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IMPORTANT INFORMATION re. CRGV (aka "Alabama Rot") - click here to download.
CLICK HERE to download the Carolake New To Showing Guide for new exhibitors.
2023 - A stand out year with Bonnie in the ring, taking a 2nd at her first show. She then went from strength to strength, winning 9 1sts at Championship Shows, and Best Puppy in Breed at WELKS at only 7 months old. She gained her Junior Warrant at only 9 months old. She was Best Opposite Sex Puppy in Show at The Golden Retriever Club's Championship Show in June and was Best Puppy In Show at The Golden Retriever Club Of Scotland's "Guisachan Gathering" Championship Show in July. She had a further 18 placings at championship shows including two more Best Puppy Bitch in Breed. At open shows she was awarded 7 Best Puppy In Breed, 2 Best of Breed and 2 Reserve Best of Breed. Paris qualified for Crufts under Roy Maynard at Eastern Counties Golden Retriever Club Championship Show and Mimi was placed in both her veteran classes at championship shows.
2022 - This was a quiet year. Mainly Paris was in the ring and did very well - until a car accident on the M3 coming home from Southern Counties Championship Show (where she qualified for Crufts). Mimi shrugged the accident off, Paris was traumatized and has struggled to get over the noise and the fear she experienced. In September Mimi had her second and final litter of 3 boys and 2 girls. The blonde one stayed - Carolake X'Marks The Spot (Bonnie). In October Paris had a litter of 5 girls - it was a bit hectic for a while, but we got through it and all the puppies found wonderful homes.
2021 - With Covid still very present in the country all shows were cancelled until finally the first show held by Southern Counties finally kicked the season off. We have attended quite a few shows now with some nice placings and wins. Paris qualified for Crufts as did Connie and one of Summer's puppies is being shown and she too qualified, much to her owner's delight. Paris missed all her puppy classes and then dropped her coat. Now back with new clothes she is being lightly shown. On the 28th September Demi celebrated her 14th birthday there was cake!
2020 - Well that was pretty much washed out by Covid. We did about three shows and exhibited at Crufts and then the country locked down. Mimi was mated to Shinehill Snow Patrol and produced 6 lovely puppies in May. They made life bearable as I never leave puppies alone in the house and so staying at home helped us through the worst of shielding . With no shows or events we mated Summer to Calarose Shining Star. She produced 11 puppies in August, all almost identical. They were lovely puppies but a lot of hard work too. I kept one of Mimi's puppies (Paris) but Summer's all went to super new homes.
2019 A year of near misses John had a heart attack in March but thankfully recovered. Sylvie was mated in May and developed a pyometra. She spent 4 worrying days with the vets until a CT scan confirmed the diagnosis. She was spayed which meant we not only lost her litter we also lost the chance for any more, but again, thankfully, she too recovered. Fairly drastic hair clipping meant she had a very cool summer, but not enough coat to return to the ring. Mimi was mated in September but failed to conceive. However on the brighter side we had some lovely days in the show ring with wins at Championship shows as well as Best of Breed at several Open shows. Onward and upward!
2018 - A slow start to the year with more surgery to recover from - a new hip this time! Back in the ring by April with Mimi who has had an amazing few months of wins and placings at almost all her shows. Highlight of the year so far has to have been our trip up to Inverness for The Golden Retriever Gathering - where a record 361 dogs were photographed outside the ruins of Guischan House - the home of the Golden Retriever.
One of the puppies turned out to be a wet puppy (ectopic ureters). We called her Hope in the hope we could fix her. In December she went to The Queens Veterinary Hospital in Cambridge where she saw Laura Owen, an expert in this field. She did indeed fix her and Hope came home the very same day. She fully recovered. Once again I will repeat - If you find you have an EU puppy in your litter, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me and I will do all I can to help you through this nightmare.
"Designed" and bred by Lord Tweedsmouth on his estate they are recognised as a "Scottish breed". It was awesome to be part of the celebrations laid on for us by the Golden Retriever Club of Scotland. Lesley Kelsey and I took Connie and Mimi to swell the numbers - we all had a ball. More recently - September - Alice has had her second litter of puppies - 5 girls and 5 boys - we will be busy for the next couple of months rearing these lovely puppies.
2017 - A very bad start to this year with the loss of dear little Tumble - she is so sadly missed. Mimi has had an amazing 6 months in the ring culminating in Best Puppy In Show at Southampton DCS on the 15th February. On the 19th February she gained the final points for her Junior Warrant at Horley & DSS also winning Best Puppy in Breed and Gundog Puppy Group 4. Her Junior Warrant qualifies her for entry to Crufts for life. A 3rd in her class at Crufts for Sylvie cheered us up somewhat and Mimi continued to do very well in the ring as well. At the end of April Alice gave birth to her first litter - 4 girls and 3 boys - wonderful homes were found for all of them, all 3 boys going to previous Carolake owners. On the 30th June Summer had her first litter, 6 boys and 2 girls which meant we could fill the enquiries for boys unable to have one from Alice. I was thrilled by how many owners were prepared to wait for a Carolake. Sadly we said goodbye to Sara, our rescue Golden who had had two birthdays and two anniversaries of her arrival with us. She spent her last 2 and a half years comfortably with us, and is sadly missed. At the beginning of September John and I spent our 25th wedding anniversary in Canada and Alaska, a coach tour and then our first cruise - a wonderful break after all the work that comes with two litters! The year has ended as badly as it began - on the 30th December 2017 with very little warning we lost Bliss (Carolake Love And Kisses). She had an advanced and aggressive cancer close to her heart, her breathing was seriously compromised and the vets could do nothing for her. We put her to sleep as she was clearly suffering and not going to last more than an hour at the most. It has been the most awful shock with so little warning, but at least I was with her at the end. She will be a hard act to follow, bright as a button with a cheeky side to her, she knew her own mind, was clearly highly intelligent and had been a star in the ring. She had loved her picking up days and always led the pack out on our daily walk in the New Forest - I will miss her terribly.
