Life with us at Cuckavalda

WOW - We have over 18k followers and are quite blown away so thank you very much . It was Jacks birthday yesterday but just another day in our world until we went out to Westow -the Blacksmiths Arms . Quite apt really as Jack was born at Westow- not at the pub though 73 years ago . How the years fly and the days are now rolling into Summer and before we know it will be "backend" again . We try to give you insights into our lives and thank everyone who sends us photos of how their puppies which turn into adult are doing . Here is a bit more of day to day life here at Cuckavalda .

Thank you to everyone contributes to making our lives here at Cuckavalda continue going on with yout lovely photos and updates .

New life ...

2 years ago we lost our 13 beloved dogs but they say every cloud has a silver lining . Our silver lining came in the fact that 2 weeks ago we had a litter of 6 beautiful fox red Labradors and this week - 4 days later so we were on tenderhooks a litter of 9 a mix of black and fox red Labradors. Another twist to this story is the mother of the mixed litter was concieved just a week before we lost the others . We had bred her mother and sold Sky and her brother as puppies to a lady who then came back to us use one of our stud dogs. We then bought 3 black girls out of this litter as we were worried we would lose our lines to keep out blood lines going. Jack calls them all Willow but there is Chloe who really is now called Willow , Sky and as she was black in colour and at that time the skies felt really black and Abbie after Byland Abbey. The first litter now have their eyes open and crawling about ,the second litter are just like tiny puppies are drinking and sleeping. So apologies to all of you who are waiting to see the puppies. Time seems to go by so quickly. One is already earmarked to go to the top of Scotland . The people have had 3 already from us but sadly lost one and have been very patient waiting for this litter to arrive. They got their last in lock down so it made for us a nice trip out to meet the lady half way. We had to pass a red squirrel area on the way but unfortunately didnt see any but it was a nice ride out,

Happy New Year with news from America

Occasionally we do a google search to see what is happening in our Cuckavalda World to see where our dogs are and what they are doing now and their offspring . So it was interesting to read this from Mississippi Ross is his nick name, His Kennel Club official name is Cuckavalda Yorkshire Teal who is a FTW - He is the result of a lining between Copperbirch Winnebego - Rollo and Jakoranda Moment which was our orginal Tina. Born back in 2014. This is what his owners say about him Ross is a Fox Red, Field Trial Winner that we imported from England. He has 30 Field Trial Champions and 11 Field Trial Winners in his five generation pedigree. His confirmation is excellent. he has a wide head, wide shoulders and an otter tail. Ross has an excellent nose and as evidenced by his natural game finding ability. He has picked hundreds if not thousands of birds and rabbits in the United Kingdom. Ross is a welcomed addition to our breeding cadre.

His daughter is USA Gemma Gemma Red of Muddy March “Gem”, is a fox red bitch that was whelped here at the kennel. Her sire is FTW Cuckavalda Yorkshire Teal “Ross” and her dam is Mossy Oaks Daisy. Gemma is representative of the British standard, she has a wide head, wide shoulders, and an otter tail. In other words, she has excellent conformation. She is steady to shot and fall and fast out and fast in on the retrieve.

