SILVESTRE

Welcome to our website and I hope it is helpful to you. 

My name is Rachel Savage, and I am the creator of this website. I am married to Darryl and together we are Silvestre Showdogs.  I have bred the dog's solely on my own for years.  Darryl also is a builder/carpenter and works in around local houses. 

When you have your heart set on a puppy you may want to find out as much as you can do about your breeder before you ask for a puppy.  This website is here to give you lots of advice, show you our dogs, show you how the dogs are living.   Many breeders just have social media these days as this is a common way of getting puppy homes. 

We have instagram @silvestre.showdogs and we have TikTok @silvestreshowdogs

We try to be very transparent in how we raise puppies, and how our dogs live at home.  What you see is what you get.  We will share photos on instagram only of dogs we have bred or dogs we own.   You can see by the photos I share that the dogs are in top condition, have a happy fulfilled life and loved by the whole family. 

Im creating a behaviourist website which I will link HERE in the future.  Once our Willow litters has left this will give me time then to dedicate to create a new website, and to run a new academy for puppy owners. 

I started with Weimaraner's and we bred them and showed them. I was bitten by the bug and loved every minute of having the occasional litter in the early days.  I applied to the Kennel club for an affix and the name Silvestre was granted.  This was not our first name attempt however.  I submitted 11 names and 11 were rejected.  I had lost by then the will to live and I was thinking of giving up on selecting a name when Darryl came up with the name Silvestre.  This was accepted.

So how do you pronounce the word.?  Sit-vest.rah So many people get it wrong, and does it matter? Not in the slightest 😀

 What is the importance of a name?  You can put this name in front of every puppy pedigree name you choose.  This makes it easier to get those names with the kennel club.  Also you can locate a dog ive bred in the show ring by name.  

Here are 3 photos from those early days. Not the best quality because the cameras were then not as good quality.  I cant believe how blond I was back then. I do have older photos in an album which I may scan in one day.  But we both looked very young. 

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Old photos from the beginnings. 

We are often asked do you own other animals? The answer is yes we do.  I have lived with a variety of animals all my life. Seems like a lifetime away now when I had a pony and horse. I also kept ducks, geese, chickens.  Growing up I had cattle, sheep and a pet pig.  Our house gardens now are mostly grass. But back in the day animals were in the paddocks.   I am not truly that well to look after farm animals other wise I would probably have them today. 

We have a black British short hair cat called Rizelle.  Who is now over ten years of age. Quite seasoned and the dogs all live in fear from her dagger eyes. She has that look only a cat can give a dog.  They are all in her power.
We have chickens which we have eggs for the dogs and our house.  Every single scrap of food is never wasted her as its given to the animals. 

We have over 4 acres of paddocks here and they are fenced off, and the dogs can run around securely.  We never leave dogs alone unattended.  Plus we have security cameras everywhere linked to phones. 

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You may think I am hard to get hold of.  Do not get put off by this.  I will answer you.  I want you to contact me in a certain way and you are sure to get me.
Whats app is an app you can download to an iPhone or android phone.  It is free messaging, photos and video sending. I also do video calls on this. Or can FaceTime you on iPhone. 
You MUST TEXT ME FIRST. so text me by whats app or normal messenger.  If you can ping me a message over around 10.30 in the morning I will be back in the house after walking all the dogs.  I will answer even if its to say sorry I cant do a call this day. But we can chat and find the right time for us both.   TEXT ME ON 07584279384 if you are in another country only use WHATS APP. 

This is a family home, but I still have work hours.  This is because I am messaged up to midnight nearly every day by someone. I will not answer until the following day.  

I have been in the dog world now for many years, and we have learnt that the type of enquirer who is worth our time and who is not.  You must send a message with some information about yourself.  If you send the words "How much"!. or " I want your puppy"! Chances are I wont respond.  But if you send me a nice message about yourself I will respond because you've told me a picture of your home life.  

We do not see anyone who sends a message saying, I am in the area and want to visit. Or I am here this weekend I want to visit.  You may think it's at the most convienet time for you.  But actually you flag up as a potential puppy thief.  Years ago we had thieves come on our property and they did not get the dogs.  But the police gave me some excellent advice at the time.  One of the most common ways thieves knick pups is by saying they are in the area and just want to drop in to see the dogs.   So this is why you'll flag up. 
I never see potential owners on my own, there is always someone else here with me.  

