Wheaten House

Long Overdue Catch Up

2009-06-06T17:05:00.004Z

Haven't been in here for an age.. Over 2 years judging from the last post being Finley's second birthday. He's four now!!

Well the showing has stopped. We're just an ordinary family again. Fin gave us some real behavioural problems and it culminated in having both boys castrated to calm the building tensions. We had taken independent advice from a couple of behaviourists and the vets. They all agreed that if one was to be done then they both should be done. Poor Beau always seems to get the fall out.

That all happened 18 months or so ago and it seems to have worked because most of the bad behaviour has gone. Both boys are good together and very loving. Sometimes not as obedient as we'd like on walks, typically terriers. Only come back when it suits them, especially if either of them has put up a pheasant or a hare.

Bottom line is that we are enjoying them as pets and they are having a great life. Its all good!

Happy Birthday Finley

2007-04-02T08:29:00.000Z

Finley's 2nd birthday today. And in fact all his brothers and sisters too, so happy birthday to all of you. Fin and Beau have had a long weekend with me. 2 good walks a day and lots of observation while Julie is away skiing. The observation comes down to the boys getting to the stage where play fighting is getting a bit more serious as they vie for their position in the pack. Thinks got a little too heated on Friday for comfort. Saturday was a little like walking on eggshells but by Sunday they were best of mates again and played and ran all day long.

This evening I'll break out Finley's birthday presents, he's got cards to open too. Maybe a photo or two will be forthcoming.

That's ma paw

2007-03-14T21:19:00.000Z

Just to underline what a foolish lad young Finley was. Here's a picture of the Best of Breed (Dexter) on the left and Reserve Best of Breed (Fin's dad Hobes) on the right.

And a comparative picture of Finley (dipstick) in his going gear.

He could have been a contender!!

Crufts 2007

2007-03-11T18:54:00.000Z

Well Crufts was an interesting event this year and no mistake. Beau got a fabulous second in his class "Special Junior Dog". Having said that, he was the best placed dog in his class because the judge chose to withold 1st place. Don't ask me what that was all about! Poor little bugger gets 2nd places at nearly all his events and then when he gets placed top in his class he STILL GETS 2ND!!!

Finley was withdrawn because he simple would not behave as Julie tried to get him ready for the ring. A shame because we were pretty sure he would have got a 1st or 2nd in his class too. Still, if you don't behave, you don't go in!

Well done Beau, you're a star. Fin, you're a dunderheaded fool.

Not much to sniff at.

2007-03-02T21:35:00.000Z

Beau's been in the wars, poor little chap had to have a 3 inch long twig surgically removed from his nose this week. He had been out for a walk with Julie when he must have run straight into it. He had a few sneezing fits, but that was about it, no yelping or rubbing his nose or anything like that. We looked but couldn't see much although we thought he'd perhaps got a seed stuck up there. Anyway a quick trip to the vet turned out to be a whole day and general anaesthetic. Bless him. Not a single whimper. He's a tougher cookie than he lets on.

Merry Christmas Wheaten House Fans

2006-12-18T21:50:00.000Z

As previously comented at length. Here's the Wheaten House Xmas Card.

Merry Christmas to you all and a very happy new year!

Time, time, time!!!

2006-12-18T13:24:00.000Z

Where does it all go?

What with Christmas creeping up on us at an ever increasing pace and everything else that's been going on there just aren't enough hours in the day.

This weekend (Sunday) was Beau's 1st Birthday. Hard to believe isn't it? We got him a couple of new toys and I found a pair of nice rope leads (couldn't leave Finley out could we?) that Julie has been looking for for an age. Turns out that what she actually wanted was horse bridal leads, we just need to find a smaller trigger hook to fit on the end of each. I got one red one for Beau, just like Tess used to have and against all the odds there was a purple one for Finley. A colour that we like to associate with him whenever possible since that was the colour of his identifying ribbon when he was born.

Jerry and Claire came over for tea and brought Jack with them. Beau always loves to see Jack, so it made his birthday. Jim also found time to phone and say happy birthday. After a bit of head cocking Beau did lick the phone, so either he was checking to see if it was edible or he actually recognised Jim's voice. You can make your own minds up over that one.

So now we've got a week before Christmas and all the tearing about that that entails especially for the "never prepared" like myself. No doubt mother started shopping for Christmas back in June... I've yet to start!.

I did sit down at the computer last night and knock up a design for this year's Wheaten House Christmas greetings card. Hopefully we can get a few of those printed and in the post this evening otherwise they will miss the final post.

No doubt I'll stick a copy of it on this blog so you can at least have a look at what you would have got if I had been more organised.

