Short Bark and Sides

25/08/2024

Please do pop down with your four legged friends🥰 old town beaconsfield x

17/08/2024

Written by Julia Baxter but sharing for education. The number of merle cockers I'm seeing is terrifying for the breed 😔

I thought I’d just clarify a few points regarding breeding, buying and registering of Merle dogs. The following are facts.

Breeds of dog that can be registered with the Kennel Club with the colour Merle:

Australian Shepherd
Beauceron
Bergamasco
Border Collie
Dachshund (colour known as Dapple)
Great Dane
Pyrenean sheepdog (long haired)
Collie (Rough)
Collie (smooth)
Shetland Sheepdog
Corgi (Cardigan Welsh)

The Kennel Club states :

“If your puppy is of a breed not mentioned and is merle, we regret that it will not be possible to register it. You must not register it as another colour.”

Cocker Spaniel is not on the list therefore it is not possible to register a cocker spaniel as Merle.

If you have been sold a Merle cocker with Kennel Club certificates than this has been fraudulent.

Some breeders have got around this by advertising “Merle” litters but registering them as “Roan”. This is again fraudulent.

Merle markings are present at birth whereas Roan markings tend to show through later.

Having a Non KC Merle cocker spaniel doesn’t make it legitimate. It isn’t possible to have a Merle cocker spaniel without it being a crossbreed. I believe that Collies and Dachshunds are generally the breeds being used to cross with cockers. If this is the case you have a cocker cross.

There is no such thing as a Merle cocker.

You can have a Merle cocker cross, just as you can have a Sprocker, Cockerpoo, labradoodle etc

If this is what you intended to buy and you are happy with your choice then that’s absolutely 100% fine. The reason for this post is to make people aware that there are unscrupulous breeders who hoodwink people into buying something that doesn’t exist.

How is Merle inherited?

“This type of coat is caused by a variation of a particular gene. Each dog has two copies of every gene; one that they inherit from their mother and one they inherit from their father.
The merle gene variant is dominant, which means that a dog only needs one copy, inherited from either of their parents, to have a Merle coat.”

Health concerns.

The Kennel Club will not register puppies out of two Merle parents.

“Dogs that have two copies of the merle gene variant, inherited from both of their parents, have an increased risk of problems with their eyes and ears, causing blindness and/or deafness.”

I hope this has clarified things a bit and that people will take time to read the information. There really is a bit more going on then “pretty colouring” and “rare markings”. Make sure you don’t get conned!!

For those that have regrettedly fallen into the trap, your dog will, I’m sure be a healthy and happy pet/worker!! Breeding from these dogs is not advised.

Photos show Merle on the left - Roan on the right.

16/08/2024

A few friends and I are going to be attempting the coast to coast bike ride on the 31st August. I'm not a natural cyclist, so this will be exceptionally tough!
If you can spare a few pennies that would be amazing. Everybody, sadly has someone they know, whose had cancer, got cancer or sadly passed with the dreadful disease. Thanks for reading 🥰
https://www.givewheel.com/fundraising/4150/coast-to-coast/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2L9q5bTJF_WXMxmbASqIx_y5sBT31VVGZaqfziXkf7uTR4eFl-XyigDN8_aem_cAZ23c0Sy1I0svGijl-8RQ

Jirka, Mark, Dan and I are attempting the coast to coast across the top of England. Starting at St Bees, we cross the many hills in our path to reach the East coast. In total we will be cycling in excess of 140 miles and it's a tough ride. We have chosen these 2 charities because they are so close t...

31/07/2024

Please be aware, if you have an appt with us, for the next 4 weeks there are roadworks on the a355. There are very long traffic jams on all the approach road. Apologies

10/07/2024

19/06/2024

Has anyone got a dog buggy in the garage they no longer use?
We have a customer looking for one for a large cavalier. Can anyone help???🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

01/06/2024

*** HOMED ***
Chickens - 11 months - Female - Brown
we have 5 hens looking for a home. They came into our homing facility as their owners could no longer care for them. Chickens are social and intelligent, and they need to have a stimulating environment and company of other chickens. If you can offer any of these little hens a forever home, we would love to hear from you. Please apply using the SMALL ANIMAL ADOPTION APPLICATION FORM at https://www.rspca.org.uk/local/hillingdon-slough-windsor-kingston-and-district-branch/findapet Preference will be given to homes within a 30 mile radius of our Uxbridge location, to allow our team to provide maximum post-adoption support.

02/05/2024

May is so there's really no excuse not to join our Paws & Shoes Challenge! Can you and your pooch walk for 1,000 minutes across 4 weeks? Find out how you can tailor the challenge to your needs, download your weekly tracker and get started on your tailwagging adventure 🔗 rvcact.com/PawsAndShoesWinter

27/04/2024

We groom this little chap, he's gorgeous 🥰🥰

15/04/2024

DO NOT LET YOUR DOG NEAR THE THAMES LOCALLY. Thames water have a lot to answer for!

09/03/2024

Raise money for the RVC's Small Animal Referrals Hospital with every step you take

07/03/2024

A very worthwhile cause and it gets you out walking to new places! X

02/02/2024

All for you charity

23/12/2023

Happy Christmas to all of our customers! Fleur and Karenza, Isabel and I would like to wish you all a peaceful new year! See you all in January xx

15/12/2023

Update - Thank you to everyone who has showed interest in Tilly. We are working our way through applications and will be contacting those who may be an ideal fit. Please bear with us 😊 we are closing applications for Tilly as we have been so overwhelmed with offers of homes which is wonderful. Everyone who has emailed in will have received a confirmation email that it has gone through and we will be in touch if we are inviting you in to meet her. There are so many, unfortunately, we cannot get in touch with everyone who has applied. This does not mean we wouldn't rehome to you. Thank you for your patience 💚

Tilly has just arrived with us. Her owner recently passed away and Tilly is grieving. She is so sad and really struggling in the kennels. It is just heartbreaking when we have an oldie in kennels, it is so much harder for them.

Tillie is used to being with her owner all the time and not used to being left.

Is there a Christmas angel out there to make Tillys Christmas dreams of a new forever home come true 🎄

Please get in touch if that could be you 👉 https://buff.ly/48ePU4T

08/12/2023

In a last bid to sell the rest of our goodies ( indoors!) we will be having a stall at Stokenchurch fete, 1-5pm! See you there ! 🐈‍⬛🐈🐾🎄🤶🙏🐈‍⬛