Who at nearly seven months old, could still fit in your pocket.

Lovely 7th Birthday update for Flora from Lucy. She is from Smudge and Reggie's litter born back in 2014. Happy 7th Birthday to Flora and her five siblings Kayla, Mollie, Chester, Harvey and Jake. Hope you and your families are all well.

"Dear Jane
​Just a happy 7th birthday to Flora's litter siblings and love to Smudge and Reggie and the Poundlane pack.
Flora has had the best year! With me working full time throughout at the hospital , people have been amazing in offering to help out with walks and general dog entertainment. She has been so well exercised , made new friends - canine and human .....and I think bought some joy to those who have spent time with her.
She remains fit and well , a good jumper and too good a squirrel chaser!
Thank you as ever for her
With best wishes to you all and love from us
​Lucy , Alan and Flora
xxx"

Letters (below) from my GP vet confirming that Ernest and Rosie were heart examined using auscultation on Friday and no heart murmurs were heard.

A little while ago I blogged that I thought we may be unable to breed any litters this year and if we did it would be going into the Autumn. This was mainly due to  HeartVets (because of Covid !9) feeling unable to offer elective pre-breeding screening examinations. Although I had secretly not totally given up hope of breeding a litter this Spring/Summer and I have rung them ever couple weeks to find out if the HeartVets had changed that decision and up until the beginning of last week it remained the same. 
With any day Rosie due to come on heat, I decided after putting the phone down from speaking with HeartVets to ring my GP vets and see if possible for them to check hearts. There are three levels of heart checking these days to my mind before going ahead with a coupling. "Gold standard" is the auscultation along with the heart being Doppler scanned by a Cardiologist vet. "Silver standard" is just auscultation by a Cardiologist vet and "Bronze standard" is auscultation by a GP vet. To understand Mitral Valve Disease MVD and why so important to be screening Cavaliers even if crossbreeding click Here
My GP vet who is director of the veterinary surgery I use agreed to examining Rosie and Ernest (who I had decided to match her with). Which I thanked him for, as not really deemed as necessary veterinary work at the moment. So Friday, I got them examined and no sound was heard on either of their hearts. At the moment this is the best I can do. With Ernest nearly five himself and up to November 2019 Cardiologist vet checked clear and coming from an exceptional background of  Cavaliers with good heart health and Rosie a first cross Cavalier/Brittany reducing statistically the heart disease burden of the Cavalier, that the "Bronze standard"  heart check risk, I feel is mitigated
. 
Rosie has already been MRI scanned and graded CM 0 and SM 0c.  Ernest has been MRI scanned twice as he has CM 2 and both times been found clear of Syringomyelia grading SM 0b at his last scan in 2019.  To understand the grading you can read about the BVA chiari malformation and syringomyelia scheme Here and their breeding recommendations Here
Ernest's Cavalier side is hereditary clear for EP (Episodic Falling Syndrome) and CC/DE (Curly coat / Dry eye). He is also DNA tested clear for ​Degenerative Myelopathy​   prcd-PRA  and vWD type I (von Willebrand disease). Rosie's Cavalier side is also hereditary clear for EP (Episodic Falling Syndrome) and CC/DE (Curly coat / Dry eye). We are also waiting for results from her DNA swab we sent to Embark a week ago, along with a DNA swab from Polly.
So we have decided to go ahead with this pairing and Rosie came on heat on Wednesday. All going well, we will hopefully have a litter on the ground the end of April beginning of May. ​

Ernest should really need no introduction. Treacle gave birth on this website in ​April 2016 with his rather cool Dad Toby Orbison ​waiting for his arrival along with Ernest's maternal Granny and Gramps in attendance. From his first paw wave at a few days old, we knew there was ​Something about the Ernest

Ernest has been a joy from working him in the field, to sleeping at my feet as I type this. He is a loyal little spaniel, a sporting little spaniel and above all a loving little chap with exceptional vigour in health and general demeanour. In his nearly five years, he's never seemed to have had an off day. 