We now have a garden room made for you to come and view the puppies.  This stops traffic through out home.  Again for safety.  You may find some ways we do things little strange but it's all for a good reason. I have endless stories of problems we have encountered, from things being stolen in the house, to little respect for our property.  The minority of cases unfortunately has now ruined it for the rest.  So we keep things business like, even though we will make you very welcome. 

​BEGINNINGS
The first dog I brought I was 16 years of age and it was a cavalier King Charles spaniel  I had saved up all my wages and brought him for £300.  He came from a very well known breeder.  I got married at 19 years of age and we then got a Weimaraner.   
The Weimaraner was the beginnings of a love affair with dogs.  The Weimaraner a German gun dog, which originated in the Weimar valley was a prized hunting dog.  Which took the world by storm due to their unique silver grey colour, and hunting ability.  If you asked me in my 20's would I own any other dog the answer would have been NEVER! I was smitten with them.  But they are a big stubborn kind of breed, they are not easy to show.  I came out of the show ring one day in so much pain and it nearly killed me to handle.  I went to the doctors because I did not know what was happening to me, and I was diagnosed with another auto immune disease plus fibromyalgia.   I began to realise my days of showing dogs in the ring was over.  Then I decided I could have a smaller breed instead.  I brought a cocker spaniel from a local breeder, and my Weimaraner hated it with a passion.  So I ended up giving it to my mother in law who lost their dog.   It turned out this was the best thing. I could have done because it would detect when my father in law was going to collapse and it would stamp its feet an hour before it happened.  So he could get to safety before he passed out.   
I was on another mission to find a dog.  I bumped into Hilary Davis at a show and she had her Vizsla Ginger with her as well as a Weimaraner.  I went and watched the vizsla being shown and I got very excited.  I knew it was the breed for me.   It took about 18 months of waiting but we ended up with Scarlett.  Then a few years later the best dog Ive ever owned come into my life and his name was Chilli.  He was half brother to Scarlett so they were Never mated together. 

Being much smaller and lighter frame I had a dog again I could show on my own.  I found our Vizsla so easy compared to the Weimaraner and it opened up a new world for me. They were biddable and wanted to please. Did not run as fast and would stand with ease and not pull me around.  At that point I knew I had found the dog of a lifetime for me and Im sure I will still own one when im at the end of my life. Thats if my family can help me still.  Because I adore this dog breed to bits.   Over the years I continued to gain knowledge on breeding dogs, showing dogs, judging. Then I decided I wanted more.  So I went to college and did a 3 year course on animal care and dog grooming. I passed NVQ2 and 3 which is 2 A levels in dog care and it covered diet, transportation, health and safety, hygiene with animals, cleanliness, handling dogs properly, behaviour, construction of dog breeds.  Handling also cross breeds, and understanding how relationships with owners and their dogs,   I also did a microchipping course, and since Ive done 2 first aid courses with dogs.  I am always looking to improve my knowledge.  I am now a behaviourist having learnt with TV personality Rob Alleyne.   I began to realise this year how much I help people.  I have this natural way of getting inside dogs heads.  I also did Reiki training over the last year. so I use all my skills to help dogs and people.   I do have to charge for my services now, so I only gives a small percentage of free advice.

After owning Vizlsa I went to a champ show and a lady told me how she had been let down on a pug puppy. I had always admired the breed. I just came home and told darryl we were having a pug.  He did not want her, but when we got her he melted and she won his heart in about 1 second flat.   I began to realise I am not just one breed lover, I actually love dogs.  So many dog breeds.  But I couldn't own them all in my lifetime now.   From there I brought a French bulldog who died in 2024 aged 10. But she left a wonderful legacy with me in her daughter Frooti.  I adore French bulldogs as pets.  I have no desire to be a big breeder of them.  
We were showing in Belgium one day and darryl said I want a bracco italiano.  I told him as long as he showed them we would have one.    I gave in and six years ago we introduced our first.  I am a true dog lover, I love many breeds. I can not own all of them however as there is not enough years left for me to own various dogs. But the ones which are my favourite I own.  

