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Just one little week to go!
10 November 2020 | 
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It’s getting exciting! The whelping box is ready and Cytaugh has approved it, but she does not stay in it for long. Her belly is growing well, she is getting bigger every day and you can feel the puppies move. She eats smaller portions more often and likes something different every time.
She doesn’t like to walk anymore and she just lugs behind you a bit. What she likes to do is dive into the garden in the evening and dig a hole somewhere under a bush or pine. We will not allow that!
In the meantime, Cranston continues to grow well. It is a very cheerful puppy with a wonderful character. He is already becoming quite a guy and things are also getting faster in the game with Cearrean. They are intensely close friends and can play and scratch around together for hours.
Fortunately, Cearrean is now doing a lot better. After a very bad period, in which he regularly acted ugly to his housemates, I sought help from a naturopath. She discovered several blockages in his spine and it turned out that he has enormous trauma from his birth and the first weeks after. Well, that may add up! After several acupuncture and osteopathy treatments, we have now ended up with a behavioral therapist who teaches us to use exercises to ensure that Cearrean relaxes a little more and calms his head. In the meantime, he is regularly examined by the naturopath so that we can make timely adjustments. All in all, we clearly see improvement and I am glad I took this step.
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | 
Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne | 
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Puppies are on the way!
After having had the feeling that Cytaugh could be pregnant for more than a week; she doesn’t want to eat any more fish, is lazy as a pig and is occasionally nauseous, I had an ultrasound made of Cytaugh’s stomach yesterday, October 14.
And yes, there were several embryos on display! The doctor did not count extensively but looked like this already 4. Now we hope that enough females will be born so that I can make long-waiting happy.
We expect a lot from this combination. If the right genes are mixed properly, beautiful, strong puppies will be born. Uther largely represents the type of Deerhound that I prefer; strong and powerful with a super sweet character and a good hunting instinct.
A Deerhound capable for what it was once bred for!
Uther is the great-grandchild of Rosslyn Magi Among Shagied. In 2011 Sonja and I went to this male for a mating with Cheytah. Unfortunately no puppies were born then, it would be nice if his great-great-grandchildren look like him!
If all goes well, the puppies will be born around November 17.
Two pleasant weekends
After the holidays and the hustle and bustle around Cytaugh, we had the national coursing of WRV ‘t Haasje on September 19. On Friday afternoon, Cearrean was finally able to run the first course for his coursinglisence thanks to Henriëtte’s Saluki Geer. This went fine. On Saturday morning he ran the second course together with the Sloughi Gabr van Els and Frie and this also went well. So Cearrean can get to work. It was a very nice weekend, a little too hot at times and quite cold in the evenings but we survived and now know how to set up camp next time at this place in high temperatures and lots of sunshine.
After we packed our things again on Sunday, we first went to pick up 3 new chickens in Langerak. Now we have 7 chickens and 1 rooster again, they fit exactly on the perch in their ‘enclosure’. Let’s hope that some more eggs are produced.
Also when I got home I checked whether the bees were still hanging in the tree. Somewhere since April / May we have a ‘wild beehive’ hanging in the oak. Now we even saw honeycombs. I just hope the nest doesn’t come down because that could become a problem with curious Deerhounds!
The following weekend we had our CC2000 funcoursing in Coevorden. Just under 30 dogs wree entered and ran various parts of the 900 meter long parcours. Sonja had also come to give the girls a nice workout again. The organizing team, which now also includes Edith and Willem Jorritsma, thus stood with 4 units within one fence and this created a high “Nienoord” feeling. The “Nienoord” feeling was also reinforced by the presence of Nelli with her young Sloughi Tiffa and Alfred and Gineke with their Salukis and a Galgo. Within the fence, all hounds were mixed together nicely; 6 Deerhounds, 6 Whippets and 1 Galgo. Lovely !!! Especially for Cranston this was fantastic, he learned a lot but above all had a lot of fun. The weather was great and it was again a great weekend.
Hopefully we can experience a few more fun events before Cytaugh enters the whelping box. But I will only know in a week and a half whether that will actually happen. We keep our fingers crossed!
And many thanks to Sonja Koning for those beautifull pictures!!!
Posted in 2020, Lure coursing | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
And that was our holiday.
While we were busy on Sunday August 25 to pack the caravan and the car for a 25-day trip, one of the young Faverolles chickens turned out to have major problems laying her first egg. This came out with cloaca and all. I removed the egg and tried to fix it but unfortunately to no avail so Simon could take her to the vet on Monday morning, before we left, to put her to sleep. Very sad, it was such a nice chicken. This was a bad start to the holiday and the weather forecast was also not so good for the first days.
In the meantime I had further packed up the caravan and filled the two freezers, which were at the back of the car, with about 40 kilos of meat for the hounds. Not enough for 25 days, but we would supplement it at Sonja if we would descend towards Tüttleben.
After Simon returned from the vet, we hung the caravan behind the car and we could leave. But when we get through the gate, we have to uncouple the caravan and take the next corner with the mover. Unfortunately the reels didn’t respond to the remote so we couldn’t turn the corner. First replace the batteries, this to no avail. Bought new batteries and tried, this did not help either. Then we asked the neighbour to help push and yes, with united forces the caravan got around the corner and we could finally continue our way towards camping “De Paardenbloem” in Deurningen.
We would stay here for two nights. We decided to only put the awning on but when Simon put some tension on it, an attachment eye broke off. We were convinced that there should be something like this in the caravan but unfortunately…. so Simon had to go because without this eye we could not set up the awning.