2016 - I am delighted to be able to donate a trophy for Best SGWC Dog/Bitch for the Golden Retriever Club Championship Show held annually in July. With the help of Angie Cooper I found Lesley Pyke, a professional glass engraver, whose talents have produced this beautiful crystal artwork. I am absolutely thrilled with it, and I hope the first person to win it is as well. UPDATE - I am pleased to report that the Carolake Trophy was awarded to Linsey Dunbar with her champion bitch Linirgor Mimi JW.
On March 12th we sadly lost beautiful, loyal and loving Fancy (Carolake Fancy That). Letting her go was the hardest thing I have ever had to do, but letting her suffer would have been worse. I miss her so very much.
On March 13th Sylvie had her first litter - 4 boys and 4 girls. A sweet and caring mum she raised them beautifully and still mothers the two who remain. One is "mine" Mimi (Carolake Remember Me) named for Fancy, and a second girl has stayed behind
as she started leaking urine at 20 days. Ectopic ureters are, sadly, not uncommon in our breed and most puppies are found early on - maybe day 3 or 4. Many are put to sleep because of the complicated surgery, which may or may not work, and because of the huge cost of that surgery.
However, at 20 days I could not let her go and so have run her on in the hope that she can be operated on and restored to normality. If the operation is successful she will go on to a pet home. Her name is Connie (Carolake Ruby Tuesday) and her operation is scheduled for
the 22nd June 2016.
July 2016 Update As planned we took Connie up to Queens Veterinary Hospital at Cambridge University. Laura Owen admitted her for her procedure later that day. Connie proved to be ectopic on both sides 80% of bitches are I gather.
Cystoscopic-guided laser ablation is a minimally invasive alternative to surgery in layman s terms camera and laser! It s done up through the vulva, there are no incisions, no stitches, and for Connie the best bit was that she came home later that day with a bladder
that indeed was working as it should. After careful monitoring it was decided the time had come for Connie to move to her new home with Lesley Kelsey and Stori (Carolake Once Upon A Time). I am delighted to say that the treatment has worked and although sometimes there is a slight leak of urine,
Laura expects this to resolve when Connie has her first season. If you find you have an EU puppy in your litter, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me and I will do all I can to help you through this nightmare.
Our annual holiday to the wonderful Islands of Greece was completely ruined within two days when we received a phone call to say that Puzzle was seriously ill and had been rushed into the hospital. Despite all their wonderful care and attention it was impossible to save her.
We arrived home on the 22nd September after two horrible weeks of phone calls, texts, worry and lost sleep. I raced straight down to see her. An appointment with the vet the following morning, a long discussion about the awful consequences of trying to save her, and the
thought of all the pain that trying to might visit on her, I had to make the heartbreaking decision to let her go. Out on the grass, with the sun on her back, we (Lesley, Mel and I) said our sad goodbyes as she quietly drifted away from us. The white feathers I continue to find almost daily tell me she is close by.
She really was one of the sweetest dogs I have ever bred and owned and she deserved such a better ending than this. She is sorely missed at Carolake, not only as an excellent picking up dog, nursemaid to every litter of puppies bred here,
but also as our "bedroom dog", lying in wait to trip you up in the middle of the night should you choose to walk across the bedroom! RIP little Puzzle.
At the end of November 2016 Tumble shocked us by having four siezures in a month. Put onto epilepsy medication her condition failed to improve, although there was slight hope when she was clear of siezures for 14 days. After a cluster of
fits over the weekend and time spent in the hospital she was taken for an MRI scan on the 16th January 2017. The scan clearly showed a glioma tumour from which she could not recover. We made the sad decision to let her continue to sleep - at only
just 7 years of age this is a terrible blow for us.
My first dog was Cali, an English Setter. Although she had the sweetest temperament, she wasn't the brightest card in the pack.
I was given my first Golden Retriever, Brackengold Ghillie, by someone who couldn't cope with him continually picking up the childrens' toys! He just loved retrieving and I loved his
willingness to please. We sadly lost him at only 3 years old, but now I was hooked on Goldens.
When I lost Cali at 11 years old, I contacted Rex and Sybil Coward and before too long Brackengold Tasmin came to join us. Tiffany was the most biddable dog imaginable, she was never any
trouble and she gave us three lovely litters. I showed one of her daughters, Carolake Jemima, but she really hated being in the ring and so the two Cattrysse puppies joined us as our first
official show dogs.
In June 2000 I booked a Stanroph puppy and after a wait of seven months I finally took a call from Anne Woodcock to say that a litter had been born and there was a puppy bitch available for
me and so in 2001 Nina joined us. She has turned out to be the most beautiful bitch and I had some memorable moments in the ring with her. Her daughters Fancy, Heidi and Demi, and
grand-daughter Bliss, have all gained their Stud Book Numbers and they have followed in their dam's footsteps with some equally impressive wins in the show ring.
As well as enjoying my showing, I decided to have a go at Working Tests. My first season picking up in was in 2002/03, and in January 2003 Nina gained her Show Gundog Working Certificate.
Since then Fancy has gained both her Show Gundog Working Certificate and the Working Gundog Certificate in its original form - first on dummies and then on live game. Over time Puzzle
and Tumble have also joined the picking up team. Tumble achieved her Show Gundog Working Certificate together with a place in the cards at her first Working Test.
2022 Carolake Golden Retrievers
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