Well done to Vicky Wilkins and Ginny (Quilesta Simply Exquisite) on gaining 2 RCCs in one day and also your stud book number and Sharon and Axl (Quilesta So Majestic of Rockfest) for gaining your 4th CC at The Large Munsterlander Champ Shows, so proud of you both!!

Happy 11th Birthday to Oscar, this boy is a pleasure to live with, don't know where the last 11 years have gone (he still has no grey hairs)!!

Happy 1st Birthday to Gracie and all the Quilesta Simply litter.  Gracie is such a loving pup that just wants to please you, she is also a complete clown just like her Mum, we all love her to bits!

The puppies are six month old now, Caro and I met up with a few last Thursday in Ilkley.

 Big thank you to ​Wendy Lacy for handling Wilma today at Driffield Champ Show, 1st in PG and then went on to take the RCC (Wilma has now gained her stud book number), absolutely over the moon, Esther also came 2nd in Open Bitch, thanks to our judge Carolynne Trowsdale.

​To say I am a proud breeder is an understatement, at the Hungarian Vizsla Club Working Test Carolynne Trowsdale and Lily (Esther & Rasko Daughter) won the Open Test and Annie Jones and Oti (Poppy & Brubeck Daughter) won the Novice Test, very proud of you both.

At Richmond Championship Show Rosko (Quilesta So Treasured) was awarded the RCC under breed specialist judge Lynn O'Connell, well done Jan and Caz!!

At East of England Championship Show, Rosko was award the RCC under breed specialised Christine Ogle, well done Jan and Caz!!

Made the most of the fine weather at the weekend and took some pictures of the dogs.

I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to be less than 6” high and let loose in a ‘wilderness’ of grass and flowers; daunting forests of shrubs; wooden benches as high as the tallest sky-scraper and plies of logs as imposing as Mount Kilimanjaro. Was anyone phased? No. Turns out that these small puppies are extremely adventurous and, at this point in time, have no real fear. This, for us humans, is both good and bad. I’m glad that they are adventurous, seeking out new experiences, absorbing life and knowledge like sponges, however… it does mean that you need eyes in the back of your head—sides too would be useful—in order not to loose anyone!
 
We took them out in groups, not sure that we could cope with monitoring all 10 at the same time. How right we were! After acclimatising, which took less than a minute, they were off… and like a gaggle of small children they all went in different directions! I remember taking Finn to the zoo when he was about 3. He had never seen elephants before and was totally enthralled. As an adult it is difficult to recapture that initial sense of enchantment: the delight of something unexpected and new, something totally beyond your imagination. I wonder if it was like for the puppies?
 
Our garden is quite large, with flowerbeds, a vegetable patch, a woodpile, overgrown areas for the wildlife and lots of nettles! I foolishly hoped that the pups would stay, more-or-less, in the centre of the neatly mown grass area—no such luck! They particularly liked the overgrown brambly bits: for human arms a killer combination of scratchy long grass, brambles and nettles, for puppies—a breeze! It’s quite something watching a small puppy disappear head first into the undergrowth, white bum and tail left waving in the air. And boy can they move if the mood takes them, sprinting across what to them must seem like acres of open plain. I guess that could explain their preference for the overgrown areas—safety. Out on the savannah grasslands of mowed lawn they are vulnerable to passing birds of prey and larger carnivores; hidden in the nettles and the brambles they are safe!
 
What stories they had to tell when they returned to the sanctuary of the kitchen. And when they slept what dreams they had, their small bodies twitching, excited, legs running as they relived their adventures. And tomorrow, tomorrow is another day, with more adventures, more firsts, and more life to be lived, but perhaps nothing will ever be quite as special as that first sojourn into the garden.
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