Goodnight my precious boy

 

I have tried to write this a number of times now but it is so hard and I still can't quite believe it is true.

On Monday 25th March 2025 I lost my sweet little man Stanley.

He was just a couple of weeks shy of his 14th birthday, and boy did we have an incredible 14 years together.

I'm not sure that I have the words to say how much I loved him, or what joy he brought to my life but I feel like I have to try to share something to honor the my special little man.

Stanley was the dog who slept in my bed, who guarded me whilst I was in the shower and who rode on the passenger seat of my car, barking in agreement if I had reason to beep my horn.

As a young dog, we did agility and obedience together. Nothing competitive, but he always used to wow the trainers who didn't believe that tiny dogs could do these sports.

He also used to accompany me to work in children's homes and mental health units and proved to be a great therapy dog to my clients who would fight over who got to hold the lead when we went out walking, who got to feed him.

Stanley was a huge dog in a small dogs body. He was confident and bold, always up for anything and always right in the middle of things with the standard girls. He could out run them for a ball and if anyone tried to bully him he'd teach them a lesson!

As he got older, Stanley enjoyed gentler walks and garden centre visits, where he has his own fan club. Car rides were always a source of great pleasure - he loved a drive thru and would get the odd cheese burger as a treat and then make happy noises whilst eating it.

He was a great Uncle to each of our standard litters and present for every birth, guarding and watching over the mama dog quietly as she whelped.

He would gently sniff at each puppy as soon as mama's back was turned and whenever I took in a foster orphan puppy Stanley would sit with us whilst we bottle fed and keep them company.

He didn't much like the puppies once they turned into hooligans and were bigger than him, but he really loved the tiny baby stage.

One of Stanley's greatest loves in life was my Mum, his 'Nana' and if I told him that we were going to Nanas house his little eyes would glisten and his tail would not stop wagging. Whenever we pulled into the road where my Mum lives, he would begin to sing with excitement and shake with anticipation! Once we got inside he would throw himself into my Mum's arms. He really did have the most special relationship with her.

Nana's house always had lots of treats for him to sniff out and he especially liked to see if the cats had left any biscuits in their bowl for him.

Stanley had a great life. He had Christmas dinners and road trips and holidays. He had Dartmoor and beaches and garden centres and training classes and he had his very own pack of bitches to boss around. He had more human friends than I think I have and he was so very loved.

Stanley spent every evening sat on my chest with his head on my shoulder like a baby. It was where he was happiest. And that is how he left me, whilst I cradled him and told him how proud I was of him, how much I loved him and thanked him for everything.

My heart is broken and still can't believe that I will never kiss his little nose again.

I miss him so so much and where he once was there is just a huge emptiness.

But I am so very grateful for the last 14 years. He was the best friend I could ever have asked for.

Sleep tight little man.

I will never stop loving you.

The Church's

I have just realised that I didn't share any of the modelling work my dogs did last year!

So here's the first one we did. I'll put the others in their own separate posts over the next few weeks.

This is Peggy modelling for Church's footwear.

We had a great day and she behaved impeccably as always, working with a model to achieve the desired shots and video clips.

The set was very busy, with horses, ducks and chickens present. It was a lot of fun and despite it being several months ago now, I remain very proud of my sweet hard working girl.

Puppies!

 

Just over a week ago Peggy gave birth to a beautiful litter of puppies.

Despite her rotund appearance, we actually had just 4 babies, which is my smallest litter to date.

I actually prefer smaller litters because the puppies get so much more of me and leave here very well socialised and ready for the big wide world.

When I had previously had a litter of 14, the days passed in a blur of cleaning and I remember feeling very overwhelmed with trying to split my attention between them all!

Having just four puppies is going to be a doddle in comparison, and they will all get so much more of both my attention, and Peggy's too.

And darling Peggy, is as ever an excellent Mother and very content and dedicated to her brood. She is obviously making gold top milk because her puppies are big, healthy and strong!

They all have lovely homes waiting for them and I am told that their names are going to be Mavis, Benjamin, Judith and Beau.

