Marcasite Poodles Annual Meet up

On 11th April, last years puppies will be turning 1.
To mark the occasion we are having a get together at Saunton Sands in North Devon.

This will take place on Saturday 13th April.
We will meet on the beach at 10.30 am and then stop for a bite to eat at the cafe at lunchtime.
Then at 2.00 pm I am extending the invite to anyone else with a poodle who wants to join us for a walk. Non poodles and dog free families are welcome to join us too.
The only thing I ask is that no bitches who are in season attend.

Saunton Sands is by far my favourite beach in Devon. It has parking facilities, toilets, a cafe and the nicest stretch of coast I have ever seen.

Here are a few pictures from the last time we were there:

Crufts Entries

Just a quick note to say that the final entry numbers for Crufts have been released today.

For Standard Poodles there are 95 bitches entered in total.

Considering that this is arguably the world's biggest dog show, I am thrilled.
Whilst it is unlikely that we will place, I feel that to even be acknowledged as owning and having bred a dog within the top 95 of its breed is a real honour!

I am counting down the days until Crufts! I am so excited!

A walk with Archie

We try to go for a walk with Archie at least once a month, but unfortunately due to my having moved house, then the girls being in season and taking Peggy to shows etc we haven't been able to get out for a walk  with him and so I have only seen him in order to groom him.

Today however, we finally managed to catch up and so we went to Dartmoor for a wander.

Archie is now at a defiant teenage stage; with his testosterone firmly kicking in, so we did a small amount of training during the walk.
It is not unusual for dogs to revert to puppy-like behaviours briefly when they are experiencing hormonal changes. This does not last forever and is easily adapted to by returning to basics and using positive reinforcement techniques (which I will write a piece about at a later date

Overall the dogs had a great walk and it was lovely to see them all having so much fun.

I finally found my camera

Having recently moved house, I hadn't had sight of my camera in a few weeks so I was delighted when I found it whilst unpacking boxes today.

Here are a few photographs from our drizzly and misty walk on Dartmoor this afternoon. As you can see the dogs didn't mind one bit.

N.B You will notice that all of my photographs are now watermarked. This is because I had a number of them stolen by Kiki Kane of Rover.com and used in a magazine article without my permission last year. To say I am annoyed with them is an understatement. Suffice to say I have made several complaints to them about this, none of which I have received a response to.

We're going to Crufts!

Yesterday Peggy and I attended Manchester Championship Dog show and we placed 2nd in the Puppy Bitch Class, meaning that we also qualified for Crufts 2019.

I am absolutely delighted and I still can't quite believe it!

It has always been a dream of mine to attend Crufts with a dog that I have bred myself and I can't believe that after having only attended one Championship show before this, we qualified! And with less than 24 hours left before the Crufts entries close for the year we were incredibly lucky indeed.

Peggy was actually a little perturbed at this show. We were benched by a ring where the Dobermans were being shown and as a guarding breed they were incredibly loud and bouncy which Peggy appeared a little confused by.
All in all though she did brilliantly, she just needed marginally more reassurance than usual, and at just 9 months I can't say I can blame her. And of course I was very happy to dish out extra cuddles!

Unfortunately, as usual with a show there are very few photographs of Peggy. Only those I managed to capture on my mobile phone. But here they are anyway:

Peggy in the car on the way to get groomed at Briggsys Dog Groomers in Barnstaple. She likes to hold my hand in the car.

Peggy being groomed the day before the show, by Chris Briggs and Mark Elliott

Show over - she flopped on the cool concrete floor and had a little snooze. I think she was hot. She had bedding available and didn't want to sit on it.

Peggy - looking somewhat surprised by her winnings!

We really did have a wonderful day. Aside from the showing we spent lots of time with our friends and chatted with lots of new people too.
Peggy chose herself some dehydrated rabbit ears as her after show treat and I let her have a little off lead run once we were finished.

We also had some hopeful future puppy owers come all the way from Derbyshire to meet us. Peggy certainly enjoyed cuddling and spending time with them. I look forward to the future home that this family can offer to one of my babies.

Relocating

Just a quick note to say apologies for the lack of updates recently.
Marcasite Poodles HQ is relocating.
I have bought myself a lovely 3 bedroom semi-detached house and am currently in the process of moving in.
The best news, aside from the idyllic sea views that I don't think I'll ever tire of seeing; is that there will be a lot more space for the dogs. I have a fantastic garden for them to play in and there is a nature reserve opposite!

