I had a busy week last week and Im so glad to look at my diary for this next week and not see so much on.!  

Manchester champ show we went with 3 dogs and all were placed. I was also proud of other Silvestre dogs who were placed and well done everyone. 

Silvestre fit as a fiddle 2nd minor puppy class
Silvestre Fire and Desire 4th place puppy class
Silvestre im batman 2nd in special beginners class
Silvestre Stolen kiss 3rd place post grad dog class
Silvestre sword of destiny 4th place limit class
Silvestre blow me a kiss 5th place open class. 

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I have closed my shopify account because I cannot financially support their fees.  But I have taken up a new free webstore online.  This will take two weeks to go live, but the same products will be on.  But also some new collar patterns.
 I was putting so little in money on the collars and leads that it was not paying for a shopify account. As much as I love their ease of design of their online stores, I just could not justify the costs.  

Please do support my small business.  I hope the new store will be as good.
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I realise I am hard to get hold of.  So why am I difficult to get on the phone?

Anyone that really wants me can nag me until I  answer.  But my life is full during the day looking after the dogs to the best of my ability.  I made the decision a while back that I would not be available evening times because I would never have me time ever.  The amount of enquiries we get I could be on the phone all day and all evening.  So I have to firstly prioritise me and my health and switch the phone off.   My puppy and older dog owners know they can whats app me evenings and I will reply to them.  But for new enquiries I do not.  I help my owners all the time, even weekends and holidays. 

So the best way to catch me is not to get your husband/partner to call me, as he is working and only wants to speak nights.  I do not bite I promise and I am very easy to talk too.  You can ask me anything and nothing is too silly I promise you.  If you feel nervous Please do not worry.  

I am blunt and to the point and will tell you all the bad points of this breed of dog, but I will also tell you what an amazing wonderful breed of dog they are.  I will give you the highs and lows.  I promise Im easy going and I do not push anyone to have a puppy. You are always told go away and think about it and get back to me with in the week.   

If you can text me around 10.30am in the morning, I have just got in from walking the dogs.  By this time they are clean, fed and exercised and settled back down for a nap with a treat.  I then look at my phone and anyone whose text I will text back and say when are you free today?  You can text or Whats app me.  Then we may make the call later in the afternoon, or we may do it at 11am.  sometimes we both find we cant do later so suggest the following day.  Some weeks Im out a lot, and although family are here looking after dogs, I wont be around.  So in some cases I will say can you call the following week. 

Everyone who gets through will get a puppy if we think you're suitable. Sometime you may have to wait for a following litter or later in the year. I promise the wait is worth it.

So give us some time and try to text me first over calling me.  I do not take my phone out with me, Im one of those that leaves it at home.  But when I see a text I will respond. If I see a phone call because I dont know who it is I do not call back.  I live in a bit of a dead zone and dont get voicemails.  Or I do and no message has come through.  

My phone number is 07584279384. Please get in touch. 
Rachel 

Today I attended the wire haired vizsla field trial. So very grateful for all concerned who ran the event who accepted me on their trial

To give challenge certificates at dog shows you have to of attended a field trial to widen the knowledge of the breeds so that we appreciate the other side to owning these wonderful breeds of dogs.  A working dog.  

With some breeds like Labrador, Spaniel there is a definite split in the breed in looks and capabilities.  But in the HRP breed you get the working dog in all of them. Some have that natural aptitude to do it, and some no. But as a whole in every litter youll get a hunting pointing and retrieving breed.  This makes them difficult for a lot of pet owners to own. But if you train them at obedience or gun dog classes you will have the best dog in the world.  It's down to you to put the work in. 

I have always wanted to train one of my dogs to do a field trial and I should of done it when I was in my 20's but I had children and they were full on as I had an autistic child who took all of my time to look after.  High functioning but still wouldn't have coped with anyone else looking after her.  She is the apple of my eye of course. But I am proud looking back that I raised a very intelligent young lady.  But my time I couldn't do working with the dogs.  But I would have loved to of done.   Now Im actually considering going to gun dog training with my new pup.  Even if we do terrible it would be lovely to put one in a working test, or field trial.   The only thing that would let me down is my illness.  But I shall see how I go.  It's either this or training for man trailing with my bracco. I am thinking seriously of new adventures over showing.  So watch this space where it could all change. 

