Missing my Tygs xoxo

Funny Tygger, always a joke!!

Today I am missing the most beautiful dog I’ve shared my home with. Well, aren’t they all beautiful in one way or another? This one was beautiful, inside and out. He had the most impressive the coat, like that of a Tiger, red brindle, shiney, tight and muscled. He was as gentle as a Lion.. are Lions really “gentle”? He was so caring and sensitive, what a sweetie! He was comical like a Bear… silly, funny, always smiling. Tygger was an amazing animal.

What a guy... silly smiles

Not a day goes by when I don’t think about what joy Tygger brought to my life. He offered that caring special feeling, knowing that someone I took such precious care of had the same caring appreciation to give back to me. He kept his very watchful eye on everything around me, my home, my heart and my friends. Tygger’s sensitivity was only slightly detoured by his job to watch over me.. his heart was so amazingly huge!!

Nothing's better than that sweet face of Tygger!

Tygger’s passing in 2009 was so very dramatic for my home, my heart in my stomach, the peaceful acceptance of his final comfort. I miss my Tygger. He was the most impressive Bullmastiff by all means. His structure was intense, his substance, physique, attitude, demeanor.. he was a Natural at being Natural.

I bred our Clara this year (2011) to Tygger’s sire, Blackslate’s Hot Shot, which produced our lovely girlfriends-of-superhero’s litter, Bulhaven’s Sweet Polly Purebred and Bulhaven’s Lois Lane. I couldn’t be any happier to have those little parts of Tygger in these no-so-little girls. I am excited to watch them grow and develop. If only they would grow up to be “just like their big brother”!!

Rest in Peace my Tygger, Bulhaven's Walking in Memphis (2000-2009)

I’m missing you Tyggy, especially today…

Rest in Peace. What a great life we shared together.

Stay Tuned!

Mary at Bulhaven

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SUPERMAN!

Ah, She’s the granddaughter of Cassanova and the “girlfriend” of Superman.. Bulhaven’s Lois Lane!! I was so excited to be able to visit Lois this past week, what a treat to see our babies during development! Lois is getting BIG!!

Bulhaven's Lois Lane (11 weeks old) .. still picking her up?

I’m happy to report that Lois looking so good, behaving like a pretty little puppy and getting along famously with her larger brother, “Diesel”. At first Diesel was a little bit worried about having a “baby sister” but it took him less than a week to recognize all the benefits of having a new puppy by his side. More treats, more attention, more walks, WOW! This is great. Diesel figured it out REAL quick!

Big Brother (21 months old), Little Sister (11 weeks old)

What a cute couple Diesel and Lois make! We are so proud of Clara’s kids…

Two girls... Lois Lane and Donna

Speaking of girls..

Little Miss Sweet Polly Purebred is bigger than “little”. She weighed in at 27 lbs already… so, that’s nearly 30 pounds at just 3 months of age. Perfect growth!!

Bulhaven's Sweet Polly Purebred at 11 weeks old

She is the apple of her daddy’s eye.. and she thinks the world of him. Congratulations to John and Heidi and the entire neighborhood in Marblehead who are also enjoying Miss Polly!!

Stay Tuned!

~Mary at Bulhaven

 

Time Got Away From Me

With all that is going on, I have missed a week of updating our Blog… my sincerest apologies.

Furgie.. and a couch of her own

We are excited to update Furgie and her fantastic progress in her new home. Amid Clara’s litter, with puppies playing, learning and growing, we met a wonderful family who visited us to be introduced to our Beautiful Flower, “Furgie” (Bulhaven’s Forget Me Not). Furgie was a puppy I kept as my pick-of-the-litter in 2010 (along with her Brother, “Bravo”) but her gentle, reserved personality kept her home rather than in the show ring. With this, I felt it was best for her to give her beauty and kindness where it would be overwhelmingly appreciated and Furgie was placed into the Lewis family at the first of the year..

Bulhaven's Forget Me Not ("Furgie")

It was a match made in heaven. Furgie is living happily ever after with her own couch, TV, three guys of her own, and Laureen. Thank you to the Lewis family for giving Furgie everything she ever deserved!! We love you Furgie!

I am very excited for tomorrow. I will be visiting Little Miss Lois Lane at her new home to see how she is doing and update her diet with more Natural Raw Feeding. I’ll have my camera ready for this little beautiful daughter of our lovely Clara.

Stay tuned!

Mary at Bulhaven

The Day After

Our beautiful Lois puppy went to her new home yesterday. She settled right in as if she had been part of the family her whole life of 8.5 weeks. 🙂 I was so happy to see how comfortable she was in a new environment, what a gem of a girl. Bulhaven’s Lois Lane! I am excited for her to grow and develop into a Big Bullmastiff Girl and for now, while she’s still only 20 lbs, she can cuddle with her new mom, Donna. Congratulations Donna and the rest of the Craft family (including “Diesel”). This new addition will bring many years of joy!

