Happy Christmas

We would all like to take the oppertunity to wish you and your dogs a very happy Christmas!

Enjoy the time, and lets hope that we have some better weather so that we can enjoy the great outdoors with our dogs.

Thank you to all those that have sent cards, and photographs, they are very much appreciated and we take great pride in these, so thank you all once again.

BHC Agility

We missed quite a few agility shows over the summer due to the weather, seasons etc.  So it was great to actualy attend a show!  It felt like it had been ages since we had had a proper competition.

We only took Maddie and Trio, and shared the lift with my mum and her dogs.  Tasha and Trio picked up a clear round in the helter skelter, and had 5 faults in the other two rounds.  Most importantly she managed to get over her fear of the seesaw, she might have done it slowly but  she did it none the less!  Tasha did a great job handling her, getting the balance of being calm, clear and encouraging just right.

Maddie managed to miss the weave entry on the first round, and after watching the other competitors realised that it was due to me setting her up slightly off centre to the first jump so it wasn't in her line of vision.  Most mistakes are handler errors!  She also picked up 5 faults in the other two rounds, due to knocking poles.

Mum on the other hand managed to pick up two 2nd places and some clear round rosettes with her dogs.

Keeping Busy

Well it has certainly been a busy time here this month, and time if flying by.

Sadly it meant being away from home for a few days for a funeral, and leaving the children and dogs with Sean.  They all did a fab job, but I missed them all loads!

The weather has continued to be awful, most walks result in wet muddy dogs, not that they mind in the least.  Can't wait for some frosty weather, I would much sooner have the cold but dry weather.

We have attended a few shows over the last few weeks, things are certainly starting to wind down now as we near the Christmas break.

At Llanelli Maddie won the AVNSC Open gundog class, Trio had a second in the Post Grad.

At Pembrokeshire show Maddie again won the AV Open gundog and was awarded the Best AV Gundog.  Maddie and Trio also won the brace class, Tasha had a second in the Junior Handling and Christopher won his age group.  It was a lovely show catching up with friend in a nice relaxed athmosphere.

Trio would much sooner swim along side us than walk.

Goodwick Moor

Autumn Walks

We have been blessed with some good weather this week, it would be lovely if this dry spell continues into next week for half term.

It has been great to take advantage of the dry weather and have managed some nice walks over the previous week.  We have found a lovely walk in the Preselli's, not too far from home and the children would like to take their bikes next time as it has a bike route.

Have spent a lovely morning walking the dogs through Sealyham, one of our favourite walks.  It was quite magical there today walking through a carpet of fallen leaves.  The dogs had a great time racing through the woods, it's always a pleasure watching there natural ability come to life.  We stopped for a swim at the quarry, where the water had a layer of leaves on it and the dogs were doing water retrieves whilst the leaves fell on them.

South Wales Kennel Association Champ Show

Our last champ show of the year, and we went out on a high!

Cooper and Nutmeg made the journey for their showing debut, Coopers first Champ show and Nutmeg's first show.

Cooper won Junior Dog, and came 2nd in Post Grad, Dawn did a really good job and didn't look at all nervous.  Nutmeg had a 2nd in Junior Bitch.  Both will be accompanying Millie now to Crufts next year, and will be an extra special get together.  Tasha handled Tilly and did a superb job winning Post Grad Bitch, she took her back back in the ring for the challenge and was awarded Best Bitch.  We were well and truly over the moon.

Ruth had brought Fae along for the puppy class with the munsters, where she gained a 2nd place.  Trio also had a 2nd in Post Grad, and Maddie won the Open Bitch class, and was awarded Best Bitch.

Tilly, Nutmeg and Cooper.

Absolutely thrilled with day, one which will be hard to beat.  Thanks have to go to Cooper's, Nutmeg's and Fea's families for bringing them along and being such good company.

Mini Munster Meet

We managed a small munster gathering yesterday at Newgale beach.  The weather had a definite autumnal feel to it, a cool wind and a short burst of hail, but the sun did make an appearance!

The five munsters, along with Harvey had a great time racing in and out of the sea and retrieving to their hearts content.  Eleanor was an enthuasiastic ball thrower, and came home almost as wet as the dogs!

The walk was finished off with some Tiffin provided by Helen and tea from Jan.  Sorry that we couldn't stay for the tea Jan, but the Tiffin was delicious!



