Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!!!!! The holidays are here and we love to celebrate with presents, cookies and of course Santa. All the Braques this past month went for pictures with Santa, they had a great time and got an great picture. We have also had a very busy month not only with Christmas but Ace has graduated from level 1 of agility already and Ivy has gone into season, early, which means it is time for breeding.

What to do when hunting is not an option?

With the arrival of November comes the arrival of winter, we already have snow on the ground here in northern Ontario.  With the arrival of winter means the end of hunting season; Braque Francais don't like the end of hunting season.  This comes the more difficult question with a Braque Francais, or any hunting dog for that matter, is if the dog is not hunting what do they do? Everyone who hunts has to admit that there is only a small window for hunting season and not a lot of time each year for training, especially in cold climates like here in Canada.  This means that you end up with a high energy dog all year round with only a limited amount of time each year for the dog to use it's energy and natural ability. This is where we run into issue with the dogs becoming board resulting in them getting into trouble and being sent to back to us.

The fact is that there are options too keep the Braque Francias happy and their energy requirements at need and believe it or not walking your dog everyday is not the best option.  I am not saying that you should not walk your dog however if a Braque Francais was to only be walked everyday you would have to walk the dog about two-three hours twice a day to tire them out and have some piece and quite in the house; believe me I have been there. If the dog is only walked what you will end up with is hours and hours of this:

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone, today is Halloween and here at Safron Kennels we like to celebrate. Ivy, Piper, Ace and even Moby got into the Halloween spirit this year. This year my husband dressed up as a fireman and of course no fireman costume is complete without a Dalmatian, however since we only have Braque Francais here Ivy had to fill in.

Friday October 30, 2015

Fall is here, which means a change in the colour of the leaves, cooler weather and our activities are being moved indoors. However we are still keeping active with our Braque Francais in a health clinic, hunting and agility.  The fun never stops when you have a Braque Francais type Pyrenees.

The health of our dogs is very important to us here at Safron Kennels and we take as many opportunities to check our dogs health as we can.  This past month we took Ivy and Ace to get their eyes and heart checked by specialist veterinarians. Although in the Braque Francais they do not have eye or heart issues that we know of we still like to make sure they are healthy and clear none the less. This was Ivy's update for her eyes and heart and she came back perfect eyes and perfect heart, just like last time. Ivy now has clear hips, eyes and heart we could not ask for anything better health wise out of her.

September 30, 2015

September marks the end of an active summer and the beginning of a fun filled fall with our Braque Francais.  We have had a great end to the summer with Ivy in her fourth agility competition, Piper getting ready for her next hunting test, Ace getting his cast off and starting his foundation agility class. We are very please with how this past summer went and are hoping to continue the fun.

Ivy had great success at her fourth agility trail in September, she had great runs and was able to get a Q in starters jumpers.  Not only does this mean that Ivy is half way to moving up to advanced she is over halfway completed her starters gamers title.  We are very proud of Ivy and look forward to more agility success in the future.

Monday August 31, 2015

Well it has been a very busy August here at Safron Kennels with hunting competitions, agility competitions and a new member joining us.  Piper did her Natural Abilities test in Ottawa for the second time, Ivy had a successful agility competition and we welcomed our newest member Legacy de L'Arpon du Diable, nickname "Ace" all the way from France.   However even with all this activity the dogs still find time play and relax in the yard.

Meet the Newest Member

Meet the newest member who has come to us all the way from France! Legacy de L'Arpon du Diable, nickname "Ace", has finally joined our family on Friday morning. See him just arriving in the early morning:

He had quite the journey from France first he flew from Pairs to Chicago where he had a layover, however at the layover they noticed that he was limping and had to go to the vet.  They did an x-ray an found that he has a very small surface fracture on his tibia however he was banged up well and was able to complete the rest of his journey to Toronto.  Below you can see that he was very happy to be home snuggling in bed:

Monday August 3, 2015

We have a new look for our news feed!!!! Welcome to the new look for our news feed at Safron Kennels, you can now follow us, leave comments for us and check out older posts.  Following us will make it easier for all our readers to keep up with the latest that is happening at Safron Kennels.  You can see below that Ivy and Piper are happy with the changes.