I also got around to entering the boys into Crufts next year. Finley will be in the Yearling Class and Beau in Junior. Just one show booked between now and then on the 6th Jan at Newark. So maybe well get a nice peaceful break after the holidays have blown over.

The old man's gone mad!

2006-11-02T18:07:00.000Z

Phil's somewhat less structured and slightly more personal blog is available at Death and Taxes for anyone that wants to get in a little deeper. It'll probably be updated about as frequently as this one once the shine wears off the new Live Spaces thing that Microsoft are promoting. In the meantime waste a little time there if you must.

What have our intrepid duo been up to since the last post?

Well we've been to Whetherby for the Driffield show where Fin got another 1st in Yearling Dog... (1 entry) and Beau got 2nd in Puppy Dog... (2 entries) Beau was beaten by his brother Max so there's a rivalry to develop there!!

Last week the lads were on at the Mid Counties show at Staffordshire showground. Finley didn't get placed at all and Beau managed a 3rd. SO probably our worst outing of the year, but they were big groups and we didn't expect too much from the judge in Finley's case anyway. So well done Beau and hard cheese Fin.

Nothing booked now until December, but that wont be long in coming round... Bet this isn't updated between now and then tho' Laters!!

Wheaten Championship Show

2006-09-18T09:51:00.000Z

Well done Finley. After all the bathing and grooming and pampering he scrubbed up good on the day and won the Junior Dog class a this years Wheaten Club Champ show.

Beau picked up 2nd place in Minor Puppy Dog... Out of 2 entries admittedly, but he'd have done good if there had been a larger field I'm sure.

Karen and Frank another good day with Sophie, she won her class (Puppy Bitch). She's getting quite a string of firsts going now.

Amanda and Richard's Marley took a first in Post Graduate Dog and Ginny got a VHC placing in Minor Puppy Bitch.

We didn't catch all of the other results as we needed to get away before the finish. No doubt they'll be posted shortly. All in all though it looks like the Lincolnshire brigade picked up a good spattering of results.

We all had a very enjoyable day out. The Wheaten Club puts on a very good event every year and its a great opportunity to meet up with people and swap stories. Jim had followed us to the show to lend support and help out consuming our picnic. He enjoyed meeting some of they folks he'd met on his Irish circuit tour last year and of course seeing all the Wheaties!

The Itchy & Scratchy Show

2006-09-15T07:39:00.000Z

It has been a tough couple of weeks for young Finley. He's picked up some ear mites from somewhere which have been giving him a bit of grief and at the same time he's been itching and scratching like it going out of fashion. We've gone right over him and can find no sign of fleas so we think he's maybe got some form of allergic reaction going on. So he's been getting dosed up with all manner of lotions and potions to try to relieve the irritation and we are trying him on a different blend of feed as well. He seems to be responding pretty well. Ears are almost totally clear again and he actually had a pretty good nights sleep last night, free from scratching. This was also appreciated by us because when Fin scratches everyone gets woken up.

Maybe some of this is associated with his latest fascination with water. From a dog that wouldn't put a foot in a puddle two weeks ago Fin has suddenly taken to paddling along in wet, muddy and smelly dykes. I guess the realisation came that it could be fun when he was so carried away chasing a flock of Sand Pipers that he pounded right up to his midriff in the sea at Brancaster Sands. Since then there has been no stopping him.

Jack is with us for a month while Claire and Jerry lap it up in Australia. Beau thinks this is great and spends a lot of time around Jack. Fin on the other hand tends to distance himself most of the time. Bedtime is Beau's favorite time. He come upstairs with us and gets his bedtime snack before heading off back down to see his mate. Jack sleeps in the kitchen. Last night Beau decided he would stay down there rather than gracing us with his company. What a turncoat! I bet he will be best pals with me when its feeding time tomorrow.

Summer came and passed away (Jeff Lynn 1977)

2006-08-15T20:28:00.000Z

A lot of stuff has happened since Border Union back in June. So without too much ado I guess I'd better jump straight in and tell all.

For a kick off (get it?) we lost the world cup.. Actually I'm not convinced we actually took part rather than just turned up for a spot of shopping for the WAGs and a few German beers, but that is another story. Meanwhile a fine day out at the Derbyshire Agric. Show where Beau managed to get 3rd in Junior Dog. Fin didn't get a place unfortunately, but sometimes that's how it goes. It was a good show, fine weather and well organised. Friendly people and an all round good day out. We'll be there next year.

On 10th July, Finley started his globe-trotting by setting off to spend 12 days of quality time with us in France while Beau stayed home with Jim. Fin had a wild time. He loved the walks around the carp lake and along the forest trails near where we were staying.

Meantime Beau who hasn't got a passport yet, went along to the East Of England Championship Show with Jim and pulled off a 1st place in puppy dog, beating the same dog that won his class at Border Union. So honors shared there.