R xx

In 2024 I read an awful lot and saw an awful lot of videos on Instagram on reactive dogs in all breeds of dogs.  It actually surprises me that dogs today are not allowed to be dogs.  Their is a big shift in the way people want their dogs to behave all for social media and humans are humanising dogs way too much, 

The relationship between dogs and humans has existed for as long as man could draw on caves. They depicted even then dogs living amongst humans.   Dogs are pretty amazing as they offer us warmth, hunt for us or with us,  clear away scraps of food we wouldn't be able to dispose of.  But over time dogs have ended up in our homes and we have began to shift how we look at dogs. Dogs would pull sleigh and each breed had a purpose.  Now most dogs have no purpose and a lot are bored.  They have nothing to do in a day except just be in the house.  This can turn into destructive behaviour because they are bored.   You should think carefully when you buy a puppy and understand firstly why it was bred.  The gun dog group were bred to either flush game, hunt it or bring it back. So their whole day is waiting for this job.  Toy breeds were bred for companions. 
From dogs with jobs to dogs with no jobs and suddenly we see them are children that do not need school.   Dogs do need school, they need training school.  Some dogs need more than just weekly classes they still need an active life.  A good long walk twice a day. 

 Dogs are not allowed to express themselves in a natural way with other dogs and as we see it as bad behaviour.  Behaviourists are having a field day right now as it's a big industry cashing in on dogs.    

Dogs do not have friends in the same way we do, although I recognise they remember some dogs they meet.  They enjoy playing with other dogs, but not all do.  Entire males are struggling being put into play groups.  Because they are battling against their hormones.  In the wild males would not live in large groups together, the dominant male would live amongst the females, and a younger male on the outskirts hoping to come in and get with the girls.  The rest would wander to find their own packs or fight their way into another and then mate.  Yet we think we can chuck lots of entire males together and their be no natural instincts.  

In 2025 let's hope that more dogs are given their space, more dogs are given training and more dogs are enjoying being a dog.  Let's hope that more people start to understand dogs need space.  For those of you looking for dogs educate yourself on the dog breed you're looking for. Do not buy high energy breeds if you can not walk your dog each day.    

I have had a few enquires recently where people think they want to buy a dog to become a breeder.  I have to say on one hand it is the most rewarding job, when we hand a healthy Baby to someone. Who will then enjoy the life with their dog and it is nice knowing that we made a difference.

I would be lying if I said all is easy when it comes to breeding dogs.  Far from the rosey pictures you see on social media there is heart break. There is also many times huge costs.

I was speaking to a friend yesterday and we were talking about the lows of breeding, how when things go wrong its a very costly vet bill, one that most of us really cant even afford these days.  Insurances do not cover breeding bitches for enough so no-one takes up the £1000 breeding insurance as a vet bills is multiple £1000's these days.  Ive seen friends this year spend over 10k on breeding one litter, and have no puppies.  Then another spent 15k on a litter of just a couple of puppies.  Which did not cover the costs. The mum was spayed so cant be bred again. 

Please do not think that you can make money from dog breeding if you do it honestly.  If you do it on the cheap (Which you should not be), and not honestly, you can in fact make money but if you do things right and to the utmost of your ability to give your dogs good welfare, enrichment and breeding from dogs which are healthy examples it costs money and its big money.  I would urge you if you think it's a money making exercise to look at a different job.  You're tied to the house, you are always on the go, never time out. 

Our days start early, and end late. It is not a 9-5 job Mon to Friday its every day of every week and when your exhausted or poorly you still have to do it.  Last week I put my neck out and every day was a struggle but I had to still do it. I went to an osteopath and came home and felt like not moving for a day yet I had to walk the dogs still and clean up.  There is no day off.   The only time you get to yourself is five minutes at a time before something needs doing again.   

There is no money in employing someone to help you.  Not unless you have a litter weekly every week of the year.  But I would never want to be that big.  You loose that home raising appeal. 

If you are committed and want to breed knowing it's one of the hardest jobs then get in touch. But if you really dont have the commitment then I would never lift a breeding endorsement.

