I can’t believe it was the beginning of September since I last wrote my blog. I seriously don’t know where the months go.

Some of you would be aware that we have had several attempts to get Ebby pregnant. She is my GSD. She was scanned not in pup after her last mating in September and I was thinking hard about what to do. Then out of the blue she started to drink and wee lots more than usual. I suspected a pyometra and took her to the vet with a urine sample. This was clear so we had a  blood test. This came back negative for any infection, the only thing abnormal was her calcium level which was high, this can be indicative of a tumour, somewhere.  Anyway to cut a long story short she had full body xrays and scans, more blood and urine tests, but all of these came back negative, except for this high calcium level. Our vet was wonderful, thank you Alex, but she was struggling to give a diagnosis. After she did more research and speaking to a veterinary cancer specialist we decided not to have a referral for a brain scan and bone marrow biopsy, as Ebby had been through enough tests.  Anyway the good news is the improvement to date is wonderful to see. Her drinking and weeing are back to normal and she looks really well, has loads of energy and is loving  herding the Munsters on their walks!  She is back to normal, how long for who knows, but long may it continue. 

The upshot of this is she will not be bred from so I have decided to have another Shepherd puppy. I have booked a puppy from Hilary, the lady that owns John. He is the long coat boy that I had chosen for Ebby’s husband. The mother to be is a beautifully bred girl with 2 of my favourite dogs in her pedigree, Zamp vom Thermodos and Ice vom Steinhauerberg, and to top it all a long coat. I am so excited so fingers crossed everything goes to plan.

While on the topic of puppies Mandy my partner in Yorkshire had a lovely litter from her girl Esther , the father of which was Oscar whom she bought off me almost 5 years ago !! Chris and I drove to see the litter when they were 5 weeks old. This was Mandy’s first litter and she should be so proud, they were beautiful. I felt really envious. She has retained a bitch puppy “Poppy” and she will hopefully come out in the show ring next year. I think she enjoyed the breeding experience as much as me and hopefully Crumpsbrook will go from strength to strength. “From little acorns mighty oaks do grow” . Here’s to a successful 2014 for us. 

Chris and I genuinely love hearing about the exploits of our puppies ,so many of you are brilliant at keeping us up to date. Please keep the photos and updates coming. We hope to see 2 of our babies over Christmas one from Cassies second litter who lives  in Yorkshire whom we have been invited to go and visit ,the other Jas’s sister from Cassies first litter, is coming with her parents on a visit whilst on route to friends. We always feel so proud of our puppies when we see how they have grown up .

Some of the pups are making appearences at a few shows, which is lovely to see .We still have plans for Jas next year to have a liason with Dougie,which is exciting. This litter will be our 4th generation of Munsters and all being well this will make Willow a great grandma.

We are always willing to have visitors here to meet our Munsters and we have had quite a few families being Munstered recently,such a lovely part of breeding dogs. Don’t forget we will be at Crufts in March so try to come and see us there. We are competing on Sunday 9th and I will be manning the Munster stand with various dogs on Thursday 6th.  

Finally for this year, enjoy Christmas with your doggies and I wish you all a brilliant 2014.