I am very much looking forward to watching them grow and develop and following their adventures.

Peggy is expecting

 

I am thrilled to anounce that in the very near future we should be welcoming a lovely litter of silver and blue standard poodle puppies.

Both Peggy and her beau have had successful show and media careers and both are fully health tested with excellent results.

They have also both produced puppies in previous litters who have gone on to become registered therapy dogs, so I am expecting these babies to have the most wonderful temperaments too.

Needless to say I am very excited for what will be Peggy's second and final litter.

I am not sure that Peggy has recieved the memo about her upcoming brood, however - she remains as bouncy and driven as ever and is showing no signs of slowing down!

In other exciting news, we have collaborated with Sabre Pet Food who supply us with our cold pressed kibble and healthy natural treats to offer new customers a discount on their first order. 

Simply follow the link above and use code 'MARCASITEPOODLES10' at checkout to get your exclusive discount.

Margo gains her Junior Warrant!

Here's my little Margo dog strutting her way towards her Junior Warrant (JW) title.

I keep being asked to explain what the JW title means so I will try my best....

JW is one of only four show titles you can attain in the UK. The Kennel Club does not recognise any conformation showing titles than JW and those listed below:

Champion (CH)

Veteran Warrant (VW)

 Show Certificate of Excellence (ShCex)

In order to get a JW, you have to gain 25 points within a 12 month period. They must be gained before a dog is 18 months old. This is also the only Kennel Club title with a time constraint on it. All of the others, you can take as long as you like to complete.

The points must come from both Championship shows and Open shows.

You can only get the points by winning first places or being the highest placed puppy in your class. In each class, you have to have beaten a number of dogs. If you haven't beaten enough dogs, you don't get any points.

Some shows you can only get 1 point, no matter how many first places you win, others you get 3 points per win.

So what do we get in return?

Well, I'm poor. You don't win money. This is done for the prestige alone.

Shows cost around £20-£50 to enter and then there's the travel, hairspray etc etc!

But it was worth it! Not many dogs gain their JW and I am told that Margo is the first silver standard to do this in 17 years!!! A real achievement.

I can now add the letters JW after Margo's name when it appears in any show catalogue, so she will now be known as:

Marcasite Aurora Skies JW

She will also be recorded in the Stud Book (the Kennel Club Official record of dogs and their pedigrees) and this qualifies her for Crufts for life.

Additionally Margo is also able to compete in the Junior Warrant Heats next year - a competition for all dogs who have won the title, not just poodles.

If we passed the heats, it would give us an additional competition we could enter at Crufts.

Getting the title with my little girl has taken me further than I have ever been with any dog before.

I am so excited to see what the future holds for her.

Modelling for Pet Head

 

At the beginning of the year Peggy, Edna, Elsie, Margo and Stan took part in a modelling job for a major pet care company called Pet Head!

To say we were thrilled to do this is an understatement - their grooming products smell divine and actually make me feel very hungry (The watermelon is my absolute favourite!) 

The dogs had a great time and their images and videos have been shared online and viewed by thousands.

Here are some of the shots and videos that we were sent:

Crufts

I realise that I'm a little late to the game with this post, but life is just so busy and it's easy to forget about sharing here.

Anyway, this year saw me venture out to Crufts with half sisters Elsie and Margo.

Elsie was a little super star in her classes, bagging a fantastic 2nd place in her KCGC class which I was thrilled with.

She was a joy to run and I could not stop smiling as I moved her.

I was also super proud of myself for her groom, which looked fantastic if I do say so myself! 

Learning to groom to show standard is a journey, let me tell you!

And whilst I had baby Margo with me and she had qualified to compete, my intentions were not necessarily to take her in the ring, since she had never been to such a big show or experienced crowds of that size before.

I had resolved simply to take her along and see where the day took us. I would have been quite content for her just to spend the day with her big sister Elsie, let her watch all of the comings and goings and eat a bunch of puppy snacks.

