Yesterday I had the pleasure of hosting a special guest at “casa Flatastic”. Aage and his wife Leanne and their two gorgeous flatcoated from Danish breeder Jiggers (Baku and Balder). Aage and I share many vision on the breed as he also knows the importance of connecting with people in order to maintain the best for our breed. One of my big wishes for the flatcoat is that we build bridges between our (European) countries especially concerning breeding. This could help maintaining the small genepool and allowing the breed a prosperous future. I feel it is a responsibility for us as breeders/stud owners but also the breed clubs to make it possible and not difficult to use foreign breeding material. So Aage and I talk a lot about things such as training and breeding but also on functional exterior. We ended the visit by taking some decent photos of our male dogs as we both realized that most photos were a capture of the hind quarters when our in the field. They are all fast dogs so we decided to do a quick photoshoot in our drive way. I am pleasantly surprised of how my “Italian” is finally building a bit of mass. He will never become a big male but despite his elegance I find him more and more masculine and well proportioned. He also had a new ECVO clear eye test and because we do not know exactly what caused the kidney failure of one of his siblings at the age of 1 1/2 (could be anything from a hidden bladder infection to a birth defect) – 9 out 11 siblings have had kidney check ups (8 ultrasounds and 1 bloodwork) including Lotte and Kaspar. A big thanks to the owners for being so cooperative. Lotte and Kaspar have both been looked at by a specialist and the whole breeding idea has been discussed in the light of the passing of Line. This resulted in a positive advice for breeding and this means from now on that Lotte – Kaspar and some of their littermates have green light. I am very happy that all my thorough work has resulted in a step forward maintaining working skills and functional looks. I am proud of their social skills and happy faces – they are self confident and free spirited too. So to celebrate this point in our time – I made a little collage of Kaspar. What do you think of it? Is he handsome enough to have puppies some day?
All credits for the hairstyling to Barbara Ras from Joyful Friends
Flatastic flatcoated retrievers 