dogs for sale in Ireland

Showing Dogs – Where did it all go wrong ?

There are hundreds of thousands of dogs in Ireland, yet only approx 1500 of these attend at any individual dog show affiliated by the IKC. In the year 2010/11 there were over 29,000 dogs registered with The Irish Kennel Club which included over 5,000 litters. Let's guestimate that 1000 of these litters were from show kennels, that's 4000 litters registered by people not involved in the show dog scene. So the question might be what are show dog people and the governing bodies doing in relation to assisting and educating all the other dog owning / loving people out there ? Now some show dogs have it and others just don't - It's true that some dogs really come alive when in the show ring, and it looks like this is their true vocation, but time spent in the actual show ring for most dogs accounts for approx 5 minutes out of the whole dog show day. The rest can be spent crated in the back of a van, car or trailer for periods from 10 minutes to 10 hours, not to mention th…

PBNR

Pure Bred Non Registered (Or in some cases Pure BREAD Non Registered) It's a term or abbreviation we are all well aware of and see more than ever on most of the dog adverts on the general and most dog classified sites. It is then normally followed by "hence the price" Some of the adverts will advertise a pup for say Euro 200 non registered or Euro 350 registered Let's break down the cost of registering a pup My Vet charges Euro 25.00 to microchip a pup The Irish Kennel Club charges Euro 13.00 to register a single pup Euro 38.00 so far... You have to be an associate member of The Irish Kennel Club (IKC) to register, and the annual fee for this is a whopping Euro 10.00 or Euro 100.00 for life membership I think you could be safe to say that Euro 50.00 would cover you handsomely to register a pup with the IKC, which is after all the recognised body for the registration of Dogs in Ireland, as well as Internationally recognised. Some people will say tha…

Your Dog and the pursuit of happiness

Ok we're back......I hope some of you noticed that we hadn't been what you'd call very active on the run up to and through the Christmas Holiday. TBH it was a most welcome break, and a time where we could reflect on the year just passed, and plan for the year ahead. I've decided on a personal theme for myself this year, which can be summed up in one word - Happiness - My thinking is that if you try and make yourself happy then everything else in life must be good, or should eventually fall into place. Happiness comes in all shapes and forms but mid last year we posted a blog stating that happiness is Canis Lupus or Dog to you and me I'm sure everybody reading this blog right now or maybe years in the future, will have experienced the happiness that a dog can bring into your life. But let's flip that card, and look at it from a dogs perspective. What really makes your dog happy ? Is your dog happy sitting with you on the sofa after a good long walk and balan…

Budget 2013 – Michael Noonan, Pure Bred Dog or Cross Breed ?

Weather forecast not good for Dogs in Ireland It well and truly looks like the country is preparing to brace itself on two counts. Firstly it looks like the weather has taken a turn with temperatures heading due south,and secondly December 5th is rapidly approaching, the day we all find out just how much poorer we will all be next year when details of the Budget are released. Something tells me that Michael Noonan, won't be getting as many Christmas cards this year as he is used to. Noonan being the countries Minister for finance (for the meantime anyhow) is given the task of looking after the countries finances. The rest of us get to look after whatever little we have left after Mr Noonan decides on what we should pay in relation to keeping the government jet and ministerial cars fueled, as well as funding the health service etc, etc. You could say that we are all Ministers of Finance. Isn't it a pity then that some people in Irish society when getting a p…

A Dog Is For Life Not Just For Christmas

This is the message that ALL reputable breeders send out at this time of the year. I got thinking recently about another phrase we hear from time to time, "Do as I say not as I do" Can some Show Kennels be accused of this...What do we do if the promising pup we kept back from a litter gets a fright in the Show Ring, and decides it doesn't like this showing lark or just isn't making the grade ? What happens when we discover the breed that we start out in is just too competitive, or "Sewn up" so we look around for a rare breed, or one with less numbers in...what happens to the dogs we have from our first breed ? OK we can always say there are always people out there looking for a mature dog, no puppy training to do, with all the hard work done, but these are the minority. I'm sure we all know of people in our respective breeds that move on an older dog / champion - the only reason being to make way for the new kid on the block. Maybe after 30 years the messa…

Leopard for sale on Gumtree !

