10/03/10

Happy 6th Birthday to our darling Tiggy - love you xx

02/03/10

Happy 3rd Birthday today to our two lovely girls (Minty and Buttons) and to their littermates. xx

18/02/10

Here's a photo of one of Teddy's boys with his Mum. They were having a snuggle and saw me approach with the camera!

10/02/10

Here's Powerscourt Perfect Circle and Powerscourt Perfect Picnic - two of our new babies, aren't they adorable!

24/01/10

We had our own Teddy babies today!

21/01/10

Teddy (P. Mr Pointment) became a daddy again today, 6 lovely pups - 1 blue roan & tan, 3 blue roan and 2 BLACK, WHITE & TAN (Tri-Colour)! We suspected Teddy would carry the 'and white' gene and our suspicions have proved correct :-)

19/01/10

14/01/10

Many people will recall the furore caused in August 2008 when the BBC screened a sensationalist programme about pedigree dogs. As a result of this programme, the Kennel Club in the face of public criticism expedited the review of breed standards which were already under review, looked at its Code of Ethics and put various other schemes and practices into force. As part of this process, the Kennel Club in conjunction with the Dogs Trust commissioned an Independent Inquiry into Dog Breeding.

The results of this enquiry were published today. Details can be found on the Kennel Club’s own website at: http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/2883/23/5/3  and full details of the report can be found on the enquiry website at: http://breedinginquiry.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/final-dog-inquiry-120110.pdf

The Kennel Club are quoted as saying “The Kennel Club welcomes the report’s focus on irresponsible breeders who farm puppies with little concern for their welfare and those who sell poorly socialised puppies on to owners to use as ‘status dogs’ or as fighting weapons. The Kennel Club agrees that additional training and support needs to be given to local authorities, which are responsible for issuing breeding licences to those people who breed five or more litters of puppies in a single year, as the current provisions are deemed to be ineffective. It agrees that compulsory microchipping of dogs and increased public education to stop people falling prey to puppy farmers and to help them find responsible breeders are necessary."

The report also recognises the role the puppy buying public play in animal welfare issues.

"Following the screening on the BBC of Pedigree Dogs Exposed, all dog breeders - good and bad alike - were on the receiving end of considerable public criticism – in many cases unjustified. Little consideration has been given, however, to the culpability of the buying Public.

If the Public only bought puppies from health screened parents, if everybody refused to buy a puppy until they had seen its mother and satisfied themselves that the conditions under which it was reared were safe, healthy and provided a life worth living for parent and puppy, if everybody took the sensible step of finding the breed that would best suit their family and their living conditions, then poor breeders would be out of business and far fewer dogs would require re-homing".

There is no room for complacency amongst reputable breeders, however good breeders will always be good breeders and will continue to breed with the health, happiness and welfare of their dogs and puppies as a number one priority.

07/01/10

Here's a few photos of Pattie frolicking in the snow.

05/01/10

Happy 4th birthday today to our darling Stan xx

We have had some more snow today. Here's one of our 'turbo charged' family racing through the snow!

And one slightly less 'turbo charged' Muppet!

03/01/10

Muppet (P. Pandemonium) is staying with us for a 2 week holiday, here she is pictured with Haze.

02/01/10

Lesley sent me this beautiful photo of her two Powerscourt girls, Cassey (Powerscourt Quicksilver) and Kia (Powerscourt Dark Secret). The two girls look remarkably similar which is no surprise as Kia is aunty to Cassie.

01/01/10

Wishing all our family, friends and Powerscourt owners a happy and peaceful New Year!