Our present family

Our past family members

Beginnings
Starting off with Great-Granny Heidi RIP (Oakash Lady In Red At Enigmai) who between 2002 and 2005 had nine surviving puppies, including Amber. She is then obviously followed by Amber RIP (Enigmai Lady Amber Selene), a Grandmother in her own right having successfully reared 17 puppies from five litters ~ one of whom is Lucy RIP (Enigmai Lady Iolite Jocasta) from her first litter in 2004. Sasha RIP (Tillington Chacha At Enigmai) ~ joined our merry band in May 2004 after a ten-month wait; she was an adorable Tricolour with extremely good colour distribution and is a credit to Mrs Pollard who bred her - and her seven siblings - 4 Blenheims and 4 Tricolours in total of which two of each were boys and two of each were girls - you couldn't ask for a better litter distribution than that. Sadly, after only three litters and eight puppies (one of whom was Willow) we lost her in the space of 2-1/2 days to a mystery illness.

When I originally wrote this page, the fourth member of the 'team', Lucy was, at the time, the only Tricolour bitch which we had been able to breed from any of the girls litters - which is why she is stayed with us. Thus, at that point in time, we had two Blenheims and two Tricolours. Heidi was a very mature matron, as you would expect from a Great-Grandmother, Amber was a bit more staid unless there was another dog within half a mile, postman, a binman....in fact anybody wearing or carrying Dayglo yellow or orange apparrel ~ then she would go to maximum volume to try and remove them from HER area. Sasha was the 'tea-leaf' of the bunch, and knew how to extract tissues/hankies from wherever and run off with them, and generally laid on her back for belly-rubs at every opportunity - especially when she knew she was going to be told off! Last of the 'Elders' Lucy Locket (as she was affectionately known) used to chase Sasha for the hankies and bones and generally do speed-runs with her throughout the house and garden, also known to lie on her back for belly-rubs at every opportunity but was just so laid back about everything ~ and used to see me off to work every morning at the door before my enforced retirement. Before her retirment in 2011 she produced thirteen puppies in five litters

Enter the 'Young Ones'
Jade (Pacchibei Sheer Magic at Enigmai) our Black & Tan puppy bred by Julie Webb of Pacchibei who joined us in March 2008. Absolutely adorable, into mischief and generally being a puppy at heart! Having seen how Sasha and Lucy did it ~ she also liked to do 'Harry-zoomers' around the kitchen and living room and thought it was great fun - age however took its toll. Originally it was with Sasha and Lucy then she liked to give the young a fright by suddenly deciding to play with them!. She proved to be a great alerter when Sasha managed to get some item of clothing by continually barking at her until somebody went to sort it out. Invariably you would find her curled up at the back of Trish's legs or somewhere in a group huddle - invariably it was with Amber, until she passed, as Jade came to look on her as a surrogate mum during her first season - totally integrated into the pack she was the mother of seven in her own right, but alas could have no more litters due to complications with her last litter which led to an emergency Caesarean and having to be speyed ~ but she did give us Crystal as a blessing. When Katie came on the scene in 2016 she would give her a good run for her money at least two or three times a day ~ much to Katie's surprise!

And now............
We have Willow (Enigmai Lady Adularia Echo) ~ Sasha's Tricolour bitch puppy. We have always said that the first female Sasha bred we would keep ~ we just did not think it would take us four years to get there! The oldies were not sure what to do about her always wanting to push in for a fuss and cuddles but most of the time they let her get away with it. Not a lot of choice really she liked to say hello and cuddle up to/on top of any other dog for naps on the couch. Invariably in her younger days she could be found playing high-speed chase with Lucy or Jade or generally investigating the garden in all weathers and escorting Amber up and down the ramp towards the end. Also a mother of fourteen puppies, she is extremely nimble at extracting hankies from your pockets - oh, and playing with everbody's puppies ~ even though she has had fourteen of her own. Then along came Crystal (Enigmai Lady Crystal Megara) ~ Jade's Black & Tan bitch puppy. We had to wait the extra year to keep a puppy because of the physical impossibilities of keeping one the previous year ~ for us, not Jade. Loves to dash around, fight with mum and say hello to her elders - who took great fright and would disappear rapidly away from this young upstart. I used to say "Just wait until she is more their size, she will probably rule the roost and cause great havoc with Jade and Willow." Now, she is just a petite sweet little thing with a great turn of speed who insists on mothering and playing with puppies ~ thankfully a trait she carried over when she had litters of her own ~ as she has had ten puppies of her own before circumstances dictated no more.

