11th January 2012
What a fabulous and exciting time we had in Poland, a great start to the New Year and meeting Sweedy for the first time was overwhelming, we were so pleased with our chosen boy, he literally took our breath away at first sight. He ticked all the boxes, he has the most wonderful of temperaments, so sensitive and gentle for such a huge dog, he was so warm and friendly with us and we soon became part of his family. We arrived early so that he could fall in love with Siska, he certainly did, he was quite protective of his girl, after a few days she had him dangling on a string and he followed her every movement. They played together, ate together, slept together and when she left at night time he cried for her until she returned the following morning. It was so magical to see them so happy together, the perfect couple. We had the biggest welcome from his owners Christina and Bronek and even Dukat the Fila Braziliero accepted us after a few friendly nips lol! We give our many thanks to Christina for giving us this wonderful opportunity and we now wait with baited breath for signs of puppies over the next few weeks. We travelled many miles across Europe for this great combination but Sweedy was worth every mile and we would do it all again without hesitation.
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24th December
Following our announcement during 2010, that Ozzy was displaying symptoms of Polyneuropathy, his breeder issued a statement on their website to state that it was doubted that Ozzy was in fact ill at all. It was claimed that we had announced his declining ill health, solely as an act to discredit them.
In November 2011, in another update on the website, there was a small acknowledgement that he is in fact suffering ill health. No apology was given to us for the earlier incorrect statement but it is pleasing to know that we have been vindicated of this earlier accusation. No effort has been made to enquire of his deterioration, despite giving the impression that they are committed to their puppy owners for the life of the dog.
As breeders, we try to be as professional as we can be and conduct ourselves in a respectable manner, in what can sometimes be described as a hostile environment. We hope that others will now allow us to continue with our efforts without further unpleasantness. We look forward to our future plans in the New Year.
The LCGB has announced that LPN1 testing will be compulsary for breeding in the future, a great step forward for our breed.
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1st December
We send good wishes to Julie and Andrew for Nando, who last month had tie back surgery due to him being affected by LPN1. He has recovered well from this major surgery and we hope that he continues to improve in the future. We send all our love to this gorgeous boy who has now had to retire from the showring due to his condition. So far, he is the only puppy to be affected by this terrible disease, we can only pray that the others will be spared from any suffering.
Ozzy is still the same as he was apart from the extra weight gain which is difficult to control as he cannot go for walks at all anymore. It is distressing to see him struggling to get about but we have been advised by our vet, to carry on with what we are doing with him for now.
Many of our new puppy owners were very sad to see such a big dog suffering from LPN and many had never heard of the disease at all.
All of our puppies have settled well in their new homes and are rapidly gaining weight. Some new pictures are in the gallery on Elsa puppies page including one of Bear and Monster from our Siska/Faro litter, what an amazing boy he has turned out to be so far.
Siska has now passed her KCGC Gold Award, many thanks to Yvonne Kelsall at Best K9 school for all her help and patience. We look forward to starting all again with Julz in January for the Bronze and hopefully we will achieve the Silver award with Kiki and Neva.
We are now getting ready for our trip to Poland for the mating between Siska and Sweedy, we are looking forward to meeting Christina his owner and seeing this fabulous boy in the flesh at last. We have admired Sweedy for such a long time watching him grow in to the magnificent male that he is today at only two years old.
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2nd November
Our puppies have now left us for their forever homes with their new families. We are so pleased with our new puppy owners, we couldn't have wished for nicer people and have made some lovely new friends who we hope will always stay in touch with us, as many of our other great puppy owners do. Thank you to Kath & Pete for coming back for your second puppy, we must be doing something right to please you, which is always our intention.....
There were many tears of happiness as people who have waited so long for a Leo puppy, couldn't believe the time had arrived and their dream had come true. Such a rewarding feeling after 8 weeks of loving and caring for those puppies. We wish them all the best of health, longevity and happiness for the future and we thank their owners so much for coming to us for their puppy and others who recommended us. Time will tell how successful a litter this is but at present we are very happy indeed. Many thanks to Angel kingdom kennel Hungary, for giving us this wonderful litter from their lovely boy Breeze.
It is disappointing to learn that the LPN1 testing will not become mandatory for breeding in the UK. Having bred an affected litter and already one puppy D/D and showing symptoms, as well as owning a dog who clearly has this terrible disease, we had hoped that others would not have to go through this in the future. Nothing can prepare you for that phone call from a devastated owner who's puppy is not going to have the health and quality of life that you would hope for. As breeders we have to stand up and be accountable for any health issues in these breeding lines, even though some tests were once not available, we are happy to accept responsibility and hope that our support is accepted by the families concerned.
Now that the tests are available, we can work towards eradicating this gene from the blood lines we have over the next few years. We will use only tested N/N clear dogs for stud as recommended by University of Minnesota, USA, who advocate that we must continue to breed with carriers for fear that we minimise the genepool of our breed further. We shall follow these directives in the hope that we can prevent future illness of LPN within our breeding.