You may ask why show a dog?  I suppose I was brought up as a farmers daughter, and I knew even back as a kid that you breed from the best and do not select the poorer ones for breeding. To have healthier stock.  When I look at the quality of the dogs in the UK show ring, they far surpass those of the pet dogs you meet in the street. 
You may not know how showing came about but it was back in 1859 when a group of men who loved their dogs met in a pub to select the best quality dogs.  Your first kind of dog show.  The term stockman came about because stockmen choose the best cattle, the best sheep and so on to produce good quality animals. So this term is still heard of in dogs today.  It's about producing quality not quantity.   Pet folk tend to just breed their dog because they think it's pretty even if it doesnt really meet the standards.  We know after breeding for so many years that the bitch is the most important one in the pairing.  You can go out to a champion stud dog but it does not mean your puppies will be champion stock. Far from it.  You have to have a quality bitch to start with. 
Some breeders try to be instagram famous these days. Although we have instagram we have no desire to be that popular and we really just use it as a show case for our pets.   Our dogs are pets at the end of the day.  
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Breeding ethics
Now this varies from breeder to breeder. Where one breeder is totally against something, another will believe it's the right thing to do.  Listen to what your breeder is saying to see if you feel they are the right fit for you. 

• Our bitches must be 2 at the time of having puppies. But no later than 4 for first litters. 
• Health and welfare is paramount. 
• Temperament is paramount. 
• Breeding selectively from the best breeding stock. 
• Dogs which fit the breed standard. 
• We will mix in working ability to our show line.  To create dogs which can go onto do any job. 
• Our males must be fully health tested before having a litter.  
• We will not keep repeatedly having C sections from bitches. 
• We will raise puppies in the family home. 
• We will not do anything detrimental to their well being. 
• We will only breed from dogs who show the mental capacity to look after their young. 
• We will keep a clean environment. 
• The dogs are professionally groomed.
• Our adult dogs are microchipped.
• Our dogs are yearly health checked. 
• If a female has a litter and did not really enjoy it, we will retire them from breeding. 
• If we produce a health problem in a puppy. We will note it, talk to our vet or specialist.  We will talk to professionals and decide if the bitch should be bred again.  Sometimes it's a case of using a different outcrossed line .  In some cases it means stopping abruptly the bloodline and starting again.  No-one can predict health problems where their are no dna tests for.  
• We would not breed from any affected bitch. By affected this means she has the health problem herself. Showing signs, or on any medication. 
• If their is a new DNA test come out we will endeavour to do it if its a health issue that effects the breed we own. 
• We try to keep our prices in range but they will reflect the amount of health tests we have done on the parents. 
• We have a maximum capacity of dogs we can own which is based on the amount of care that can be given to each dog.  We would not stupidly neglect a dog.  
• Our dogs must have a home life, to be able to express themselves.  To go into the countryside and enjoy being a family pet.  
• We will not cross breed a Hungarian Vizsla, Bracco Italiano or French bulldog.  
• One if not both will have been shown at shows.  Sometimes girls are just home dogs because they are not that keen on the show experience.  
• We will use sometimes dogs that are not in the show ring, if they have strong merit in other areas.  For example working dogs are not always show dogs. 
• Our dogs will be trained to be good members of society. 

We have produced dogs which have gone all over the world.  Dubai, Bermuda, all over Europe, America, Costa Ricca, Bahamas.  We generally do not export ourselves but these are dogs which have gone out with their owners. 
We also have dogs which have gone to do jobs.  For example Scent work, search and rescue, prison service sniffer dog, pat therapy dog, man trailing, field trials, working on the beating line, show, and of course best of all family pets.  The majority of our dogs are family pets and some of the best dogs we have produced are sitting in front of your fireplace. 

With good reputation we get those who try to say they are breeding our dogs and they are not.  If it is a Silvestre it's come from my house and I've met you.  Do not believe adverts which state anything different.   
I understand that someone leaves a website running as if they have our dogs, and they only started with our dogs, and did not continue with the blood line.  They are very different dogs in looks today that they own.  People have been going there for puppies thinking we are connected and we are not connected any more.  I guess they think my name will sell there puppies for them.
So if you want. a Silvestre come direct to us. Or let us point you in the direction where you will find a good dog. 
If you see photos in an advert of puppies and using our name then let us know. All we can do is try and get it took down.  Last year someone was using a photo of my stud dog and our dog had not mated there bitch.  Also last year my photos of puppies were stolen and put on line for a fake litter.  We have no control of what people do.  If you suspect something is not right, then it probably is not. 

We own here an Irish show champion, Swiss, Belgium, international champion.  We have shown a dog to achieve English show champion. We have bred endless stud book numbers.  We have sold dogs to others who have made them into champions in Europe.  The titles are just a small part of it for me, as the companionship means far more to me.  
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Remember I am not easy to get hold of, but you will get me. Use whats app or text to get me.  I love speaking to everyone so do get in touch. I am happy to educate anyone about the dog breeds I own. They are truly a blessing in our lives and we do not take this for granted.  Dogs are my everything, and I am never with out my lovely companions. 
Rachel