Well, I needn't have worried, because Margo is about as confident as a dog can be and she was not phased by the environment at all. I was so proud of her and we were able to go in her class and at just 7 months of age she bagged a 3rd place - automatically qualifiying her for Crufts 2025 too!

Crufts 2024 was the best year for us yet! I never dreamed that bringing home a yellow or even a blue card would be possible. Crufts is the biggest dog show in the world and just being able to participate is an achievement in itself!

Needless to say I am incredibly proud of my dogs this year! I still can't quite believe it!

So, before I close I'd like to say a special thank you to Deborah Foster of Violet Standard Poodles in Canada who owns the father to both of these special girls. Thank you for allowing me to use Kareem and for believing in me and encouraging me always. I hope I've done you and your breeding programme proud. It certainly felt great to be flying the silver flag at Crufts!

Thank you also to my mama Jacqui for your endless support, even though you aren't really a dog person. I don't have the words to tell you how much you mean to us. The doggos adore you, especially Stan your number one travel companion.

And finally thank you to everyone who stopped by there are too many to mention but here are a few - Hattie Day who took amazing photos for us, Rebecca Perry-Taylor who stood ringside and whooped and cheered for us, and Jane Riley of ArgentCymru Poodles who I even roped into helping me brush Elsie out 😂

Sorry not sorry.

Everyone who stopped by for a cheeky cuddle with the girls made the day so lovely and fun and we can't wait to do it all again next year!

Introducing Margo

Wow! Its been a while since I last posted here. Life has just been super busy and I haven't had much time for anything since Edna's last litter arrived some six months ago!

So what's new?

Well, back in July Edna welcomed her final litter of 5 little girls. Two of them went to my existing puppy families, one went to a dear friend, one to a young girl who wanted a grooming competition dog and yup, you've guessed it one stayed here!

This is my keeper girl Margo aka Morag, Madge, Moogie and a great many other names.

Margo has brought such joy to the household. Although she is very related to my other 3 dogs, she is a very different personality. This girl oozes confidence and is super bouncy and a whole lot of fun. She makes me smile every day and is always upto no good! One of her favourite hobbies is climbing in the tumble drier to sit on the warm clothes as I try to unload them! 

Unlike most of my girls Margo has a fantastic tailset and she also has the most wonderful deep chest.

She has a thick coat like her Mother and she is super snuggly. I adore her and can't wait to get her out to some shows.

To say I am thrilled with this puppy really is an understatement. The pairing of Edna and Kareem has given me exactly what I had hoped for and I am so excited to see what the future holds for her.

Edna is expecting...

 

In a couple of weeks we will be welcoming a litter of silver babies to the Marcasite household.

I am absolutely delighted. I have once again used Kareem aka Can.Ch.RBIS BBE Int'l.Ch.Violet Skies N A Noble Knight VA RATN ATD CGN RI RE NS PCD CD TDROM/AM RATN CGC TKA RATI RI RA

Kareem is a gorgeous boy and lives in Canada with Deborah Foster of Violet Standard Poodles. He is fully health tested with excellent results and possesses both brains and beauty - holding Canadian Champion and International Champion titles, as well as titles for obedience, barn hunting, and even several trick dog titles.

Having used Kareem before, I can honestly say he produces puppies with the most wonderful tempraments and I am in contact with several other owners of his offspring from across the globe.

Edna aka Lucy in Sky Grey at Marcasite (NTD SSH 2K9 BTC:48 TD-ROM) is mum to this upcoming litter and like Kareem is fully health tested with excellent results.

Edna has already produced two wonderful litters of puppies - in 2018 and 2020, so this will be her final litter.

Edna adores being a mum and is so maternal that she has previously taken on and produced milk for a couple of tiny foster puppies whose Mother had died during their birth. She even produced milk for her daughter Peggy's litter a couple of years ago!

Like Kareem, Edna holds several trick dog titles and she excels at obedience and agility. She is the most gentle, kind, intuitive dog and has even done some filmwork and modelling in the past.

I am very much looking forward to the pups arriving, so watch this space for lots of pictures!