Feeding Times for Pups

When someone rings up at 7.30pm and when I say Jack has gone to bed people think how strange. So here is a run down on what a typical day is at this time of year when Jack is working on the shoots. To go through his whole day would make for far too long a blog so we will take this a bit at a time. So this is all about Feeding Pups No excuses Jack has always got up early when he used to ride the horses as he would go out before the traffic got busy on the roads, but in the shooting season he still gets up early as it isnt just turning up at a shoot with some dogs. There is work to be done before he goes and when he comes back. Anything in between Anna is responsible for at home, even though as many of you know her preference is to her beloved Duchess who is her cat who is tottering up to 20 years old. She has had experience with dogs for over 60 years . She will be the first to say she isnt a dog person -meaning she will never have the expertise that Jack has as he works effortly with 12-14 out on a shoot or having the whole kennel under control at home. But how many people can say that in any case, she is able to look after dogs as well as the next person and probalby doesnt take credit for what she knows and does. We start weaning pups gradually from their mothers on small feeds 4-5 feeds a day until they are fully weaned to 3 times a day by the time they leave us. We feed them Skinners Chicken Field & Trial Puppy And as the company says ....is a complete dry puppy food, specially developed and formulated to support the early growth and development of puppies. Generations of puppies have been reared on Skinner's Field & Trial Puppy and it remains a favourite with breeders. Skinner’s Puppy is carefully formulated to ensure the correct level of key nutrients are provided in a highly digestible form and the kibble is of a size and shape to suit puppies of different ages, shapes and sizes! It is ideal for weaning puppies onto from approximately three weeks of age. Field & Trial Puppy is also a suitable food for pregnant and lactating bitches, to support the growth and development of puppies, before and after birth. We always soak feed and would always recommend that you do the same. For a puppy to gobble dry feed down and then when it mixes with stomach juices we dont not feel is a very good way . To begin with the biscuits are soaked in dry milk powder and as they get older introduce the water we boil our own vegetable in ...vegetables are not just good for humans but for animals too just not onion water. Back to feeding times again Jack likes to feed them regualrly so within 24 hours in a day he likes to do it as near to an 8 hour cycle as he can . This is why his first job in the morning is to feed any pups we have around 4am or just after . Then it is 11.30am feed and their last feed is at 7.15-30pm in the evenings before he goes to bed. When new owners take their pups home we encourage the spacing out of feed times, but this may be on a different scale of time say 8am 3pm and then later in the evening. This should fit in with the owners daily life but what we are saying is spread it out as evenly as you can . When puppies leave for their new homes we do not like them to leave within 2 hours of being fed as they would probably not have digested their last feed and consequently sick it up. This is not something we like to think the pup has to do through. When a time is arranged to pick your puppy up and the arrival time has been delayed we would like to think you bare this in mind so we can work around it so all the litter is kept happy. When puppies leave at 8 weeks old they are quite capable of waiting for a feed and it does not have any determent effect to their well being. We would recommend you do not feed a pup immendiatly on your journey home but wait 30 minutes to an hour to give it time to settle in and also for the kibble to be soaked. If we have a newborn puppy -and up to 3 weeks old and feel it needs supplimental feed this is done every 2 hours whether it be day or night. When this occurs we share the feeding. Jack starting at 4am and 6am and sometimes even 8am then Anna takes over for the rest of the day and probably cat naps between the 2pm and 4pm feed and tries to go to bed at 12 midnight but has to set an alarm to get up at 2am. And so the cycle starts again. Over the years we have both had sheep and done lambing times on both our farms so know what is entailed when your have animals and they need to be looked after. There was certainly a different in flock size as Jack would be lambing around 2000 sheep with Anna a mere 400 at their peak. This has put us both in good stead of how to look after animals.We use Tommie Tippie bottles as they have a little air vent in them and mum usually finished the milk off as we make new batches each time.

The youngsters are coming on nicely

Not everyone wants to buy a puppy at 8 weeks old . Work and time can play a big part in this so we tend to "run" some of ours on until they are about 6 months to a year old so they have learnt basic commands and like children know how to behave to a degree . We are lucky to have lots of space for them and adventures where they can explore and open their minds but not "blow' their brains .Some people expect too much too soon and this can lead to an adult dog not been as laid back as you would like. This year we look to be having more youngsters coming back while their owners go on holiday or have to go away for a few days with work or a weekend celebration and dont want them to go into kennels . Jack has had dogs for more years than we like to remember ,but when you are 70 years old you have learnt a thing or two along the way. We always say any dogs we bred can come back for their holidays. Bitches preferably not in season. We think the pups/dogs like it too to meet up with the 'gang. It is like summer camp for them. Here are a few photos of the youngsters we have on at the moment .Please note not all would be availble to buy

New additions to the Cuckavalda Gang

Our #FridayFavourites making them #SaturdaySpecials as these are the ones we are building back up our Cuckavalda Gang .Heeling up already with Minty in charge Youngest cockers are 7 weeks old . We were very touched that when we lost the 13 dogs in the accident that people, some we didnt even know got in touch and offered to give us a pup from their litter .It was just not one person but many .People were so kind and we feel so humbled by this and will never forget it.As much as we were truly grateful for their offers, we needed to keep our own blood lines which made us who we are today. So Peg and Molly the cocker spaniels have given us Lucy,Blue and Twig .You will see 3 black Labradors too These were not actually bred by us but we bought them from the lady who bought a Cuckavalda Labrador from us 3 years ago and had just mated her with one of our stud dogs the week beofre the accident happened. We were keen to jave some as Guy is the grandfather, he was one who died. So as we started with 3 fox red Labrador pups many years ago we now start 20 years later with 3 - Well it was going to be 2 but Anna came home with an extra one as it seemed only right as a nod to the orginal 3. 2 have collars on as trust us 3 black Labradors are very hard to tell apart. So here we have Chloe- who we didnt name.. and Sky and Abbey. You will also see Minty out with them and Lucy too. We have to look to the future.