L-R Mutley,Maddie, Trio & Ella 



Richmond Champ Show

On Sunday we drove down to Loosely Park, in Surrey for the JHA Semi Finals for which both Tasha and Eleanor had qualified for.  It did mean a rather early start as the girls would be in the ring at 9 am, I was tempted to turn the alarm off at 3am though!

We had a good journey, not many people are mad enough to be on the road at this time of day, and we arrived just before 8 am giving time to change and settle in.  We were greeted by wonderful sunshine that lasted all day, quite a change from most of the shows that we have attended this year. 

Judging started promptly, and all the young handlers looked very smart going into the ring.  Tasha handling Tilly as Trio is on maternity leave, and Eleanore with Maddie.  Both Eleanor and Tasha gave creditable performances, and Tasha was delighted to be short listed.  She gave such a lovely smile when asked to stay in the ring, but sadly wasn't placed.  I was very proud of all of the girls (dogs included!).

Both Tasha and Eleanor really enjoyed the experience, and Richmond really do make the junior feel that it is their day.

Tasha and Tilly (thanks to Nicky friend for this)

Being 'down south' gave us the oppertunity to meet up with the seahaven clan in that area.  We were delighted to catch up with Yoshi, Nutmeg, Megan and their families.  They were all looking fantastic, and coped well with the show conditions, and all of the children!

In the breed classes Tilly gained a VHC in her class, and Maddie gained a 3rd in Limit in the LM classes. 

Nutmeg, Yoshi and Tilly (and child fan club!)

Megan & Maddie

It was a very long day, getting home at 8 pm, but we had a fantastic day.

Happy 1st Birthday part 2

The remaining three.

Congratulations to Milly on her 2nd place today at Birmingham Champ Show, her last puppy class!!

Milly

Nutmeg

Just waiting for a pic of Yoshi, will edit when it arrives.  Here he is!

Happy First Birthday!

Happy first birthday to the Seahaven Space litter - the theme chosed by Christopher and all carry a name connecting them to something to do with space!

Tilly and Red are very proud of their youngsters (as are we!) all of whom are much loved by their families.  It has been lovely over the course of the year to catch up with their antics, good and bad!

We asked of pics to be sent to be put on the blog of the pups for their birthday and we have been sent some fantastic pics.  Sadly I can't put all of them on here, only one for each pup and its a hard decision choosing a photo.  Most of all I hope that you enjoy them!

Barney

Hobson

Cooper

 

Dog Change!!

We attended the Beagle Welfare Show last weekend, it's nice to support some of the charity shows and gives the children some additional practice, and a chance to catch up with like minded people.

Luckily it was held on the only dry day of the week, however the ground was still quite wet, but was well supported.

Tasha handled Tilly to win the Sporting section, and Eleanor handled Maddie to come 2nd in the Open.  As Tilly had won a pedigree class she wasn't eligible to enter the other classes, one of which was the junior handling class so she needed to borrow a dog.  Eleanor was already handling Maddie in the same class, and Christopher was borrowing her for the older age category of this class.

Tasha asked if she could handle a Leonberger, quite different from a Munster or a Toller!  Sue Toffee's owner had some reservations on whether she could cope with him, but Tasha being Tasha took him off for a practice.  All seemed to be going well so she took him in the class.  She did a fab job and won the class with Eleanor 2nd with Maddie.  Christopher then took Maddie in the win the 12 - 16 yrs class, so we had brother and sister in for the challenge!

Again Toffee went really well for Tasha and just had the edge over Christopher with Maddie.  Special thanks have to go to Toffee for being such a willing replacement, and to his owner Sue for very kindly entrusting her cuddly bear to Tasha.

Welsh Kennel Club Champ Show

Eleanor with her rosette, and Maddie and Tilly with their prize cards

We eventually made a decision to go to the WKC show, but only for the day.  A nice early start to ensure that we were there in plently of time for the YKC Obedience competition that Christopher and Eleanor wanted to attend.

Eleanor handled Maddie in the Starters Obedience and Christopher handled Tilly in the Elementary class.  Both had clear stays, dispite many dogs breaking stays around them.  The YKC were really considerate regarding the showing and allowed both the children to have early rounds so that they could them concertrate on the showing.  This was very much appreciated as the obedience had been moved to a hanger miles from the breed rings! 

Both had really good rounds, and informed me that the dogs worked well for them.  We then quickly relocated to the benching, after a quick breakfast!

Due to classes clashing Chirstopher allowed Eleanor to handle Tilly in the breed class, and he kept a watchful eye on them both whilst I stayed by the Munster ring.

