Yennefer had her puppies nice and early, and they were huge babies.  No wonder she came early.  They are utterly adorable.  To see videos look at instagram and TikTok. 
We have Orange and Chestnut babies so a lovely variety of colour.  
After making our waiting list, we now find we are looking for homes for 3 girls as she had more girls than planned. But we also had a few time wasters which never helps waiting lists.   So some lucky people can now have the opportunity to join team Silvestre family members.
Yennefer is well, has got over birth well, is happy and the puppies are thriving.  Happy to take deposits, and visits will be in five weeks time to visit the puppies.
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Our Silvestre team had a great Crufts this year and we are truly grateful to the Judges Jean Fairlie Vizsla judge and Jackie Ward Bracco Italiano Judge.

Maverick was 4th in Junior dog
Ripley was 1st in Open Bitch
Geralt was 5th in Limit dog.
Lucca was 5th in Junior dog. Dog handled by Darryl and owned by Sandra Dodd. 
Then offspring of our stud dog Chilli:
Wallaroo All That Jazz 2 CC and 6RCC w

Grandson of Chilli (Wallaroo all that jazz and Son of Silvestre Scarlett Witch) Was 2nd place at Crufts in yearling dog and 3rd in post grad dog. Bred by Angie.  Big well done

Daughter of Indie Silvestre Fortune N'Glory called Taila, bred by Diane Priestly out of Silvestre Practical Magic was 3rd in junior bitch.

I shall update later with photos of Crufts 2023 all taken by the lovely Lin @linphotography on Facebook. 

Very pleased to report that four of our dogs were eye tested Sunday with a BVA vet.  
Jovie is eye tested clear and this was her first eye test. 
Yennefer is again eye tested clear and this was her second eye test.
Frooti is eye tested clear and this is her second eye test.
Reggie is eye tested clear and this is his first eye testing. 

It can take a few weeks to show on the Kennel club online details.  But we have the certificates for anyone to view. 

This adds to our team of dogs that we have good eye health in all our team. 

Did you know that to buy a Kennel club registered dog the breeder does not have to do any health tests ? Lots of people seem to buy dogs thinking if they buy from Kennel club registered dogs that they have automatically had health tests done on the parents.  Im sorry to say that's not the case.
Anyone can register a litter on the general register with out a single health test.  I want you to just think about this for a moment.  So in other words you need to be mindful where you buy your puppy.  A person recently told me they had a Vizsla and its the age of 2 and they had spent over 20k in vet bills on this dog. Now that's a lot of money, which of course we wouldn't deny any dog to be well again.  But this could have been avoided if the breeders had been doing health testing.

So how can you be sure that a breeder has done the health tests?  Firstly only buy from Kennel club assured breeders.  Because you will know that to be part of the accredited scheme the breeder has to meet requirements.  The requirements are different for every single breed.  But lets take the Hungarian Vizsla for example. Requirements are hip scoring, elbow scoring, Glaucoma testing and the annual eye test which looks for any eye health problems.   So this is a good start for you. 
Then ask the breeder if they have done any other health tests.  When you go to see the puppy or visit the breeder ask to see the health certificates.  If the breeder makes excuses that they can not find them you will know that no health tests were done.

The Kennel club publish only tests which have been carried out by the BVA which stands for British veterinary association.   Therefore the breeder may of used the Australian health scheme and then there is no online record to check up.  There is nothing wrong with the Australian scheme and we use it now because they get results back to you the following day. Where as the UK scheme you can wait weeks or months.   So many of us are now using Australia. But ask to see the certificates so you know the parents have been done.  If the breeder has gone to stud, they should request copies of the health certificates from the stud owner. 

In a nutshell do not buy if the parents have not been done.  Do not buy if only one parent has been done.  Both need to be tested.  

Now breeders like ourselves actually do far more health testing than is required by the Kennel club.  So we do DNA tests and the results are sent direct to us from the laboratories.  Again any breeder will be happy to show you these results.   

We need to stop the sales of puppies from parents who are not tested.  Other wise we will never eradicate Hip dysplasia and other health issues.  But the only people that can stop this trade of untested animals is you.  You who are buying the puppy, putting money on the table.  If you choose to wait then for a breeder who is doing the testing you will know that you have encouraged a good breeder to continue over a bad breeder who doesn't care about the breed.  All they care about is selling animals.  

So todays lesson is, wait for the right breeder.  Do not just go out and buy off the first person who has a puppy.  Be patient as this dog should be in your home for the next 13 years if lucky.  If you choose badly now the dog may be in your home for 2 years.  So come on folks lets do the right thing. Walk away from puppy breeders who are not health testing their dogs.

​Rachel xx