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Good Golly, Miss Molly

Good Golly Miss Molly .. not just #FridayFavourite but Anna's whole time favourite . Molly is the granddaughter of our original Molly. She is also Minty's mum . Last week she went to Grace Lane Vets in Kirkbymoorside to be spayed as she won't be having any more puppies. We have kept Lucy to continue the line and hopefully when she is old enough we will keep one of her pups which will be called Molly. The vet,unfortunately,found a lump and so she had to have that removed at the same time,making it a double operation. She was very sleepy for the rest of the day, but next morning she was up and about and hunting around in the grass to see what she could find. She has the most amazing nose and if there is anything to be found ...including food , she will find it . Molly is now up and about and just being Molly... Everyone needs a Molly in their life. We dont know what Minty will think when she comes to live in the house as Minty has prime position at the moment and is totally spoilt. People comment on how skinny Minty is, but she gallops about most of the day. Jack and Minty have a routine and she can tell the time even though she doesnt have a watch. She is up at before 4am and goes out for the last lap round the field about 8pm but she does have naps co-inciding with Jack's naps too. Although for the last couple of days they have been watching Ascot on the television.

Tragically and more..... Kindnesses from people we didn't even know

You may well remember seeing a post we put up on Facebook back in the middle of February and since then life has been little more than a blur. This is what it said "It is with a heavy heart, we would like you to know . Cuckavalda Gundogs have had a tragic accident around 4pm yesterday . A tree blow down taking a powerline of 11k vol with it which fell on the kennel block which electrified the runs. Unfortunately 13 dogs lost their lives. A full investigation is underway by Northern Power Grid . [That is what they said on the day] Jack ,Anna and Tom would like to thank everyone who have shown their concern and given help. And to Grace Lane Vets for coming out . At this time there is so much to do and things to sort so we ask that you do not telephone . This photo was taken only last week and very few of the black Labradors are still with us . There will not be a #FridayFavourite this week as we remember Cockers Troy Olive Labradors Guy, Goldie, Port, Dill, Dora, Rick, Cora, Polly, Tilly, Ivy and Rose RIP you beautiful creatures - all taken far too young - Aged between 7 months and 6 years" We are now into April and only last week on the 8th Friday did Northern Powergrid send 15 men out to fell 19 trees which had been looked at in Jan 2021.Then it had been deemed too dangerous to take down without having the power disconnected. Had this been done earlier we would still have had our beautiful dogs. Another factor was that the trip did not trip off. This meant that the wire was still live and endangering the dogs who were still living. Jack was very heroic, and himself very lucky he did not die along with the dogs. He got a pitch fork which had metal tines and stabbed them into a 5 litre container, the sort you get car wash fluid in. He then lifted the live cable, which was still carrying 11k volts, above his head for over 30 minutes until Anna went down the village and brought Kevin the elctrician back. He had just been in hospital and was on crutches, but he came down. He suggested we got a dry tyre and lay it on the metal run to earth the power.Jack carefully slid the plastic container and the pitch fork on to the tyre so he could step away from it. The container was about 14 inches across and as it was so windy was only about 2 inches from been blown off as he had managed under us saying tilt it that way a bit, not the other etc into the middle but the weather was against us. There were sparks and flames jumping across the yard and it was a very scary time. There has been many nights of unbroken sleep and plates of food uneaten as we try to come to terms with what has happened . We have been comforted by acts and words of kindness . Over 56k comments which came in so quickly from all over the world Anna couldnt keep up to thank people of which there was over 4 millions viewing on Facebook alone. The computer basically locked up. Flowers came in from all around the globe and cards and letters. Offers or help and suport have helped so much. It was approx 8 weeks from the accident to when the trees got took out so the dogs we had left had to be in temporary accommodation. They all adapted well and give Jack a reason to get up in the mornings. You can read on Cuckavalda Facebook page what has been happening since that fateful day but we sincerley hope our future posts will be more upbeat. Minty has been a God's send as she is Jacks shadow and trot after him. They have deep conversations you wouldnt believe !

Our #FridayFavourites as we wave goodbye to them all now .

They were delightful to watch them grow but we cant keep them all so they have now gone to their new homes. Cocoker spaniels are little children all their lives ,they never seem to grow old. Do they grow wiser we ask. They are the happiest little dogs and their tails never stop wagging.

