Updates

Morse, my phantom carrying pup from Germany is now 6 weeks old, his breeder has been sending me pictures and updates every week, so I thought I would share the most recent ones, I think he is going to be a heartbreaker :-). I cannot thank his breeder, Sabine, of Big Cheyenne's Std Poodles, enough for the work she is putting into this puppy on my behalf, and I am so looking forward to collecting him in Feb.

I also have a quick request for those who have been to visit/have had a puppy or kitten from me, would you be so kind as to provide a testimonial on my website, if you feel it appropriate, as it helps to keep the website up to date and shows a continuation of standards, thank you in advance.

Steve (the Wonder kitten) is a little monster, into absolutely everything and scared of nothing, I wish his new mum in Denmark the very best of luck with this mischievous little man :-) 

A bit of a brag

Dime's brother, Harley (Itzapromise Gandalph), who resides with Dubois Poodles in the USA, became a UKC Champion last weekend. Feeling very proud :-) He is a platinum silver, the dark patches are where his coat is still clearing, Dime has the exact same markings, they are just not quite so obvious a she is a shade darker than her brother.

Just chugging along

It's all gone very quiet here at the moment, all Sybils babies are now demanding attention from their new families. The only baby we have here now is Steve, who is a single baby belonging to Miss Tibbs. As he has no siblings he is, even at just 5 weeks old, proving to be even more demanding than the average Devon kitten!!. It looks like this baby boy will be off to live in Denmark, and his prospective new owner has a std poodle, so he will hardly know he has left home :-)

Cash will be celebrating his 1st birthday on the 25th of this month, due to all the mud that we encounter on our daily walks, combined with him starting to go through the period that every poodle owner dreads, coat change, I have tried to reduce my workload just a little, and today Cash got a grown up haircut. I know that the continental clip is not everyone's cup of tea, but I love it and think he looks fantastic in it. However, we are going for a beach walk tomorrow so he won't be looking so glam this time tomorrow, lol.

 

Some of you may have noticed that Sioux has not been in any of my photos recently. He is now living with the daughter of a friend. This is not something that was a lightly made decision, but the fact is, that all my dogs are my house pets, they live in my home and all are walked on a daily basis, this means that there has to be a limit on the amount that I can reasonably fully care for, I knew several months ago that I wanted to keep a pup from Dollar (which sadly was not to be), and I also knew that I wanted to bring another boy in that was suitable for Audrey and Spirit. Then out of the blue, a friend who has several of my poodles mentioned that her daughter was looking for a poodle, for once I put my practical hat on and decided that as I didn't have any suitable girls for Sioux, perhaps she would like to meet him. Well, it has turned out to be a match made in heaven, both are thoroughly enjoying their one to one relationship, and although he is missed terribly here, not just by my family, but by all who knew him (he is loaded with character and is just the sweetest boy), I know that I made the right decision. 

He is currently being kept entire, and requests for stud use are still being taken, he is now known as ZenDog.

itzapromisepoodles' photostream

itzapromisepoodles' photostream on Flickr.

Good news, Edith now has a home waiting for her, just Agnes to find the perfect place for now. Update: I have just heard from Agnes' (Cleo's current family) and they feel she is so much a part of the family that they hope they have found a way to cope with one family members allergy to her, and are going to keep her :-)

Edith and Agnes

I find it hard to believe I am writing this, but I now have 2 of Sybil's girls needing homes :-( The family who chose Agnes are having to return her as their young son is allergic to her, they are devastated. I have had numerous enquiries about Edith, but it seems that these are all from people who are more interested in engaging in text or email conversations rather than actually coming to meet her. I am quite happy to respond to an initial message, but feel that if you are genuine you will pick up the phone for a chat after the initial contact.
These girls are both very affectionate and deserve a home where they will be the center of attention, if you think that might be you, please get in contact, Agnes (Cleo) will be back here on Saturday, Edith is ready to pack her bags now.

Introducing Morse

We have a new boy joining us in the new year, a black boy from Germany. Those of you that know me, know that although I love the black, and indeed my first standards (back in the 80's, how old does that make me feel!) were beautiful blacks, but it is not a colour that I want to breed. But this boy is not just black, his mother is apricot, which suits me, but it is his father that decided me, as he is a phantom, with some reds behind him. This means that the pup will carry the phantom gene, so when put to either Spirit or Audrey, or indeed most of Rhonda's descendants, he will produce a percentage of phantoms in the litters :-). But he is also a nice prospect for those looking to breed blacks, because as long as the girl doesn't carry the phantom gene, all the pups will be solid and will have a much lower Wycliffe % than the average black. He is to be registered as Crack the Code, due to his hidden colour, pet name is likely to be Morse (code) Photo courtesy of his breeder, Sabine of Big Cheyenne Poodles

Dollar is back to normal

9 days after all the heartbreak and Dollar is pretty much back to her old self. I had been hoping to get a nice picture of her but the weather ha been against us, however, the video probably gives you a better idea of how she is feeling, all be it a bit soggy. Apologies for the video being on its side, can't seem to rotate it!

