20th April 2019
A few weeks ago on behalf of Summer we sent out invitations to all the pups from our last litter to celebrate their first birthday with a puppy party. The response was great it looked like we would only be missing two of the pups, Marlon as he resides in Germany and Sam. Two others were a possible so with the replies in hand and with the date confirmed we set the plans in motion. Cari did all the hard work making the invitations, making up goodie bags and getting the food for all including baking a doggy birthday cake.
Before we knew it the day of the party had arrived and both Cari and I were so excited to get to see how the pups had progressed over their first year, with the van packed with supplies for the dogs and their humans our dogs were loaded and we set off to the field to set up.
We could not have asked for a better day and with the sun shining we set up a couple of gazebo's and decorated them to get into the party mood,
Jago the Black coloured Boy was first to arrive, He lives with Cari's Mum and Dad and is co owned by us, he was introduced into the show world at the same time as Autumn and is doing well and is consistently in the cards at the shows we attend with him, he has recently qualified for Crufts 2020
Before long we had 12 Gordon Setters on site and it wasn't long before they found the water, our Skye and purple collar Zoe were the only two that swam and they spent some time in and out of the water collecting logs that were being launched in for them. They had loads of fun and they made sure none of the other non swimmers were getting their paws on their logs either, they also did a great job in keeping the humans entertained too.
We had a great turn out with all but four of the pups making it to the event, but we did have a couple of additional Gordons and our English (Stormy) attend and they were Kirsty, (Skye's Mum) and Great Grandma to the pups owned by Frances Bastable and Buddy who shares his home with Erin. It was lovely to have them with us, we hope to catch up with Lola, Margot Flo and Sam soon.
Once we had caught up with all the puppy owners and chatted for a while Cari organised the food for all, to be honest we weren't sure how this would go, I mean having 13 Setters and a picnic was really a recipe for disaster, but all the girls and boys behaved really well, none of the dogs helped themselves to the food off of the table, but we did find our Stormy had sneaked into the food tent and was eyeing up the food.
Although some of the owners were slightly harassed for some titbits as you can see from the pictures, there is nothing like being given those puppy eyes followed up with a few Gordon Wooo Wooo's.
Cari came to the rescue by swaying their attention in the form of doggy treats, it was a good job we had a large supply too.
After the humans had their lunch we broke out the birthday cake, both Cari and I are a bit disappointed that we didn't get any pictures of the cake and also I was sure that I videoed the rendition of Happy Birthday but alas not, I did manage a few short clips of us dishing out the cakes to the girls and boys, as you can see it went down very well indeed. (Apologies. I can't seem to get the videos to upload but i'm working on it)
We did manage to get all the boys and girls together for a group shot finishing off the day.
All in all we and I'm sure the dogs had a blast, it was one of the best days for Cari and I, to be able to see just how the pups had developed into beautiful well made, confident young dogs. They have all grown up so well and we as breeders are just so proud of them all.
I will end my waffle now by saying that both Cari and I wish all of the litter continued health and happiness, we would like to thank everyone who attended and made this day so special for us. We look forward to meeting them again sometime.
Below I have placed a few more pictures captured on the day and we hope you have enjoyed this post.
Keith & Cari Whiting.
Above pictures are of Zoe. (Click the arrow for more)
More pictures to follow..