Shortly after we got back we were off on the circuit again, this time to the Bakewell Open. Again another agricultural show with lots to see and do. This time however it was wet, wet, wet. Even so both boys did ok. Fin won Junior and Beau got a second in puppy, beaten by his sister Sophie. Neither of our boys progressed any further, but Beau's mum got BOB and sister Sophie went on to get a 2nd place in the Terrier Group. So the family had a good day out. It was good to see Karen in the ring when Sophie got her 2nd. I'm not sure if she has landed yet. Truly well deserved.

Debs has moved to Ireland so her Wheatens have returned to the land of their fathers. Here's hoping it all works out and that we get the opportunity to go over and see the gang again in the non too distant future.

OK I said a lot had happened since June and I've crammed it all into six or seven short paragraphs. But then I'm renowned for being idle and tonight is no exception.

I might add some snaps to brighten this entry later if I get around to sorting them all out from the holiday and various shows.

Border Union 2006

2006-06-22T17:06:00.000Z

Seems like its been a long time coming around, but we finally kicked off our 2006 show entries at Kelso this weekend at the Border Union Championship Show. We also broke new ground by camping (rather than staying in a motel.)

We had driven up to Scotland in glorious sunshine. Found the camp site and even managed to put the tent up. But then we were decended on by midges and for some reason they only wanted to eat Phil. Fortunately, before they could do too much damage it started to rain so we were forced to retire to the "comfort" of the tent. We knew we'd have to be up reasonably early the next morning to get the boys tidied up and into the car along with all the other paraphinalia that goes with showing dogs, so it seemed like a good enough excuse to draw the day to a close.

As usual we didn't get any still pictures of the event, tho' we did grab some video and thanks to Frank Webster we even have some video of Phil in the ring with Beau which is actually in focus and centred on the star performer... Beau.

Despite a massive turnout both "boys done good" and came away with a commendable 2nd place in their respective classes. Finley in Junior and Beau in Puppy. He was exactly old enough to qualify for this show which was why it was his first and also why we'd been holding back on starting the season earlier. Seems to have paid off as for their efforts both boys will be enjoying a day out at Crufts next year. Well done boys.

We'd also like to extend a thank you to Karen and Frank for their help and support at the show. They took Beau's sister through to a 2nd place in the Puppy Bitch class, their mum, Sadie, got VHC in the Open Bitch and Ozzy also grabbed a 2nd place in the Post Grad Dog.

We also put Beau into a Puppy stakes class, in which he didn't get shortlisted. So his head didn't swell too much. Shortly after that the heavens opened up and it poured with rain. We decided after a while to call it a day and head back to our tent where we sat inside listening to the drumming of the rain and taking out revenge on any interloping midges with a can of flyspray. Don't you just love camping!

2006-06-06T12:00:00.000Z

We'll I did promise a write up from the party that David and Sue threw for the "Class of 2005". Fin and Bau were groomed and dressed up in their best bow ties (Julie's idea). Beau (as usual) seemed to fit in with just aboout everyone. He played and ran with the other dogs on every opportunity. In fact we had to fetch him back to us on more than one occasion because we were concerned he would overdo it. Fin was also a lot more relaxed than he usually is when in the company of a number of dogs. I guess he must have sensed that this was his family after all. He was facinated by his mum.. though probabaly not for all the right reasons! But he didn't get round to disgracing us or himself, so that was good.

David and Sue laid on a wonderful day for us. The weather was fine and so the dogs could play in the garden. Food and drink was lovely and the cake was inspirational. Photos available in the photo gallery at Wheaten house No doubt I'll be corrected on this but I think the turn out was 6 siblings - Derfel, Kinesha, Finley, Maddie, Kerrie and Kristi.
Dad, Mum and aunty - Hobes and Kabel and Kiara? (this is where I lost touch)
and of course Beau. So quite a haul of SCWTs.
Thanks again to David and Sue.

Where does all the time go?

2006-06-05T19:17:00.000Z

I can't believe it is nearly a month since I found a few minutes to sit a the computer and gather my thoughts.. Come to think of it, all I've got now is a few minutes before the pack returns from tonight's "Dog Dancing" session. Julie has been monopolizing the office for the past few weeks working on her B.Ed assignment. This means that the whole place is strewn with paper work and books. It is a brave person who disturbs any of the stuff in here. Hence, no blogging for a while. She starts another assignment next week so I've going to have to dive in and get some of the important stuff down over the next couple of days. O oh.. the back door has just banged. Time I went to meet the hoards... Watch this space!

As promised

2006-05-09T19:55:00.000Z

A little late, but I've finally been able to get near the computer and catch up on some stuff. Here is a picture of Cassie as promised.

