on the 30th August 2009, the Scottish Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club will be holding it’s 50th Anniversary Championship show. The Show will take place at the Macrobert Pavillion, The Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, Ediburgh. The Ceilidh will take place on the evening of the 29th August, there will be scottish country dancers and live music. Start time is 8pm. There will be tasters and wine on arrival and also a BBQ and a live auction. Caravan accommodation will be available and can be booked through the Scottish Kennel Club from the 18th May onwards. Entry fee for the show is £15, subsequent entries are £1.50 and ‘not for competition’ are £3.  The Ceilidh cost is £28 per head.

On the 14th & 15th Nov at Earls Court 2 in London, the 2009 Discover Dogs event will be held. (10:00 – 17:00 both days). Now in it’s fourteenth year, Discover Dogs is organised by the Kennel Club in association with Royal Canin and is set to delight dog devotees from all over the UK, with new and exciting attractions alongside a range of traditional crowd favourites.

With over 200 breeds all under one ‘woof’, Discover Dogs is the ideal place to learn more about the pleasures of canine companionship, and all the other benefits that owning a pedigree dog can bring. The show is an interactive experience dedicated to every aspect of canine care, promoting responsible dog ownership and showcasing the diversity and talents of man’s best friend.

An 8 year old dog has touched the hearts of Argentines by saving the life of an abandoned baby, placing him safely alongside her own new puppies.

The country’s media are calling him “the miracle baby”.

He was born prematurely to a 14-year-old girl in a shanty town outside the capital, Buenos Aires.

She is said to have panicked and abandoned the boy in a field, surrounded by wooden boxes and rubbish.

Then along came La China, reports say, the dog which somehow picked up the baby and carried her 50m to place him alongside her own puppies.

The dog’s owner reported hearing the child crying and finding him covered with a rag.

The baby, weighing 4kg (8lb 13oz), had some slight injuries, but no bite marks. The owner called the police and the child is now being looked after by the authorities, while a decision is taken about his future.

The frightened mother appeared shortly after her baby was found.

The Argentine media has descended on the shanty town, talking of “the Argentine Romulus and Remus”, the founders of Rome, abandoned as babies and rescued by a wolf, nearly 3,000 years ago.

La China, worried about her own puppies, is reported to be petrified by her new found fame, and her owner says he is worried that she is not eating.

Four people have been arrested and four pitbull-type dogs seized following a series of co-ordinated raids across Teesside and Birmingham. Several addresses were raided by the RSPCA and police officers from Cleveland and West Midlands investigating organised dog fighting.
Two arrests were made at Bordesley Green in Birmingham, with one each in Stockton and Middlesbrough. The dogs – some scarred – are in RSPCA care awaiting veterinary checks.

‘Sickening behaviour’

As well as the arrests, officers discovered treadmills and dog fighting training records.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “The intended effect of this operation is to send a clear message to individuals that this sickening behaviour will not be tolerated.”

Ch Insp Mike Butcher of the RSPCA special operations unit, added: “People may think that dog-fighting has gone away, but that’s simply not true.

“There are still people who seem to gain pleasure from seeing two dogs ripping each other to pieces, so whilst those people continue to pursue their vile hobby, the RSPCA will continue to pursue them.”

When it comes to finding a pet sitter or dog walker it can be a bit of a mind-field.  Basic things to check for in a pet sitter are if they have public liability insurance and if they’re police record checked – both important if you’re going to be letting someone into your home whilst you’re away.  It’s also worthwhile checking if they hold and professional / trade qualifications and are members of any recognised pet service industry associations such as ‘Pet Sitters International’. Other things to check include business registration details and references from other clients if possible. If you’re looking for a pet sitting or dog walking company that fulfills all these requirements (and you’re in the Melbourne area, then give Melbourne Pet Minders a call. 

The Birmingham Dog Show Society, will be staging ‘The National Dog Show’ from the 08th to the 11th of May at the Staffordshire County Showground, Weston Road, Stafford. Show schedule details can be obtained from the show website.

The Cocker Spaniel Club will be holding it’s championship show on Sunday 13th July 2008 at the Three Counties Showground in Malvern, Worcestershire. Judges are:
Dogs: Mrs A Webster (Asquanne)
Bitches: Mrs M Coar (Cormara)

Show schedule and entry forms can be downloaded from the club website.

Just a quick post letting you know what to expect over the next couple of weeks.

We intend to add a page for Spaniel clubs to list their details, so just drop us an email with your club details if you’d like to be listed.

We’ll be adding an amazon powered spaniel book store.

We’ll be adding an events calendar to this blog which will details spaniel dog shows that are coming up, so again, if you’d like to add your show details, just drop us an email and we’ll place the details online.

Whenever a new website is launched, is always a balancing act regarding promoting the website to visitors and potential advertisers.

Letting advertises advertise too early, when the visitor numbers aren’t there leads to disappointment for the advertiser.

Conversely, attracting lots of visitors to the website, when there are no advertisers, leads to disappointment for the visitor.

This week, we started to inform breeders about the website and we hope we’ve found the right balance.

The website is progressing well in the search engines now and ranks highly for many spaniel search key phrases.

Visitor numbers for last month was 3328, despite not having publicised the site to breeders yet.

Having hopefully found the right starting point, we are now going to increase promotion of the website, attracting more visitor numbers and more advertisers as we progress.

We’d like to welcome you all top our new website, we hope you enjoy your visit.  The site is still in it’s early days at the moment and we’ve still to add various features such as spaniel club details, show dates and an amazon powered spaniel book shop. We’re also busy promoting the site at the moment as we continue to gro visitoir numbers and move further up the search engines.

For advertisers, we’ve got some special launch offer prices at the moment, further details can be found here