Well Behaved Dogs are Welcome

Well behaved dogs are welcome at Nearlyheaven please contact either Sue or Lucia for details..

Sue's Diary The Christmas Holidays................

I do hope that all of you had a good Christmas and I wish you a Happy new Year for 2010!

As mentioned in my previous post,my initial intention for my Christmas break was to drive to England with my youngest Vizsla "Teddy Bear" to spend some time with my family for Christmas but also to go to Suffolk  to learn how to teach Teddy  so that he can compete in Field Trials in the future. 
Lucia was left "holding the fort " she had her hands full with guests in the cottage, my mother, and  several  extra  Vizsla dogs arriving for their Christmas Holidays ,while their owners travelled to England to be with friends and family.

I set off with Teddy in the car and managed the long, boring drive to Calais, I arrived in the evening and I duly found the hotel which I had booked for us for the night.

It was with a little trepidation that I brought Teddy into the hotel ,this was the first time that he had left home alone, without the company of his dog  family, therefore I was worried that if I left him in the  room during the time that  I went for my dinner in the hotel restaurant, he may start howling or something similar.  

He settled into the room and onto his bed without a murmur, I was very proud of him.

I arrived at the restaurant and was asked by the waiter "where is the beautiful dog" ? I replied that I did not think that he could come into the dining room. "please bring him, we all want to meet this unusual beautiful dog". Of course I went back for Teddy and he obediently joined me at my dining table.

Teddy" was the star of the show, the waiters petted him and the other guests admired him.It was amazing how one dog entered that room and the atmosphere changed immediately.Everyone was smiling and talking about him in fact he was the topic of conversation throughout the evening. As I was leaving the restaurant, a waiter brought a huge bowl of meat scraps from the kitchen "this is for his supper" he said.

I shall soon have to start a fan club for him!

The next morning  we went for a long walk on the beach,He loved every minute of it and was fascinated by the waves and the sea gulls.

We left the hotel and arrived at the ferry terminal, to find that Teddy's passport was not in order. Despite all my efforts the man at P&O  would not even listen to me.So it was about turn and home we went!

In fact it was a blessing in disguise as upon returning home, I discovered that Lucia had had a big problem with "Pasha" our stallion, our neighbours mare was "in season" and Pasha had smashed some fences trying to get to her.Lucia had had to put him in the stable however he was neighing and banging his door and causing her sleepless nights.

We solved that problem by sending "Pasha" away  for his holidays, to commence his training for the eventing world.

I managed to get a flight to the UK a few days later and I spent one week with my daughter Kirsty and her partner Sam, and the second week with my eldest son Craig, his wife  Collen and my two granddaughters Natalya (3) and Il ana ( 20 months).It really was good to spend quality time with my family as owing to my other commitments it is impossible for me to return to England very often. 

One of my Christmas presents was the Cesar Milan dog whisperer books"Cesar's Way and "Be the Pack Leader" I was fascinated with his  training methods.His philosophy  applies to  humans too.Cesar advocates  at least 45 minutes brisk exercise for all breeds of dog every morning, this allows the dog to burn off energy,only then does he commence their training sessions.

I have owned and bred dogs all of my life, however I learnt more about  the dogs mind  from those two books  in a week than I have in breeding dogs for  the last forty years.

Every prospective dog owner should read the book prior to purchasing a dog.

Indeed I have seen a huge improvement in my dogs since using his methods.

Yesterday I walked for some miles on the snow covered lanes with all five of my dogs walking behind me without leads, they sat quietly when a car wanted to pass and they were a pleasure to own !   

  My obedient dogs!

Since returning to France I have had another enforced holiday, as the snow has curtailed flying lessons  at present.

With the constant freezing conditions ,we spend many extra hours per day ensuring that all the animals have sufficient food and I am  now a dab hand with the sledgehammer breaking the ice on the water troughs.

   

   
   

  Hope the weather is not going to stay like this for too long!

   

 

Merry Christmas and a Happy new Year to our Vizsla owners !

I am leaving home  tomorrow to drive to the UK for Christmas to spend time with my family. I am going to Suffolk for a short time after Christmas with my youngest Vizsla "Teddy Bear" to visit a friend, who trains Vizsla dogs for field trials.He has promised to teach me to to train Teddy .. sounds complicated but I hope that it works.

The reason for this new venture, is that the rules in France state that for a dog to become a champion they must obtain a "good"  in a field trial as well as obtaining top wins in championship dog shows, my best dog has won over twenty of these prizes,all over France but he cannot become a champion as he has never been trained for field trials and he is too old  to commence now.

This time, I am starting early with the puppy and I hope that I shall find the time to get this one to become  a champion, as can be seen in the photographs he is very laid back about his training.I have done some training with him at home and he has been very good ( most of the time) I shall enjoy spending time with him "one to one" instead of having five Vizslas constantly  vying for my attention.      

Normally, I find that for teaching him things like sit and stay ,he responds better in the house where he does not get too distracted.

However in the huge fields of England, which are full of pheasants, I think that I shall have a bit of a struggle to contain him.!

I will keep you posted.

Please send us you best photograph of the year for the January Vizsla picture parade.

To all of our Vizsla owners Have a Merry  Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We hope to have a new litter of puppies in the spring.

Eng Sh Ch & Aust Ch Hungargunn Bear It Mind

 Yogi is UK’s TOP DOG 2006 & 2007. In 2006, this was by the biggest winning marginthe history of the "Dogworld Magazine" competition. Winning again in 2007 makes him one of only three dogs ever to go back-to-back.

   Yogi left Australia as an All Breeds Best In Show winner and since arriving in England has won 12 BIS, 4 RUBIS, 3 BISS, 28 BIG, 7 RUBIG and 45 CC's surely becoming the world's biggest winning Vizsla considering the average number of dogs exhibited at a Champ

   Show in England is in excess of 10,000!  

He is 2nd placed in total number of BIS won by gundog in a “lifetime” and he's achieved this in just over 2yrs and is the only gundog to win 7 BIS in one show season, which is the highest number ever won in UK.
 "This Vizsla is surely the blueprint! His conformation is outstanding, all that I have read about it and studied about shoulder and hind angulation is seen in this dog. All the proportions and angles are there, the measurements are correct. Well laid shoulders, the distance from withers to elbow to floor equal. His body slightly longer in length than his height. All through he answers the standard; a medium sized dog in appearance, distinguished, robust but lightly boned. As his conformation is so correct, when he moves he takes the breath away, his balance and the ground he covers demonstrate his qualities as he elegantly flows around the ring, sound as a bell. On top of all this, his fine Gundog head has the kindest of expressions. He is a gentleman. I do indeed feel we are privileged to have the chance of sharing this handsome Vizsla with his Australian owners, we may never see another so good! All praise for his excellent condition and happy disposition." Gay Gottlieb (Russetmantle Kennels UK).

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Farm Sanctuary

Farm Sanctuary

 As all of the animals at NearlyHeaven are so happy, we decided to share that joy with some new additions.
We started our Farm Sanctuary in the summer of 2008 and it was an instant success with our guests—especially the children, many of whom have never enjoyed the opportunity of seeing farm animals close-up.
Many of our animals were rescued or re-homed when their owners moved away. 

They include sheep,

    Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs

ducks, rabbits, pheasants, quail, pigeons & hens.

 

We find that children love to help with the animals and enjoy such activities as grooming the ponies,  feeding the hens and collecting eggs.
There are additional pictures of the farm animals in our 'photo gallery'

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