We were now close to Lemele where Callaghan lives, so that was a great opportunity to hand over the pedigree and let the two brothers play together again. Well they did!
On Wednesday we left for Camping-Paradies “Grüner Jäger” in Everinghausen, just past Bremen. The name of the campsite suggests something and indeed there was a large meadow with a fair number of fallow deer. In the meantime it was pouring out of the air and I tried to let the hounds out in between the showers, but Cranston and Cearrean could not be
lieve their eyes and were no longer able to do another step. Too interesting all those deer!
The next day the journey went by ferry from Puttgarden to Rødby to Maribo in Denmark. This was a beautiful spacious campsite where you could walk extremely well with the hounds and where we could finally enjoy the sun.
But not for long, because after we had done some shopping in Maribo on Friday morning, we continued towards Vordingborg, where Simon would give a seminar on “building a good coursing parcourse”. This would take up all of Saturday and Sunday. It was organized by Frank Plith in collaboration with the Danish running and coursing committee and it took place with Bille and Freddy who provided a nice large field of several hectares.
Fortunately we were able to build up our things in a nice sheltered spot because it was very windy. In the night from Friday to Saturday it started to rain and thunder terribly at one point, really huge showers passed over us and I did not sleep a wink because I know that Brandir is / was terribly afraid of thunderstorms. He has been on Chinese herbs (Geria) for a few months because he started to show symptoms of dementia, and I had already noticed that he was much better. Only now it turned out how good! He just slept through !! No anxiety or panic, he just stayed calm on his bed. Unbelievable!
The seminar was a great success. About 15 people participated and were very enthusiastic, they later said that they had learned a lot and now understand why a good parcourse is so important. Several parcourses were also explained and laid out, then commented on and discussed why it didn’t work. All in all very educational and it should happen in all countries because what you usually see in courses… ..!
Monday morning we broke up our things again and left for Flyvesandet. A campsite in the north of the island of Fun, where we have been regularly since 2001. Just before we got to the campsite, a herd of fallow deer crossed the road. Cearrean just hung his head out of the window and would have popped out if he had been a little smaller. That was promising because once Cearrean knows that there is game running, he can no longer run free. 
After arrival we first walked around the campsite to find a nice place where we could drop off a large part so that Cearrean and Cranston had enough space to play. Halfway through the “quest” a large hare jumped up. Well that could get exciting! Fortunately, he didn’t show himself that often anymore for the rest of the week and he also stayed a bit away from our camp, so sensible!
If the moon phase is good, and therefore not a full moon like this week, you can walk for miles here. There is then about 5 centimetres of water on a mirror-smooth seabed. Ideal to let the hounds race. But unfortunately the water did not drop more than about a foot now and that is a bit too high for Cranston. The first time Simon walked into the 
water and the hounds followed him, Cranston followed, but soon almost went under. After this he preferred to stay on the shore, wet feet could then just but he did not go further into the sea. But he still had a lot of fun and enjoyed it to the fullest.
For Cearrean we brought the throwing stick and a tennis ball, he was completely fed up and couldn’t get enough! In any case, he is not afraid of water!
But unfortunately …. Cytaugh had decided to come into season on the Monday we arrived in Flyvesandet and since she was supposed to be mated, the plans had to be overhauled. This meant; not going to Sonja the following week to then go to Tüttleben where Simon would provide a coursing training, but leave for home on Saturday.
In the meantime we had already heard that Tüttleben would probably not continue due to too few registrations. Should it still go ahead, Simon could always go there with his tent and take care of the training.
With an overnight stay in Everinghausen, we came home on Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, the heart examination that was planned for Wednesday, September 16, could be brought forward for a week so that it was still done in time. To make ‘sure’ that Cytaugh would be on about the same schedule as two years ago, I made an appointment on Tuesday, the ninth day of her season, to have a progesterone test. Fortunately, this was still very low, as hoped, and the heart examination the day after, also had a very positive result.
I also consulted with two cardiologists regarding breeding with Cytaugh because Chidish, her brother, passed away last year after a coursing. He had mild DCM. But both believe that if the heart is so good at the age of 5.5 that you should not pass up the opportunity. It is very difficult to find lines without a hereditary condition and if there is a problem on one side and this problem has not yet manifested itself in the other line, you could risk it. Hopefully it will work out well too!
The chosen male is Beardswood Uther. A still young male with a nice spring of rib, strong bone and a fantastic character. The I.C. is 1.85 over 7 and 5.74 over 10 generations. If you look at the pedigree, there are many beautiful hounds behind the lines of which I have known several. Also quite a lot made it into double digits or near to it. We expect a lot from this combination!
The bad thing is that I couldn’t go to England for a natural mating and that is why fresh, chilled semen came to the Netherlands. We hope it all goes as expected and that we can welcome a few beautiful, healthy puppies in mid-November.
Posted in 2020, Abroad, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
One day left …..
Cranston and Callaghan are doing well, they are growing steadily, are standing nicely on their legs, have both testicles in the right place, are shiny, playing, digging, listening to their name and of course they are totally house-trained.
It is unbelievable as fast as time goes by. Next Friday they are already 12 weeks old and on Saturday Callaghan will go to his new home. He is going to live in Lemele, with Henny and Betsie. They have had Irish Wolfhounds for many years and now want something sportier. Well, that will work with Callaghan!
They have already been through a lot and driving is no problem. The weekends away with the caravan did not cause any problems, they adapted immediately.