His first litter was with ​Blottie (first cross Brittany/Cavalier) producing ten beautiful pups. We kept Teagol back from that litter. He then produced his second litter with Blottie's sister Bumble producing eight beautiful pups. With us keeping ​Lottie back from that litter. His third litter we done with him was with ​Blottie producing ten beautiful pups again. His daughters have both proven themselves on lap and in the field with Teagol giving birth to seven pups August 2020 making Ernest a Granddad. We kept ​little Polly from that litter.

Rosie was a lucky find, a first cross Cavalier/Brittany to bring into our lines. ​Introducing Rosie as we travelled home with her in August 2018 when she was coming up nine weeks old.

She has grown into an absolutely stunning healthy bitch, really good structure and has a very very loving nature. Loves bird watching with Ernest and is exceptionally quick, picking up a rat near the stables the other day before the rat new what was happening, shaking it and then very proudly dropping it at my feet. Very excited as to what she has the potential to produce in her offspring especially with Ernest. This litter I will hope to retain a puppy from.

If interested in this litter "hold your horses" and first read our website page ​Getting A Puppy From Poundlane. If you have patience and understand there is no guarantee of a puppy from Poundlane at this stage and want to know a bit more or just want to make me aware of your interest. You can ring me (Jane) on 01769 560969 in the week around midday is the best time to catch me near the phone.

Photos (below) are of Toby and his litter sister Jessica taken this morning. Toby is Ernest's Dad, so paternal Granddad of the pups that have just left us. His sister Jessica is the one who had one of her back legs amputated back in ​April 2014. She turned 9 years old the end of last year and is still going strong on three legs. 

Update for Pablo came in a couple days ago. Pablo is from ​Ernest and Blottie's litter of ten pups. 

Update for Teddy came in a few days ago. Teddy is from ​Ernest and Blottie's litter of ten pups.

Had a lovely email from Toni after Bingley had visited the vets for his first vaccinations and check over. Bingley is from ​Ernest and Blottie's litter of ten pups.

"Hi Jane,
Lovely to chat to you this morning. 
Bingley got a clean bill of health from the vets. Both head vets came out to meet him really interested in the spaniel mix and wanted to hear about the family tree. They said it's lovely to see such a long muzzle on a cavalier. The phrase 'big boy' was used by the vet in our conversation following his check up - it's obviously a term that fits him well!
Toni"

"Dear Jane
Just a quick update to let you know how Laika is settling in. She's doing really well and has settled in beautifully. As you said, she's feisty (see the video!) and playful, but also very affectionate and loves a lap to snuggle on. She adores playing chase in the garden, has learnt "sit" and is desperate to make friends with our neighbours dogs, who we see on our carry-walks. She's eating moderately well - it never seems very much, but she's grown visibly in a week and has tons of energy so it must be enough for her! She usually wakes once in the night for a toilet visit, then sleeps through until about six. She makes us laugh every day and we're really enjoying her! Thank you and your family so much for all the effort you put in to make these puppies such lovely family pets.
Kind regards 
Amanda "

Got this update for Rocco a week ago. He is from ​Ernest and Blottie's litter of ten pups.

"Hi Jane
I imagine it is now very quiet with all the puppies gone . I hope you are all well and enjoying a bit more free time after all your hard work with the puppies.
Just a short email to let you know how Rocco is doing.  He settled in very quickly.  The vet commented how quiet he was.  He isn’t quiet all the time!!
He has just starting putting himself in his crate at bedtimes. He has slept all night for the last week.  
His housetraining went well from the start with just an odd accident some days.  He is quite laid back and independent.  He has a couple of manic times during the day, when he runs around the house and garden.  
He enjoys a game of tug of war. He can solve his puppy puzzle to get the treat. He loves to play with a bit of recycling. When it’s not too cold he goes in the puppy sling  and we go out for a walk, which he seems to enjoy: his nose twitches with all the smells. He has also learnt how to go upstairs given half a chance. He is booked in for some dog training in a couple of weeks.
A couple of update pictures taken today at 10 weeks.
It’s is really lovely having a dog again and Rocco is a good companion.  Lots of fun to come.
Kind regards 
Sue"

Update for Ted at 6 months old. He is from ​Puddin' and Teagol's litter of seven pups.