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13th October
The puppies are now five weeks old and the time has gone so quickly. They are growing so fast now that they have been weaned and today had their first standing photograph, very difficult to do on my own but we just about managed. Amadeus refused to stand for his photo shoot and Maximus wanted to sleep, Grayson is so laid back that he wanted to lie down but we managed with a nice sit.... it was the girls who obliged with their best standing pose :0) In just two weeks time they will all be leaving us for their wonderful new homes, their Mums and Dads can't wait to come and collect them, whilst we just want to enjoy the rest of our time together with them as we prepare to say goodbye. It has been the easiest litter we have ever had and Elsa has coped much better with only six puppies, she is the most wonderful mum to her babies.
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7th September
On 5th September Elsa had 8 puppies, four males and four females. Six of the puppies were huge at birth weighing between 520g & 660g but two were very small and a little weak. For two days we have given them 24 hour TLC in the hope that we could save them. Very sadly, It was not to be and this morning, little boy blue and little girl lemon went to peaceful sleep close to my heart where they will remain forever.
Now we concerntrate on the 6 remaining monsters who at only 3 days old look more like 10 days old. A lovely sized litter and a walk in the park compared to the last litters of 11 & 12 puppies. It seems strange not having more babies waiting in the box ready to swap over for their feed time, now these ones can remain on mum.
Elsa is well and has done us proud again with her beautiful babies from this, her last litter.
Thank you for all the lovely wishes that we have had from everyone and we apologise to those who are unable to take a puppy from this litter due to the small number.
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24th August
Following our visit to the AngelKingdom kennel in Hungary in July, Elsa was confirmed in pup and we expect them to arrive in early september. Already she is showing signs of her puppy bump and is doing really well. Today is her 5th Birthday and she is in optimum health to cope with the whelping, we hope all will go smoothly for her and that we have beautiful, healthy babies sometime in the next couple of weeks.
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7th June
On 14th May Alan completed a pet microchipping course with the Pet Chip Company Limited and is now fully trained and insured to carry out this service on all companion animals.
Ozzy continues to decline further on his back legs. He now wears a support on one of his legs that we hope will give him a little help. His walks have become less over the last few weeks as he is having difficulty with even the shortest walk and it is difficult to keep his weight under control. His 4th Birthday celebration on 31st July will be a big one this year as we prepare ourselves for a difficult year ahead with our gorgeous boy.
We have had a painting done of Ozzy which is now on our home page.
Kiki will be having her LPN1test done at the club open show 12th June, we hope to have one dog clear from this terrible gene.
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8th May
A new Champion was made at the National dog show on 5th May with Chester, Davenheath Court Jester, many congratulations to Heather and Glenda on their super win.
Still waiting on puppies pics of Monster and some of the others, I am having some lovely reports on our puppies and they are looking good in the pictures that we have seen. So very pleased with them so far. One of our puppies from Siska's litter has an eye condition and has been quite poorly with this, she has a wonderful loving family to help her through this bad time and our thoughts go out to them. It is so very sad for Phoebe and we pray that she doesn't loose her sight completely. This is not a genetic condition and no other puppies are affected.
Ozzy continues to deteriorate very slowly and has great difficulty in getting himself up after lying down. He is easily knocked over by the other dogs and so we have to be careful with him. He still enjoys his short daily walk and lives for his food. We are now taking the attitude that his quality of life is more improtant to us than the quantity and he is back on his normal diet.
13th March
A fabulous day at Crufts for us this year with Neva taking 2nd place in Special puppy Bitch class under Mr Frank Kane. Balou wasn't placed as he was looking a bit thin and Mr Kane said that he was too young as well. Some lovely dogs on the day and the judging was suberb with some great results. Congratulations on BOB and his 2nd CC to Heather & Glenda with Davenheath Court Jester (Chester) and very well deserved on the day.
18th February 2011
It was very sad to hear that on 24/01/11 Voule du clos du Gres suddenly passed away due to lymphatic cancer at only 6 years of age. He had been ill for only a short time and so this came as a big shock to us all. Our heartfelt sympathies go to Lola who is truly devastated by her loss. Never again will we meet a Leonberger who captured our hearts in the way that Voule did and we will always be grateful to Lola for our Elsa/Voule litter.
During 2010, Elsa, Ozzy and Balou made a total of 44 visits to seven residential care homes as Pet's As Therapy volunteer's, we also made a few unofficial visits with our puppies on request, and so a very rewarding year giving something back to our community that is so worthwhile and rewarding. The Leonberger is so natural at this type of work and they seem to understand what is expected of them.
Nando, one of Elsa's puppies, recently passed his assessment for therapy work and is currently enjoying working with special needs children. His mum Julie tells me how gentle and patient he is and how much the children love him already, he is such a clever boy and we wish him well for the future in his new role.
Ozzy is doing hydrotherapy and although he doesn't like the water, he seems to be coping well with it. As it is still early days there is no change in his movement but he has lost a little weight in the last couple of weeks and after a severe grooming he is looking better. His coat has changed since he was castrated and is more woolly and difficult to manage than before. A bosted sofa is a very good description of it....not good at all as he always had a super coat.
At our first show of the year, Neva qualified for Crufts 2012 while Kiki was a little monkey and just wouldn't keep still for the judge. Lots of work to do with this head strong little minx,who is just like her mother Siska..
Soon it will be Crufts and we have two of our puppies showing. Balou is still a little skinny looking but having 3 girls in season doesn't do him any good at all as he just won't eat. It is always an honour to participate at Crufts whatever the result and we are thoroughly looking forward to going and having a good time.
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