Bulhaven's Lois Lane

Today has been a melancholy day, one less puppy. One less little body. One less baby to cuddle. Clara has been quiet as well. I don;t think she “misses” Lois but she seems as if now she can “get some rest”. She took out all the toys and napped amoung them all day. She spent a few in-between-naps playing with Polly and chewing on bones but most of the day was The Day After… Clara slept well!

Bulhaven's Clara Haute

Bulhaven's Clara Haute with Polly

Polly will be with us for another week, then it’ll be “back to the shows” for Bulhaven Adults. We look forward to getting out and seeing friends again. Let’s hope winter stays as mild as it has been…

Stay Tuned

Mary at Bulhaven

Winter in Litchfield County.. The White Stuff

The storm rolled in overnight, wind, rain, sleet and .. the white stuff… SNOW! This morning schools were delayed for a an hour due to sleet, snow and icy conditions. Meanwhile the Bulhaven Dogs slept in. Peaceful Beautiful Morning…

Bulhaven's Snowy Fence

First snow is something every puppy tends to REALLY enjoy. Pouncing, rolling and running with joy in the “white fluffy stuff” is always a moment for laughter as we watch our puppies react to this new winter experience. Unfortunately, our unseasonable beautiful weather changed overnight and our sweet, happy puppies were welcomed by cold, wet, wintery conditions as they ventured outside for this morning duties.

Bulhaven's Lois Lane, cold and wet in the snow (9 wks old)

Not so much fun for 9 wk old Lois Lane

“The White Stuff” this morning is more appropriately described as “The Wet Stuff”. The VERY wet stuff!!

Bulhaven's Sweet Polly Purebred, 9 wks old, making it thru the sleet and snow

Bulhaven's Sweet Polly Purebred, not so fun in the rain!

After playing for a bit outside (and working on “housebraking”) we dried off two cold puppies with warm towels and gave them each a marrow bone before napping in their cozy blankets….

Sweet Polly, napping

sweet (warm) dreams baby girls

Stay Tuned…

Mary at Bulhaven

Speaking of “Nocello”

We like pretty names, with unique meanings and history behind them. All of our beautiful Bullmastiffs have a name that generally has a story within.

Our gorgeous puppy, “Nocello” was born in Norway in June of 2011. She is the daughter of Cassanova, our lovely male. We brought her here to the US in October and have since enjoyed every moment she has shared with us. When considering adding this puppy to our home, we were asked to name her with the litter’s theme in mind. Nocello’s breeder, Old Manila Bullmastiffs, used the theme of “cocktails” for this litter.

Our minds went crazy with all the names of drinks that we could chill with as a name for our new addition. Her lovely fawn coat added nice spicey ideas… but what “drink” would we want our beautiful new girl to be “called”?

Dean’s ancestry is from Italy which sentimentally connected us to the sire of Old Manila’s previous litter, from Ferdu Bullmastiffs in Italy. Our brindle male, “Oslo”, is out of this mentioned litter. So when our second Norweigan puppy was on her way, we started brainstorming “Italy”, linking us to Dean’s (and Oslo’s) ancestry. We laughed our way thru many names of “cocktails” but in the end the smooth, walnut liquor… “bisque” in color grabbed our final attention. We would name our puppy “Nocello”.

Smooth, Italian, bisque colored, walnut flavored liquor..

Stay Tuned…

Mary at Bulhaven

And on the Tenth Day…

Happy New Year!

Veterinary visits surely don’t sound like the best thing to do on a beautiful sunshiney day or a pleasant way to start off the New Year, but we always make the most of our “road trips to the vet”. Yesterday we took some of the girls ( “Nocello”, “Ilsa”, “Polly” and “Lois”) for their 2012 veterinary updates. It’s over an hour drive to our veterinary clinic, but well worth the drive to see the “right” veterinary doctor for the few times a year that we need to go.

Sweet Nocello had her 6 month exam and follow up vaccines.. she weighed in at 80 lbs!

Old Manila's Nocello At Bulhaven

The average female weight is something close to the age they are. For example; a four month old female puppy should weigh between 40-50 lbs. At five months, she should weigh 50-60 lbs. So at 6 months, she should average around 60-70 lbs. You can certainly see why we were surprised when our young athlete “Nocello” tipped the scale at a lean 80 lbs! Her little, well muscled body will continue to grow into her second year.. this is only the beginning for “Noci”.

All of our dogs eat a Naturally Raw Diet without any commercial dog food. Our Newest litter out of Clara is our second, fifth generation Raw Fed litter. We vaccinate our puppies only for the first year of life, following up with yearly “Titers” to determine proper immunity. Due to the continued health of our dogs, we are fortunate to spend very little time at our vet clinic, only for the necessary yearly updates…

Stay tuned…

Mary at Bulhaven