Two weekends ago we had our CC2000 party at the racecourse in Lelystad. More than 80 hounds were present to enjoy themselves again with lure-coursing. Cearrean was allowed to explore the course on Friday with his muzzle and blanket for the first time. This went fine. On Saturday he was allowed to run the first round with Troy, the Greyhound of Hervé Blaakenburg. Troy went straight and Cearrean thought he was smart by turning left, but here Troy was running and this resulted in a big collision with a header for Cearrean. For a moment he was disoriented but then went after the hare again. In the afternoon Cearrean was allowed to walk with a Saluki from Henriëtte. Here again things went wrong when Geer, the Saluki, wanted to follow the hare neatly behind the hedge, Cearrean ran a little too far, turned around and rammed Geer in his side. A huge dive of both resulted, and Geer then stood on three legs. Then we gave it up.
For Vision it was the first time after the puppies were born that she could stretch her legs again. She was quite fanatic but her condition was not yet optimal. Cytaugh was not allowed yet, her feet were not yet completely healed from very strange injuries. It was going in the right direction, but I thought the risk of her feet hurting again was too great.
The following week she was entered with Vision for the coursing of ‘t Haasje in Werkendam and luckily her feet were completely healed and remained intact! The bike training had done its job and Vision’s condition was clearly better. Cytaugh, on the other hand, who had not run free and played for weeks, was far too fat and in absolutely no condition. But she enjoyed it very much and came off the field with a big smile. Cearrean would actually go for his coursinglicense this weekend, but due to the diving and an earlier fall on his back, the osteopath, by whom he is under treatment, did not think it wise to let him run. She also had quite a bit of work to get Cearrean back into shape. Let’s just hope that he stays ‘whole’ and will soon be able to run again.
Cearrean is quite a bit difficult. Occasionally he may suddenly snap to another hound, without us being able to pinpoint a reason. Usually he is tired or suffers from his knee. But he is still very fond of the puppies and can play with them for tens of minutes. He does this extremely carefully and lovingly!
Saturday is the day, Callaghan is going to leave us, the puppy that I spent minutes trying to get life into. He has grown into a strong, beautiful puppy with his own personality; strong and sweet with a ‘will to please’. I am curious how he will develop further, I wish him a long, healthy, sporty, nice and loving life!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
7 Weeks young
Last Friday, Callaghan and Cranston were 7 weeks young. How fast that time goes!
The week before they were already chipped, DNA was taken and the day after they were inoculated. This all went very smoothly and without a single beep. Driving was also fine. We had of course built this up slowly and done it more often, but not even a 20-minute ride. Fortunately no problem.
They grow well, they are more or less the same as the tables I still have from my previous litters. They mainly eat one-day-old chicks, sprats and all kinds of ground meat with vegetables, elderberries and seaweed. Meanwhile, Callaghan is almost as big as Cranston and last week the weight difference was only 450 grams. Callaghan weighed 5.65 kilo’s and Cranston 6.10. They are certainly not fat, it could be a little more but they seem to get enough because they would like to eat more. And it is actually better that they do not grow too fast, let them take it easy.
Their favourite place in the house is the large basket where Brandir usually lies. He always looks very upset when the puppies have taken his bed again. Poor grandpa Brandir!
They are 99.99% house trained. It is very rare that there is still a pee in the house. And because we consistently clean up their feces directly behind their asses, they haven’t become shit-eaters either.
We have already had exciting moments with them. Two weeks ago, Callaghan was very interested in looking at something right in front of him. When I went to look it turned out to be four oak processionary caterpillars! I was startled and snatched Callaghan from the bed. Fortunately, it turned out that he hadn’t sniffed it because he showed no strange behaviour after it that could indicate that. I did immediately wash the cover of the bed and searched the area for caterpillars. Later that afternoon we found two more caterpillars on the grass. Dead scary! But yes, there are about twenty oaks with us, many of which are very large and therefore with inaccessible caterpillar nests. It cannot be prevented.
Vision starts to play with them a bit, but would rather leave that to Cearrean. However, she regularly lies cosy with her sons on a bed and you can see that Callaghan and Cranston really enjoy themselves here. The men are allowed to drink a little with her every now and then, but I think it is minimal what comes out because they are done with it soon.
Both puppies are already beginning to wear their ears well, the fold is in it and occasionally they can already fold forward. They are also high set. Cranston will most likely have very dark eyes, Callaghan, on the other hand, will get his mother’s eye colour; quite light. This was quickly seen as he had very light blue eyes while Cranston’s eyes were several shades darker. Even now the difference is clear.
Walking on leash is also no problem. They have already been to the shopping center, the dog run-off forest (where we unfortunately did not encounter any strange dogs) and to the horses that are in our neighbourhood. To get here we have to pass a bunch of terrible barking dogs and this was of course terrifying. They also didn’t really like the horses yet. So it was a stressful walk, but once at home the tent made sure that everything was quickly forgotten.
Tomorrow Cranston will undergo a little surgery. He has a slight upper bite and his lower teeth prick his palate. These are therefore removed so that the lower jaw has free rein to grow. I am confident that it will come all right.
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
PetSavers funded “genetics association with DCM” project in Deerhounds
From Emily Dutton (Dr. Emily Dutton BVM & S DVC MRCVS RCVS Recognized Specialist in Veterinary Cardiology), I received notice that the DCM (Dilated Cardiomyopathy) Research website is ‘up and working’. This means that blood can be collected for research into the genes that cause DCM.
