Monday, December 12, 2016

Anam Chara Barbet welcomes their first litter

Congratulations to Lynn Vogt-Kinsey and Leslie Woodward on the the safe arrival of 8 beautiful Barbets (5 boys, 3 girls) born on December 7th. Dam, CH Hickory Tavern Secret Garden is doing a great job mothering her puppies.  The sire of this litter is CH Northrock's Athos Pascal.


It will be a joyful kind of busy at Anam Chara Barbet for the next several weeks and we will all enjoy watching these precious babies grow up!

Saturday, November 19, 2016

Puppies Expected at Anam Chara Barbet

Anam Chara is expecting their first litter of Barbets out of the lovely Ch Hickory Tavern Secret Garden "Meg" by our homebred Ch Northrock's Athos Pascal.  We are all looking forward to meeting the puppies out of these two beautiful Barbets who both have such wonderful temperaments.  Puppies are expected December 10th.
  

For information about this expected litter please contact the breeders Leslie Woodward and Lynn Vogt-Kinsey at Anam Chara.

Monday, October 31, 2016

New Titles Earned at Northrock


It has been a successful month at Northrock Barbets as a few of the Barbet girls brought home some new titles in Rally Obedience*.
UCH Nuphar's Soak Up The Sun RN CGN "Summer" with her rosettes from her first two CKC RN legs

Summer now has her CKC Rally Novice title earning the title in three straight trials with a 93, 98 and 96.
URO1 CH Northrock's Eau De Joy CGN "Ellie" and
URO1 UCD CH Neigenuveaux Fleur D'Northrock WC CGN "Sophie"

photo by A. Smith

In UKC Rally, Summer, Sophie and Ellie each earned the title of URO1.  We are really enjoying the sport of rally-obedience.  

A big thank you to Ellie's co-owner, Lise Pomeroy for putting the first two legs of Ellie's title on her.  All of the dogs worked well and earned some really nice scores.

Also many thanks to my friend and coach Alison Smith at Personal Paws Inc. for all of her training help and encouragement.  




*pending CKC and UKC Confirmation

Monday, August 22, 2016

Camping in Algonquin Provincial Park


I've just returned from a wonderful trip to Algonquin Provincial Park.  What a beautiful park!  Our family had a great time with friends, sharing lots of laughs and delicious food.   Summer came with us this year as she had never gone camping before and was a joy to have along.



Our campsite was on the water and a peaceful retreat from city life.

As part of the trip we enjoyed a day out on the lake swimming and canoeing in the sunshine.   
There were several campers who wanted to stop and meet Summer.  None of them had previously heard of the breed.  She was a super ambassador for the Barbet and enjoyed the attention.

Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Introducing Rex: HickoryTavern Epic D'Northrock

HickoryTavern Epic D'Northrock
CH Northrock's Athos Pascal x CH Neigenuveaux's Ermagarde
Born April 6, 2016

We are happy to welcome the latest addition to our Northrock family of Barbets.  HickoryTavern Epic D'Northrock has come to us from breeder Judy Descutner at Hickory Tavern Farm.



Rex is a special puppy for us as he is by our homebred male CH Northrock's Athos Pascal and out of Judy's CKC/UKC CH Neigenuveux's Ermagarde.  The litter that these two Barbets have produced is lovely and I'm very pleased with the consistency and quality that we are seeing in the puppies thus far.  



We are grateful to Judy for the wonderful start Rex received. He is a happy and friendly pup who travelled really well on his journey from the States to Canada. Rex is co-owned with John Bonin and Cherise Berman and together we are going to have a lot of fun with this puppy.



Tuesday, June 21, 2016

UKC Premier 2016



I have just returned from a trip to Kalamazoo, Michigan to participate in events at the UKC Premier dog show.  Lise Pomeroy and her Barbet Ellie (CH Northrock's Eau De Joy CGN) joined Summer (Nuphar's Soak Up The Sun) and I for a fun filled few days enjoying dog sports.  


We participated in conformation, lure coursing and rally-obedience events and Ellie tried dog diving.  In performance events both Ellie and Summer each came away with two legs towards a lure coursing title and one leg towards a rally title, qualifying in each new event they entered.

 Here is a video of Ellie lure coursing!


It was a joy to spend time with other Barbets and their wonderful owners and to finally meet some of the dogs and people in person.  