We posted a blog not so long ago titled Is your local Puppy Farmer playing by the rules ? Now I'm not in anyway trying to trivialise the whole practice of puppy farming, but they only exist because there are van loads (excuse the pun) of un educated people out there only to willing to shell out hard earned money to buy one of these poorly bred & raised pups. Some of these pups end up in the Pet Shops that continue to be involved in this cruel and unjust practice. Puppy Farmers Can Advertise for Free Others end up on the general online classified web sites, some of which offer the puppy farmer a free opportunity to reach their potential customers. Recently one of the largest Free online classified web sites announced a drastic overhaul of it's policies in relation to the advertising of dogs. All of a sudden they will no longer allow ads from puppy farmers or commercial breeders. No stud dogs will be allowed No animals under the age of eight weeks Only …

Buying a dog for Christmas ?

Is Christmas a good time to Introduce a Puppy to your House ? I was asked recently to give an opinion on whether Christmas is a good or bad time to introduce a dog to the family. It's a question that raises it's head about this time every year. Rather than just give my own views on the matter, I asked followers of the pedigree dogs Facebook page to give their views on it. We got a great response, and answers covered the full spectrum, from "never,never,never" to "I got my first dog as a Christmas present & it was the best one I ever received" A Puppy to the right home After reading all the comment's I posted the following - "Would it be safe to say that a puppy to the right home at Christmas is far better than a puppy to the wrong home any other time of the year ?" which met with a general acceptance. As the picture above proves, different dogs are suited to different lifestyles / households, so whatever time of the year you are introducing a new puppy or d…

You want a piece of this ?

To say that us dog owners are a varied group of people is, to say the least a bit of an understatement. Take the emotive subject of greyhound racing for instance. I am sure there are plenty of owner trainers out there that care for their dogs every need, and there are dogs out there that are better fed and taken care of than the owners themselves. Then there are those that think that the whole industry is rotten to the core and there isn't a decent dog person within the greyhound game. But whatever side of the fence, or whatever area of involvement you are involved in with dogs, be it a rescue or occasional breeder, the one thing I think we can all agree on is that education is the key. I blogged about it recently in relation to events such as Pet Expo where we get an opportunity to try and educate members of the public in relation to responsible dog ownership, and that "Adults have become prejudiced towards certain breeds or just dogs and pedigree dogs in general, and…

Pedigree Dogs Featured Kennel – Dar Og Dogue de Bordeaux

I will never forget the first time I saw Hooch. He was just 8 weeks old and he oozed confidence. We had seen an advertisement in our local paper for Dogue de Bordeaux and with curiosity getting the better of us we just had to go and see this litter. We were fascinated by them and once I had met Hooch and his siblings that was it, I was hooked and it would start a passion which has spanned nearly a decade for me with this wonderful breed. Now I am the proud owner of six Dogue de Bordeaux, 4 of which are my own breeding. I was granted the prefix “Dar Og” about 7 years ago and was also a breeder of Bullmastiff and Japanese Spitz although now my main focus is the Dogue de Bordeaux. I am a huge lover of Isabella and it is a colour which will always be in my lines but sadly this colour is being lost in preference for darker dogs on this side of the world. All our Dogue de Bordeaux are hip and elbow scored with the B.V.A. I have bred 4 litters of Dogue de Bordeaux in the last 7…

Dog Vaccinations in Ireland are you Confused.com ?

Dogs and Annual Vaccinations I'm sure you will agree that there are certain ad's that run on TV that make you want to pull your hair out. Funnily enough some of them are probably for hair products that are meant to strengthen your hair as well as many other miraculous feats. Now apart for the guy with the frazzled moustache singing as badly as I do in the shower, about a price comparison website, another one that makes my split ends split even more is the confused.com one. Confused is being in a state where a person is unable to think clearly (bewildered) That brings me nicely onto today's topic for the blog. Annual Vaccinations Now there are quite a few things that confuse me, like why is there an expiry date on sour cream, or why do people point to their wrist when asking for the time, but don't point to their crotch when they ask where the bathroom is. Veterinarian's advising customers to Vaccinate every year But one thing that really confuses me is why d…

Would you sell your pup to a Chav ?