Life goes on

Dollar is making a good steady recovery, after 36 hours that she was showing obvious discomfort in, I decided to take her for a walk this morning as I know that always lifts my spirits when I am feeling down. Although she wasn't convinced about the 'on lead' side of it, it certainly seems to have lifted her mood and I feel it has also relieved some of her discomfort. This evening she is relaxed and settled, she has been eating well (many thanks to Sarah for the chicken that she brought over for her), I see no reason why she wont be back to normal very quickly. I have to say a huge thank you to all those who have offered support and kind wishes, knowing people care about my girls helps immensely .

Along with myself, I know that there are some very disappointed people out there who had been waiting for a Dollar pup, although this is now an impossibility we are hoping to have the next best thing, when we mate Dime (Dollars daughter) to my fabulous Swedish boy, Cash. There may also be some pups from a Dollar grand daughter and Cash in the near future, so her line has not been lost.

Sybils kittens are now ready to leave home, I am really surprised to say that 2 of the girls are still available as the people who had made enquiries whilst I was away haven't responded to my emails. These are lovely kittens and will be wonderful active pets for someone who could offer them a loving home (either singly or as a pair). For some reason I can't add photos to this atm, but click the link to Flickr.com on the right of the page to see todays pics :-)

Sad day

I can't write much at the moment as feeling very emotional, but after a long non productive labour, Dollar had to have a caesarian section, this resulted in one dead puppy, with it looking very much like other pups had been reabsorbed. I could not allow Dollar to go through this again so elected to have her spayed. She is now quietly recovering at home. I am so sorry to disappoint all those people who had waited a long time for one of her pups, I fully understand how you feel as I had planned for and waited a long time to have a pup myself.

They're on the way

Although Dollar is due today, she showed no signs of the pups making an appearance today, she ate her breakfast with gusto and then we went on our usual walk, where she happily chased squirrels (all be it slowly). Then, once home I decided to give her a bit of a clean up.
Still no sign of anything, so I did a few bits around the house and mowed the lawn and then thought I would take a couple of pictures of mum to be, it was during this that she started having contractions, so we made our way to the whelping box in the lounge and set the cam up. I am writing this at about 4pm 11.10.13, labour can take a while so pups may start arriving in the next hour or so, or she may take her time and keep hold of them until tomorrow, time will tell. Anyway, the cam is up and running, so click the link on the right of this page if you want to take a peek and maybe join in with the chat.

A quick catch up

I am just back from our 1st ever proper family holiday, with the amount of pets we have it is almost impossible to get away so this was a much anticipated event. We had a fab time visiting Grahams family in Canada, then flying to San Francisco and driving to Yosemite National Park, then Monterey and finally to Los Angeles. It was a bit of a whistle stop tour but loved every minute of it. Unfortunately our homecoming left a bit to be desired, with the house and animals looking a bit neglected (cosmetically only with the animals, they are all fit well and happy) but I still feel it was worth the effort.
Sybils kittens are really well grown now and are just a delight, and complete pain in the neck!! they are just so friendly and want to be involved in everything you do. To all those who have enquired about the available girls in my absence, I will try to return emails today/tomorrow or if you want to contact me on the phone I would love to hear from you, if I have somehow missed any emails, please forgive me and try again, it is organised chaos here at the moment and with jet lag etc it may take a little while for normal service to be resumed :-) They will be ready to leave here at the end of next week.

Dollar is due to have her pups the weekend after next, it looks like she is going for quality rather than quantity this time, as she is not looking very big, we definitely saw a few pup on the scan so hopefully she will have a reasonable litter.

Unfortunately Spirit is not pregnant this time, although I am obviously disappointed, especially with the effort involved in getting her mated to a German dog, I am not worried, it just sometimes happens. Her half sister Audrey missed the first time she was mated (covered and tied 3 times) but then went on to have a litter of 10, (1 mating) and 11 (1 mating), so we will try her again on her next season, though, due to travel logistics, it may be with a dog that is in this country.

Itzapromise Reumion 2013

A little reminder of summer, courtesy of Sharon and Mark, owners of Cally (one of Dollars pups) who took the time to put this video together and have given me permission to share it.
It has put a smile on my face to see so many beautiful dogs, enjoying each others company and to know that all have homes with wonderful people. I think my favourite parts are Sarah being mobbed for the treats, and all the attempts at group stays!
Thank you Mark and Sharon

Still not 100% sure

Dollar is blooming, as they say :-) she is filling out nicely and has obvious mammary changes, Spirit on the other hand is not so easy. I have to say that I am doubtful that she is pregnant, but, I still wouldn't be surprised if she was hiding a couple in there.
I am putting a couple of pictures up to try and illustrate what I am seeing, it is very easy to look at the pics and say, it's obvious that Dollar is and Spirit isn't, but it's not quite that simple. This is Dollars 4th (and final) litter and therefore she already has much bigger nipples that a maiden bitch, also, and don't repeat this to her, she does have a little middle age spread going on, her colour is much easier to photograph and show definition and finally, I know there are pups in there because I've seen them.

 Spirits changes are more subtle, her nipples are bigger than before her season, and she has a definite paunch, the pictures were taken just before they were due to be fed, so they both had empty tummies.
At this stage I am not going to scan her again unless there is further physical development. It will be 5 weeks on Friday since they were both mated.