal remedy). Slowly the fits frequency slowed down and then stopped and - touch wood - she has not had one for over a week and is much more her normal self. It was a real scare - but we intend to make the most of every minute that we have her for - she is so special.

Results in - for Birmingham National Championship Show (Friday 12th May) :- and we had a good day. Strudel won Bitch Puppy - and then went on to beat her brother Sirius, who had won the Dog Puppy Class, to win Best Puppy. For once she decided to behave in the ring!!! Long may it last........And today (Sunday) Eileen has taken Strudel and Ellie-May off to the Bloodhound Club Show and I have been left in charge at home....again!!! Results later when they are available, but we don't have many hopes today but there is a good entry and there is always a chance - fingers crossed.....

Later News!!! - as expected we did not win as the judge prefered another puppy (!) but Strudel got second place.

GUess what - yes.... even more winning news from Russia. Hubert attended two shows at the weekend with great success - his picture above was taken at the show.On May 7th he won - J.CAC, Best of Junior, then Best of Breed and second in Best in Group (apparently the BIG was his girlfriend a Basset Hound !!!!!)Then on May 8th he won: J.CAC, Best of Junior, then Best of Breed and first in BIG, and also the third place in Best in Show of Junior from 40 dogs.He and his owners are now busy preparing for Euro Dog Show 2006.Back in the UK Hedge is in the wars - he seems to have been 'attacked' by a rose thorn and this resulted in an eye ulcer which has needed a cornea graft. He is very sorry for himself at the moment with a large hood on his head and having to be kept away from the others. But the eye is fine...and all should be well in 2 weeks.

Strudel is off to two Championship shows this week. On Friday its Birmingham National Show and then on to the Bloodhound Club Championship show on Sunday. Fingers crossed.....!

Yet more winning news for Russia - with the almost unstopable Hubert. Last wekend he was entered in a show. He was shown in a junior class and once again received J.CAC, Best of Junior, then Best of Breed. Then in the Best in the Sixth Group he came second (he lost to a Rodesian Ridgeback).

Well done Hubert.

Some more 'small' successes from the WELKS Championship show last weekend. Strudel won Puppy Bitch and Sirius won Puppy Dog then went on to win Best puppy. We have also received an 'Anonymous' prompt, on our Blog, to our memory as to when two puppies last took all the honours at an Open Show. Apparently 'Anonymous' recalls two Marksbury puppies Wistful and Wayward winning in 2004 Bloodhound Club. Wistful is a lovely bitch and is still doing very well in the show ring.

In passing I must say that normally I will not publish 'Anonymous' submissions on the Blog site or this site - if someone has something to say then let them be brave enough to put their name to it! In this case thanks 'Anonymous'....whoever you may be, it is nice that you are so very interested in our site and puppies to notice this mistake and take the trouble to correct us......???????

23rd April 2006

More show results. At the Association of Bloodhound Breeders Open Show yesterday. We took Strudel and Elin took Dusty. Dusty won the puppy bitch class and we we came second. Dusty then went on to become Best Bitch in Show with Strudel Reserve Best Bitch. They both beat quite alot of competition which is excellent for such young puppies. We actually can't remember when two puppies last took all the top honours. The next task is for Eileen to get Strudel under more control (!!!!) as this is what let her down. The pictures below were taken at the show...

Yet more good news from our Russian friends about Hubert - they tell us that April, 8 Hubert went to another show, and entered the Junior Class again.
He received J.CAC, Best of Junior, then Best of Breed. Then in the sixth group Hubert was second in Best of Group.

The judge Mr Keith Prior (Australia) reported him as follows: " perfectly grown up puppy. One of the most beautiful bloodhounds which he has seen. An excellent head and folds. Excellent skeleton. Excellent quality. " Eileen is busy dying with pride...

Well are we proud parents or what!!!! We have just had news from Russia where Hubert has just attended his first show.. His performance was as follows... He was shown in a junior class and has received J.CAC, Best of Junior, then Best of Breed. He then went into the group and won Best of Group. His owners now plan to take him to Finland (Euro Dog Show2006), then in the beginning of September to Belgium (Specialised Bloodhound Show) and to Luxembourg, then to Poland (World Dog Show2006) and to of course other shows. WELL DONE HUBERT and Family.