While I'm in the mood to make and keep promises, I'll be doing a bit on the fabulous party that David and Sue English threw for the Hobel litter of 2005. There are a few photos in our photo gallery already plus a couple more of little Cassie. Sorry about the "red eye" effect. She really does have beautiful eyes, flash photography does not do her any justice!

When Cassie came to stay

2006-04-20T11:30:00.000Z

Quite a busy bank holiday weekend which culminated with a very unexpected guest. Fin and Beau had been pampered and cooed over all week due to Kirsti coming down from Scotland on a visit. Claire stopped over at our place too... and therefore Jack. So it was a nice relaxing time all round. On Saturday evening we had originally planned to cook a meal, but the weather held up so well that we wheeled out the BBQ and fired it up for the first time this year. Kirsti had gone home on Friday afternoon, but Claire and Jerry were to join us after about 6:00pm and Bridget and Ian turned up too.

About half way through a pleasant evening we got a phone call from Debs asking if we could help out. She was over in Ireland and coming back the next day with a rescue dog that needed to be taken over to a sanctuary near Boston. There will be much more about this episode later along with some pictures... when I get time to write it all down.

Irish Wheaten Bread

2006-04-05T13:21:00.000Z

Irish Wheaten Bread
This has got to be given a try! Bound to be a firm favorite in this household!!

Oh, by the way

2006-04-01T12:27:00.000Z

If you want to post comments on any of the entries on this blog, just click on the comments link below and follow the instructions.

Happy Birthday Finley!!

2006-04-01T12:05:00.000Z

Its Finley's birthday tomorrow. As it is for all the 2005 Hobel pups. One Year old and almost grown up. How time flys. The picture here shows him in full glory last Thursday afternoon enjoying the spring sunshine at Fosdyke.

We've been busy putting together a birthday card/presentation slide show which is available on the website at http://wheatenhouse.co.uk/files/WheatenBirthday.pps. Be warned its quite a large file to download, but I hope you like it.

Happy Birthday Finley, Derfel, Kinesha, Kerrie, Snoops, Ellie, Maddie, Kristie and Barney

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Breed Standard

2006-03-23T09:30:00.000Z

Discover Dogs - Terrier Group - Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier
I thought I ought to mention this web page in our blog. Its the Breed Standard for Soft Coated Wheaten Terrirers. So you can see what they should strive to be like.

Finley's First Crufts

2006-03-12T15:17:00.000Z

Finley qualified for Crufts as his first ever show, the Driffield Agricultural Championship Dog Show last October. Since then we've been really looking forward to our "Big Day Out". Neither Julie nor I had ever been to Crufts and all of a sudden there we were with a cracking little chap and a chance to make a splash. Well you can dream can't you?

Our expectations were never very high and to be honest we were as thrilled about being there as we needed to be. As it turned out Fin was not placed at all in the puppy dog class. In fact none of the "Irish" styled Wheaten's did particularly well on the day. That's how it goes sometimes. But we did enjoy ourselves and the experience was fabulous.

It was a long and tiring day for us and Finley. The photo here is of Julie and Fin enjoying a little down time snooze after the judging for puppy dog had finished. Thanks to David English for the photo.

Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers

2006-03-02T09:05:00.000Z

Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terriers
We've stumbled across this site occasionally. There are some interesting facts and strong opinions about the breed standard here. Always worth a look. A wonderful new litter has arrived recently so congratulations are due too!

Gradual Acceptance

2006-02-24T17:12:00.000Z

Finley's stomach seems to have settled down after his course of medicine. Beauregard just seems to grow braver and more bullish every day, but the boys are getting along a lot better now. Beau teases Fin mercilessly and Fin for his part quietly and gently puts him in his place when necessary. They seldom do anything around the house or in the garden separately. The two main occasions being at night when Beau is caged in a crate in the bedroom and when we take Fin out for a long walk, which Beau will not be able to enjoy for some time yet. But Fin does draw the line at close quarters sleeping and will move to the other side of the room or hide behind the TV rather than get too buddy-buddy with Beau when is it time for an afternoon nap. This picture illustrates what Fin would regard as the optimum situation.

What a difference a week makes

2006-02-19T10:19:00.000Z

Well one week on and we are making some real progress.

For the first 3 days Fin was really out of sorts with Beau. Not wanting to interact other than to grumble and snap. Really a nightmare to police. Julie was upset that he seemed so anti Beau. By Wednesday the boys were beginning to play in a reasonable manner and today they have been almost inseparable. Fin fetches toys from his toy box and Beau steals them and runs off with Fin in hot pursuit. Once the attraction of the toy wears off Fin gets another one and the process re-starts. All the time though Fin is happy to let Beau grab a toy from him without any grumbles.