Must have status In a recent report by Battersea Dogs & Cats Home there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of Alaskan Malamutes and Siberian Huskies being abandoned at its doors. It seems that both of these breeds have become part of the must-have "status" dogs in inner city areas. Irresponsible Breeders Anybody that knows anything about both of these breeds know that both Huskies and Malamutes have the ability to run vast distances over very difficult conditions such as the artic tundra, but according to the above figures it looks like irresponsible breeders are selling dogs and pups to people who haven't carried out the necessary research before looking at these breeds with the view to becoming a lifelong owner. Thankfully in Ireland, we have some fantastic people involved in both breeds, and at the upcoming Pet Expo which is being held on the 06th & 07th October at the Events Centre, Punchestown, the following people will be on hand to ans…

Time waits for no man, but what about your dog ?

"When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute" that snippet is part of a longer quote from a Mr Albert Einstein The Reason I posted this is that myself and my better half were discussing on Sunday last as to whether dogs have a sense of time. This all came about because as per my blog on Monday, we were out of the country last week on a little Holiday and had booked our 4 dogs into the fantastic boarding kennels that are McCarthy Kennels Josephine remarked when we dropped the dogs off as to whether the dogs had any sense of time, or did 1 night away seem like forever in the dogs eyes, or after 9 nights away, when we returned to pick them up, did it feel like we had just popped out to the shops (Probably to buy them chicken or veg for their BARF diet) and were now returning. Hard to Swallow Now, I know you are going to find the next bit of information a bit hard to swallow but, I am not an expert on all things dog....Shocking I know, but …

You’ve 1 last day with your dog…how would you spend it ?

My post to the Pedigree Dogs Facebook Page yesterday seemed to hit home with quite a lot of people, as it was shared over 300 times...For those that missed it, here it is to the left... You see the thing is, as I've always maintained, no matter what dog related activity you are involved in, there wouldn't be any without the dog. Dogs should come first and foremost. Our dogs don't need us to stand up for them, they are quite capable of standing up for themselves. If there are any disagreements between one dog and another, they quickly sort it out and move on. Like most things that go disastrously wrong on this planet, it's us humans that are nearly always to blame. We've written here before that Dogs Lives Are Too Short so maybe we should live each day with them, not worrying about what other people are saying or not about your success in the Show Ring or whatever other activity you and your dog are involved in, and live each day like it's your last day togeth…

Puppies ferried to UK

I came across this post on my Facebook feed last week, and have been given the Ok by the author to post same on our blog. If you have any questions / suggestion etc, please post a comment, and I will forward same. "Can I ask for some real support and action to those of us who invest time energy and money into the well being of our dogs. I was at Dublin port yesterday and witnessed puppies being transferred from a southern Irish registered vehicle to a white box van, northern Irish registration. I then saw the white box van leaving the ferry at Holyhead. I informed the port authorities but was told 'This happens all the time, its an ongoing trade'!!! Oh right-that's ok then? The R.S.P.C.A. are aware apparently, but THEY criticise dachshunds for not being able to run. The KC tell me to eye test my dogs part of the Accredited Breeder scheme, Have they got their priorities right? I am tired of the authorities hiding behind rules and regulations. How many children have been ab…

Blog Awards Ireland

OKIDOKI...Pedigreedogs has been nominated at The Blog Awards Ireland, for best blog post. Wouldn't it be great to see your favourite Dog Blog getting the reward that we for sure think we justly deserve !!! That's where you come in.... Could you head on over there and click (Vote) next to my Blog which is called "Gardaí called to Dog Show"... It's one vote per person per week....and to give you no excuse whatsoever, here's the LINK

What price are you willing to pay for that Green Star ?