Well are we mad or not!!!! We have more or less decided to mate Ellie-May this year. The dog is a secret but will be from outside the UK sop that we can continue our efforts to broaden the gene pool as much as we can. Watch this pace as we start to firm up our plans...we must be mad I am only just getting my sleep patterns back to what they were before the last litter..

For once we managed to get Strudel to stand in a show pose - we are really pleased with her - and have great hopes for her in the future.

Unlike his sister Hedge decided not to play with the pictures - but even so - isn't he lovely.

News all round today. Some good and some not so good. So first the not so good.For the last two months or so we have been concerned about our Hedge as his testicles had not descended. So after giving it all the time we could (the potential risk is that dogs can develop cancer with retained testicles) we took him in to the vet for an examination. The result is that whist his testicles had formed correctly his tubes have not - so unfortunately our lovely show/stud dog has not become a pet. Not that I think he will mind too much! But this was just the start of his problems - he next got an infection in the would - so antibiotics and then got a really bad eye - which needed 2 hourly drops day and night. Well the good news is that he is now fine.Good news from Sweden where Mary is starting her training as a cancer detection dog. Her owner Natasha sent us an email which made us laugh..."Mary and I have finally made our first step towards glory in cancer detection. We went to our first class and Mary was the star in her class. She learned how to detect leaking gas and Lipton yellow label tea (!) in two days. Before we can start on cancer it self she has to be an expert on tea - so happy that I got myself an English bloodhound, she must be specially gifted for this task. We are going to build our own laboratory next week and start the work for real. She has been cleared to become the first breast cancer detection dog in Sweden."We will keep you up to date on her progress.

The last few weeks also saw Crufts come and go. We were delighted to have Heather Witcombe from Canada staying with us. Heather is the breeder of (Knotty) Heather's Knock on Wood - the most successful Bloodhound ever. Knotty with his owners and handler was at Crufts and we spent a few very exciting days looking forward to the competition. On the day Knotty looked - as usual - superb, but things did not go to plan with him not winning his class. Our American/Canadian friends put brave faces on the situation but I am sure were very disappointed with the result. It will be interesting to watch in future years if any UK hounds are brave enough to venture across the 'pond' to the USA and take on hounds over there?

6th February 2006

OK - so I am still playing catch up and have just not got around to posting news on the site. Well surprise surprise today I am making some time. Yesterday there was a bit of a family reunion at the Bloodhound Club Open Show. We took Strudel along together with her mum Grace and half-sister Ellie-May (Both Ellie and Grace hate showing!!!) And we met up with Sirius and Phoebe Strudels' brother and sister. There was a great entry to the show and Sirius won in a good dog puppy class and then Strudel won the bitch puppy class with Phoebe standing second and two of Grace's grand children third and forth so a great day for Grace's offspring. In the best puppy competition Strudel started to get bored and played up a bit so her brother beat her to first place and took home a really nice trophy. In the meantime Grace almost won the prize for the most grumpy looking hound at the show (She REALLY hates showing) but still picked up 2nd place in her class. And for once in her life Ellie-May overcame all her fears and worries and also took second place in her class. So one red and two blue rosettes made for a very successful day for Cilgwri Hounds.We have also just received a really nice present from our Russian friends - a special calendar in Cyrillic script and featuring their hound Ferdinand and our puppy Hubert. They plan to start Hubert's show career with a show in Finland in June and if they manage to qualify him for Crufts to enter in 2007 (Now that's a long journey Moscow to Birmingham). They said that the weather was now warmer at -20C - it had been below -30C and I think its cold at -6C which is the coldest we have had this winter.

Last weekend we hosted on the the Bloodhound Club's special trails - the Millvery Trophy. The lines are 8 hours cold so our (Brave/foolhardy) friends Duncan and Alan walked the lines (for the two competing hounds) in the very early hours of the morning -the first at 01.30am!. The day started at -6C and then finished in brilliant sunlight. It was a great day - although no awards were made - and the spectators were all treated to an excellent lunch at a local hotel.