All this time Fin has been quite poorly, which probably didn't do much to enhance his mood. He has continued to be sickly all week and eat hardly a thing on Thursday and Friday and running a slight temperature. This all culminated with a trip to the vet yesterday morning after he had thrown up in the back of the car returning from a walk along the riverbank at Fosdyke. He's been given a course of antibiotics and some antacid tablets and seems very much better this morning. As a result the games have taken on a degree more energy but not in an aggressive way. Julie is a lot happier!

Beau for his part has been a little star. He is so game. Running, chasing and barking. He's so much more vocal than Fin was at this age. Unfortunately for us his cage training at night seems to have taken a step backwards and he cries and barks as soon as we put him in and is now wanting to be up for the toilet at 5:00am. This in turn upsets Fin who whines in sympathy and hides under the bed. The first couple of nights he just went straight down and slept right through to 6:30am.

Beau had his first jabs on Thursday and will complete on the 6th March. We also had him micro chipped at the same time. He proved to be much more of a wimp than Fin for this procedure but soon forgot all about it when the vet got the treats out.

Claire has brought Jack (Newfoundland collie cross) round twice now to visit and we have all been so pleased to see how well he gets on (and tolerates) Beau. Beau's favourite trick is to latch onto Jacks tail... or anything else that hangs down!! Jack for his part bats Beau away with his huge paws only to find the annoying little pup hanging from some other part of his anatomy within a few second. Jack also play jumps at Beau which has us all wincing in expectation of a yelp, 40Kg of dog carries a lot of gravity with it when it comes down on its front paws, but so far, to Jack's credit he's always missed Beau and Beau thinks its great fun, instantly clamping his sharp little teeth into whatever part of Jack he can.

Jack does run out of steam quickly and when he's had enough will growl or bark at Beau which actually has the desired effect and youngster trundles off to see who else he can annoy. Its all great fun.

We're off the local garden centre shortly. I'm still puppy proofing parts of the garden and we need some more chews from the pet department. Beau goes through them at a much higher rate than Fin ever did.

All Systems Go

2006-02-10T18:57:00.000Z

Tomorrow we go to collect another puppy. We are hoping that he will make a great playmate for Finley. Last night I erected Fin's old cage in the bedroom and lined the floor with paper and a toilet training mat. A new quilted doggy bed and a brand new cuddly toy. Fin closely observed all the proceedings from atop our bed. I think he was a little nervous that perhaps his nights cuddled between us might be drawing to a close. This evening, the other cage was put up in the den. Once more he was intrigued by the goings on. Hopefully it will all become clear to him after tomorrow when all of a sudden he's going to adopt the role of responsible big brother!
I guess this also means I'm going to have to start re-structuring Finley's Kennel website to include the new arrival. There are likely to be lots of photos taken over the next few weeks. Getting time to post them will be another thing.

Poor Little Chap

2006-02-06T21:12:00.000Z

Saturday was show day again. This time out we were at the Hitchin Open Show being hosted at the Keysoe equestrian Centre in Bedfordshire. We started out from home at a respectable 8:15am and arrived at the show at its due start time of 9:30am. Even so we had plenty of time to sort things out as Fin was not due in the arena until about 12:00am.

As usual Fin performed somewhat more faultlessly than us and on reviewing the results appeared to have done well. 2nd place in Junior and Best Puppy in breed. Having said that there were only two dogs entered in the Junior class and Fin was the only puppy.

Once more we were the only Irish Wheaten on show. The general pattern at present seems to be that most occasions tend towards a preference to the heavier coated or "English" strain of the breed. Even so we are not going to let that stop us. We know that Fin is a wonderful example of the Irish Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and we are confident that he'll come more into his own as he grows into his adult coat. In the meantime we are building on our ringcraft and experiences.

On the way home from the show we stopped off at Deborah Evan's (Fin's breeder) We'd left a grooming arm at a show last year and it had been kindly handed over to Deborah to be returned to us and since we were in the area we figured we might as well stop off for a catch-up session and pick up the wayward piece of equipment.

Fin came in with us and was promptly mugged by his elder half sister. He really didn't know quite how to react and was very much on his back foot for a few minutes.. Poor little chap!

On Sunday we traveled north again with Fin to take another look at Karen and Frank Websters puppies and to try to pick one out. When we arrived all nine of them were outside on the patio and lawn tumbling and fighting and having a real ball. Fin was left in the car while we were mobbed by a tidal wave of soft squeaky Wheatens. Julie went into the house and was soon joined by a brave little chap who had decided to explore the dark interior. This turned out to be Sidney (as he's called at present) and seems to be almost certainly the one that we will be picking up next weekend to bring back as Fin's new little bruv.

