All the ‘Fs’ for Latest Gowran Litter

When well respected Flatcoated Retriever trainer and breeder Chris Duffey started to feed products from the Alpha Feeds range he was delighted with the results. Here we find out more from Chris about the latest Gowran litter and their progress.

HAVING bred and trained Flatcoated Retrievers for many years Chris Duffey has always recognised young pups need the best start in life.

With his forward thinking approach Chris wanted to feed the best quality dog food he could at a a sensible price especially with 10 pups in the latest litter.

Based in Hampshire Chris takes up the story:

“Following the successes of the last Gowran Flatcoated Retriever litter I was delighted when Alpha Feeds agreed to sponsor the current litter.

“Not only is their support invaluable but it has really made us focus on their progress, developments and achievements along the way.

“The father of the latest litter is Trioaks Forever Zealous aka Floyd; he is a black Flatcoat who is an International Show Champion and a Field Trial Winner in Europe, he lives in Holland with his owner Louisianne Noteborn Schmit.

“The mother is Gowran Smoked Pearl aka Fleur; she is a black Flatcoat bitch who lives in Hampshire with me and Hilary, responsible for the Gowran Flatcoats Kennel.

“Since this is the sixth Gowran litter and following tradition all the pups names begin with an “F” as the sixth letter of the alphabet.

“As their parents are called Floyd and Fleur this really is a very traditional family and a lot of fun as well.

“All of the puppies have names beginning with FL; thus we will be following the adventures of the dog puppies Flynn, Flame, Flambeau, Flint and the bitch puppies Flute, Fleta, Florence, Florette, Flirtacious and Flavia.

“Fleur was fed on Alpha Racer for the last four weeks of her pregnancy and produced 10 healthy puppies on the evening of July, 16 2008; she continued on Alpha Racer until the puppies were fully weaned.

“The puppies were weaned on to Alpha Sporting Puppy (initially soaked) and grew rapidly all having excellent bone and overall condition; the food was avidly consumed as one can see from the photos.

“At eight-weeks-old the puppies departed to their new homes having had their first innoculations and taking with them 2.5 kg of Alpha Sporting Puppy to keep them going.

“Flavia and Flame have moved in with members of the Field Trial Committee of the Flatcoated Retriever Society, Flute has remained at Gowran where she lives with her Great Grandmother Summernights Dream of Gowran, her Grandmother Gowran Tres Cher, her Aunts Gowran Mooi Moth, Gowran Quinacridone Gold and her Mother Gowran Smoked Pearl.

“Fleta now lives in Sausalito, California; Flint lives in Belgium; Florence and Florette live with shooting families in Kent; Flynn and Flirtacious live in Weybridge and Woking respectively and will be coming to Gowran for training; and finally Flambeau lives with two small boys near Brighton, he has taken over from a previous Flatcoated member of their family who left them at the age of 12.

“Flute aka Lute is now going to puppy classes and is showing great promise being very biddable and quick to learn, long may it last! All of the puppies’ owners are in regular contact and report that they are quick to learn and biddable, they will be sending photos and notes of the achievements of the puppies as they progress.”

Chris and Hilary would like to thank the team at Alpha for their help in ensuring that the feeding regime with Alpha Feeds has given the puppies a great start in life.