Earlier this year I had heard from Emily that there was going to be hard work on this project and they are now so far that they need blood samples. How wonderful it would be if they found the causative genes! Then the breeders can have their hounds tested in the future and thus prevent Deerhounds from being born with DCM.
So herewith the call; if you have a Deerhound with DCM or an older Deerhound (preferably older than 8 years) who 100% certainly does not have DCM, would you like to send some blood?
Via this link you will find out how and what to do; http://www.deerhoundgenetics.com/index.html
Unfortunately the costs cannot be reimbursed but it is for more than a good cause and it would be really great if the evil genes were found. I also sent blood from my hounds and I hope many will follow.
Thanks in advance!
29 days young
Yesterday the puppies were 4 weeks young, how fast it goes! It is also very easy, 2 puppies. A week and a half ago they suddenly dipped into Vision’s food bowl, delicious… Rinti, tripe, milk and sheep fat! Since then, they regularly get 
some puppy milk with steak tartare from a bowl, but also regularly eat small balls of tartare. This is fun to do, they sit next to each other and take turns to get a ball. When they have enough, Callaghan usually before Cranston, they get up and start playing.
They are now almost house-trained. Callaghan is smart, he quickly realized how to get out of the whelpingbox and that you have to pee outside. He also does not mind wet grass and wind. Cranston, on the other hand, is a bit easier and sometimes pees in the whelping box. He also does not like cold and wind! And that despite its bacon layer.
Cearrean, the big half-brother, absolutely loves them! He can hardly wait to play with them but so far he is extremely careful and barely touches them. He keeps a close eye on them and shows himself as an extremely good babysitter.
And even though Cearrean is challenged by Cranston, he won’t be tempted! However, he was challenged by grandpa Brandir and the little ones find that very interesting.
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Callaghan Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cranston Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Doubly unbelievable
Finally time to tell the big news; both males have Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden as father !! We really never thought this, partly because the quality of the frozen semen was not very good. So I really couldn’t believe it at first and have been looking at the DNA results for a long time. But yes, if the numbers of the DNA markers match, it will be!
I think it is wonderful and hope that both males get both their testicles so that they can mean something for the breed in the future.
Their I.C. for the first 8 generations is 0.00%, for the ninth generation 2.69% and for the tenth 5.31%. So quite interesting to do something with.
Last Friday we also decided to rename Conaughey in Cranston. There were some problems with the pronunciation and Simon had come up with the name Colossimus for the little boy. I didn’t think it was such a nice name. Cranston also suits him well and since the ears are only just open he can get used to it right away. So they are now called Callaghan Argyll O’Cockaigne and Cranston Argyll O’Cockaigne.
Weighing is slowly becoming a problem!
The resemblance of Cranston and Cearrean is striking. Cranston has a large white left frontfoot and Cearrean had that on his right hindfoot, the chest spot is almost the same, Cranston’s is slightly wider but of the same shape. Also in terms of head shape and physique, they are not inferior to each other.
Callaghan will most likely become more like Vision.
Meanwhile, the eyes are open, they start to play, both with each other and with toys.
From now on it will all get a bit busier, of course they will play more and soon they will waddle out of the whelping box. Mother Vision is also taking things a bit easier with them, so we will soon be messing with porridge!
Brandir and Bernice, 8 years young.
Yesterday Brandir and Bernice turned 8 years old and despite Brandir’s Cystinuria and mild Cardiomyopathy, he is still doing wonderfully! Every day he plays with Cearrean and is still in charge of him. He does not miss a walk and still fully enjoys life. Bernice is also still very fit and active.
Up to 9 years, must succeed.
Today the puppies are 10 days young and Callaghan has tripled his birth weight + 51 grams, he weighed 1086 grams this morning. Conaughey has been taking it a bit easier in recent days and now weighs 1390 grams. He can no longer be picked up with one hand. The colour difference is becoming increasingly clear, I wonder what this will be. Vision was very light as a puppy so maybe Callaghan will be like that, I don’t know. I have not yet had this colour in one of my litters.
In the meantime they occasionally show a bit of playing behaviour, the eyes almost open and the standing is also getting better, but they are too thick to walk, top heavy, they roll over immediately.
Vision takes good care of them, they shine that it is a sweet treat and only once a day a fat bed goes into the wash. Something different as back then with 11 puppies, the washing machine kept running!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Nimloth Bernice, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Seven day’s young
Today has been a week since we were surprised with the birth of Conaughey and Callaghan. Surprised in this sense that we had not expected them yet. Meanwhile, both have doubled their weight since yesterday, Conaughey in the morning and Callaghan in the evening.
This morning Conaughey weighed 1073 grams and our little Callaghan 766. They are really fat! But despite that, they are already starting to stand on their feet and try to walk, which of course does not work.
Yesterday I took DNA and sent it to investigate if there might be one from Argyll. I hope to get the results next week.
Mother Vision meanwhile goes out of the whelping box without coercion and occasionally goes to my bed next to the box or to lie outside in the sun. She usually only keeps this for 10 minutes, then she wants to go to her puppies again but at least she is relaxed and tries to enjoy everything.
A few more days and the ears and eyes will open, how fast it goes!
In the meantime, personal care has also started; the nails started to get pretty sharp so they have been updated with the Pecute. A kind of dremel especially for dog nails. With cutting you always have sharp edges and with this handy, small device you can file these mini nails nicely around. Of course Conaughey was struggling and since he can no longer be held with one hand it was a difficult job. Callaghan, on the other hand, had finished the pedicure in a curse and a sigh.