Ruth had kindly brought Fae (Seahaven Celtic Seren) to the show to be shown in the minor puppy class.  Well she was so well behaved, never being shown before or handled by me since she left us as a little puppy.  She won the class!  So another one qualified for Crufts next year. 

Eleanor gained a 3rd with Tilly in Post Grad, and Maddie has a 2nd in Limit in their respective breed classes!

We hadn't had an opertunity to go back to the YKC rings to see how the children had got on, so when we saw Pat who ran the event we had to ask her as it had all finished.  Eleanor was thrilled to have been awarded 3rd with Maddie!

Well done to all.

Pembrokeshire County Show

L - R Milly, Cooper, Tilly, Red.

A Toller family get together was organised to take place at the Open dog show that is run alongside the Pembs County Show.  This was Coopers (and his owners first show) and four tollers certainly caught the attention of the general public!

Well all came away with a handful of rosettes.  Cooper won AVNSC puppy, with Milly 3rd, Tilly had a 2nd in the Open (sadly Red wasn't in time for this class, as Jane had been held up in the show traffic).  In the gundog puppy group Cooper gained group 2!

In the rare breed class, Tilly won, with Red 2nd and Cooper 3rd (and best Rare Breed Puppy).  Sadly Lucy hadn't entered this class, otherwise it might have been tollers 1 - 4!

In the Munster classes Maddie had a 2nd in the Open, with Max 3rd, who also gained the Best Puppy in breed title.  Max then went on to gain group 3 in the Gundog Puppy Group.

Rosettes continued in the Junior Handling Classes.  Tasha won the YKC handling with Eleanor 2nd, Tasha has qualified again for the Crufts JH class!
Christopher is starting to make some progress in the older age group and gained a Reserve place with Tilly, a place that he worked really hard for.

Well done to you all, a bit of a boost after the events of the week, and a big thankyou for attending.

Busy, busy week

Well it has certainly been a busy week here!

Christopher has been in Croatia, myself and the girls went to Paignton Champ Show, and Sean kindly stayed home to keep Trio company.

I towed the caravan down to Paignton myself so the first time, and managed to set it all up fine.  Sadly the weather didn't hold for the showing on Sunday and we had a huge thunder storm with torrential rain whilst we were in the ring (acually I think it was like this all day!).  After drying Maddie off Eleanor took her in the junior handling class and came a creditable 3rd.  We took Max so that he could go in the puppy dog class and Jess brought his brother Rookie for this class as well.  To Jess's amazement Rookie won the class, with Max 2nd, a huge achievement as the other puppies were much older and had been shown before.  Both are now qualified for Crufts 2013.

Maddie gained a 3rd in the Post Grad class which we were pleased with as she is still rather short on coat!  She then had a jumping class and gained a clear round.

On Monday Maddie had a clear round in the jumping class, and a 3rd in the agility.  This is her hightest placing for agility, so rather proud of her competing against all those fast collies!

Milly attended National Gundog and the United Retriever shows, gaining a second place in puppy at each show.  Well done Lucy and Milly!

L to R - Max, Maddie and Rookie.

Max

Max is currently on holiday with us, and we decided that we would take him to Cardigan Agricultural Show for the afternoon and enter him in the dog show.  He took a while to settle as all puppies do in new surroundings, but he had to contend with sheepdogs herding duck past him, and hounds and horses all around him.  Well he settled down and we entered him in the most handsome dog class, which he won!  We are very proud of him, as are his family!  Well done Max. 

Summer hols

Well for once the change in the weather has coincided with the start of the summer hols.  Although it has been hot, most days have had a light breeze which has helped to keep everyone cool.  The dogs have taken their favourite position under the trampoline in the shade.  As usual we have taken the opportunity of cooling down in the sea, the dogs just love going body boarding with the children!

Maddie enjoying the woods at Scolton Manor

Tilly and Maddie outside Scolton Manor

Now hoping that the weather will continue to be kind to us for the next six weeks!

Guilty Party!

Well it's a good day that there's only today and tomorrow left in school for the girls!  Eleanor brought her shoes in after leaving them by the trampoline whilst she was playing with her friends.  There wasn't much left of one of them!  Trainers will have to do!

Not sure whether either of them look guilty!

The evidence

Really looking forward to seeing some dry weather, even the dogs have started to give me dirty looks when it's time to go out.  Once out they enjoy the mud and puddles, but we could really do with some dry weather now.

Surf's Up!

Today, we have had sunshine!!  A whole day with no rain, we didn't know what to do with ourselves, or what job to do first.

