The Cajus x Lotte puppies are now 5weeks old and have been registered in the Dutch kennel club and their official pedigree names have been approved. Let me introduced the magical creatures to you in order of birth:

Later this week we will post some cosy action pictures. For now a huge thank you to Arista Fotografie for the beautiful photos.

All pups are still thriving and growing well. They have started to play with eachother and with us. Mostly it involves biting and attacking, but luckily they do also still cuddle with me.

Here are some lovely photos taken by Arista Fotografie:

Thank you very much Anita !!

All puppies are doing well – Lotte had a bit of an energy collaps as eating all the pooh from 8 puppies had upset her stomach. This resulted in us deciding to start offering the small ones solid food a bit earlier than anticipated. They love their new food and by doing so Lotte had some more space to recover. She is now back in full service shape.

We are very busy providing the first stimili in order for the pups to obtain socialization. This week we have introduced tactical surfaces such as toilet gravel and a silicone mat. Alongside that the first scent of game has been introduced as well.

Here are some photos of the past week:

The little ones are exactly 3 weeks old now and it was time to make a little portrait of all of them: in order of birth

Are they not gorgeous & flatastic ?

♥️ 💜 💙 💛 🩷 🤎 💚 🖤

The 8 puppies of Cajus & Lotte are thriving and so is mom. Here are some photos from the past week:

What a blessing it is to have 8 puppies & a mama dog who are thriving. It is sweet and wholesome – boy what is this experience special.

Here is an impression of their first week:

As we are settling into a new daily routine the smell of small baby puppies and the unbelievable sweet sounds from the birthing box are touching our hearts and souls. I am living out of coffee and oxytocin I believe 😚.

How can I otherwise, look at these sweet pups:

All puppies are thriving and Lotte is eating and drinking like a builder to keep up with the production 🍼

It is with great joy that we can announce that the Flatastic B litter has arrived.

Deep in the night on the 22nd of January Lotte had a textbook welping process and delivered the absolutely perfect nummer of 8 puppies in 5 hours:

Males: 🖤🖤🖤🤎

Females: 🖤🖤🖤🤎

We are deeply in love with the beautiful puppies who are very lively and strong.

Lotte is doing very well – she has a strong maternal instinct and Kaspar and Rumi are only allowed to have sneak previews around the corner:

The puppies are gaining weight and enjoying the service of mummy, meanwhile we have contacted all future owners bringing them the good news.

Our B litter is called “Flatastic Beasts” inspired by the J.K. Rowling film “Fantastic Beasts”. Attentive followers may have found the hidden clue on our mating announcement already.

Thank you Yvonne for providing outmost professional medical and emotional support throughout the welping process. 🖤🤎

As we are entering the 8th week of the pregnancy of Lotte things are getting busy here at Flatastic headquarters.

Getting everything ready and feeding our sweet girl several times a day whilst still caring for the other dogs, communicating with possible puppy buyers and doing our regular stuff on the side. One thing is sure – breeding puppies is not a “walk in the park”.

Even though we are busy setting up for the B litter I manage to take many moments to cuddle up with the future mom. She is so sweet and she enjoys all the attention. Since this week we can feel the small puppies inside her belly moving and kicking. They are very lively. Lotte seems somewhat bothered by the strange feeling of the puppies and she gives me a certain look of disapproval. She is getting tired of the weight load.

Hopefully everything will go according to plan when the little ones arrive.. after birth we will reveal the theme of our B litter.

Through the years of experience bringing my dogs out to retrieve at different hunts I have gained a lot of insight how they work and how I can handle them. Having full attention on the dog and the retrieve allows a very effective execution of the work.

This past winter season certainly changed the game for me as a handler completely..

Being focused with my own gun and a dog or two at the same time is really not the easiest job – especially when there is a lot of action. My dogs do not need a lot of encouragement to fill in any blanks or use opportunities so to speak..which has cost some of their steadyness and calmness. Enough work to do over the summer to reinstall these skills.

Having said that – I realize that being out in the field – especially being an inexperienced hunter – we rely on the game finding abilities of our gun dogs to minimize suffering and to maximize the harvest of Mother Nature.

In my opinion Flatcoated Retrievers are the best in finding game – wether it was a mark or a blind. The will use their nose and will power to continue.

We really enjoy being out in the fields, I love witnessing Nature and observing the flora and fauna. Doing my best to harvest in the best possible way – a clean and deadly shot and if that does not succeed as wished I am glad that the dogs are quick and work efficiently. But the whole goal of me hunting is not merely to “enjoy” the outdoors. I notice that obtaining my own meat created a deeper and more profound respect for living. I am developing a bigger sense of value of what I take from Nature. Meat is no longer something I buy without notice of the fact that an animal lost it’s life for me to eat. I also like the fact that the meat me and my family eat has come out of animals with a very good well being. Here are some pictures of what deliciousness came to our table through my dogs good work and my own efforts to obtain my license. Of course none of this was possible if it was not to the generosity of the hosts. Thank you so much Lieuwe, Piet, Frank, Roel, Gerlof and Lars.

Finally I would like to share some beautiful pictures of our Dutch nature:

Thank you for a Flatastic 2024