Now that the Munster circuit is over for another year, it's probably a good time to take stock of how things are going for you and your kennel in the world of dog showing. Everybody has gone home with different feelings. Some were elated as they won Best Of Breed at all shows entered, and figured prominently in the groups. Others were happy that their home bred dog was graded excellent, and some just happy that their dogs showed well for them. Success Everybody has a different idea as to what success is. It's the same in all walks of life. Some people don't think they are successful until they own a large mansion on the hill, and have a choice of supercharged cars waiting in the drive to transport them to their company headquarters everyday. Other people are just happy to have a roof over their heads, and food in the fridge. Since the new Green Star system was introduced a few years ago, there have been plenty of supporters, as well as many opposers. People in nu…

Dogs: A Mans Best Friend ?

According to the Oxford English Dictionary "Friendship is a relationship between two people who hold mutual affection for each other" Social Media sites like Facebook, although in their rules try and have us stick to the above meaning of the word, most times fail, as according to them I have 1448 "Friends" on my personal account...That's a hell of a lot of Birthday & Christmas cards to be sending out. Virtual World: As you can see from the above, in this virtual world that most of us spend far to much time in, it's very easy to make friends, far more difficult than it is in the real world. Having said that though, it's also very easy to lose friends, and as the saying goes easy come - easy go, and with the click of a button you can call a halt to this relationship between two people that previously held mutual affection for each other. Like most things in life, friendships and relationships have to be worked on, and the same goes for the relationship and friends…

Dog Breeds: Why did your breed choose you ?

Recently I have seen good discussions on the social networks in relation to numbers of exhibits in particular breeds of dogs being shown at dog shows affiliated to The Irish Kennel Club. The breed of dog that I fell in love with many years ago, the Standard Smooth Dachshund, isn't a numerically strong breed in Ireland, and as I have said before, for the life of me I can't understand why. They are relatively small, hardy, smooth coated, can take as much exercise as you can give them, great property protectors, wont eat you out of a house and home, and you don't need a big car or trailer to transport them around in. Now when I was growing up, my family always had big hounds and lurchers, and I often ask myself how I ended up with one of the smallest hounds out there. Like most things, it came down to the circumstance I found myself in at the time. When we first got a house that had a fenced in back garden, we decided to get our first dog. We had moved to Cork from …

The Storm…Who needs Fifty Shades Of Grey ??

They were together in the House. Just the two of them. It was a cold, dark, stormy night. The storm had come quickly and each time the thunder boomed he watched her jump. She looked across the room and admired his strong appearance...and wished that he would take her in his arms, comfort her and protect her from the storm. Suddenly, with a pop, the power went out..... She screamed... He raced to the sofa where she was cowering. He didn't hesitate to pull her into his arms. He knew this was a forbidden union and expected her to pull back. He was surprised when she didn't resist but instead clung to him. The storm raged on... They knew it was wrong... Their families would never understand... So consumed were they in their FEAR that they heard no opening of doors...just the faint click of a camera..... (more…)

Pet Expo 2012 – Punchestown Event Centre

I must say I am delighted with the response to date to the invitations sent out re The Breed Village for this years Pet Expo being held on the 06th & 07th October at The Event Centre Punchestown, Co. Kildare. The signed Booking Forms for the same are coming in thick and fast, and based on the responses to the invitations sent out, there should be about the same if not more breeds represented at this years event. If you know of any Dog Breed Club or Individual that would be interested in representing their breed at this event, which is FREE to all Breed Village Representatives, please ask them to get in touch. Obviously a lot of breeds are already covered, but please make contact and I'll advise if their is a vacancy in your breed. Wouldn't it be great to have all 9 Native Irish Breeds represented, as well as the dogs that have unfortunately been classed as "Dangerous" and banned if you are a tenant of Dublin City Council: American Pit Bull Terrier Bull Mas…

Puppy Contracts – Are they worth the paper they are written on ?