A sad day

Often we post photos of how puppies and dogs are getting on well but sometimes it isn't all good news and this afternoon we heard from some owners that Roxy had passed away She would soon have been 8 . It is surprising what a large gap it can leave in people s lives when they have their pet pass. Sometimes it takes a long time before they feel they can replace it .
We had never lost one young until we lost Quozzi -when she was 3. Of all our dogs she was the one we thought the most about. We hand reared her and she lived despite the vet not really giving any hope for her.It is years ago now but we never forget her. Daffodils comes up in Spring where she is buried  and dandelions in Summer and when it gets to winter we think of all the days picking up she is missing .  The first photo is her squashed in with some pups born at the same time as she was .The last photo was her proudest when she retrieved her first pheasant.

From the news desk

It is always nice to hear from people who have bought pups or dogs from us.
Some it is their first one they have got from us .Some people buy two at once and now over the years people are on to their third .
As Jack spends a lot of time with them before they go it is nice to see his time and effort is rewarded by these dogs coming with such wonderful recommendations.

Jack rarely answers the phone and as you know on the phone to those who have managed to speak to him is a man of few words. Different when you met him face to face.
You will never get any responses from him via the computer or social media - he thinks a mouse is what the cat brings in and he doesn't even have a mobile phone.

So I am afraid you will always get me in any reply to an email -Anna - and sometimes when I have to juggle all the jobs I do - my bed and breakfast ,keep an eye and cook meals for my dad who is 96, I am on the Leader board project for the NYMNP and a board member at Welcome 2 Yorkshire and project leader at Helmsley Walled Garden so please bear with me.  And sometimes I have to go to London to awards or to Westminster for meetings about tourism and the Northern power house  .And that is something that Jack would not like to do at all .

But we work as a team and when they says horses are for courses we should maybe be changed to dogs for courses ..

I dont get round to doing blogs as often as I should but do appreciate all the emails you send with lovely photos of your canine friends.
So here are a few to keep you going.

Supper time for 5 day old Cuckavalda Labrador puppies

Labrador pups tucking in ...

....and not a Yorkshire puddings in sight. The weeks are flying by and the pups are gradually getting on to solid foods and depending less on their mother.We like to get the pups fully weaned at 5 weeks old . They will be then be fed 5 times a day before they go to their new homes they will be done to 4 meals a day.

Cuckavalda Red Caz and his sister Nelly

Just thought you may like to see the pedigree of our latest stud dog Cuckavalda Red Caz. He is already a proven sire to 8 pups born the other week .His pedigree is outstanding and very much up to date as far as names in the FTCH world goes. Billy Steel's FTCH Copperbirch Paddy of Leadburn who has been in the running at the IGLS for the last year is the sire. Paddy is half brother to Rollo our fox red stud dog .Their mother was the famous FTCH Ernvale Maud of Tudorcourt -the top retriever in Ireland in 2008. She features twice in his pedigree as she is also granddam on the dam side of Cuckavalda Jilly June's pedigree. We think it is easier for you to look and study the pedigree for yourself.Jack got a bit carried away with the red amrker but you can count at a glance 37 FTCH in the pedigree. Jill herself will not be having any pups in the foreseeable future as we are happy she is learning her way around the shooting field first before settling down to have some pups.

Minty - on her arm chair

Minty, the little chocolate cocker spaniel has a different idea on what we class as an armchair. She sits on Jacks arm. She is one of Flake's pups who has been brought up by us since 2 weeks old. Her brothers went last week and soon she will be going to the vets to be checked over and then be looking for a new home. She was reared on goat milk but now prefers to have what we have. So Jack leave a bit on his plate and she woofs it down.She really likes cheese,chicken and apple pie and custard. Her main playmates are our kittens. They all play togeterh very well and are very patient with her as she is getting to be a little minx. Chasing their tails and hanging on for dear life. She had a rough start but is certainly making up for it now

Pups ready to go

This weekend we have had Labrador pups go to Northumberland,Cumbria and the little fox red girl is on her way to France. As you know we are keeping a fox red dog for ourselves / There are 2 black dog pups unsold if anyone is interested as people have given us back word . Just give us a ring for further details. If they are not sold in a week or two Jack is going to keep them. If they turn out like Tara,Hidi.Blade and Finn we will be glad that we kept them but as you know we cant keep them all. Here they are out with Jack . Even now at 7 weeks old they are already heeling up and following him and picking up and carried little twigs in their mouths.