All our dogs come with an endorsement. This means sold not to be bred with and they can not register the offspring with the Kennel club.
 If you see someone saying they are going to breed a silvestre check with me as theirs only a handful of breeders who can in the UK.  We are aware of someone whose put online they are breeding their dog regardless knowing their is an endorsement.  You would be wise not to purchase from this person.  If they are going to under hand breed from a dog sold not to be bred with, do you honestly think they will treat you fairly with a puppy?  Surely they should come to me first to try and meet my requirements before I would lift an endorsement.  Also if they are licensed they have to KC register their puppies to meet the higher standard and meet 4-5 stars.  So if they are doing this they are also breaking their council license agreement.  Which means they could get stripped from breeding.  They are also breaking a legal document with the kennel club which they signed.  So walk away. 

We all look forward to Christmas with the family but sometimes we take our eye off the dogs because there is so much going on.  Dogs end up at veterinary surgeons for eating things they should not.  So what is toxic to dogs?
Chocolate contains theobromine which is deadly poisonous to dogs. But they have to eat a lot of it. Plus it depends on how big the dog is to how much it's eaten.  Contact your veterinary surgeon who will make your dog sick.
Grapes - Highly toxic. Keep out of reach.  Even if your dog eats two grapes consult your veterinary surgeon. It kills the kidneys. 
Raisins and sultanas - Highly toxic and causes kidneys to shut down.  
Do not give mince pies to dogs, or old fashioned Christmas cake. Not even a little bit.  Consult your dog if you have given the dog this. 
Mistletoe berries - highly toxic.
Holly berries - toxic
Yew tree - toxic. 
Hyacinth bulbs  poisonous

Baubles, tree decorations. lights. 

Make sure your pet is left over night in a safe environment, either a room with no Christmas decorations or crate.  Have a wonderful time with your family. But do think dog!

​To all my followers thank you for reading. 
Rachel xx

We endeavour to do as many health tests as we can do and Im very pleased to say Frooti our French bulldog was graded the same as her last test 3 years ago. She is a grade 1.  We will only breed from grade 0 or 1 here, although you can breed grade 2.  But we are aiming to produce the healthiest dogs that we can do.

Both Frooti and Reggie were also eye tested clear.

Willow and Ripley were eye tested clear also which means they have excellent eye health. 

Im very pleased with my small team of breeding dogs how they never fail me in their results.  Good breeding through selective dogs is key.   We always say that to breed good dogs you need good temperament, then we do health tests, and show wins are just a bonus.  But with out each point you should not really breed from your dogs. 

Breeding is not just something you should do because you can.  Any dog will produce but will it produce dogs to the breed standard, will it produce healthy puppies. By outcrossing and not breeding too closely is key.   We endeavour here to produce some of the best puppies we can. We have endless references for you to read.  Home raised babies is also so important for their welfare and needs. 

Whilst Darryl and I are having a break from showing dogs, we have some good news from the show team. 

Shelby with Clammy just won best of breed at a premier open show, and Erin with bea just won best puppy in breed at the same premier open show.  Well done ladies.  Photo below.   I always say this but I get just as much if not more pleasure at our little teams wins more than if I went in the ring myself.  Proving we are producing super dogs for the show ring as well as great family pets.

A big thank you to Dawn who shared with me some files which Ive added to my website.  I have many articles and always looking for more.  These can be so helpful as they are like mini books and in many cases more helpful than ones you can buy off amazon.  

I know quite often people who are looking for puppies do not think much about what happens next after having a puppy.  The difficulties that come along and not many breeders are going to help you.  

We are breeders who try to help you as best as we can.  We share as much info as we can do with you.   You must also accept you do need a dog trainer, and sometimes you will need more than a trainer and need a behaviourist.  If you're lucky your trainer will have a lot of dog knowledge and maybe able to help you on all parts.
A lot of work is needed by you in the early days.  By 12 weeks your puppy must of been in socialisation since 8 weeks and must meet lots of people. We can do this by carrying the puppy around, or put in a puppy pram and take around.  Being outside Morrisons is a great way of seeing lots of different people, men with beards, hats, sun glasses.  People that limp, or in a wheel chair.  All types of life they need to understand is normal.
 We always talk about the 16 week window but this is another important key development stage.  Your puppy must be in a training school before 16 weeks.  Even if you are sitting and watching other dogs.  We have a spread sheet in our files for you to tick off when your puppy has met certain things. 


I hope the files are of benefit to you and let me know if there is something you wish I could add to further knowledge. 
Rachel xx