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Cleo’s Barbet Puppy C Names and Photos

stacy able — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:37:14 +0000

Cleo’s Barbet puppies now have their kennel names! Their names start with a C as we are following the alphabet for our litter order. The theme is places and every C name corresponds with a city, state, or country. Also, I finally had a chance to get some updated photos of the babies. More will come in the weeks to follow.

Barbet Puppy Bric at almost 6 months of age– a Indianapolis meet up

stacy able — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 14:16:50 +0000

Yesterday I felt like the happiest and luckiest Barbet breeder in North America as I was able to see my grand puppy, Bric. His owner, Lynn and her super nice sister, were passing through Indianapolis on the Antique Trail (which I’ll need to learn more about) so my husband and I went up to visit at a area park. There are no words really how happy, and wonderful this little guy is and how proud I am of him. In our home, he was known as Brogan, my surname, and he has become such a beautiful Barbet. He still has some growing and filling out to do, but his happy, docile, playful temperament is priceless. He reminds me of when we picked up his grandfather, Cinna, in France as Cinna was roughly 6 months of age and had that same happy demeanor.

Enough babbling about how adorable he is and see for yourself in photos:

Photography Secret revealed as well as great photos of Barbet

stacy able — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 13:05:19 +0000

I’m going to let you in on a photographer secret that may help you take better dog photos. In the photo world the term “the magic hour” is what we pro’s use to describe the hour leading up to sunset. There are several apps you can get on your phone which you should check out as they will estimate the sunset at any location and date. The key thing here is the setting sun creates an amber glow which, to me, is really flattering in photographs. So now you have my secret and I’ll have to go back to school for nursing as you will all be professional photographers.

A prime example of this “magic hour” photo secret you can see from Anne Keippila – Nelum-Himalis – Finland images of daughter Deetha and one with her mom Rolli.

Thank you Anne- these beautiful photos really brightened my day.

Barbet Puppy and Child Socialization 101

stacy able — Mon, 23 May 2011 17:05:47 +0000

We don’t have kids so when we have puppies we refer to our friends who do and have them come over to play with puppies. It really isn’t too hard to find people to play and socialize with puppies! For both the dog and child, the socialization and learning process is important. Children learn to be gentle and calm with animals, and the puppies learn that mini people, although jumpy at times, are nothing to be afraid of. Socialization doesn’t end there though as the future homes I inform them to keep the socialization process going throughout the Barbet’s life. In my experiences with dogs, they have phases and taking the pet through those phases successfully mean lots of sharing new experiences in a positive reinforcement manor.

This past week we had a 1.5 year old adorable girl visit (with her parents of course helping teach the child, too!). Here are some ridiculously cute photos.

Barbet Puppies in America: week 4 of life

stacy able — Wed, 04 May 2011 13:06:13 +0000

Raising puppies can be such a joyous time but also a pretty strenuous time as cleaning is never ending and every day you should introduce something new to the babies. Our American Barbet puppies are now 4 weeks old and their canine’s are coming in nicely. Their eyes are turning from blue to hazel/brown of which they will eventually stay a amber brown color. We’ve begun weaning as for us we feel 4 weeks they should be introduced to soft puppy food and lessen their reliance on mom’s milk. They still nurse but hopefully in the next couple of weeks they’ll be done nursing (good thing as their puppy teeth are sharp!) and happy frolicking and eating their mushy puppy food.

Last week we took some easter inspired photos with the Barbet puppies. I had my husband, and hand model (he isn’t fond of his photo taken but will allow me to photograph his hands) with the puppies. He changed shirts for each puppy in various soft easter shades. Then he gave me a large ostrich egg to get some puppy hatching photos. That process didn’t go as well as I’d hoped as the puppies are already bigger then the egg so lesson learned for the next litter.

Barbet in Arizona: Griffin

stacy able — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:34:07 +0000

Griffin, a Barbet (French Water Dog) from our first litter in 2007 recently attended a fundraiser with his owner, Linda, called “Dine with your Dog”. The proceeds go to the pet therapy program at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. At the event he had a snazzy formal photo taken which I’ll share with you below.