Sunday, May 29, 2016

The Pascal and Claire Puppies - Update

Earlier this month I travelled to Hickory, PA to visit with Judy Descutner at Hickory Tavern Farm and see the Pascal x Claire puppies before they began to leave for their new homes.  It was a delightful trip and we are both pleased with the promise this litter shows.  


Joshua Bandoch and Maria Rogacheva are Pascal's wonderful co-owners.  The passion they have for their dog and the breed is evident in all that they have done and continue to do for Pascal.  They were very excited for the opportunity to meet these special puppies today.  

Josh, Claire, Judy, Maria, Pascal and the pups 



It was truly a team effort to produce this litter.  My sincere thanks to all involved.  I am very glad that a Northrock dog has been able to contribute to the careful growth of the Barbet in the US.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Barbet Puppy Surrendered to Rescue Makes Waves on Social Media

This article recently appeared in the Barbet Club of America's  newsletter.  

A basketful of puppies from the Dougy x Coco litter.
A few weeks ago, a Barbet puppy in Canada was surrendered by it’s owners to a rescue organization. This created a flurry of activity on social media as prospective homes jumped at the opportunity to “rescue” a purebred Barbet and in less than 24 hours the rescue was inundated with well over 100 applications for ownership.

As a breeder I was absolutely heartsick upon hearing this news. How could such a young dog end up at a rescue? What happened to the relationship between the owner and the breeder that this should happen? Aren’t homes and breeders staying in contact with one another? 

Without a doubt in my mind, any reputable breeder would desperately want to know if a puppy they had bred was being turned into rescue. The breeders belonging to Club Barbet Canada as well as the Regional Ontario club and the Barbet Club of America discussed that this puppy was being turned into a rescue. It would appear that he was not bred by any of them. It’s a sad situation all around. 

It’s easy to jump to conclusions as to why this dog ended up in rescue. The fact of the matter is that we will never know what the entire story is behind this situation. The owners will have their truth, the rescue which stands to profit from the sale of this puppy will have theirs, and the breeder his or her own. Apparently in this particular case, the relationship between the owners of the puppy and the breeder was such that the owner preferred to place the dog with the rescue and not return it to the breeder; it was also stated by the rescue that there was no contractual obligation for the owners to return the dog to the breeder. Despite offers to assist by the National breed club in Canada, the rescue opted to keep the dog and re-home him themselves. 

I ask that all breeders reading this article stop to think about just how easy it really is for a dog they have bred to end up in a similar situation. In this day and age of animal rights activists vilifying breeders and the opinion of the general public moving more towards the “adopt don’t shop” mentality the average dog lover isn’t going to automatically think that a breeder or breed club would want to help.

Something like this could happen to any breeder. An accident that befalls the owners of the pup or a illness strikes in the family and all it would take is some well meaning relative or friend to orchestrate the transfer ownership of the dog to a rescue. Reputable breeders have it written into their contracts that they will take back any dog they have bred for the lifetime of that dog. I know I would move mountains to do so should the need arise. Realistically many pet owners will never look at their contract again after they’ve signed it and brought their puppy home. A family member or friend would certainly not know about the dog needing to go back to the breeder or even still, think to understand why the breeder would want to know where the dog they have bred has ended up. 

Gone are the days of rescues reaching out to National clubs when a purebred dog is surrendered. Retail rescue is big business and it’s highly unlikely a rescue will even try and connect a dog with it’s breeder even though puppies are microchipped or tattooed and in most cases contracts signed between breeder and owner outline that the breeder be notified if the owner can no longer care for the dog. Ironically most rescues like the one that took the above mentioned Barbet will themselves have in their own contracts a clause such as this one “Do you understand that if at anytime during the life of this pet, you are unable to keep it that it must be returned to *** Rescue at your own expense? You may not take it to an SPCA, City Pound, surrender to another rescue group, or give it away or sell it to another person or group.”

Even if there is a contractual obligation to inform the breeder and return the dog to the breeder, once the dog has been transferred into the care of the rescue, if the rescue wants to keep the dog, or if the dog has already been placed by the rescue with a family that refuses to part with the dog, now the breeder has to try and get this dog back through the courts - and that may not be a simple endeavour, especially if the dog is out of Province or State. Such a situation could easily become a hellish nightmare for the breeder.

As caring breeders the best we can do to try to avoid something like this befalling a dog we have bred is to maintain relationships with the homes that have our puppies - throughout the lifetime of the dog. It’s not enough to just have words written into a contract. We need to be the person that the owner wants to call if they are struggling with any issues and we need to communicate to our homes that we are available to help them. Good breeders are a great source of education and support for their puppy owners. Breeders need to remind our homes that we will take the dog back if needed at any time. If breeders have a good relationship with the homes that have their puppies and the homes want to be involved in the re-homing of the dog, if the relationship is there, there is no reason why this shouldn’t be possible. 