And now (Part 2)................
Along came Willow's daughter Ziva (Enigmai Lady Potspar Edesia) who is an absolute bundle of energy and who's main intent in life seems to be chasing and attacking/playing with her mum and Katie ~ not necessarily at the same time (but is frequently an option) ~ that is when she is not emulating her grandmother and either lying on her back sleeping or waiting for a belly rub. Used to be told off by Amber and vigourously by Jade so many times she had a healthy respect for her! That didn't stop her trying to get Jade to play however (and vice versa) ~ she just went about it with a lot more respect. Even Lucy used to catch her out sometimes by deciding to play chase and mouthing with the two youngest. Jade developed into a barker since the trauma of Crystal and Max's birth, also developing canine OCD as an adjunct of her operation, she learnt to quickly disappear down the ramp so she can have a good one and challenge all the local dogs to a barking competetion as well anything I had dared to move. Visitors always knew when they are welcome ~ Jade would make a fuss of them rather than bark at them!

And now (Part 3)................
Joining the gang came a little Ruby puppy from Wiltshire called Katie (Ticonjah Angel's Nectar at Enigmai). Settling in nicely she quickly developed the zoomer routine of back of house to front of house with toy in mouth and soon decided Willow was her surrogate mum. It is quite a regular occurrence to see Katie cuddled up asleep next to Willow, or alternatively next to Jade who surprisingly let her hang on her ears and follow her about. Poor Amber used to be herded by Katie trying to be friends until she could escape to her cage where Katie couldn't get her ~ she just developed her bark through the cage to looks of total disdain from Amber. Sadly Katie's last litter proved to much with medical problems necessitating an emergency blood transfusion and then speying to save her life she is a real live wire.

And now (Part 4)................
A Blenheim called Abbie (Raifkoa Desdemona At Enigmai) joined the madhouse ~ more energy than the rest put together she has settled in very nicely thank you. Not uncommon to see her fighting off Ziva, Crystal and Katie all at once (complete with the noise cannons) in the morning after their milk. She thinks nothing of doing the zoomer routine around the house and the garden with any toy in her mouth, getting bored with it and leaving it inside or out and getting another. Emulating Jade (after a fshion) who liked to turn the bed with toys in it upside down ~ not good enough for Abbie ~ she takes the whole bed for a walk from one end of the living/dining room to the other and back again ~ and sometimes out into the hall! When it comes to walk time in the morning the three noisiest by a large margin ar Abbie, Katie and Ziva! Sadly, now that Jade is no longer with us, it befalls Abbie and Katie to make the most play-fighting noise with more than a bit of help from Ziva. It really is amazing how little room there is on a four-seater sofa with Cavaliers about, never mind when 9 o'clock comaes around and I end up with one on each arm and one between my legs on the recliner whilst catching up on TV programmes!

And now (Part 5)................
2022 saw the advent of Abbie's third litter of which we decided to keep the littlest one ~ Oona. Now if you thought you had seen the most mischieveous puppy ~ think again. Sticks, stones, toys; even Trish's shoes need rescuing. Her second name is Pickfords ~ the puppy bed from the study is only occasionally for sleeping in the rest of the time it seems to develop puppy feet and (like mother) you can find it in any part of the house. When she wants a nap she can be found cuddled up to one of the seniors or on George the giant gorilla but her absolute favourite used to be the seat of Trish's electric wheelchair in the study when she has figured out how to get there. Now she is a bit older it is not unusual to see either of the gorillas moving from one end of the living room to other (7 metres!) and when she gets bored with them it is down to Harry the hippo to keep fighting fit or either/and Katie and mum Abbie!

Reviewed:~ Feb 2024