BISS and BPISS for CH Barbevoix Oscar de Northrock

Celebrating show ring success for CH Barbevoix Oscar de Northrock (Northrock's All Night Boogie ex Barbevoix Spezia dit Holala). Yesterday at the Elora Gorge Kennel Club Show, and at the Southwestern Ontario All Retriever Society Specialty Show, Oscar was Best of Opposite Sex and Best Puppy in Breed under judges Geraldine Taylor and Brenda Wilson respectively. Today judge Lee Steves also gave him BOS and Best Puppy in Breed, he then went on to win Best Puppy in Sporting Group under judge Geraldine Taylor. Thank you to these judges for appreciating our young puppy. At the Barbet Fanciers Association of Ontario Specialty today, Oscar was Best In Specialty and Best Puppy in Specialty! Our sincere appreciation to judge Wendy Maisey for the honour. Congratulations to all the other winners. Much gratitude to Peter Scott for handling Oscar to all his wins. He sure loves showing with you Pete! Oscar was bred by Catherine Verge and we are so proud of this puppy. 

To make today even more special, Oscar's family came to watch him in the ring. They are such a great home for this awesome pup. Oscar is co-owned with Nellemarie Hyde and I can't thank the Hydes enough for their support and friendship. What a fun year 2018 has been with this special puppy. 

New Champion and another BPIG win for Barbevoix Oscar De Northrock

On Saturday December 8th at the Brantford & District Kennel & Obedience Club, Oscar completed the requirements for his CKC Championship with a Best of Breed win awarded by judge Anik Primeau from Quebec. At only 8 months of age he finished very quickly, undefeated in the classes and acquired a BPIG win last month along the way.  

In the second show on December 8th, Oscar again went Best of Breed and also won Best Puppy in Sporting Group under judge Judy Taylor. We are grateful to these judges for recognizing the quality of this promising young Barbet. Thank you to Peter Scott, whom Oscar just adores, for handling him to these exciting wins.

Bred by Catherine Verge, Oscar is by Northrock's All Night Boogie and out of Barbevoix Spezia dit Holala. Oscar is co-owned with Nellemarie Hyde and we are thrilled with the success he has had thus far. We look forward to seeing what the next chapter will bring for this fun-loving boy.

Best Puppy In Group for Barbevoix Oscar de Northrock

Oscar and I had so much fun at the Aurora Kennel Club dog shows this past weekend. On Saturday, November 24th in the Club Barbet Canada Booster, Oscar (Barbevoix Oscar De Northrock) went Winners Male and Best Puppy in Breed for a two point major under Sporting Breed specialist Mr. Jeffery Pepper - who then later awarded him Best Puppy in Group in a beautiful line up of puppies. It was such a thrill showing Oscar to this exciting win!!!

Peter Scott showed Oscar on Sunday morning to Mr. Eugene Blake and came away with another two point win with Winners Male and Best Puppy. In the Puppy Group, handled by myself, Mr. Blake gave Oscar an “honorary” Group third. Thank you to these wonderful judges who appreciated our young junior puppy and were a pleasure to show to.

Congratulations and much gratitude to Oscar’s breeder Catherine Verge and to his co-owner, my good friend Nellemarie Hyde. He is such a fun puppy! A special thanks to Peter Scott for all his help and support. Oscar is out of Barbevoix Spezia dit Holala and by Northrock’s All Night Boogie.

Oscar also enjoyed meeting Santa while at the dog show.  I hope he gets everything he asked for!

Litter Born at Hickory Tavern Farm Barbet

Congratulations to breeder Judy Descutner at Hickory Tavern Farm Barbet on the arrival of 10 beautiful Barbet puppies born November 5, 2018.  This large litter is out of her sweet girl Solene, CKC/UKC CH Hickory Tavern Intl Intrigue CM by CH Northrock's Athos Pascal.   

Solene and her pups (6 females and 4 males) are all doing well and we look forward to watching this promising litter grow up.