Huge thanks to all of those who have wished us well and sent cards etc. I really do appreciate it.

British Utility Breeds Championship Show

Photograph kindly taken by Chris Briggs.


Well, I braved it and did another show!

At 4 am yesterday we set out to Stafford with our friend Marlene Carter of Somanic Poodles and together we all had a fantastic day.

Peggy was entered into minor puppy bitch - a class for female puppies aged 6 - 9 months. I am delighted to report that Peggy won a Very Highly Commended (VHC) certificate; meaning that we came 5th in our class, beating 3 other dogs.
Peggy moved like a dream and stood very nicely for the judge (although she did give her a gentle kiss on the cheek as the judge went over her LOL)
I honestly could not have asked more from my Peggy pup and am so very proud of her.

Of course I was a nervous wreck with a dry mouth and was shaking all over as soon as I entered the ring with Peggy, but perhaps I was slightly less nervous compared to the last time. I'm really hoping that my confidence will improve if I choose to continue showing.

I also had the chance to catch up briefly with Naomi, who owns Edna's half brother Wallace and a stunning white girl called Vivienne, as well as meeting lots of lovely new people too.

Unfortunately there are not many photographs from the day, as I only had my camera phone with me, but below are some of the ones I managed to take.

Vivienne 

Naomi and Vivienne

Peggy relaxing before being groomed

Mike Todd and Lena

Peggy waiting to enter the show ring

Peggy - the morning after, posing with her certificate

3rd in her Class

What a day!

Today was our first open show ever and Peggy did amazingly; coming in at a very respectable 3rd in her class.
Peggy took everything in her stride and was very relaxed and calm, unlike her breeder-come -handler. I was a nervous wreck and could feel my legs shaking as I took her around the ring!

But all of our hard work paid off in the end when she placed 3rd. I honestly could have cried!

I do have another show booked in for the end of the month, but whether or not I will continue to show her after that remains to be seen. I loved every minute of our show today but I'm not sure whether my nerves can take any more!

I didn't take many pictures today as I was quite busy (and stressed) but here's one of Peggy on the grooming table relaxing a few hours before we went into the ring.

I am so proud of my girl.

Preparing for our first Show

Yesterday Peggy and I travelled to North Devon, where we met Chris, Mark, Tegan and Ollie.

Chris and Mark groomed Peggy up for me and transformed her from a scruffy toddler to a beautiful teenager and I could not be happier with the results.

I was also given some fantastic grooming tips and complimented on Peggy's excellent table manners.

 before

 after

Whilst I have owned standards for nearly 10 years, I am still very much a newcommer to the breed (particularly showing) and as such I am learning all of the time. In the dog show world, newcomers are sometimes viewed with suspicion and there is a sad culture of some of the more established people discouraging the newer ones.
There is a real divide between the 'elite' show folk and the novices and, from what I can gather the show world can be one that is filled with needless drama that causes stress and upset to all involved.

This really does sadden me; not only I am keen to avoid any such dramas, I just think it a real shame that people with the same interests who clearly love their dogs very much can't just be nice to one another.

It is by sheer fluke that I managed to find Mark and Chris, who share the same forward thinking views as myself and are just wonderfully supportive and kind. They have been and hopefully will continue to be a great support on our journey so I'd like to say a huge thank you to the boys for all of their help, positivity and entertainment throughout the groom. It was refreshing to meet such lovely people!

Whilst we were at the salon we also had the privilege of meeting Tegan who owns the gorgeous Ollie. Ollie is an Uncle to Peggy and aside from being beautiful, he has the most lovely temperament.
It was fantastic to meet him and have a glimpse into how Peggy's coat could be styled in adulthood.

I also think he enjoyed having a little play with his niece.

6 Month Pupdate

                                       Otto

The puppies are now 6 months old. I can't quite believe it! It feels as though it was only a day or two ago that they were newborn and I was able to hold them in the palm of my hand.

I am so proud of them all.

Here is a picture of each individual pup, provided by their owners.

I am so blessed to have found such wonderful owners who provide lovely updates regularly.

     Sawa

      Winston

         Archie

Ozzie

Lenny

Peggy