He just turned 4 on 03/21/11 and he celebrated with a doggy cupcake. He’s madly in love with his owner, a common Barbet trait, and is happy spoiled rotten. Thank you Linda for sharing– it means a lot to me to get pup-updates from my past litters.

Barbet puppies in America: 1.25 weeks old today!

stacy able — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 15:34:33 +0000

My how puppies grow! In one short week of life they have almost doubled their weight solely off drinking mum’s milk and sleeping. Towards their 2nd week their eyes and ears will begin to open and a new chapter of development begins. They will still be solely on milk but they will begin to explore their world. We’ll be adding new toys, textures, boxes, and other things to help them acclimate to different things. Eventually when they are a bit older we’ll take them outside to romp around.

For now while they are still tiny babies, I’ll focus on the Walter puppy hand series which we started in 2009 with Lia’s litter (these puppies mom). Warning– you may be overwhelmed by cuteness!

Names: Ginkgo de Amelia Bric, Barcelona (Bella), Brogan, Brooklyn, & Basal

photos by stacy able photography

Au Natural Barbet Coat: Various Countries Grooming Etiquette

stacy able — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:51:39 +0000

Grooming a Barbet in general can be a tricky feat. It gets even hairier when you start prepping for confirmation dog shows. Being there are so few Barbet worldwide a standard of grooming isn’t set yet so if you are able to go to dog shows and you may see different grooming styles.

In Poland and Finland they are very strict against using product (mouse, color, etc) in dogs coats for the show ring. Often dog show prep means brushing the dog out to remove mats and letting the dog swim and dry naturally to get the natural texture and curl back into the coat. This doesn’t mean the dog is dirty or unkempt, but to them shows the dog in a natural state.

Other countries allow cremes, mouses, etc and you may see “fluffier” Barbet in the ring. The grooming is predominately done before the show so what everyone does to their Barbet differs. At the show you’ll potentially see last minute prep to remove any pee smell (more for the males), and last minute look overs. The dog show is, to a degree, a beauty show, so no one wants to see (or smell) a dirty dog, but there you get into differences of opinions and syntax. Cords, natural soft (dematted) curls or even “rustic” to some is preferred; whereas, others are wanting curls to be separated more fully so judges can get their fingers fully through the coat. Hopefully breeders of all countries can find a happy medium sooner rather than later so everyone can stand united and work on more important issues such as health and perhaps the dog’s natural hunting instincts.

No post is complete without photos so here are some lovely photos from Barbet in Poland in their preferred type of show coats.

Purina National in Toronto Canada– 12 Barbet in attendance!

stacy able — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:38:37 +0000

This past weekend in Toronto, Canada was a large showing of Barbet at the prestigious Purina National Dog Show. Unfortunately with a husband who was off saving the world in Guatemala, I couldn’t cart all 6 dogs (and one Barbet snack sized Chihuahua Lola) to Canada. I don’t think a hotel would allow my entire pack to watch Animal Planet while I was at the show.

Anyhow there were 12 Barbet in attendance which is always an amazing feat to see that many of this precious rare dog in one place! Lots of ribbons and points were earned and a huge congratulations goes to Claire, owned by Judy whom lives in America. Claire earned enough points to earn her CKC championship! Tracey with Tug earned a couple more points and I believe is very close to finishing his CKC championship. (I believe you need 10 points at confirmation shows with the CKC to earn that title).

Below are some photos that Paula, a Barbet Breeder shared with me so I could feel a part of everything although 10 hours away. Thanks Mrs. Ballak.

Ula with Frankie of The Friendly Barbet

Tracey and Tug of Two sisters barbet

Judy and Claire of Hickory Tavern

The whole group (unsure which round of judging)

My Canadian Sister, Amy (I wish) A GREAT Handler and human being whom I owe a pair of Toms Shoes…

The Various Colors of Barbet: Pied in Holland

stacy able — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 20:09:55 +0000

After great conversation with fellow Barbet Breeders I am working on a photo montage to all the Barbet colors out there. Today I’d like to feature the beautiful pied Barbet with the Von der Leibrücke in the Netherlands (their new website is gorgeous just fyi). Some of these color combinatoins reflect the old Barbet lineages and are SO wonderful to ese emerging in our 2011 day and age.