We got the following email through the site last week, and the sender asked for my opinion on a few issues. "Just wondering if you had any advice on a situation I have. I recently contacted the owners of a pup I sold last year just to wish the pup happy birthday and see how she is getting on. They sent me photos and said she was great (this was two weeks ago). This morning the owner rang me and said they were having problems with her being aggressive. She has bitten the postman before and more recently she has bitten the Tesco delivery man. When speaking to their neighbours they told them about her biting the Tesco man and the neighbour apparently said "well I didn't like to tell you but she has bitten my young son twice over the last few months" Now the person that sent this is a very responsible breeder, and as you can see has kept in contact with the family that was screened before they were passed as acceptable for a pending puppy. After deciding between them that …

Is Your Dog A Gold Medallist ?

Congratulations must go to Katie Taylor on making it to an Olympic Final at London 2012 It seems like this has been her goal since she was 11 years of age, and now after being guided by the correct people combined with her natural ability, she stands on the verge of fulfilling her dream. Now apart from being a fantastic athlete, Katie is a self confessed dog lover, and can sometimes be seen training with her dogs, all of which are called after famous boxers (No - strangely not the dog breed) , like her 10-year-old Bullmastiff called Marvin Hagler. Having been glued to the TV since the games began, the message that keeps coming though is that the medal ceremony is only the crowing moment for the medallist, and it is the years of sacrifice and hard work, proper training backed up with the correct nutrition, combined with overcoming disappointment and injuries that has got them to this pinnacle in their career. It sounds quite similar to how a responsible dog breeder o…

THE EMERALD ISLE NEWFOUNDLAND CLUB – Seminar

THE EMERALD ISLE NEWFOUNDLAND CLUB have taken us up on our open offer to publish details of a pending event. This particular event comes hot on the heels of them representing their beloved breed again, at this years Pet Expo. So it looks like the Newfoundland Breed is well and truely in safe hands on the Emerald Isle ! If you would like us to publish news regarding any event your breed club is holding, or would like to submit a piece regarding your particular breed, we'd be delighted to hear from you ( Still waiting on a few pieces that were promised already - No pressure !!! ) Anyway.... THE EMERALD ISLE NEWFOUNDLAND CLUB is hosting a BREED SPECIFIC SEMINAR & HANDS ON ASSESSMENTS DAY (KC) Seminar DATE - SUNDAY 14TH OCTOBER 2012 Time & Venue - Time 10am start - Gilnahirk Primary School, Belfast We have 3 Newfoundland Breed specialist judges (all award CC's) Kirsteen Farrar - Loraine Ratter - Sue Benyon Tickets now available... Seminar only £10.…

Lovely Puppies on Display !

It was back in October 2009 that I came up with the idea for the Pedigree Dogs web site. To be brutally honest, back then I didn't put an awful lot of thought into how much work it would entail. Then and even now, the popular general classified sites were not paying much attention to the online sales of animals, even though this area would rank in their top three busiest and therefore most profitable categories. Instead of being a tech type person (switch it off and on again) trying to cash in on this lucrative market, I was a dog person that thought it was time enough, and planned on having a go at creating and running a dog web site, so that reputable breeders had an outlet to advertise their planned litters, and prospective buyers could come to a site and hopefully find a pup from the breed that they had researched fully and now were able to give a forever home to. Everybody has their own idea of what success is, but for me and the site, it's when I get an email …

Don’t miss out on this …..

I have just sent messages on Facebook to last years Breed Village Rep's regarding this years Pet Expo which is being held on the 06th & 07th October at the new venue of Punchestown Event Centre, where there will be plenty of space for overnight camping, and exercise space for the dogs. The breeds / clubs covered on these messages are as follows. AIREDALE WELSH & SMOOTH FOX TERRIER AKITA ASSOCIATION OF IRL ALASKAN MALAMUTE CLUB OF IRELAND BORDER TERRIER CLUB OF IRELAND BRACCO ITALIANO BULLMASTIFF BULLDOG CAIRN TERRIER ASSOCIATION CHINESE SHARPEI CHOW CHOW DOBERMANN DOGUE DE BORDEAUX CLUB OF IRELAND GERMAN SHORT HAIR POINTER GERMAN SPITZ KLEIN CLUB GERMAN SPITZ MITTEL CLUB GREAT DANE GRIFFON BRUXELLOIS & PETIT BRABANCON HUNGARIAN VIZSLA CLUB OF IRELAND IRISH GUNDOG FIELD & SHOW SOCIETY IRISH STAFFORDSHIRE BULL TERRIER ASSOCIATION IRISH TERRIER ITALIAN SPINONE & IRISH WATER SPANIEL JACK RUSSELL & PARSON RUSSELL TERRIER CLUB …