July did not go as planned at Safron Kennels because both Piper and Ivy went into heat at the same time. This meant that we had to cancel all our competition plans and wait for the girls to finish their heats because they cannot run if they are in season.  However we have still continued with agility training and hunting training on our own, below you can see that Ivy and Piper don't seem upset that the plans were changed:

Saturday July 4, 2015

The month of June has been pretty quit here at Safron Kennels which I am not too surprised at because we needed a break after all the activity in May. Good news though Piper has completely healed from her injury from last month, we have continued to get the girls out hunting training with N.A.V.D.A and we are planning to re-take the Natural Abilities test with Piper in August. However you can see below that the girls did take this past month to relax as much as possible:



After we finally got Piper to stop pulling out her staples Piper healed very quickly and nicely. Piper needed to wear the cone for a couple of weeks while her cut healed and now her hair is starting to grow back. Although Piper did not seem to mind the “cone of shame” Ivy did not like it because it made it too difficult to play with Piper. Ivy was very happy once the cone had been removed and our two girls played like crazy as if they had been separated for months on end. Below see Piper relaxing after a long play with Ivy:



We have been to two hunting training events this past month with the girls and they love every minute of it. Ivy and Piper are starting to have their own challenges though when it comes to training. Ivy loves loves loves birds so much so that she seems to feel that she doesn’t need to hold point and doesn’t want to listen to the woe command. We are working on Ivy diligently to encourage her to hold point just ans as long as she doesn’t catch them (so far she has not caught any birds) she will get it, already she seems to be flash pointing some of the time. Ivy is on the other hand is doing great water work at first Ivy wouldn’t enter the water and now she is doing 20-30 foot retrieves at a full swim. We are very proud of her, keep up the good work Ivy! Below see Ivy taking a rest in the sun:

Wednesday May 27, 2015

The start of the summer is finally here and the fun has started full force at Safron kennels, with agility and hunting events almost every weekend. Ivy and Piper have been very busy; Ivy has attended two agility competitions with great success already getting a Q. Piper has taken a hunting test, which she was, a superstar at as well as turned one year old this past month. The girls have defiantly been enjoying the summer so far look at the smiling face below:



Happy Birthday Piper!!!! Piper turned one year old on May 3, 2015 and she of course got a party (don’t remember if I mentioned but Ivy also had a birthday party last month in April when she turned 4). Fun was had by all the dogs except Ivy thought that there wasn’t enough cake. Below you can see pictures of Piper’s birthday party filled with cake and presents. Also Happy Birthday to all of Piper’s litter mates (Ivy’s sons and daughters) from last year who also turned one (Aimee, Belle, Brooklyn, Buddy, Dixie, Hatley and Moby).

Sunday April 26, 2015

Spring is in the air (for the most part) which means that here in Canada we are starting our outdoor activities. This means that the Braque Francais are beginning hunting training, hunting competitions and agility competitions. Hunting training has started and since the last post we have attended two more training days with N.A.V.H.D.A. and done some training on our own time. We are also continuing training Ivy and Piper for agility Ivy’s skills are so good now that she is going into her first competition. The Summer months are going to filled with many events and competitions for Safron Kennels below you can see how excited Ivy and Piper are to get started:




We have been to many hunting training days with the N.A.V.H.D.A and the girls have loved every minute of it. Ivy is doing great with the pointing exercises she is learning to hold woe on the table and heal on the leash like an expert. When she is on real birds though she still wants to try to catch the bird rather than point at it however at the last session she did manage to hold point for a second, this makes us hopeful that her training will pay off. Below take a look at Ivy’s success in hunting training:

Sunday March 29, 2015

Sorry for the delay in this post but it has been very quiet here at Safron Kennels what with the incredibly cold whether we have here this winter. However with spring finally around the corner we are able to get the girls out and outside again. We are please to say that we have started our hunting with our Braque Francais yesterday we went to training session with the girls that was put on by the NAVHDA (North America Versatile Hunting Dog Association). First Ivy had an introduction to the birds; you can see her first sight on a live pigeon below:





Ivy was very interested in the pigeon the next step was to see if she would point at it naturally. When Ivy went out into the field her obedience that very good coming to the whistle every time and listening very well. She was very interested and found the pigeon traps and when she signaled the pigeon was released she chased the bird with lots of enthusiasm. It was then Pipers turn to be introduced to the birds, see below Piper's first experience with Pigeons:




Piper seemed very interested in the pigeon as well, then she had her chance with on the field to see how she would perform. Piper still only being 10 months old was very happy in the field running around for the first pigeon she was more surprised then chased the bird. By the second bird she was running around again but then when she smelled the bird she went into full point, a very good start for our puppy. We will definitely continue to take the girls to training days at the NAVHDA for this year and maybe hopefully enter them in a test. The girls are also hunting for squirrels in the yard they have already gotten two this year below you can see the girls in action hunting the property line:

Saturday February 7, 2015

During this past month at Safron Kennels there has been a lot of activity; we went to an agility practice match with the girls with great success. Additionally Ivy has already gone into season (a month early) however we have decided not to breed her this year after all instead we are going to focus on titles and promoting the breed with the girls this year. Also Ivy and Piper have been able to find time to relax in a Braque Francais favorite spot; on a bed in a sun beam.



This past month we went to an agility practice match with the girls, we were going to a competition however Ivy went into season early so we will not be going after all. They always go into season at the most inconvenient time, however the practice match was a great success Ivy and Piper had lots of fun. Piper is of course is still a puppy and still learning....she doesn't know all the obstacles...however she had a fun time running over the jumps and playing with the equipment. Ivy on the other hand ran the agility courses very well below watch a video of Ivy running the jump course at the match:



Play Video

There has been also been plenty of time this month for playing together. Ivy and Piper love to play with each other in the video below you can see one their play times together:

Saturday January 3, 2015

Happy New Year!This past month has been fairly quiet at Safron Kennels for the dogs, what with the holidays. The girls have had a few agility classes but they do stop over the holidays are are anxious for it to being again. The dogs did however has a great Christmas with lots of presents for them to open. We have many plans for the dogs for the up coming year, we are planning to attend more dog shows, attend agility classes and competitions, we are planning on having puppies this year and hopeful have the girls get out there hunting, below you can see how excited the girls are for the up coming year.



Every year at Christmas the dogs get presents, Ivy how is now experienced at Christmas knows how to open her presents by ripping the paper. This was of course Piper's first Christmas so we were wondering if she would pick up how to open presents. The dogs every year get a visit from Santa and this year was no different when it came to open Santa's gifts Ivy grabbed a gift, ripped it open to reveal the toy inside. With Piper we started by showing her that the paper can be torn she then grabbed the present and ripped up the paper and getting the toys inside. Piper then went nuts with the gifts to the point that she couldn't open them fast enough she would grab a new present open it half way then go to the next one. Of course Ivy was around to finish the job that Piper left behind. Below you can see that Piper decided to relax after opening all her presents.



The new year is upon us now and here at Safron Kennels we are planning on the dogs activities. We of course will continue with the agility because the Braques love it so much and Braque Francais are naturally very good at agility. We are also planning to attend more dog show our goal is to get more points on the girls towards their championship and eventually finish both girls. We are also planning to hopefully get the girls out their with hunting training, this has been a personal challenge for us to get the girls out hunting training because we have not been able to find a trainer. All trainers that we call that are close by what us to send the dogs to them for several weeks, I will not send my dogs away for training. Other trainers that will allow us to train with the dogs are very far away for us to travel. We have done some at home and both Ivy and Piper have shown amazing natural ability, took to birds very well and are not afraid of gun shots. Below Ivy is in the hunting spirit by modeling a camo tuque. If you or someone you know know someone who can help us find a trainer or know where we can get hunting trainer for our girls please contact us.



We are planning on breeding Ivy next spring in 2015, our last litter was very successful with lots of interest. If you or anyone you may know is interested in the 2015 litter, have any questions, would like to meet our wonderful dogs here at Safron Kennels or would just like to learn more about the Braque Francais please contact us we would love to hear from you. If you would like to find would be a good fit for you and your family please take our small quiz by clicking here. We are encouraging everyone to share the Braque Francais will others please print off our brochure, which is filled with wonderful information about these lovely dogs and help to get the breed more known, to download click here.