Posts Tagged ‘Callaghan Argyll O’Cockaigne’

And that was our holiday.

While we were busy on Sunday August 25 to pack the caravan and the car for a 25-day trip, one of the young Faverolles chickens turned out to have major problems laying her first egg. This came out with cloaca and all. I removed the egg and tried to fix it but unfortunately to no avail so Simon could take her to the vet on Monday morning, before we left, to put her to sleep. Very sad, it was such a nice chicken. This was a bad start to the holiday and the weather forecast was also not so good for the first days.

In the meantime I had further packed up the caravan and filled the two freezers, which were at the back of the car, with about 40 kilos of meat for the hounds. Not enough for 25 days, but we would supplement it at Sonja if we would descend towards Tüttleben.

After Simon returned from the vet, we hung the caravan behind the car and we could leave. But when we get through the gate, we have to uncouple the caravan and take the next corner with the mover. Unfortunately the reels didn’t respond to the remote so we couldn’t turn the corner. First replace the batteries, this to no avail. Bought new batteries and tried, this did not help either. Then we asked the neighbour to help push and yes, with united forces the caravan got around the corner and we could finally continue our way towards camping “De Paardenbloem” in Deurningen.

We would stay here for two nights. We decided to only put the awning on but when Simon put some tension on it, an attachment eye broke off. We were convinced that there should be something like this in the caravan but unfortunately…. so Simon had to go because without this eye we could not set up the awning.

We were now close to Lemele where Callaghan lives, so that was a great opportunity to hand over the pedigree and let the two brothers play together again. Well they did!

On Wednesday we left for Camping-Paradies “Grüner Jäger” in Everinghausen, just past Bremen. The name of the campsite suggests something and indeed there was a large meadow with a fair number of fallow deer. In the meantime it was pouring out of the air and I tried to let the hounds out in between the showers, but Cranston and Cearrean could not believe their eyes and were no longer able to do another step. Too interesting all those deer!

The next day the journey went by ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby to Maribo in Denmark. This was a beautiful spacious campsite where you could walk extremely well with the hounds and where we could finally enjoy the sun.

But not for long, because after we had done some shopping in Maribo on Friday morning, we continued towards Vordingborg, where Simon would give a seminar on “building a good coursing parcourse”. This would take up all of Saturday and Sunday. It was organized by Frank Plith in collaboration with the Danish running and coursing committee and it took place with Bille and Freddy who provided a nice large field of several hectares.

Fortunately we were able to build up our things in a nice sheltered spot because it was very windy. In the night from Friday to Saturday it started to rain and thunder terribly at one point, really huge showers passed over us and I did not sleep a wink because I know that Brandir is / was terribly afraid of thunderstorms. He has been on Chinese herbs (Geria) for a few months because he started to show symptoms of dementia, and I had already noticed that he was much better. Only now it turned out how good! He just slept through !! No anxiety or panic, he just stayed calm on his bed. Unbelievable!

The seminar was a great success. About 15 people participated and were very enthusiastic, they later said that they had learned a lot and now understand why a good parcourse is so important. Several parcourses were also explained and laid out, then commented on and discussed why it didn’t work. All in all very educational and it should happen in all countries because what you usually see in courses… ..!

Monday morning we broke up our things again and left for Flyvesandet. A campsite in the north of the island of Fun, where we have been regularly since 2001. Just before we got to the campsite, a herd of fallow deer crossed the road. Cearrean just hung his head out of the window and would have popped out if he had been a little smaller. That was promising because once Cearrean knows that there is game running, he can no longer run free. 

After arrival we first walked around the campsite to find a nice place where we could drop off a large part so that Cearrean and Cranston had enough space to play. Halfway through the “quest” a large hare jumped up. Well that could get exciting! Fortunately, he didn’t show himself that often anymore for the rest of the week and he also stayed a bit away from our camp, so sensible!

If the moon phase is good, and therefore not a full moon like this week, you can walk for miles here. There is then about 5 centimetres of water on a mirror-smooth seabed. Ideal to let the hounds race. But unfortunately the water did not drop more than about a foot now and that is a bit too high for Cranston. The first time Simon walked into the water and the hounds followed him, Cranston followed, but soon almost went under. After this he preferred to stay on the shore, wet feet could then just but he did not go further into the sea. But he still had a lot of fun and enjoyed it to the fullest.