Teacup Maltese Puppy

Question: Hello, My daughter would love a teacup maltese puppy for her 21st birthday in August . Do you know of anybody who breeds these dogs ? Thank you ....... Answer: Good morning ....... Thanks for checking out our site, we appreciate it. I can put you in touch with a reputable Maltese owner / breeder, but they would not recognise the term teacup, as basically it's only non reputable breeders that try and cash in on this latest fad of continually breeding the runts from each litter to try and make the resulting offspring smaller. Obviously this is not to be recommended. Also the term teacup is not recognised by any official kennel club. Let me know if we can be of any further assistance. Best regards Paul Barry http://www.pedigreedogs.ie

Happiness is Canis Lupus Familiaris

Or dogs to you and me. Growing up I was led to believe that happiness was a cigar called Hamlet, but now I am convinced that true happiness can only be achieved if you share your life with a dog. Apart from the vast amount of other things a dog brings into your life, the ability to bring constant happiness into your life, in my opinion ranks up there as one of their main attributes. We have covered topics about Dog Owners Being More Healthy etc, but the fact that your dog can bring a smile to your face instantly no matter what the circumstance, has to be a trait that dogs, and dogs only can claim. When our ancestors domesticated dogs it was for different reasons, hunting, herding guarding etc, but I am sure that even back then an added bonus , was the amount of happiness a dog brought into the family unit. My wife and I have just spent 4 days in West Cork with our pack of four, and had some fantastic beach walks in all types of different weather, that I am sure w…

Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all

One of my favourite sayings is "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" I'm sure all us genuine dog lovers can relate to this, and totally agree with the statement that Dogs Lives Are Too Short Their Only Fault Really Having said that, aren't we a lot better off for having them in our lives in the first place ? Thankfully I was lucky enough to grow up in a household where for the majority of the time, there was always a dog present. Our first family dog was Cindy, a cross between a Corgi and a Norwich Terrier, who was tragically killed in a road traffic accident at a very early age. Next came Tara, Skip, Ben and Tim with all of them keeping a special place in my heart and important life lessons learned with them all. I can't even begin to imagine what growing up without a dog would have been like. Thanks to my parents, it now looks like not only did all these dogs bring years of enjoyment, happiness, and at the end, lifes first encount…

Don’t be the hurler on the ditch !

Up until a few years ago, I was of the school that attended events put on by other people, and based on how the said event went, would either give it the thumbs up, or have my own rant to myself about never returning to any event ran by that organising team again. Sometimes I wish that I had stayed at that school. Somehow I have drifted to the dark side, and thrown myself head first into being the person that is centre stage, lapping up the accolades, or dodging the verbal or sometimes physical abuse, depending on how things go. My first venture into organising something rather than depending on somebody else to do something, was in fact this very web site. Like the hurler on the ditch it's easy to point the finger at the "other" web sites out there that we all knew were, and are still doing it wrong, ( trust me I did a lot of finger pointing ) with the old me being very content in doing this for ever and a day. Then somehow I got roped onto the committee of The…

yeah, and I hope your next …. is a Pineapple !

Now as I often say, it's the simple things in life that make you most happy. Things like, that sneaky kiss on the lips (Tongue and all) from your dog whilst sitting on your lap, watching TV Coming home from the supermarket and being greeted by your dog like you have been on a 1 year career break, and decided to travel the world. Going for a walk with your dog, and if they decide to poop, that when you scoop it up (Yes, that's what responsible dog owners are supposed to do) there is a bin specifically designed to take your bagged collection not more than 100 miles away from you. You can imagine then, that when I came across this recent instalment when out on a walk with one of our Dachshunds, I had a smile on my face that looked like I had slept with a coat hanger in my mouth. It's not just me though that thinks this instalment is the best thing to happen to Midleton, Co. Cork for quite some time, as it made the headlines, in East Cork Journal where they ran an ar…

Sorry, it’s members only !