Karen and Frank had a house full that day as more people turned up to view and coo over the puppies and all of them brought more Wheatens with them. We brought Finley out of the car to meet the gang and to go for a run in the field that backs onto the property. Once again however, Fin seemed to draw all the wrong kinds of attention from a couple of the bitches present and intervention was required to ensure things didn't escalate to a huge scrap. Poor little lad!! He's really off bossy women right now. I bet he can't wait to get a little brother on his side.

After we left the Wheaten party at Karen and Franks we stopped at the beach outside Mablethorpe and let Fin run on the beach. He loved it, tearing round the beach like a mad thing. We walked for about half a mile on the sand and then back through the dunes where he enjoyed dashing up and down and in and out of the grasses. He was shattered when he got back to the car, but he's had a fabulous day.. Poor little chap!

But seriously...

2006-02-02T20:12:00.000Z

Finley is our Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. He's an adorable little chap and great fun to have around. It is Fin's 10 month birthday today and he's currently trying to end it all by chewing on the cables under my desk so you'll have to forgive any sudden loss of thread.

Being totally new to this "BLOG" thing I've no doubt that it's going to contain little more that a bunch of mundane ramblings typos and smelling pisstakes.. not to mention Spoonerisms. I guess the real reason for looking at the whole bloging concept is that it should give me an easier vehicle to writing up the adventures of Fin which I've already gone some way towards on our website. www.wheatenhouse.co.uk

This medium will, with luck, take out the chore of constructing HTML pages and publshing them. So please stick with me while I try to develop some rudimentary bloging skills.

Finley learns to type

2006-01-31T22:41:00.000Z

fdjhrdb htr k ujk try ljh ytjd.
Well its first time on... and I am only a dog!!!

Pre Blog - Rootin' About

2006-01-31T13:28:00.000Z

Jan 31st 2006
Finally we have settled on a name for the imminent new arrival. Beauregard (Handsome Face) Beau for short!

This weekend we took Finley over to Suffolk to see Alg and Jude and their Dalmation Dolly. She was little more than a pup last time we saw her and it was Finley's first meeting. He was up for lots of play, but Dolly wasn't quite sure what had just invaded her space. Still they got on pretty well and really bonded when they took off across the fields in pursuit of half a dozen Alpacas. Alg's latest venture is to raise these "funny looking sheep". We'd kept Fin on a leash, not knowing how he'd react. Alg suggested that he'd be OK to run free and since Dolly was already loose we figured it'd be OK too. As soon as the tether came off Dolly took off and Fin naturally assumed that this was the latest game. It took a surprisingly deft rugby tackle from Alg to bring him back into line. Obviously we are going to have to work on our recall.. and Alg is going to have to improve on his decision making. Still, no harm done and a useful lesson learned eh?

Jan 22nd 2006
While at our last show in Newark we spoke to Amanda Naylor about our desire to take on another puppy at some stage this year and she told us of a litter that she was aware of that would be coming available in February. She put us in touch with the breeders and that evening I called and arranged to go and view the pups. The were lovely. Tiny little things with black faces and wobbly legs. About 4 weeks old so just had eyes open and were beginning to explore. Franc and Karen are really nice people and made us very welcome. They are having the pups assessed for in a couple of weeks time and they would be available to go to their new homes on 11th Feb. Until then we won't know which pup we will be having, other than that it will be a dog and his kennel name will be Kazeen Some Like it Hot. We are really excited. Last night we reviewed some of our video footage of Fin when he first came home. We could not believe how small he was just 8 months ago. We are going to be in for a busy few months again, but its all so worth it.

Jan 2006 STOP PRESS:
We're off to have a look at some puppies on Sunday. Fin might be getting himself a little brother. Give it a few months and they will be able to double team against Jack. More about this story after the weekend.

Dec 2005/ Jan 2006
Wow, it's been a busy time. I've not updated the site for a while, Christmas kind of got in the way and the computer's internet connection went on the fritz in the middle of it all so I've been spending what little time I've had getting back online. Still here we are so here I go… Jack has become a regular fixture here every Wednesday as Claire works in our local surgery. As a result the two boys are seeing each other with enough regularity to prevent too much hassle. They both enjoy each others company in small doses but there still seems to be the occasional moment of tension revolving around which toy to destroy next. Fin used to have quite an extensive selection of fairly pristine items. Jack has systematically managed to destroy most of them over the past few weeks. Thank goodness for Christmas and the generosity of Fin's adoring public!! Anyway, Fin has now devised a cunning plan whereby he pre destroys as many of his existing collection before Jack arrives. So we are up to our eyeballs in toy stuffing, beads, eyeballs and shredded pieces of rubber and plastic. Not to mention a growing collection of almost finished hide chews.