They are quit different, those two.
3 days young
They were born three days ago; Callaghan (… ..) and Conaughey (… ..). I have not yet decided which name, but when I look at the characters I think that ‘the little’ Callaghan and ‘the big’ will be called Conaughey. Yes, and whether something will be added in the brackets remains to be seen. In the very near future, I’m going to take DNA to see if either has Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden as a father. I hope so!! ‘The little’ has a good chance, he has the same chest spot and amount of white on the feet, he is not so coarse and heavy and not very dark in color, but … all this says nothing. So wait and see!
The size difference was big and it still is. ‘The little’ is doing his best, but ‘the big ‘ is doing better and drinks twice as much! So they do go about the same and gain weight in proportion. ‘The big’ weighed 626 grams this morning and ‘the small’ weighed 427 grams, I wonder what they weigh tonight.
In the meantime we also have to enjoy the beautiful rhododendrons that growing in our backyard. Usually we are away during this period and we miss the best moments, not now !!
The walks with the hounds was also enjoying the past week; a large pool has been excavated in the future horse meadow, the hounds love it and with the nice weather there are many doggy-friends to run around with!
Time for the game “fishing candy”. Cearrean had some problems with it, but people learn by doing and in the end it went perfectly.
Simon is just doing odd jobs in between and is helped by Cearrean. Cearrean finds everything interesting and exciting and wants to be around all the time.
And meanwhile I sleep, hang and sit around the whelping box. Vision is a fantastic mother and keeps the puppies clean, they shine that it is a sweet treat. She is also very careful, she does not just get up and turns around on command. Fortunately, that all goes perfectly!
In short, …. everything is very enjoyable!!!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
Wait a while longer … or not!!
It is quite a busy time at estate O’Cockaigne. Young life is sprouting everywhere! The trees are green again, the plants are in full bloom and three young Faverolles were added last week. It takes some getting used to for them, we still have to help them in and out, but they learn that quickly.
The tits are also busy with their nests and the blue tits that nest in a wine box are already feeding.
In the meantime, we are doing the last chores. The whelping box is standing and Sonja came last Sunday with Vision, Bernice and Lita. Cearrean loves it and regularly tries to play with Bernice, which occasionally succeeds. Lita is his stepmother, he sleeps with her as a puppy, now he often follows Lita like a shadow.
And Vision… she is in the whelping box. It takes some getting used to for everyone, especially if she is also fed there.
You can feel the puppies moving and they will probably be born today or tomorrow. Even more young life! An exciting time, I will keep you informed!
And while I have almost finished translating this post, we hear Vision beeping. We jump up and go to her. To our surprise, there is a puppy without any pressure or panic, with a minimal temperature drop!
A sturdy boy of 480 grams who immediately crawls to a nipple and starts drinking.Exactly one and a half hour later, at 1.20 pm, the second puppy is born. A small fruit of 345 grams, also a male! After a little struggle, a lot of rubbing and often putting on, the boy starts to get stronger and the nipple does not let go. The difference between the brothers is big, but the smallest does everything to catch up with his big brother! Whether it works…. ?
It is going well for the time being, Vision is also doing well and cleaning her children. She is, so far, a calm, loving mother. To be continued!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Nimloth Bernice, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
All disadvantages have their advantages!
Now that Simon is more at home because of the Corona virus, all kinds of jobs are being tackled, from small to large. It started with cleaning our terrace around the house. A big job as it takes up quite a few square meters. I also raised some potholes in the pavement and the gaps between the tiles had to be filled again after the cleaning. We spent quite a few days with it.
For Cearrean we put out the “outdoor bed” after we gave it a new coat of paint. At first he pretended that he didn’t like it at all, but when I went to see where he was after fifteen minutes, he was lying princely on “his” bed.
In between jobs, you can enjoy the freshly flowering plants. And every year there are more and more wild violets and forget-me-nots, delicious!
Between the nose and lips I also made some new ceramic pieces. The intention was to take it to Tüttleben and Donaueschingen but due to the C virus these shows are canceled. Now the hounds stay in their boxes until next year.
I also plunged into my “Kennel nameplate”. The old board with the letters and head on it was completely rotten so I made a branch of a birch that we recently cut down into plank, covered the letters and the head with a lick of paint and hung it up. It looks great again !!
In recent days, Simon has cleaned and repainted two walls of our house and of course you have to clean the windows! Also such a job that takes some hours because a small 80 m² glass is not cleaned in fifteen minutes. But it is really improving!
It is nice that everything will be ready before the puppies are born, the whelping box is up for grabs and will be put together this weekend. All supplies are in house and Sonja will come on Sunday so that Vision has a few days to get used to it.
Meanwhile it has rained a bit, delicious! This afternoon I took a long walk in the drizzling rain in a free-range area. The hounds have had a great time and have been rinsed clean again.
Our “estate” also looks fresh and fruity again !!
Yippie!!!
After Sonja had an ultrasound on Vision last week and only one puppy was seen, we could not be very happy about this. I saw the drama of a C-section and the growing up of only one puppy, all over again.
But… .. this afternoon another ultrasound was made on Vision and then two embryos appeared! That is already 100% better!
It was very difficult to see anything very high in the belly, so maybe another puppy will turn up in due course. Let’s hope that but it is certainly very nice that two puppies are coming. They are expected around May 7.
Despite everything, enjoy a little
The last days it was very nice to enjoy the sun again. After all that rain and cold wind, the hounds loved to lie on their stretchers in the sun. Cearrean preferred to keep scratching around, you sleep at night, not during the day!