Sorry, I did not realise five days had passed since I last blogged. I have a load of updates for the pups that have just left us and news on potentially our next litter. I will try to get to it over the weekend/beginning of next week. I will leave you with a couple photos of Millie and her daughter Smudge watching my husband David making his packed lunch this morning at 5 am. Millie is the Great Great Grandmother to Polly, making Smudge the Great Grandmother to Polly.

Yesterday Bingley left us with Toni to join her family. She first let me know they got home safely.

"We are home! Bingley had a happy journey - I heard two tiny whimpers in the whole time. He amused us by doing 20 mini naps in the journey - waking about every 3 minutes to check on what was happening. He didn't move from Annie's lap for the whole 3 hours!
Very happy dog introduction! This was taken (photo below) after they each decided to sit in the other's bed first!"

Then I received another update for Bingley a bit later on.

"Thanks Jane. Bingley has had a successful first afternoon in his new home. He and Whisky had a remarkably non energetic introduction thanks to your magic pheromone drops. Bingley sat really still and watched Whisky closely then after 10 minutes realised he was no threat and tried to get him to play with ear pulling! He's done all his toileting outside, eaten his lunch and thoroughly sniffed every corner of every room. 
As you'll see from the photos, we are enjoying how fond he is of sitting on laps! And his second favourite place is Whisky's bed :) 
Thank you for such a helpful handover this morning. I'll keep in touch with how he's settling in. 
Thanks again for such a lovely pup - he feels part of the family already! 
Toni"

Received a lovely update for Tucker the middle of January from Lisa. Tucker is from ​Casper and Blottie's litter of nine little Blenheim pups born March 2019.

"Hi Jane,
How are you? I hope you and your family are doing well and enjoyed the holidays together.
Thank you so much for continuing with the blog. I still check it at least once a day and love the updates, and more recently seeing the photos and videos of Blottie and Ernest's pups. They are definitely at Maximus Cutieness.
Tucker has been well and is such a lovely pup. He’s been looking after us with plenty of cuddles. In May, we moved to a house not far from where our flat was and Tucker has his own garden now, which he likes to watch over from his bed by the patio doors. When the weather was warmer, he often sunned himself on the deck.
The first lockdown was a bit tough on him because his daycare closed temporarily. We took him on long walks each day, but it was hard to find dogs for him to socialise with regularly and he definitely missed his pack at daycare. Luckily, since June, daycare has been open most of the time. He has such a good time there.
It's been wonderful going on longer walks with Tucker, about 6-12km long. He's better at pacing himself than when he was younger. He still climbs up steep embankments and can jump to an impressive height. It’s quite a sight when he chases after a squirrel and flies over obstacles. His weight is a steady 11.6kg now.
His training is going well, and he more frequently offers good behaviours contextually. For example, if I stop for a bit when out on a walk, he'll come back to me and sit.
The main thing that needs more practice is him being comfortable on his own at home. With the Covid restrictions, at least one of us is always at home. After a break, Tom and I have started just short walks down the road most evenings to try to build this up. Tucker sits looking out of the window for us but thankfully doesn’t seem as tense as he used to when we tried this when he was younger.
A thing I’ve been meaning to ask your advice on... Tucker is still occasionally keen on digging into and then eating/chewing what looks like mud to us, but for all we know has the tastiest morsels of something or another in it. I redirect him if I see him doing this on a walk, but I don't always get to him as quickly or effectively when he does it in the garden (his listening skills are distinctly less good when in his territory). Any advice or thoughts you have on this would be most welcome. He doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects from it generally, though it's possible that this is how he had a run-in with giardia. 
About which, our vet said she'd seen increasing amounts of giardia lately in the area and that he could have picked it up from anything, e.g. licking a contaminated puddle / bit of ground. This was in October. It was so sad for about a week. Tucker needed to go out a few times overnight even and would strain to poo. When he did manage to poo, it was very liquidy, and had that distinct 'cow pat' look, and an awful smell, that I now know is a sign of giardia. He was definitely feeling a bit understandably sorry for himself. We had it diagnosed by providing a fecal sample to the vet and repeated the test a week or so after treatment to make sure he'd cleared it, which he had.
Also had a brief run-in with cherry eye. One day his daycare got in touch and sent a photo of his eye (attached to this email). I knew it was cherry eye having read about it on your blog - thank you for writing about it and thanks to Caroline, who has Tucker's brother Alfie who had it, for sharing her experience.
By the time I'd picked Tucker up a short while later, to take him to the vet, it had resolved itself, i.e. popped back in. The vet examined his eye the same day anyway, using some dye, and gave us some goo to use, just in case it was infected. Since then, it hasn't happened again, so fingers crossed it was just a bit of bad luck, maybe a mild infection or something in his eye so he rubbed it too hard causing the flip.
Over time, Tucker has become even more of a lapdog and better at asking politely for a lap. When Tom and I are each at a desk and Tucker wants a cuddle, he'll come up to your chair, do a good-boy sit, look at you with puppy eyes and gently paw at you to ask for a lap. He is also a lot better at not moving around so much if we let him on the bed in the morning. He particularly loves it if we let him under the duvet - he'll snuggle right next to you and rest his chin on your shoulder.
Thank you again for giving Tucker such a wonderful start and letting us give him a home. He's such a lovely boy.
Best wishes,
Lisa"

