A couple of great weekends for Celsie (Caldecacre Celsie) and Ivory (Caldecacre Cerisierre)!!
Celsie and John took part in their very first Cani X race at Cannock Chase. They finsished 10th with a time of 28 Minutes for 5.8km, Fantastic result for their very first time, even gaining Points towards their Championship!!
Then at the next weekend Ivory was 1st Junior Bitch and 2nd Yearling Bitch at WELKS Championship Show, in two very strong classes! Qualifying her for Crufts 2009!!
Well Done all :)
 

On 12th April Hixie went to her very first show, the Hound Association of Scotland Championship Show, where she Qualified for Crufts 2009!!
She thoroughly enjoyed her day and loved all of the attention, took it all in her stride, Well Done pup :)
 
 

Today - 28th March, Callum and Mercedes did some 'teaching' at his school.
The children in his class learned all about Dalmatians, and Mercedes helped by showing them how loving a Dalmatian is :)
She was such a good girl and Callum was very good at teaching, telling the children all about the breed, and answered so many questions, they were both a great hit, well done Callum and Mercedes :)
 
 

With Spring in the air and the sunshine out, we had a great chance today (18th March) to get some wonderful pics of our walk nearby in the woods.
Michelle (Shulune) came along and we had a wonderful time, and she took some fab pics :)
Click below to see the full album, some are better than others but all show how much fun the dogs were having, and how well they all get along :)

With Crufts 2008 only days away :)
We would like to wish all of our friends both here and travelling over from abroad a wonderful day and lots of fun on the day.
Especially the Caldecacres who have Qualified this time;
Caldecacre Cordeiro Tajada (Luca)
Caldecacre Catch a Kracker (Dexter)
Takesti Moondancer (Charlie) - also expecting his first litter the week after :)
Caldecacre Cwite Contrary at Pjasdals (Daisy)
Caldecacre Celsie (Celsie)
Caldecacre Cerisierre (Ivory)
and of course our own Beema and Carrera :)
 
 We all had a wonderful day at Crufts this year, Carrera and Beema stayed at home this time, but what a pure pleasure to see the 'babies' in the ring and on the prestigious green carpet! Not one of them put a foot wrong, all showed their socks off, and thoroughly enjoyed their day. We met up with so many people, and had a fantastic day :)
 

Congratulations to my Brother Andy and his wife, Emma.
They were married on 23rd February.
The Wedding was wonderful, Emma looked so beautiful and Andy scrubbed up pretty well too! The weather was kind and everything went smoothly making a wonderful day for everyone  :)
An extra touch was the fantastic 200 year old Carriage, spotted horses and Lily , the Dalmatian in her traditional role.
 

Many thanks to John for coming up from Cheshire to make this day even more special :)
More details about the Carriage here www.dalmatiancarriages.co.uk
 

Today (16th Feb) was the very first re instated Joint Dalmatian Clubs Show for several years, and a good day had by all.
It was the first time in Junior for Caldecacre Celsie (Celsie) and Caldecacre Cerisierre (Ivory) and although very much the babies of the class, being just over 12 months, they certainly held their own in a large class. Celsie was VHC and Ivory HC out of 15. What a lovely result, and for them to be placed so close together is wonderful, showing consistancy in littermates  :)
Caldecacre Chuzzlespots (Chenoa) and Caldecacre Chanterelle (Ella) were also at the show, too young to compete, but enjoying their first experiences of a show environment. Apparently they both took it all in their stride and had some lovely comments throughout the day :)
Well Done all :)

A great start to 2008 already!
Some fantastic placings for Luca, Dexter, Celsie and Ivory, more details on their individual pages.
Also Carrera and Boo will be doing their filming in the very near future too.
I also have my very first Judging Appointment this year :)
Very exciting puppies planned too, more details to follow soon.
 

We are all settling very well into our new house and new location!
At first things were a bit upside down and the dogs were not settling well at all, they were used to open Countryside, no neighbours, being allowed to come in and out as they wanted, etc.
The change to a more built up area, with lots of strange sounds all day, lots of visitors, neighbours, strange surroundings and having to be in unless on their walks seemed to be a lot for them to take on board. Some lost weight and wouldn't eat, some sulked, some just slept all day :(
At one point I even thought they would all be better elsewhere, with families that could give them one to one attention, I was so upset to see them unhappy.
I have to thank so many people, for helping me out at this time, and helping me to realise this was just temporary, dogs adjust well to any situation in time and yes some things needed to be altered and changed with the house - so thats what we did.
Special thanks go out to Michelle and Diane for fostering some of my dogs until everything was more settled here, and the fences were more secure, and also to everyone else who sent such lovely messages of support.
Also special thanks to Pam, Hixie's breeder, who was happy to take Hixie back if it came to it, which thankfully it didn't!
I guess no one knows how we will deal with these situations should they arise, unless they have actually been through them. I am so lucky to have so many genuine friends who have helped me and the dogs settle into the new house and new surroundings.
Sadly, Phoebe wont be coming home, as she is running in the clouds with Sally and we miss them both sorely.
The others are now home, and settled :)
 

Callum and Hixie will be concentrating seriously on their Junior Handling this year, and will also be making their way though the Good Citizen Scheme too.
How happy do they look!?