For the last  year I have been considering stepping back from breeding Pugs and French bulldogs.  I have only ever had 2 French bulldog litters for sale, 1 in 2016 and 1 in 2020. So it is not like I am breeding many litters per year. Also Pugs i have had 2-4 puppies available per year.  Ive kept it small because I like to enjoy every moment.  

I am having this year 2021 a litter with Sabrina before I take a step back, and Pugs are much better bred younger and then retired than older.  The Pug club state a Pug can have a litter at 18 months or the 3rd season. She has now had a years gap between her first litter, so we can now think about a 2nd litter from her. 

Ive got to say I've loved every moment of breeding Pugs, as they are comical creatures. Again I would never be with out one.  They are my cuddle dogs for the days I do not feel well.  I have to say that Frankie my first Pug pulled me through some of my most difficult days, when I was coming to terms with the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia and auto immune disease.  Being smaller they are easier to care for as adults.  But rearing Pugs is difficult and you can loose them so easily.  Also with vet bills rising as they have done, it makes it an expensive hobby to produce just one pug. 

I hope to have one final French bulldog litter from Cookie.  She had one previous litter of 1, and I kept him.  I mated her on her last season but she didn't fall pregnant.  Dogs do not always ovulate every season.   But this time we hope she will ovulate and we have chosen a red fawn dog. From totally different blood lines to what we have. Fingers crossed it all goes well. 


 I am so concerned at the moment with the dreadful breeding of French bulldogs going on that I have got very disheartened with the breed.  The breed is in a big mess.
The Show folk are fabulous and doing everything they can to try and get the breed back on track, by pushing health testing and breeding only recognised colours.   If you want to buy a puppy please do go to the breed clubs for advice.  


I think if I step back and have a good think what to do its the right thing to do.  I shall concentrate on my HPR breeds for the next couple of years. 
Rachel 

Yes heat stroke can effect dogs as well as humans.
We are now coming to better weather and we must remember our fury friends need looking after. Dogs do not automatically understand when they are too hot. They can lay in the sun slowly cooking themselves. Heat stroke signs are sticky drool corners of the mouth, panting, lethargic, collapse.
If you suspect your dog has heat stroke, put a bath towel in bath and turn on the cold tap. Soak the towel then ring alittle, and place on dogs back.
Ring vet immediately who will tell you to take dog there straight away.

Provide paddling pools, sun shelters in the garden. If you can not provide a shelter keep your dog inside in the cool.
Never leave a frenchie outside or Pug. They can not regulate the body temperature. Over weight dogs will suffer more.
Have cooling mats inside the house. Have a cooling coat.

I have just added a page to the hidden pages section. First aid items to have in the car, and at home.
I hope its helpful

Remember with first aid most things are to make dog comfortable until you can get to your veterinary surgeon.

Tip: If you go on holiday with your dog, always find vets in the area and put their number in your phone contact or write name down and put in your first aid box. Dogs can often have injuries when on holiday as they are out with you more. They can also have an upset stomach. In Weimaraner case stress can bring on bloat. Dogs scrambling down rocks can damage claws and pads.

We are firm believers in doing health tests if they are available for the breed. We just got confirmation that Roux is clear of HUU and CA. I have also applied for more swabs to do another health test on her and Ripley.

I suppose one of the main reasons when breeders do not do health tests is the money they cost. But if the tests can prevent a health issue then they should really be thinking about doing it.

I have added by require a nail trimming file on hidden pages. I thought I had one, but must of deleted it at some point by accident.
Ive updated it to help. A good idea was given to me today on doing a video of nail trimming, so I am going to endeavour to do this and add to file for you all.

Once again i have been re-doing hidden pages, and I have added new files, but also the ones people couldn't open I am converting to PDF files.  Take a look. 

I have put in car sickness, vaccines, treats.  I have two more files to convert on page one, and then I will look at page 2 again. 

​Hope these are helping you all. 

Silvestre Fortune N’Glory - Hungarian Vizsla was health tested for Degenerative Myopathy and results are in and he is clear n/n.

Why aren't your other dogs DM tested ? This is a new test, and gradually one by one all my Vizsla will have this test. It takes time to health test our dogs. As far as I’m aware no other Vizsla breeders have done this test yet. It will take time for information to filter through to breeders.

We endeavour to do the utmost health testing for the dogs that we own. All our Frenchies are DM clear, and our Pug is DM clear. DM is seen more often in these breeds and the test has been available for many years.

As the years go by more and more health tests will become available.

What is DM? This is a disease effecting the spinal cord which results in hind limb weakness and paralysis. It can progress from 3 months to 3 years. Although not painful it is devastating disease. Usually seen in dogs from 8 years of age to 14 years old age.
Effected dogs will wobble when walking or drag feet. As it progresses its total paralysis.

The next dog I am sending the DNA off for is Roux. I hopefully will get swab samples with in two weeks of applying.

We are now in the season where dogs start to loose their coats.  Even short coated breeds loose fur.  Never buy a short coated breed thinking you will not have allergies to them.  As all dogs loose fur.  Except wool coats that you would find on a poodle, bischon, doodles etc. 
Pugs and Frenchies loose coat and the dead hair can look quite out of condition whilst its doing it.  Buy a zoom groom which is a rubber/plastic brush and it will bring out the dead hair. Do not however over groom as you can strip new hair too.  Or use a grooming mitt. 
If you bath your dog you will find even more hair comes out.  It can take about 2 weeks of loosing coat and then it all comes right again.  You can include salmon oil into the diet or omega three oils blends to help with coat, or the white of an egg helps coat too.   It is a daily grooming session whilst this is going on. Once all done the new coat comes in beautiful again. 