"Hello Lisa,
Apologise for not replying sooner. Good to hear from you and to hear about how things are going with Tucker. Giardia can be picked up anywhere and it is a good idea to be dosing a dog with fenbendazole from time to time. 
I suspect the upsurge in the vet seeing giardia is probably weather, as we had a mild 2020. They love warm puddles and so do dogs. We rarely see a flea on our dogs, but last year we just kept seeing them on the dogs, more than I like to see them and fumigated our home twice, whilst regularly treating the dogs and flea combing them. I spoke with the vet and was told it had been a year for lots more fleas about and just keep doing what we were doing. 
As for the mud eating, our dogs do this from time to time. It can be stress, they smell something tasty in the soil or nutrition. Our dogs also love getting in where the lawn clippings are and digging the top layer off to eat what is basically silage and it does not seem to do them any harm, except you don't want them to lick your face after eating it. It does give them nice very dark tight stools. I think it most probably is nutrition. I don't think it means your dog's diet is lacking what they need. I think they know stuff we don't know and the consummate scavengers they are are just not letting good mud go to waste . As for eating grass that is silage, grass silage can be 16% crude protein or over. 
I would hope that the cherry eye was a one off. Caroline who has Alfie considers it was him being such a ruffin, as he was a bit of a boisterous player as a puppy. They can often pop them out if playing roughly with another or bumping into something.  Thankfully it popped back in and fingers crossed it stays there. 
Blottie's pups all have a very loving vibe about them and great to hear that Tucker is a loving boy. The paw thing is very much like his Brittany Granddad Henry. Henry can be very persistent in the pawing you department when he wants a smooth. Henry enjoys having a front leg smoothed if pawing you for attention.
Thanks for the photos and videos, also keeping me updated on Tucker. 
Love from us all at Poundlane
Look after yourselves and give Tucker a big hug from me.
Jane x"

Lara left us a week ago with Kathy who already has one of our previous pups Saffy, who will be three the beginning of March. 

"Thanks for the update and a bit of egg is okay. Jane"

Dotty left us around a week ago and good to hear things are going well.

"Hi Jane,
She is doing amazingly. She is so calm and sweet but has a cheeky side to her too, but like you said very soft.  She's just been so relaxed with us all, happy to snuggle with the girls but also happy to doze in her bed with her blanket and watch the world go by.  It's been so cold we've been really careful to warm her back up when she comes in, but she's been tearing around the garden.  We've also had some really good nights, with sleeps from bedtime til about 4/5.  Bea has been growing in confidence which is lovely to see, she can now carry her around if she needs to and is getting used to her when she's a bit more playful, Chloe is becoming the dog whisperer reading her different moods and when she needs to go outside to the toilet!
We are loving having her, thank you so much,
Susy"

Teddy left us on Thursday. Sally and Russel let me know that they got home safely.