Howl-O-Ween Party 2018!

On Sunday October 21st Barbets and Berners and their humans gathered together at the home of Erik and Susan Luyendyk for a Howl-O-Ween Party.  We played games, ate treats and enjoyed one another's company. 

Sweet Marie (UKC/CKC CH Northrock's Forever Yours CGN) is from our Boomer x Ellie litter and she and her housemate Thea (Bernese Mountain Dog) had lots of fun running around, bobbing for apples, eating witch's fingers and strutting their stuff in costume. 

It was a wonderful day and we are all grateful to Susan and Erik for their hospitality and for sharing their beautiful home and property with us.

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Leave the Nest

The Tux and Ellie puppies have all left for their new homes.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with this litter.  The puppies all have such fabulous personalities and I will always enjoy hearing about their new adventures with their people.  I happily look forward to reading the updates and seeing the photos that their new homes share with me.  These special pups are living with great families and without further ado here they are in order of departure...

Ruby was the first to leave for her new home. She will have a great life with her new owners and now goes by the call name Vimy. Her registered name is Northrock's I'll Walk Beside U. It's a song from WWII and is a perfect fit for this sweet pup. 

I'll walk beside you through the world today
While dreams and songs and flowers bless your way
I'll look into your eyes and hold your hand
I'll walk beside you through the golden land

I'll walk beside you through the world tonight
Beneath the starry skies ablaze with light
And in your heart loves's tender words I'll hide
I'll walk beside you through the eventide

I'll walk beside you through the passing years
Through days of cloud and sunshine, joy and tears
And when the great call comes, though sunset gleams
I'll walk beside you through the land of dreams.

Onyx gets to join a family that already has a Barbet! He's now called Cooper, Northrock's I Believe In Magic. He's a great puppy with great owners and I'm glad he won't be living too far from me :)

Jade has also gone to live in a home that already owns a Barbet <3 This pretty pup is now called Frankie and her registered name is a Frank Sinatra song. Introducing; Northrock's It's Always You.

Some of the puppies didn't travel too far from home which is always nice. Hudson, formerly Flint is now Northrock's I'll Drink To That and also living close by. Here's to a great new life Hudson - Cheers!

Here is Garnet with his new family <3 He's now Northrock's It's De-Lovely and is called Toby - a name that suits him perfectly.

Jasper joins a family that has lots of love to give. His owners and their two children are delighted with their new addition and I'm ever so happy that he has joined their family. He is now known as Mati after the french artist Matisse and his registered name is Northrock's It Had To Be You.

 The future is bright and beautiful for the Tux and Ellie puppies I wish them all the very best in this next chapter that life has in store for them. 

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Weeks Seven & Eight

Weeks 7 and 8 are always a busy time with puppies.  Unfortunately for a few days during this time I was quite ill and am very grateful for the wonderful teamwork from the rest of the family as everyone pitched in to care for the puppies.  Visits were curtailed while I was sick but before and afterwards we had lots of people come over to help socialize the puppies.  
It's not just visitors that help to socialize the puppies, the older dogs in the house are good "nanny" dogs to them and it helps the pups with learning to read and understand canine body language.  




During these weeks we work to help the puppies develop good housebreaking habits.  First thing in the morning they go out to potty and have become very comfortable eliminating outdoors.  

Before bedtime they are also let out into the pen which means they've gotten used to being outdoors in the dark and are now completely unfazed by it.

Puppies at this age are busy!  They bite and chew and run and bark and need to be stimulated with new experiences.  In order to provide an enriched environment to the pups we make sure that we regularly rotate the toys in their indoor and outdoor pens.  They have different types of equipment to climb on and crawl under.  They enjoy the tunnel immensely, not only using it to run through but also to jump on it as a type of trampoline.  On warm weather days we gave them water to play in which is a fun activity for them.  

