ATB

ATB
Welcome to the ATB blog "J & A's Brittanys" where we love to write about, share stories, post videos and pictures featuring our beautiful, well bred Brittany family bird dogs. With their established and recognized hunting heritage our dogs also measure up to the breed standard regarding health, appearance, movement, and temperament. Enjoy the stories of whelping puppies, tips on field training, bragging rights on accomplishments, sharing joys and sorrow, announcements and as the name implies - ALL THINGS BRITTANY! With a love of God, family, friends, and dog we welcome you.

Monday, July 23, 2018

J&A's Visitors & New Puppy Pictures

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We enjoyed another 'reunion' first thing Sunday morning when Sarah, Jason and their sons traveled down from Canada to visit with the Timeless Treasures.  When Sarah and Jason got their first pup from us their children had not been born yet so it was such a pleasure to meet them. They come from a family of farmers and they have their own goats and sheep so were well experienced being around baby animals. A rainy day, we gathered in the puppy room.  Both Toph and Holly were happy to have the company. Holly's pups especially enjoyed the time with them and we'll be looking forward to seeing this ATB family again in about 4 weeks to bring their new puppy home.

Last night I had fun trying (key word 'trying') to get some nice 4 week old pictures of the Timeless Treasures.  I have been putting them on the grooming table regularly so they are pretty use to it.  But getting them to stay still long enough to show off their nice conformation is quite challenging! I tried the trick of using baby food to get their attention for a split second.  It's hard to do on your own anyway and there were many outtakes!  I have a photo ap on my phone that works with my Canon camera for remote picture taking so I set the camera on a tripod and tried to do my best. At this point in time my pictures are mostly for identification purposes, putting a name with a particular puppy, but still it's fun to try to 'stack' them. It's good practice too as at least one of the pups will most likely be shown!

It was pretty easy to take pictures of the 2 week old Patriotic Litter who, by the way, were visited by most of their family yesterday!  Maryann, Alana, and Ayden watched them for us as we had to leave for a couple of hours.  I think the puppy therapy was good for all concerned.  The problem I have when taking any group of pictures truly is making sure I don't take pictures of the same puppy twice and evidently that's what I did with the group of their photos.  So it looks like Banner missed the photo shoot!  These pups are climbing out of their whelping box now too so John is working on additional modifications.  At least one of these pups will be shown as well so they are starting to get regular time on the grooming table as well.

The grooming table work is not limited to dogs that will be shown.  It should be for all puppies! I think it's just one more experience for them to be handled and manipulated, in a position that is out of their control. They will at times in their life be on an exam table at a vets and also they'll need to be groomed. Sometimes people say "oh I'm not showing I don't care what the pup looks like standing."  Well, I do care because each puppy should be structured well enough to have a balanced stance, learn where it's legs should go and be aware of their entire body.  And early on, it also illuminates any (unlikely) structural problems. I learned a lot about the importance of this practice through the DVD by Pat Hastings "The Puppy Puzzle".  And besides, when you're in a competetive event, hunt tests, or even in the field with pups first bird - you want your dog to look STELLAR in those braggin' rights photos!

What follows are the pictures that were taken last night.  The first group are the Timeless Treasures and the Patriots follow!
































I hope you enjoy these pictures!  Take care and God bless, John, Ann and All Things Brittanys

Saturday, July 21, 2018

J&A's Puppy Visits Begin

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Here's a few pictures from our first puppy visit today. Dan, Kristie and their sons  own 6 year old "Bolt" out of Treasure & Bullet's litter.  A wonderful family, we had the pleasure of meeting up at several dog shows when Bolt was a pup and also were there when he was working on his AKC Junior Hunter title.  The boys have grown up so much in the past 6 years and are looking forward to their new puppy. It was such an enjoyable time as the pictures will speak for themselves. The new puppy play yard worked out so well for the visits.  Holly was quite relaxed as she interacted.  At 4 weeks old the level of activity was not exactly exciting but everyone had snuggles and kisses!  This is a hunting family and Bolt has been a great bird dog since his first season He's traveled out of New England for some impressive wild pheasant hunts with Dan. I enjoyed hearing the stories too of the boys bird hunting. Needless to say when I learned they would like one of Holly's pups it made me very, very happy!  I'm not sure if I'll get pictures to share of every visit but wanted to share these from today. We have two more visits tomorrow and more scheduled throughout August.  Feeling very blessed.







Tuesday, July 17, 2018

J&A's Patriots - 1 Week Old

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Here's a few cute and random photos of the beautiful puppies of True & Toph at the age of 1 week old!