Just like everyone, for us there is nothing to do. Everything has been canceled, the crowded agenda is suddenly completely empty. Now we hope that Vision is pregnant, then I have at least enough to do. We’ll know more in 15 days!
Posted in 2020, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
A new year, new opportunities.
It was already clear last year that this would be a busy and fully planned year. Also, the plans that we had with Vision, many planned events in which I would participate, could fall into the water. And so it will most likely happen.
The first event, the DWZRV-Sieger coursing in Tüttleben in the weekend of 29-2 / 1-3 was taken care of by Simon and Maarten and so we left on February 26, packed with lurecoursingmachines and an aggregate towards Warstein where we would spend the night. When we arrived at the campsite we ended up in the wet snow and mud, a cold and dirty start. But the next days the weather was not too bad and we could even occasionally enjoy the sun. Cytaugh was also allowed to participate and did so successfully! She became second of the 10 entered hounds while she is still in her afterseason. The men had laid out a nice parcours of over 900 meters and it was clear that many hounds were not yet in top condition, many slowed down after 500/600 meters. But the hounds enjoyed it and that’s why we are doing it. It was a nice weekend, a bit chilly and an occasional shower but all in all good to do.
Unfortunately Sonja could not be present with Vision as Vision was in season. And since it was intended that Vision would be covered, Sonja was very busy driving back and forth to Hannover to have the progesterone determined. Of course Vision took it easy and only after four punctures Sonja did get the green light on Wednesday 4 March to drive her to Frankfurt for the mating with Fortheringhay’s Faerwald Fable. This mating took place on Friday, March 6. Then on Saturday, March 7, Vision was inseminated with the remaining frozen semen of 29 years old from my first Deerhound male Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden.
So now we have to wait and see if Vision is pregnant, we will know at the beginning of April. So it will be an exciting time again and hopefully a few fat puppies will crawl into the whelping box in two months.
Posted in 2020, Lure coursing, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed
The last day of a bizarre year
It’s that time again, another year has passed, a year with few ups and many downs. It was actually an anniversary year; started 40 years ago with Irish Wolfhounds, Deerhounds have been running here for 35 years and 20 years ago I did an exam for Deerhound judge. You do not notice anything of this, life just continues.
In the 40 years that I have seen both the Irish Wolfhound and the Deerhound, I clearly saw both breeds change. The Irish Wolfhound earlier and stronger than the Deerhounds. But today the vast majority of Deerhounds no longer resemble how they used to be; they have become almost normal dogs – smaller, steeper in the hindquarters, flat to even sloping back lines, large ears, straight noses, flat feet, tails that are too short and the greatest lack (due to the aforementioned points) is the breed typical movement.
I very much wonder where it goes with the Deerhound and whether the tide can still be turned. But as long as the breeders themselves do not see the mistakes of their hounds and think that they have beautiful specimens at their leashes, it will not improve.
I hope that next year will be a better year. To start with, I hope that a complete and healthy O’Cockaigne litter will be born again. The plans have been forged and the initial preparations have been made. It does have some feet in the ground again, but we are happy to do that. To be continued.
Then I hope that Brandir continues as he does now, he will be 8 years old in May. And Cearrean, yes, a chapter apart, I hope his second testicle will also descend completely, he is on his way! Fortunately, he has become a little easier and milder in character and he is starting to become a bit “shapy” again. And for Cytaugh, I hope she can do many coursings.
And for everyone who follows my site a little, I hope it will be a good year!
Cearrean Argyll, one year young
Today, Cearrean became 1 year old. Last year, right after his birth, when you picked him up, he crawled into your sleeve now he has to lash my trousers every evening. He no longer fits in a sleeve with his 46 kilos, but his nose still fits in a trouser leg! He has become a bit firmer and I have to say that he is gradually starting to look better. His knee is still a problem, he is still thickened and painful after playing and running. But yes, keeping him calm is really not an option, I have never had such an energy bomb!
He plays a lot with his mother, the harder the better. Grandpa Brandir is still in control of him, but Brandir is increasingly struggling to ‘lay him down’, Cytaugh still succeeds. After all, Cearrean needs to know who’s in charge!
Furthermore, Cearrean is very strong minded. If he doesn’t want something, it doesn’t happen. The only way to bribe him is with cookies, but if he knows what you’re up to, and he doesn’t like it, you can forget that too. He is extremely smart, learns quickly, sees everything and is very good at manipulating. He prefers to spend the whole day outdoors, scrape around, dig a little bit, gnaw twigs and especially watch. Watching birds flying over, the squirrels in the trees, the workmen at the neighbours or the chickens (also nice to scare). He is never bored!
Cearrean is one who needs a lot of time, certainly another year or 4, for the time being he is still ‘puppy’!
Posted in O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Chidish
22-3-2015 Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden 1-9-2019
Last week, September 1, our Chidish was hit by a cardiac arrest.
At the end of a beautiful course that he had ran with Cytaugh, he fell dead at the finish. Because of the way he fell, the alarm bells went off right away and when I came to him and put my hand on his heart, I felt that it was no longer beating. He also didn’t react to anything anymore, he was already completely gone.
For him a wonderful death because he loved to do coursing but it is in and in sad that he could only enjoy his life again for such a short time. After the operation on his toe in mid-March, which went super well, he rehabilitated for a long time to make sure that he may and could do everything again.
At the end of June, during the holiday in Denmark, he was off lead again for the first time and he enjoyed it to the full.
