BPIS Ch Braebrook's Hennessy

You have probably already seen some of these pictures on the Braebrook Kennels Facebook page but I've included them here again to share with those who haven't as well as have a blog post completely dedicated to Bravo.

I had been working out details for quite sometime to purchase a bitch named Kyra (stay tuned for an upcoming blog post for more about her). She decided to come into season just as things were finalized and because I had her in mind specifically for Bravo details to get him here had to move along quickly. Thankfully Calgary is only a quick flight from here so when I contacted his owner Wendy to say we were ready for him things were able to happen with nary a hiccup.

Bravo happily came out of his crate in Victoria and after a quick potty break, a drink and some welcoming cuddles we headed back home with him.

There were a few health clearances that needed to be taken care of right away so before he arrived I booked him in with my vet to have his hips OFA'd and strapped him into a holter so we could check his heart. My vet said his hips looked great (still waiting for the final OFA grade) and he had just three single PVC's on his holter test. He gets to add these clearances to being vWD clear, Kate Meurs swab negative, and he was CERF cleared as a young dog.

Bravo was shaved for his holter so that is the mark you see in this picture. He fit right in during his stay here, like he'd never left.

One of my favorite things about Bravo is how he moves. He's a big dog (not in height...we measured him while he was here and he's 27 and 5/8 at the withers) with lots of bone and substance, something that is getting harder and harder to find in the breed, but he is not cloddy. He moves big, free, easy and powerful. He's very balanced as you can see in this photo...perfect triangles and no crossing over under his body.

Bravo was quite heavy when he arrived ( Wendy does admit to spoiling him ;) ), so he joined in on the evening runs with the other dogs here (I'm running too...I have a 5K race coming up in a couple of weeks) and with some careful portion control we managed to get him slimmed down nicely.

Here are a few stacked photos, I can't believe he's going to be five in August...time just flies along.

 And here's a little throwback to when he was just 10 months old. He finished his championship on this day with a Best Puppy in Show and a third in the adult group.

I know I say this all the time but I'm very excited about this litter (can you tell I'm living my dream when all this dog stuff is just so exciting to me??).  If all goes according to plan we should have puppies at the beginning of August. Stay tuned for the litter announcement!