For Cearrean we brought the throwing stick and a tennis ball, he was completely fed up and couldn’t get enough! In any case, he is not afraid of water!

But unfortunately …. Cytaugh had decided to come into season on the Monday we arrived in Flyvesandet and since she was supposed to be mated, the plans had to be overhauled. This meant; not going to Sonja the following week to then go to Tüttleben where Simon would provide a coursing training, but leave for home on Saturday.

 

In the meantime we had already heard that Tüttleben would probably not continue due to too few registrations. Should it still go ahead, Simon could always go there with his tent and take care of the training.

With an overnight stay in Everinghausen, we came home on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the heart examination that was planned for Wednesday, September 16, could be brought forward for a week so that it was still done in time. To make ‘sure’ that Cytaugh would be on about the same schedule as two years ago, I made an appointment on Tuesday, the ninth day of her season, to have a progesterone test. Fortunately, this was still very low, as hoped, and the heart examination the day after, also had a very positive result.

I also consulted with two cardiologists regarding breeding with Cytaugh because Chidish, her brother, passed away last year after a coursing. He had mild DCM. But both believe that if the heart is so good at the age of 5.5 that you should not pass up the opportunity. It is very difficult to find lines without a hereditary condition and if there is a problem on one side and this problem has not yet manifested itself in the other line, you could risk it. Hopefully it will work out well too!

The chosen male is Beardswood Uther. A still young male with a nice spring of rib, strong bone and a fantastic character. The I.C. is 1.85 over 7 and 5.74 over 10 generations. If you look at the pedigree, there are many beautiful hounds behind the lines of which I have known several. Also quite a lot made it into double digits or near to it. We expect a lot from this combination!

The bad thing is that I couldn’t go to England for a natural mating and that is why fresh, chilled semen came to the Netherlands. We hope it all goes as expected and that we can welcome a few beautiful, healthy puppies in mid-November.

One day left …..

 

Cranston and Callaghan are doing well, they are growing steadily, are standing nicely on their legs, have both testicles in the right place, are shiny, playing, digging, listening to their name and of course they are totally house-trained.

 

 

 

It is unbelievable as fast as time goes by. Next Friday they are already 12 weeks old and on Saturday Callaghan will go to his new home. He is going to live in Lemele, with Henny and Betsie. They have had Irish Wolfhounds for many years and now want something sportier. Well, that will work with Callaghan!

 

They have already been through a lot and driving is no problem. The weekends away with the caravan did not cause any problems, they adapted immediately.

 

Two weekends ago we had our CC2000 party at the racecourse in Lelystad. More than 80 hounds were present to enjoy themselves again with lure-coursing. Cearrean was allowed to explore the course on Friday with his muzzle and blanket for the first time. This went fine. On Saturday he was allowed to run the first round with Troy, the Greyhound of Hervé Blaakenburg. Troy went straight and Cearrean thought he was smart by turning left, but here Troy was running and this resulted in a big collision with a header for Cearrean. For a moment he was disoriented but then went after the hare again. In the afternoon Cearrean was allowed to walk with a Saluki from Henriëtte. Here again things went wrong when Geer, the Saluki, wanted to follow the hare neatly behind the hedge, Cearrean ran a little too far, turned around and rammed Geer in his side. A huge dive of both resulted, and Geer then stood on three legs. Then we gave it up.

 

For Vision it was the first time after the puppies were born that she could stretch her legs again. She was quite fanatic but her condition was not yet optimal. Cytaugh was not allowed yet, her feet were not yet completely healed from very strange injuries. It was going in the right direction, but I thought the risk of her feet hurting again was too great.

The following week she was entered with Vision for the coursing of ‘t Haasje in Werkendam and luckily her feet were completely healed and remained intact! The bike training had done its job and Vision’s condition was clearly better. Cytaugh, on the other hand, who had not run free and played for weeks, was far too fat and in absolutely no condition. But she enjoyed it very much and came off the field with a big smile. Cearrean would actually go for his coursinglicense this weekend, but due to the diving and an earlier fall on his back, the osteopath, by whom he is under treatment, did not think it wise to let him run. She also had quite a bit of work to get Cearrean back into shape. Let’s just hope that he stays ‘whole’ and will soon be able to run again.

 

Cearrean is quite a bit difficult. Occasionally he may suddenly snap to another hound, without us being able to pinpoint a reason. Usually he is tired or suffers from his knee. But he is still very fond of the puppies and can play with them for tens of minutes. He does this extremely carefully and lovingly!