We've had a couple of shows in December as well as Christmas and Snow and Ice and oooh lots of stuff. So as time starts to make itself available you can expect to see a number of new photos and reports in Show News which will fill you in on all that has been happening. Watch this space!! and ...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Nov/Dec 2005
Looks like winter has finally arrived. Crispy white stuff on the ground and all the puddles frozen over. Fully expecting some interesting reactions from Fin he promptly ignored the frost and carried on as usual. Well perhaps we'll get some snow later on for him to play in. I must dust off the video camera.

Jack came to stay for a week while Jerry and Claire went off to Egypt to re-charge their batteries. Kids these days seem to need holidays every other week. Well the Christmas season is approaching fast so any free time spent strolling with Fin will have to be won from the increasing priority of actually starting to prepare for Christmas. We've got the guests invited.. I guess we'd better think about getting something for them to eat and drink.

Oct/Nov 2005
It has been a busy month with one thing and another. Brother Snoop came to stay for a week and a half. A pair of 6 month old Wheaten puppies just starting out on puberty and having to locate their sibling pack identities all over again meant everyone and the garden were going to be in for a hard time. On balance Snoop came out marginally ahead of Finley basically because of his extensive reserves of stamina. No doubt he'd built this up living with all those kids. The first day and a half was almost constant rough and tumble games. Never were there any snarls or bared teeth. All good clean fun. If you can say that rolling around in the mud on two of the wettest days of the year and each trying to mount the other at any given opportunity can be clean.

Obviously, in order to make things as "natural" as possible, a fair amount of the mud was also tracked into the house and over the strategically placed blankets spread over the sofas in the den. They soon settled into something approximating mutual tolerance. Trips out to Fosdyke for long walks and even a run out to the Thornham beach in Norfolk with Julie and friend Tracy and her two dogs.

Snoop was delivered back to Jill and Andy in relatively good health on the evening before the Mid Counties Championship show. Relatively good health on account of his having consumed and then sicked back up a large part of a full pat of butter complete with wrapping paper earlier in the morning. We met Jill and Andy and the kids at a Travelodge hotel on the A38 near Burton On Trent. They followed us on to the show the next morning.

There we met up with Debs and her brood and Sue and David with Kerrie (Fin's sister). We were all showing and didn't have a lot of time to get our respective champs into fine fettle for the ring. (Somewhat more, however, than we had at Doncaster a month earlier.)

Snoop, bless him, managed to choose the entry into the ring to throw up once again. Whether this was nerves or a throwback from the previous day's gastronomic experiment is uncertain, however, it did not appear that this had any bearing on the results as NONE of the clan did any good on the day. A shame because Snoop and Derfel are still trying to gain a Crufts ticket for next year.

The preceding week also saw the arrival of a new sparing partner for Fin. Claire and Jerry have taken ownership of a five year old Newfoundland/Collie cross called Jack. Alongside Fin he is HUGE. Jack joined Fin and Snoop for a day and while Jack did his best to be tolerant of the Wheaten whirlwinds assaulting him at every opportunity, he did eventually snap at Snoop a couple of times, resulting in Snoop being sent to his cage to cool off. Fin seemed to take any warning grumbles seriously and knew when to leave Jack to his own thoughts and so managed to remain free.

Last weekend, Claire, Jerry and Jack came with us to Thornham beach and then on to the Lifeboat Inn for lunch. The boys behaved well all day. We all got drenched in the rain, but it was a good day out. Jack stayed with us for a couple of days this week, as Claire had a course to attend at Newark and Jerry is still working away. On the whole they got on OK. On one occasion I had to square Jack up for snapping at Fin during a dispute over a soft toy. He took instant notice of the reprimand that I shouted at him and that was pretty much an end to it. Fin however seems much more wary of Jack now and situates himself at the opposite end of the room whenever possible. Hopefully with a little more exposure and as Jack settles more into his new home they will get along better. When out walking they are fine. In fact they really seem to enjoy running and chasing with each other and especially rooting about on the riverbank at Fosdyke.

Doncaster Canine Soc. Open Show

2006-01-08T13:26:00.000Z

Come on Dad. Don't let me down!
First time out in the new year and a first for Phil as it was his turn to take Fin into the ring. We entered into the SCWT Junior class. Unfortunately that is where the firsts stopped. Fin got third. But its all good experience, especially for Julie and I. We still have a lot to learn in the handling stakes. Thank goodness we have such a wonderful dog to pull us through.

Fortunately, no photoes of this event!!

Luton Open Show

2005-12-29T13:21:00.000Z

A Christmas Cheer!
This mid Christmas show was just the tonic required after a few days of sitting around trying to digest the previous weeks over indulgencies and hours closeted in warm fuggy rooms.