The washing has been caught up with, and there was plenty of it after last weekend at Tuffley!  The grass has been cut, ready for it's next growth spurt, and so we headed to the beach.

The dogs love the water, and  especially love the sea, even when it is quite rough which it was today.  The children took the body boards and had great fun in the surf.  Maddie particulary enjoyed diving in with them.

Tuffley Championship Agility Show

Well we decided to attend Tuffley dispite the van being in the garage, so no vehicle to tow the caravan.  So we went back to basics and attended with the tent, the weather and ground was awful but we had so much fun!

We arrived to find that most vehicle were being towed on to the site, we managed to get across to  the far side of the ground having a perfect view of the both the castle and the top rings.  Also managed to camp on slightly better ground than the bottom of the field.  After a rather wet night, yes it did leak slightly and I had a new air bed that I couldn't inflate we managed to have a relatively dry day on the Saturday.  Maddie managed to get a clear round and ended up being 14th, which out of 137 dogs was fab.  Tasha and Eleanor took part in the junior classes and Tasha managed a clear round, Eleanor has only just started working Maddie in agility did realy well but was eliminated. 

Again  another slightly soggy night in the tent, and I did get up to see if the river behind us was about to flood us, which thank goodness it didn't!  Again Maddie ran well for me this time gaining a 8th place out of 119 starts, I was so pleased with her.  Tasha handled her in the juniors this time and managed a 3rd, so completly outdoing me!!

Tilly managed to humiliate Eleanor in the junior by leaving the ring, but did manage to get around a full height course earlier in the day.

All in all a fab weekend, just hope that the weather improves for Tuffley next year (and for the rest of the summer!)





Camp Seahaven!!

The girls with Berkeley Castle in the the background.



Another Busy Week

Well it's been another busy week here, not with the dogs but with other committements.  The dogs haven't missed out though!

Luckily we have managed to have some good walks in the dry, not that the dogs mind in the  least and they usually get wet from swimming anyway!  Agility was on for a change, we have missed loads of sessions due to the girls having seasons and the weather.  Well this week it was dry and we still didn't go! 

The children sang in a concert with their choir last weekend, which was fantastic.  A trip to Caldey Island was cancelled due to the sea conditions which was a shame.  This week was Tasha's comfirmation so we were busy with practices for that then the ceremony on Friday evening.  It was a very special event, the Bishop even came and sat with us for supper after the service.

We are now hoping for some good weather for next weekend, when we will be at Tuffley for the agility.

Back out and about

Well we haven't posted for a little while as Maddie and Trio have both been in season and as a result have been limited in what to do.

It has however been really busy with other things, we have enjoyed the county junior athletics, and the school music evening with our daughters.  Christopher sat his maths GSCE stats paper this week (only 12 yrs so really proud of him for this), so it's been a busy few weeks of revision.  Roll on August for his results.

Today we took the dogs for a walk along the Cleddau, it seems to have been ages since I had all 3 dogs out for a long walk together.  They all had a good swim which they thoroughly enjoyed.  Hoping to meet up with Jess and Rookie (Batty as he was known here) so looking forward to seeing how he is developing.

Can I go in mum, pretty please...

Yeah!!

Hoping for some extra good news in the coming weeks, keep checking the blog!

Another missed show!

Well the worst of the weather was north of us, so we got off very lightly in comparison to Ceredigion.

With Maddie and Trio both in season we decided not to attend the Large Munsterlander Championship Show today.  Hate missing shows when we have entered, and have waited at home for news on the net and from friends.

Lucy took Milly to Ashfield open show in the Midlands and again took the best puppy in breed.  They are having a really good time, and enjoying every minute of it!  Well done to you both, it certainly made us feel better for missing the LMC show.

What has happened to the sun!!

Can't you tell when the children are off school!  Sadly we missed Monmouth last weekend, with two munsters in season we decided to stay home and make the most of the weather on the Saturday. We sadly missed meeting up with some of the others Seahaven offspring which as we normally manage a meet whenever we're staying at Monmouth.

Maddie and Trio are really fed up with being left behind, and Tilly has really enjoyed her outings with us.  On Saturday I took the children and Tilly to the beach for a few hours, I really don't know who had the most fun!  I quite happily observed as Tilly swan alongside the body boards, and dug huge holes in the sand with 3 happy children.



Let me do it, I'm better at doing holes than you lot!




Race you all to the sea!



Bath Champ Show

The weather was hot, hot, hot!!!