In addition to playing outside in their pen the puppies are also taken out into the yard to run and play on the grass and explore.  It's a nice time of year to have puppies with milder temperatures allowing for lots of time in the fresh air. They also get to explore other rooms in the house which they do with much delight.

Meal time is a lot more civilized than in the previous couple of weeks and the puppies have been introduced to different proteins including chicken, turkey, beef, boar, lamb, venison and duck. They've also had salmon and pollock oil and probiotics added to their meals. 

Individual one on one time with the puppies has been important to their development as well and it's so nice snuggling with them and working on little exercises such as sit and attention where they are rewarded with small treats. 

The puppies has car rides in this time as well. Trips for their structural evaluations and chiropractic assessments as well as their veterinary check up went well.  They also had their temperament tests and I'm delighted with the gentle, fun and confident puppies that Tux and Ellie have produced together.

Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Week Six

The puppies have had a great week.  They were introduced to new equipment in their pen and have met lots of new visitors.  The weather has been really nice so their space includes the indoor pen and an outdoor pen that we have set up for them.  It's a true delight watching them explore new things and adjust to different sounds like lawnmowers and planes flying overhead.  Unusual footing, things to climb over and go under and through even water have been experienced.

 The adventure box continues to be a big hit with the puppies.  They enjoy experiencing the different items that hang from it and it offers the puppies another opportunity for desensitization to mild stressors and further sensory enrichment.

We've had a lot of people come by to help socialize the puppies.  It's a lovely time for visiting as the pups aren't biting quite as hard as they will be in the weeks to come.  Ellie enjoys meeting new people and appreciates the extra attention that the visitors are always happy to give her.

 Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Week Five

Jasper says hello!

What a wonderful week it has been with the Tux and Ellie puppies.  They are curious and delightful pups and although it is a lot of work and I've not slept through the night in weeks it is immensely rewarding watching them grow and develop into little dogs. 

The puppy pen later in the 5th week after the whelping box had been removed

Their puppy pen has continued to expand and evolve as new items are added.  CD's of different sounds such as fireworks, farm animals and thunderstorms are played on a regular basis for the puppies so as to habituate them to different noises.  Of course being situated on the main floor of the home, right next to the kitchen they hear a lot of household noises like oven timers going off, the dishwasher, vacuum cleaner, t.v. and radio which plays different types of music.  With it being summer time, windows are open and sounds like the lawnmower and power tools float in from outside.  Our home backs onto an elementary school yard so the sounds of playing children and school bells are a regular occurrence now that classes have resumed for the year.  

 

Ellie is a gentle and loving mama and enjoys playing with her puppies.

Onyx

The puppies are handled quite a bit every day - which is no hardship for us humans.  We love to cuddle with the pups and they enjoy the attention just as much as we do.  Toenails continue to be trimmed every three days to keep them smooth and short so as not to cause discomfort to Ellie who is still nursing them.

Garnet

We've also started  taking the puppies outside which is an added experience for the little ones.  They have an outdoor puppy pen with various types of equipment in it for them to enjoy but they also have regular excursions into the main yard to run on the grass and in the flower beds and investigate.  In the weeks ahead we will be sharing a lot more outdoor photos of the puppies.

A favourite photo of Ellie and her daughter Ruby

 Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.

Tux x Ellie Puppies - Week Four

This has been a fun week for the puppies.  They made the big move from the guest bedroom down to the main floor of the house.  Now they are exposed to the sights, sounds and smells of family life.  They still have their whelping box but their space has been enlarged to include a play and potty space.  They can see through this pen and have more toys to interact with and different footing. 

Ellie and her puppies at the beginning of the week before the big move.

The puppy pen

The puppies are developing by leaps and bounds.  They are much more coordinated and are developing quite an array of vocalizations.  

We have also introduced potty boxes to the puppies as we begin establishing good housebreaking habits.  It's amazing how quickly the puppies take to using the boxes. 

Frequent updates and photos are posted on our Northrock Barbets Facebook Page if you would like to follow the litter's progress.