With dogs that were puppies the year before, something strange can happen.  The appearance of black spots under the coat.  Vizsla, Weimaraner and Bracco can have this appearance, and often they are the paler coats which makes this more visible.  The Vizsla can almost have a yellow appearance but with dark spots.  This is not a veterinary job, this is  you being patient.  If your dog has this, then actually the coating wont be two weeks. Nearer 12 weeks plus for the dog to loose this yellow almost fluffy coat.
I remember standing outside the show ring and someone was complaining about another exhibitors dog in the ring, saying their was something wrong with the coat.  I couldn't bite my lip any longer and had to say look this is coating.  Maybe its because I was a groomer and studies coat texture and type, and make a note. But its nothing to worry about.  I once had someone ring me up, they had a dog from another breeder.  They had spent £500 at the vets and the vet in the end couldn't find anything wrong with the dog.  He rang me and told me about the dogs coat so I said send me a photo.  I took one look and rang him back and said, "Your dogs loosing its coat"! The guy was furious, he said but ive just spent £500 at the vets.  He said he was going to get his money back and he was then going to ring vet up.  I can not help it if a vet is not a coat specialist.  After a few more weeks with the advice I gave the guy on his dogs coat, the coat was back to normal. ha ha.... I can imagine that phone call didnt go well to his vets. 
I suppose the moral of the story is patience is a virtue when dogs are loosing a coat. 
​

Hi
I am aware after two people have now told me that they can not download a few files on hidden pages.  I have gone on computer tonight and can see why.  I created those files on the iPad, easier for me.  It for some reason didnt covert them to a pdf file.  So I am gradually rewriting those files and converting to PDF.

I have re written TRAVELLING, REVERSE SNEEZE and written an article called FEAR PERIOD. 

I hope these help ? Please do let me know if these files are of any use as my husband says no-one reads them as Im asked questions often which are in these files.  Am I wasting my time writing them ?  


Also only Silvestre owners have access to our files.  These files are not to be copied or shared.     Also any of Joshua's owners have access too. He is part of team Silvestre also. 

​Rachel x

As you venture into life with your new puppy it can seem rather daunting to know if you are giving the right guidelines to your puppy, and training skills.  Do not worry as all you need to do is find a dog trainer local to you. 
You can find on the Kennel club website a list of obedience trainers which do the Kennel club good citizen classes.  These classes are aimed at young puppies and older dogs to give them good manners and be good citizens in life.   No one wants an unruly dog, untrained, and one that will run off into the distance causing havoc.

The Vizsla is not the easiest dog to own, and I think being experienced dog handlers we do forget this.  This is why we are telling everyone who is having a puppy of us now or in the future do not buy this dog unless you are committed to the training of this puppy.  Because what happens is the dog can become the boss of your household and ruin your life.  Lots of tears can be shed when a dog is constantly mis behaving.  Families with smaller children often can not cope because of the amount of time spent looking after the children, let alone taking on this high energy dog breed.  Sometimes its better to wait a few years until you have more time to give.

I have spoken to several people this week and given advice.  I have been told by a few people I was the only breeder who talked about the breed, showed love towards the breed, and wouldn't sell them a puppy lol. Everyone else was ill send a photo of the puppy, its x amount of pounds and good bye.  We have an absolute love for this breed and we want to get it right for you and us.  Wether your working full time and do not have time for this dog, or your home circumstances just do not allow you to give lots of time to training, you really need to get on board with the info we provide you, as we want to save another Vizsla heading off to rescue. 

Training is not always easy, and it is sometimes frustrating.  

Key tips from me.
Tip 1:
Do not turn up to training class after a busy day at work, fly in from work, grab a mouthful of food, fly to training and get dog out of car, and straight into class.  Your dog is going to be wound up like a coil. Full of energy, probably show you up in the class.  Make sure when you come home you take things at a slower pace, and take your puppy for a walk for 15 mins first before going into class. Allow your puppy time to settle down, be calm, be positive and reward with food constantly.

Reward training is the only training we advise for any dog breed.  Be it love and fuss, or treats. 

Tip 2: A dog should be trained every day of its life, in fact life is training too. So every thing in the house should be followed by everyone.  Reward the dog with words such as good dog when the dog is pleasing you.  Reward the dog with treats once the dog is doing a command you've asked for.  You need to repeat actions at least 15-30 times a day for some dogs to understand sit, wait, lay and so on.  

Tip3:Always end training on a good note.  If the dog rebells, do not end training on a bad note.  Wait until the dog has finally done what you have asked, praise and say good dog, and reward treat. 

Now I have many many tips, and Im currently writing a training guide for my hidden pages.  Ive been send by kind clients in the past information on training, and I have one such guide written in our hidden pages. 

Watch out also for my new page being added called "THE FEAR PERIODS"


Well thats it for now folks, but thank you for reading and remember dogs are a joy to us all, and never feel that you can not cope as their are always people who do training for a job, behavioural for a job, and your breeder is always happy to pass on advice to you.  So never feel alone and together we can help your dog achieve everything you want it too.  But enrol today in classes if you have a young puppy and make sure that your in training before 16 weeks. Socialisation is key to life skills.

​Rachel xx