Great day was had by all, and lovely to meet up with friends old and new. 

It was great to meet up with Lucy and Milly, Tilly hadn't seen Milly since she left the litter last year (we have though!).  Milly had a 2nd place in the breed puppy bitch class, and Tilly had a VHC in Post Grad.

Milly being awarded her 2nd place

Mother and daughter

For the munsters, Trio won Post Grad and Maddie had a 2nd in the Open breed class.  Maddie was called back in for the best bitch award and was given the reserve best bitch.  We have come home rather pleased.

In addition to this we had a 3rd in the Brace class with the munsters, and Tasha had  3rd in the Junior Handling class.

Now looking forward to a nice quiet evening.

Busy,busy, busy!!

Well the weather has improved tremendously, and we've managed to get out and about a bit easier.

Agility training outside is now well under way.  I do seem to have lost Maddie to Eleanor though, on the plus side they are working well together. 

We have attended a few local show over the last two weekends and both Tasha and Eleanor have both had a win in the junior handling classes, Christopher picked up a third in the older age category. 

Lucy and Milly attended Coventry and District show today and they won the Any Variety puppy class.  Well done to them both.

We have finished the week with a lovely walk down on the beach.  A firm favourite with the dogs and the children!

The National Dog Show

Well the journey was worth it!  Five hours each way, with the satnav deciding to be tempermental was not easy.  A nine year old navigating made for an interesting journey!

We arrived just as the Junior handling was nearing completion and the steward kindly allowed Tasha to take Trio in, minus a ring card as we had run from the car to the ring.  They both did really well, and been hurried into the ring didn't help, but they came away with a 3rd. 

At least we had some time to gather our thoughts before the breed judging, time to settle the dogs and collect our things from the car.  Tasha handed Trio in the post graduate breed class, a large quality class and came 2nd! 

Tilly was also entered in the post graduate breed class, and she had a 3rd.

Really pleased that we decided to travel to take part in the German Breed Festival, where all German breeds at the show have a German breed specialist judge.

Tilly -  so happy to be out and about!

Today the girls (cannine at least) are having a relaxing day.  The other girls are in school!

Aberystwyth Show

Well we had a lovely day at the show today, quite hectic after staying away overnight for a party!

Trio was second in the graduate breed class, with Maddie winning the open.
Tilly had a second in the AVNSC open, with the winner winning the gundog group.

Tasha won the junior handling class, and has now qualified for the finals at Crufts 2013.

A great day, seeing some old friends, and with the dogs and children being a credit to us.

WELKS

Congratulations again to Lucy with Milly.  They braved the weather to attend WELKS champ show today, only their 2nd show and first champ show.  Well, Milly had a 2nd in the bitch puppy class and has now qualified for Crufts 2013!

She was beaten by Tilly's half sister, who is a little older than Milly.  Well done Lucy.

Super Dooper Cooper!

Today we had a special visitor!
Cooper (Tilly and Reds son) came to visit, Sean was lucky enought to see him in Dec when he was passing.  Well Dawn and Gerald very kindly brought him to meet his family again.  He just walked in and was part of the family once again!

It was great to catch up with Gerald and Dawn, and to see Cooper as he matures.  He is a credit both Gerald and Dawn, looking and behaving beautifully.

Bog Dogs

Well the dogs have decided to enter into a beauty regime in preparation for the forthcoming show season.  Austerity measures well and truly taken into consideration.  Apparently mud is good for the skin, or so we have been led to believe!

The girls have taken this as a great excuse to have some fun in the bog!  Thank goodness for the stream at the end of the walk.  Wasn't looking forward to sharing the car with them after their beauty treatment!

Congratulations to Lucy and Milly!!!

Huge congratulations to Lucy and Milly (Seahavens Red Andromeda).

They both attended their first show today and this lovely girlie (Tilly's Daughter) has done us all proud. 

They won the Junior breed class, took Best Puppy in breed and then Best of Breed!

Not bad for their first attempt at showing.  Huge congratulations from us all here and thank you Lucy for putting all your time and effort into this lovely girl.  Milly looks like she's now ready for a well earned rest!

April Walks

Finally managed to get some pics off the phone!  We had a lovely walk this morning before the heavens opened and stayed that way for most of the day.  The dogs were more than happy to stay curled up and comfortable after that, and Batty took some persuasion to go out to the loo!

Batty has a new home to go to, and we're really excited for him, but it will be sad to see him go.  However we should be bumping into him and his new owner during the year, so we'll get lots of Batty cuddles!