After this his condition slowly rebuilt and he did his first short piece of coursing in early August in Donaueschingen. This went well, his toe remained intact and Chidish was very happy. The following weekend he did the coursing in Lelystad and here it was as usual. He was super fanatic and ran beautifully.
In the meantime, he started to play nicer with Cearrean and built up a good condition. During the walks he was also very active and enjoyed the contact with other dogs. He thought everyone was sweet and nice and preferred to be in the middle of such a large group of dogs from a dogwalking service.
We are now a week further, the loss is huge. Chidish was a huge teddy bear and came many times during the day to get a hug, he preferred to be in my neighbourhood and always lay or stood in the way. He enjoyed everything; liked showing, always recognized his people- and dogfriends everywhere and lived for coursing. We would never have expected that this would be his death, but the moment he said goodbye to worldly things, he was happy.
This was not the only setback in the past six months. One of the other reasons that I did not stay “up to date” was the “testicle problem” with Cearrean. At the beginning of March we had the idea that both testicles had come down. Very small but noticeable. In mid-April only one small ball was felt, after this it only became smaller and ultimately nothing was left of it. Of course we visited different specialists and finally decided for hormone therapy. To keep a long story short; Unfortunately, hormone therapy did not help, one testicle was atrophy and it appears that the other is still in the abdomen
. What we thought that was his second testicle is still a mystery. In short … I have been quite “sick” of it. Not only because he can’t go to the shows but mainly because of the DNA loss. The chance that someday something will be born from the remaining semen that is still stored in Utrecht is very small as the quality of that leftover is not very good. Saving sperm for 27 years is not something you do for nothing and when something like this happens it is very sad.
Cearrean also ran, in a racing game with his mother at the end of April, against a pillar of our house and thereby damaged his knee so much that he was no longer allowed to run and play so much. If he did a little too much, his knee would bother him again and he would cripple. Yes, and tell a puppy that he should take it easy.
Now things are finally getting a bit better, but he has adapted his way of walking and standing to the sore knee. Cearrean is now almost 9 months and already has a height of 80 centimeters. With adapted food and exercise, I hope that it will eventually work out well, because the aim is that he can move freely and happily.
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed
An emergency with Cearrean
At the end of the morning on Wednesday, Cearrean walked around a bit and came to lie on a bed behind me with a piece of paper in his mouth. When I wanted to take it away, he didn’t think this was a good plan and 
struggled against it. After I got it, he looked at me with black eyes and walked into the room. A moment later he returned with the wing of the dragon in his mouth. This is a rough piece of fabric about 10 cm long, 3 cm wide and 3 mm thick. I looked at it, decided that this was not good, wanted to take it away and … swallow, it was gone.
Since Cearrean is only 15 weeks old, I thought this piece of fabric was just a little too big to leave the body naturally. So urgently to the vet. After administering an injection and waiting a few minutes, his total stomach contents, including the dragon wing, came out. After this he received another injection against nausea, but Cearrean felt really sick the rest of the afternoon. At the beginning of the evening he did eat something again, but it was not really heartily yet!
Found: the gene for hairlessness in Deerhounds !!!
Tuesday evening I got a very excited Marjan de Raad on the phone who told me that they found the gene for hairlessness in Deerhounds.
Research into this problem took place in both Canada and Finland, but the University of Helsinki was the one to come up with this great message.
Marjan contacted the professor from the University who told her that the hairlessness test is likely to be available in America and Europe in mid-April.
The research showed that 12% is a carrier of the hairless gene, so it is advisable if you have a Deerhound from the lines in which hairlessness occurs or have produced, and you have plans to breed with it, to have it tested for this as well as his / her partner.
You can read the entire article at:
https://www.helsinki.fi/en/news/life-science-news/a-bald-gene-finding
A weekend at RONO-strand
Last week I had the caravan in front of the door and lugged full of what one needs. Cearrean bravely helped and he jumped in and out of the caravan as if he were used to it. Thursday 21 March, late in the morning, we left for Een where the Spring-Coursing would take place at RONOstrand. The trip went well and Cearrean behaved exemplary. In that regard, he is very easy, he thinks everything is fine as long as he can be there.
Cearrean was very amazed with all the dogs and of course had to greet everyone and everything. He does this with quite a bit of noise which I find very annoying but it is difficult to tell him off because he must like the other dogs.
Friday at the start of the afternoon we went to the ‘Nienoord Estate’ in Leek. Nostalgia! The hounds that we have now never run on Leek, but Cearrean’s father, Argyll Bryan from the Market Garden, ran his first coursing here in 1989. He was already 5 years old then! In the years before, he had already done several demonstrations and funcoursings, there were hardly any competitions then.
Nienoord has changed over the years; a lot of trees and shrubs have been felled, it looks bare, especially now that everything is still without leaves. The ice club has placed poles in the middle of the terrain and in the summer sheep are walking around. So if WvCNL wants to hold a competition there, they first have to remove the posts and fill in the gaps. Nor does the terrain seem to have improved in terms of holes and potholes. It is a shame but we have many wonderful memories of Nienoord. It was a great time!
Back on RONOstrand, Cearrean was the first to have a piece of “coursing”. Of course I had a real fur for him, that makes it extra exciting! And although he goes super fanatically behind his mouse, he still had to get used to the fur that just “ran away” over the sand. The first time it went a bit uncertain but the second time he went after his hare confidently.
He certainly enjoys the game and hopefully it will stay that way. 
