Rain rain go away.....

It's absolutely pouring rain outside today. The morning started out looking like it could go either way, but the dark clouds won out and the skies have just opened up. The puppies of course are very unhappy about this and loudly voicing their protest. They want to be outside and playing! When the yipping got to be a bit too much to handle I decided to grab my umbrella and take them outside anyway. They ran around and played, took care of some business and pretty soon decided that actually they might want to be back inside. They are now happily back in their ex pens munching on great big dog cookies and warming back up. All is right at Braebrook again. ;)

The puppies were cropped a few days ago and came through this minor surgery with flying colours, and in fact their ears are healing faster than any other litter I have had. Their ears are kept upright by being taped to a cup on their heads, and to protect the ears from over zealous playmates they wear little sock hats overtop of the cups. They look unbelievably cute like this and it's really quite amazing how they run around completely forgetting about the cups.

The puppies are looking better and better everyday, and there is no doubt in my mind that every puppy could finish their championships with ease. I work very hard planning each litter and to see them come to such successful fruition makes me very proud indeed. My hard work is paying off! :)

Dog improvements to the new house continue and make the daily chores smoother with every change. There are now two wire fenced dog yards, with a third huge wood fenced yard close to being finished. A new door directly into the first wire yard makes it much easier to put dogs out for their morning constitutional, and lighting directly into the yards makes the last visit of the night much easier than trying to wrestle with a flashlight. I couldn't be more happy with our move to this new property and look forward to many more generations of Braebrook dogs being born here.

I do believe the rain might be letting up just a little. I wonder if I can get some new stacked photos of the puppies before it starts again.......

Home sweet home

We finally did it! We are all moved and settled into our new digs and enjoying it SO much. The new house is exactly what we had been hoping to find with 2+ acres for the kids and dogs to enjoy and a great big house that is well set up for entertaining. We are thrilled!

I did a little bit of updating to the website tonight after setting up my old dinosaur of a computer. I use my iMac for everything but had originally done my website on the old PC and have just never learned how on the iMac. I guess since we have had it for over a year now it is probably time I learned. My old PC is so slow that I just get frustrated and never do all the updating that I want to do. I did manage to upload six week stacked photos of the Rogan x Safi puppies. Pictures of the Mick x Coco kids to come!

Lots planned here as usual. Now that we are moved and no longer living in limbo(I just hated that...so glad to be done) I can start to make some more concrete plans. The local dog club meetings start up again tomorrow night after taking time off for the summer and I have been starting to look at what shows I would like to attend this fall. The puppies are growing like crazy and will be off to their new homes in less than a month already, I can hardly believe it. Speaking of puppies I have some exciting news, Bravo has been bred to Am/Can Ch Holmrun's Bo Coup CD ROM "Boca". This is Bravo's first litter and puppies are due at the end of October. Inquiries for this very exciting litter can be directed to Cherie Holmes: holmrun@shaw.ca

There will be no more Braebrook litters until next year. I had planned on possibly one more as I only have the six puppies between the two litters, but things didn't come to fruition. The next Braebrook litter will be out of Phoebe( Ch Modadobe Sunset Dreaming), with breeding likely taking place in February.

Update.....

We had a bit of a rough go here. Safi was showing very little interest in her puppies right from the beginning, something I was told she was like with her previous litter(before I owned her) as well. I started bottle feeding the little ones and thankfully they started to gain weight and were doing much better. Safi would clean them and nurse them but only if I sat in the box with her and made her lie down. She didn't have much milk, and whether this was from her not nursing enough or she just didn't get much I am not sure, but in any case I definitely had to bottle feed or the puppies wouldn't have survived.

Coco's foursome arrived on July 31st, and Coco's mothering skills are excellent. Once I knew that Coco's little ones were doing well I decided to try Safi's puppies with her and it worked out beautifully, she loves them. Unfortunately even with Coco's good care and my watching like a hawk we still lost two of the Safi puppies, one black boy and one red boy, leaving just two black boys. It was very stressful and difficult for all involved but I am just happy that the two black boys are doing well.