 

 

 

 

Saturday is the day, Callaghan is going to leave us, the puppy that I spent minutes trying to get life into. He has grown into a strong, beautiful puppy with his own personality; strong and sweet with a ‘will to please’. I am curious how he will develop further, I wish him a long, healthy, sporty, nice and loving life!

7 Weeks young

 

 

Last Friday, Callaghan and Cranston were 7 weeks young. How fast that time goes!

The week before they were already chipped, DNA was taken and the day after they were inoculated. This all went very smoothly and without a single beep. Driving was also fine. We had of course built this up slowly and done it more often, but not even a 20-minute ride. Fortunately no problem.

They grow well, they are more or less the same as the tables I still have from my previous litters. They mainly eat one-day-old chicks, sprats and all kinds of ground meat with vegetables, elderberries and seaweed. Meanwhile, Callaghan is almost as big as Cranston and last week the weight difference was only 450 grams. Callaghan weighed 5.65 kilo’s and Cranston 6.10. They are certainly not fat, it could be a little more but they seem to get enough because  they would like to eat more. And it is actually better that they do not grow too fast, let them take it easy.

 

Their favourite place in the house is the large basket where Brandir usually lies. He always looks very upset when the puppies have taken his bed again. Poor grandpa Brandir!

They are 99.99% house trained. It is very rare that there is still a pee in the house. And because we consistently clean up their feces directly behind their asses, they haven’t become shit-eaters either.

We have already had exciting moments with them. Two weeks ago, Callaghan was very interested in looking at something right in front of him. When I went to look it turned out to be four oak processionary caterpillars! I was startled and snatched Callaghan from the bed. Fortunately, it turned out that he hadn’t sniffed it because he showed no strange behaviour after it that could indicate that. I did immediately wash the cover of the bed and searched the area for caterpillars. Later that afternoon we found two more caterpillars on the grass. Dead scary! But yes, there are about twenty oaks with us, many of which are very large and therefore with inaccessible caterpillar nests. It cannot be prevented.

 

Vision starts to play with them a bit, but would rather leave that to Cearrean. However, she regularly lies cosy with her sons on a bed and you can see that Callaghan and Cranston really enjoy themselves here. The men are allowed to drink a little with her every now and then, but I think it is minimal what comes out because they are done with it soon.

Both puppies are already beginning to wear their ears well, the fold is in it and occasionally they can already fold forward. They are also high set. Cranston will most likely have very dark eyes, Callaghan, on the other hand, will get his mother’s eye colour; quite light. This was quickly seen as he had very light blue eyes while Cranston’s eyes were several shades darker. Even now the difference is clear.

Walking on leash is also no problem. They have already been to the shopping center, the dog run-off forest (where we unfortunately did not encounter any strange dogs) and to the horses that are in our neighbourhood. To get here we have to pass a bunch of terrible barking dogs and this was of course terrifying. They also didn’t really like the horses yet. So it was a stressful walk, but once at home the tent made sure that everything was quickly forgotten.

Tomorrow Cranston will undergo a little surgery. He has a slight upper bite and his lower teeth prick his palate. These are therefore removed so that the lower jaw has free rein to grow. I am confident that it will come all right.

29 days young

Yesterday the puppies were 4 weeks young, how fast it goes! It is also very easy, 2 puppies. A week and a half ago they suddenly dipped into Vision’s food bowl, delicious… Rinti, tripe, milk and sheep fat! Since then, they regularly get some puppy milk with steak tartare from a bowl, but also regularly eat small balls of tartare. This is fun to do, they sit next to each other and take turns to get a ball. When they have enough, Callaghan usually before Cranston, they get up and start playing.

They are now almost house-trained. Callaghan is smart, he quickly realized how to get out of the whelpingbox and that you have to pee outside. He also does not mind wet grass and wind. Cranston, on the other hand, is a bit easier and sometimes pees in the whelping box. He also does not like cold and wind! And that despite its bacon layer.

 

 

 

 

Cearrean, the big half-brother, absolutely loves them! He can hardly wait to play with them but so far he is extremely careful and barely touches them. He keeps a close eye on them and shows himself as an extremely good babysitter.

 

 

 

 

And even though Cearrean is challenged by Cranston, he won’t be tempted! However, he was challenged by grandpa Brandir and the little ones find that very interesting.

 

 

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