For the owners of Barbets that have obtained their puppy from a source other than a reputable breeder, and for whatever reason they wish to re-home their Barbet, please know that the Barbet Club of America will do whatever is needed to assist in the re-location of their dog. The Barbet Club of America cares deeply about the welfare of any Barbet. Knowledgeable members of the BCA understand the breed’s needs and can help to make an appropriate match that would enable the dog to live out the rest of his or her days in suitable permanent home.

Article written by Stephanie Dixon.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

The Pascal x Claire puppies have arrived at Hickory Tavern Farm

We are delighted to welcome the arrival of puppies at Hickory Tavern Farm in PA, USA.  This past week CKC/UKC CH Neigenuveaux's Emargarde "Claire" whelped 8 beautiful puppies by CKC CH Northrock's Athos Pascal.  A lovely even split of 4 males (3 black, 1 brown) and 4 females (all black).  Claire and her puppies are doing wonderfully.


An enormous thank you to Pascal's co-owners Joshua Bandoch and Maria Rogacheva who made Pascal available to breeder Judy Descutner back in February so that this exciting breeding could take place.  This is Pascal's first litter and we are looking forward to watching these puppies grow up.  


Wednesday, April 6, 2016

New CKC Rally Title for Northrock's Dance With Me "Lyric"

To say that this past weekend was a success for Glenna Spelrem and her Barbet Lyric would be an understatement.   Friday's CKC Rally trials in Red Deer, Alberta saw Lyric earning her final qualifying leg for her Rally Novice title.  What was especially exciting was that Glenna and Lyric obtained a perfect score of 100 going HIC (High in Class).  We are so delighted with their performance.

Lyric and Glenna after Friday's trial.
However, this pair wasn't finished dancing yet. Glenna's own words capture the thrill of Saturday's achievement  

"...AND we danced!! Even though, part way through, my mouth was so dry my lips were stuck to my teeth and my heart felt like it was trying to get out! I'm more than over the moon! Lyric earned a 100 Rally Novice A High In Class today! But I was absolutely stunned and full to bursting with pride, when we were also presented with the Virginia Cummings Memorial Trophy for Highest Qualifying Score Rally Novice. What an amazing partner I have in Northrock's Dance With Me ~ Lyric! "


To cap off their exciting weekend, on Sunday, this dynamic team earned yet another score of 100 Rally Novice A High In Class.  What an incredible team.  Thank you Glenna for getting out there with Lyric and showing people what the Barbet is capable of.  I'm so proud of these two and so happy that they have such a beautiful relationship.  Lyric is from our Oreo x Sophie litter (MBIS GChEx Treebeard's Galileo CGN x UCD Ch Neigenuveaux Fleur d'Northrock WC CGN).

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Puppies Expected at Hickory Tavern Farm

We are thrilled to share the good news that Hickory Tavern Farm in the United States is expecting a litter of Barbets out of CH Neigenuveaux's Ermagarde "Claire" by our homebred CH Northrock's Athos Pascal.  Pascal is a lovely male and complements Claire's qualities nicely.  Both Barbets have exceptional temperaments and we look forward to the arrival of their puppies in early April. 


For information about this expected litter please contact the breeder Judy Descutner at Hickory Tavern Farm.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Carpe Diem




Unfortunately we won't be having any puppies out of Sophie this time around.  Pregnancy was confirmed by palpation but either that was inaccurate and she was in fact never pregnant, or she resorbed the litter.  It's certainly disappointing but instead of sitting around moping, Sophie and I celebrated the fact that she is well and healthy and we went field training.



Sophie is such an awesome dog and I look forward to many more days in the sunshine together doing what we both enjoy so much.  My thanks to Shelly Blom for the photos and to the members of the Mountain Valley Retriever Training Club for the fun time and fellowship.



Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Responsible Barbet Breeders


This handout is part of the educational material that is being shared by the Barbet Club of America.  I love the message it contains and am thankful to all the wonderful dog breeders who helped to play a part in the production of it. I believe it was the Berner folk who came up with the original concept.  Juliana du Pree was inspired by their idea and ran with it, putting together one for Corgis.  My thanks to her for helping to create this version for the Barbet.  The photo credit goes to Tammy McAllister.  Thank you ladies.