As you already know, the team here at Pedigree Dogs are always looking at ways to improve our web site. By doing so we hope to continually get the message out there that, contrary to the message that some people are spewing out, not all Pedigree Dogs are diseased or will go on to develop certain ailments. Yes, that's correct, there are an awful lot of people breeding dogs in Ireland, doing it the right way. These people ensure that they have carried out the breed specific health tests laid down by International Health Councils for the breed, and only breed from pairings within the allowable results range. Breeders of any variety Miniature Dachshund for instance should have their dogs tested for Progressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA), and breeds like Labrador Retrievers should be hip and elbow scored. There is of course an open invite on our site for any person of any particular breed, to write a PIECE for our blog on their involvement in dogs, detailing some general i…

The Hound Association Of Ireland

Around this time last year I posted a blog about The Hound Association of Ireland, in relation to the APPOINTMENT of the judge judging my breed at their championship show in August 2011. I spoke to a few people at the time, and after the event, as well as receiving comments from people via the social networks about this blog, some advising that this was not the right way to go about addressing my concerns. So this year I was waiting with anticipation to get my hands on the appointed judges list for this championship dog show, which as I stated on last years blog, is the only chance of qualifying my breed, Standard Smooth Dachshunds for Crufts. Well never let it be said that I don't try to play this game fairly. Because this year, I must take my hat off to The Hound Association Of Ireland for inviting an extremely experienced and knowledgeable panel of judges to hand out their opinions of our dogs at this very important date in our dog show calendar. Presiding ove…

Never Judge a book by its cover !

My week end was spent cleaning and preparing for some friends coming to stay at Bridies Cottage with their dogs. In between all the hard work, I did manage to get a bit of chillaxing in, and on Saturday morning took the short spin into Clonakilty. One the way in I noticed a neighbour was out walking with a new dog. It was a young German Shepherd, which was off lead and was not wearing a muzzle. In the town I seen a man walking with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier on lead, and shortly afterwards this man was being stopped by a Guard who was out on foot patrol. When their "conversation" was finished I took it upon myself to ask this man the reason for being stopped, and as I suspected it was due to the fact that the dog was not wearing a muzzle in a public place. Now before I go any further, I should explain that the gent in question was not your mainstream everyday kind of guy. He had quite a few tattoo's which were matched in number by the various body piercings. …

Dog Lovers in Ireland WANTED !

As per the BLOG we wrote around this time last year, there is an open invite* to individual dog owners, clubs, groups or societies to use this blog as a way for spreading their word / news to a wider audience. Some Dog Show Exhibitors have taken us up on the offer, and we'd be delighted to showcase your kennel if you'd like to submit a piece similar to THIS about your involvement in dogs, and what prospective owners of your breed of dog should be aware of before they start looking for a pup to join their home. The great people behind the Dogs Unleashed campaign, have taken us up on this offer before, and we are delighted to be able to assist them in their efforts to get the 'dog control' bye-laws of Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown (DLR) County amended. The following video sums up in 4.36 minutes, what it would take me all day to write, about the importance of being able to let your dog have free running cardio vascular exercise, so for once I'm going to shut up, and let the fil…

Poland 1 – Ukraine 0

Well I guess the weather we are experiencing at the moment sums up how the majority of Irish Soccer fans must feel right now, especially the thousands that spent hard earned cash to travel to Poland to support The Boys In Green. MET éireann describes it as bright with sunny spells, but cloudy periods also, with occasional showers, some heavy, with the odd thundery one. Top temperatures of 15 to 18 C., me, I describe it as pretty dismal, and worse after the 9 PM watershed. But lets not forget the football players themselves, as they have to deal with difficult balls (Football ones that is), slow playing surfaces, fans blowing whistles in the crowd, the heat and midges. Who said the life of a professional footballer was easy ?? If you are a regular follower of this blog, I'm sure you're asking yourself, what the hell is he going on about this time, and what the hell has any of this got to do with our beloved four legged friends, or dogs as some people call them. Well …