So with two litters I only have six puppies in total. I am planning another breeding this year that I had originally planned for next year so if you are still interested in remaining on my wait list please drop me an e-mail and let me know. I will be updating the website with info on this breeding shortly.

The Rogan x Safi puppies arrive. :)

The big day arrived pretty much right on schedule and Safi presented us with four lovely boys, three black and one red. She took her time while in labour with lots of time in between each delivery, which gave each puppy plenty of time to learn to nurse before the next one arrived. All the nursing has not provided too much milk however and I have been bottle feeding the little ones. This is exhausting and so I have once again gotten behind on my e-mails. I'm sorry everyone, but I will get back to you...just as soon as I get some sleep! ;)

I am giving Safi fenugreek which is a herb that helps with milk production so with any luck it will do just that and I will be able to back off with the bottle somewhat.

Making this a quick one as the babies are calling again. More soon...

This house is SOLD!!

I was starting to feel like this day would never come but it finally did. Our lovely Cobble Hill house has SOLD and we are moving on to a lovely, more dog(and child) friendly home in North Cowichan. We do have a place in mind so please keep your fingers crossed that all goes as planned. We are very excited!
Safi and Coco are getting closer everyday...in fact Safi is just eight days away from her whelping due date. I don't expect really large litters, as neither girl is looking huge, but they are both definitely pregnant. I can't wait for puppy breath. :)
We recently replaced our computer and in doing so I am unable to update my website for the next little while. I will be relying on my blog and the Braebrook Facebook page to keep you all abreast of what is happening here.
Puppy news soon!

More points for Pony. :)

I received a new show photo for the lovely Pony(Can/Int Ch Holmrun's Chulo Pony Braebrook) yesterday. She has matured beautifully and is now working towards her American championship. She picked up six more points towards her Am title while out with her handler recently, and has a few more shows lined up for the month of July. You can see her new photo on her page on the Braebrook website.

Pony is a littermate to Coco(Ch Braebrook's Coco Chanel Holmrun). This litter was born and raised here at Braebrook, but was co-bred(meaning the dam, in this case London, was owned by two people) with my very good friend Cherie Holmes of Holmrun Dobermans. As per our original agreement Cherie was to get a puppy from the litter, and she chose Pony, which is why her name starts with Holmrun instead of Braebrook.

This has been a very successful litter for me as you will see from previous posts and I am very proud of them. More titles are still coming in and I am excited to see what this litter will accomplish when all is said and done. There is still lots of time left, as they are only three years old now. I have to say a big thank you to all of their owners for piloting these great dogs to their many accomplishments. You are invaluable! :)

It's looking like Safi is pregnant. She is looking full in the waist and her nipples are starting to fill already. I think all those positive thoughts worked! ;)

Coco is starting to look different to me as well, so I am pretty sure both girls were successfully bred. I can't wait to see the results of those breedings in the form of sweet little puppy faces.

I hope you are all enjoying the sun today and that you had a great long weekend. Happy Canada Day!

Off to a great start...

This weekend was the Nanaimo Kennel Club dog show in Nanaimo BC. Coming out for the occasion to make his show ring debut was Bravo's brother Remy or Braebrook's Remy Martin. Remy was shown just two days of the show but did a wonderful job and was best of winners both days for his first four points! He also picked up a best puppy in group win under judge Shirley Limoges.

I was so very proud of Remy this weekend. He had not been stacked since he left our house at just three months of age, but he remembered exactly how to do it and showed beautifully. He was an absolute pleasure to handle.

He also came and stayed the weekend with us so I was able to groom him up for the show and do a little bit of quick training the night before. It is always nice to have my puppies back for a visit and Remy loved being back. He had some great playtime with Lexi, and was very well behaved in the house. I just love the temperaments on this litter, very easy going and biddable. I'm already looking forward to the next show! :)