Finn and Lucy

With Talavera behind us and the trip to Zagreb looming, it was nice to hear from Rick and Ann De Rooy and their dogs, Finn and Lucy. Finn, the youngster, is one of our dogs, the "gentle giant" in Rick's words. He is proving good company for Lucy, who is now fourteen and came to Portugal from the Ratpack kennel in England.

Lucy, of course, rules the roost, despite being just half Finn's size.

Rick writes: "Next month he will start an intensive course at Christie's in Lisbon “How to appreciate the value of Persian carpets” when I hope someone will teach him only to chew bits out of the cheap ones, unlike the full corner of an expensive one he dined on three weeks ago."

I myself once had to hand in a tattered passport at the British embassy and ask for a new one, with the excuse "the dog ate it".

Marta's pups

Marta's pups are now 10 weeks old and discovering the world. We've been having rather unsettled weather, but here's a picture of Golo and Giesta on a sunny day. We're looking forward to showing one or two of them later in the year.

In the meantime, we've been on the road with the dogs, with shows in Elvas and Badajoz, and then in Talavera de la Reina this last weekend.

Canela (Entertainer da Roseira Brava) has continued on good form, winning best bitch at all these shows, and BOB in Elvas. And in Talavera, which is one of the biggest of the year in Spain, the reserve best bitch was her sister, Patch (Expat da Roseira Brava). So Canela got the all-important CAC-QC, which is the "obligatory ticket" for the Spanish championship.

We're now enjoying a short break, before heading to Zagreb in early June. We'll be taking the chance to visit our friends and dogs in Slovenia. Jani and Juta run a nice website with a good range of Parsons in their country - http://www.slo-prt.com/prt_breed_info.htm.