It had probably been the coldest night of the year for us and the weather forecast and traffic info was nothing but doom and gloom. So we set off at about 6:30am a nice crisp -5 Deg C giving ourselves plenty of time to get there for the 8:30am doors opening. We arrived at about 8:10am and took Fin for a walk in the snow covered fields across the back of the Equestrian Centre where the show was held and then gathered up out bits and pieces and headed for the hall. Inside we discovered that we would not be due in the ring until about 12:30am. Could have had a lay in!!

It was a bitterly cold morning and had only risen to about -3 deg C. We managed to get a pitch underneath one of the heating units on the walls of the centre which went some way to making it more bearable. We gave Fin a rub down and got him into his cage with a blanket. Eileen and Len arrived shortly after us and offered to keep an eye on things while we went for breakfast in the centre's restaurant. David and Sue arrived shortly after with Kerrie and not long after that, Debs arrived with Frank and more of the Hobel gang. Warm welcomes were dished out all round until the heaters in the hall all packed up. Boy did it get cold fast.

Frank gave us some great help regarding trimming and grooming Fin into show status which paid off handsomely when he got 1st in Minor Puppy and then went onto Best Puppy in breed. Unfortunately by the time he was up for Group Terrier Puppy he was so cold, bored and desperate for a wee that he wouldn't settle down and consequently was not placed. Still one to add to our learning curve and still his best results to date so we really have no complaints.

Boston & District Canine Soc. Premier Open Show

2005-12-11T13:19:00.000Z

Poping own the local
No SCWT classes at this show, but since it was about as local as they come to us we decided to enter into the A.V.N.S.C Terrier Puppy class just to see how that lad does and also to gain a bit more experience for ourselves. For a change we found the venue easily and were set up with all the paraphernalia that accompanies dog show geeks that we are rapidly becoming

Being an A.V.N.S.C class we had to wait for a number of other classes to go through the ring that we were scheduled to use, which gave us plenty of time to get Fin looking his best and to do a bit of Christmas shopping at the trade stands. Even so, we nearly missed the start of his session. If Julie hadn't noticed that an Airedale was waiting in the ring when we were expecting to see a load of Bull Terriers we'd have happily sat there and missed our slot. Fin behaved impeccably in the ring and was (of course) in our minds a shoe in. Therefore, how the Judge only gave him a reserve placing I will never know. Once again we woz robbed!

Just as well I forgot to take any still pictures at this one. Soz

Midland Counties Championship Dog Show

2005-10-29T13:15:00.000Z

No joy at Mid Counties
We arrived at the correct venue with about 40 minutes to get Fin groomed and looking lovely. Certainly this was an improvement on our last trip out. We'd stayed overnight at a Travelodge Hotel on the A38 and so only had a half hour or so drive to the venue. We made one wrong turn which took us in towards Stafford town when we should have gone the other way. We blame the fact that there were no signposts telling us where to go. At least the Sat. Nav. got us close and asking at the first garage quickly put us back on track. Nine entrants in to the Puppy Dog class with Finley (Hobel Schoolboy Crush), Snoop (Hobel Wally Lad) and Derfel (Hobel Joe O'Brien) representing the Hobel clan. Derf looked very good and performed well. In my opinion Fin behaved better than at Driffield and poor old Snoop was sick as he entered the ring. Having said that he recovered his composure and trotted around like a good-un. I think he blotted his copy book when he tried to kiss the judge. Either way it was all irrelevant as the judge decided to select only heavy coated dogs from those on show. A trend that seemed to follow for the whole day. So, none of the guys got placed and Snoop and Derf are still waiting to get into Crufts. Better luck in December?

Driffield Agricultural Society Championship Dog Show

2005-10-15T13:00:00.000Z

Fin takes 3rd at Driffield
Finley was placed third in the Minor Puppy Dog Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier class.
A wonderful result for Fin considering the incompetence of Julie and I. We set off for the show at 5:30am. Due to be in the show ring at 9:00am. We arrived at Driffield showground at 7:45am and soon realised we had made a terrible mistake. Checking the documentation showed that the show was actually being held at Doncaster Racecourse. About an hour's drive away. We had to stop for a comfort break at a garage where it was discovered that Finley had been very sick in his crate. No time for extended cleaning up and with dog puke down my trousers we set of on a dash to Donny. Julie rang ahead to Debs and Sue who were real diamonds. Sue met us at the entrance and took Fin off to the ring and for a hurried clean-up while we went through registration. 2 minutes later he was in the ring and 10 minutes after that he'd somehow got a third place. Which also qualifies him for entry into Crufts 2006. What a day. So many thanks are due to Sue and Debs.