It was Cytaugh’s turn on Saturday. She was the only Deerhound entered because Chidish had an operation on his foot a week earlier, so she ran alone. I didn’t mind that because it was for the first time after her broken thumb and after the birth of Cearrean. It was clearly visible that her condition wasn’t the best, the first part of the course she ran beautifully but halfway you saw that the loose sand was troubling. But she had enjoyed it and her toe had remained whole again, that was the most important thing!
When, after a long pause, I wanted to prepare her for the second round, we were told that there was no more coursing. After the first round it turned out that a Whippet (from a very important person) most likely had broken his toe and it was thought that the cause was a stone because they found quite some stones in the sand. (But of course it could also have been a pulley.) This is of course ridiculous because those stones are always there and the soft sand with the stones never caused problems. It is also true that if you walk across any random coursing field, you will find stones, crown caps, plastic spoons, glass fragments and so on everywhere. This is unavoidable and never actually causes a problem. What was much worse was the coursing field of the NKC last year. Almost 3 of the 5 dogs rolled over there, I don’t know how many dogs got injured, Cytaugh broke her thumb there but do you think they would stop the competition? No of course not!!! And what about the grounds of the EKC; in Pouch (Germany) the entire area was full of broken glass, in Hungary the coursing area was more hole than field (by the ground squirrels) and in Italy the fields were littered with boulders of all sizes! (An Italian Greyhound has been killed as a result of crashing into a block.) No, canceling a game because of a few stones in soft sand I think is really going too far, I don’t have a good word for it, next time we will run on a billiard cloth! How do we ruin the coursing ?!
Posted in 2019, Lure coursing | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden | Comments Closed
3 months young
Cearrean received his Rabies vaccination today. Now he is completely done with vet visits. Not that he found it annoying, quite the contrary! It made him very happy every time he saw the vet coming. Also on the scales and on the table is really cool because what a delicious cookie they have there! Tomorrow he will be 13 weeks young and now weighs 19 kilos, he is very sturdy, is still growing evenly in height and is nice and straight on his feet. In terms of character, he is already softer, barks less and he knows in the meantime that he is not allowed to bite my hands, which hardly ever happens.
Cytaugh and Brandir can have fun playing with him. Brandir is 
usually the first to play outside with Cearrean after the morning meal and roams around a bit. Then he wants to go back in and Cytaugh goes out to play with Cearrean. This is going very well, she is doing very carefully and challenges him to follow her when she gets a racing convulsion. Of course he cannot keep up with this and then shorten the route. Fortunately, Cytaugh looks carefully where she is walking and when they meet, she jumps over him. It is beautiful to see but I still hold my heart every time. But yes, Cearrean has to learn it all, also to avoid mother Cytaugh.
Chidish also starts to play a little more with Cearrean, but he has to determine the rules; if Cearrean is too cheeky, he will be strictly corrected!
In the evening he wants to be cozy on the boss’s lap. There must be played with a toy because he no longer hugs.
Cearrean now eats everything; of course the normal jerk of ground meat with vegetables and supplements and also whole sprats, pieces of chicken carcass, chicken necks, whole day-old chicks and everything that the pot scrapes. He is definitely not a difficult eater!
Posted in 2019, O'Cockaigne Estate | Tags: Cearrean Argyll O'Cockaigne, Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Cockaigne Cytaugh van de Meirse Weiden, Nimloth Brandir | Comments Closed
Crufts
On Friday 8 March, Sonja, Vision, Chidish and I left early in the morning for Birmingham, Crufts. The journey went well to the French border, then the misery began. The French had turned off road sections and this caused long traffic jams with similar waiting times. Extremely annoying! Fortunately we had left very early and had a significant margin. Luckily the check of the hounds at the Eurotunnel was super fast and we arrived just in time for our check. But the French were consistently bullying and every car had to open at passport control. This of course took forever and people who went through the check after us missed their train. Fortunately 
we were just in time and had the planned crossing. When we arrived in England we could only continue for a short while, then we ended up in one big traffic jam towards Birmingham. All roadworks made sure that we arrived an hour later than planned in the pouring rain at our hotel in Leamington. After walking with the hounds and bringing the stuff upstairs, we first started drinking a well-deserved beer. Delicious, such an English bitter!
Saturday morning we got up early again, I walked quite a bit with Chidish and Vision and Sonja lubricated the sandwiches. After breakfast we left and with half an hour we were at the NEC. First, 57 Pharaohounds were tested before it was the turn of the 98 reported Deerhounds. This gave the opportunity to greet acquaintances, to talk a little here and there and to be amazed about a non-Scottish who walked around in Scottish clothing and also showed his Deerhound in this clothing. Something that really cannot go wrong and many people were disgraced.
Our judge was Mr. Ken Aird, the judge that made Chidish BOB two years ago during the Jahresausstellung in Volkmarsen. So it was quite a bit exciting. But it soon became apparent that the inspections were very different from those in Germany; the placements were surprising to say the least. There was no line in terms of type or movement; everything was placed together. Chidish was fourth in his class (8) and Vision surprisingly second of the 12 reported bitches.
In the end, in our eyes, it was definitely not the best male and female and the veteran male, who was showing his age, won Best of Breed. That was Crufts, for the time being we are not going to go again, especially after it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot. Fortunately the return trip on Sunday went very well and we were back at the beginning of the evening.
Posted in 2019, Abroad, Show | Tags: Cockaigne Chidish van de Meirse Weiden, Pyefleet Vision | Comments Closed