This weekend Moët & Chandon (now Hunter) met again for the first time after the three months that passed since the puppies left for their new homes. It was a joyful meeting and they played without stopping for two hours. Yatzie was busy swimming in the canal dressed up in an indian head ornament made of weed and her puppies were admiring her on the shore.

In this video Moët visits an animal shop for the first time. She is totally fascinated by the rabbits and the rats in the cages and sits and looks at them with her big eyes!

This is a "bakfiets", boxbike or cargobike in English. This old fashioned trades vehicle had a revival in Holland in the 80s and you now see them on the roads all the time here. Mostly you see parents transport their kids in them, but I thought why not use it for the doggies!? Since my dogs always want to come along they both jumped in and sat quietly - for a short while.... Then woops and they were out of there! I guess we will stick to the car after all...

Some news from Chandon who is now called Hunter: "Hunter is doing great. He is such a nice friendly and lovable doggy. We have never heard him angry to any person or any dog. We like to take him to an area where the dogs are allowed to walk without leash. Many times they walk with 20 dogs and they are all playing with each other. Many thanks for giving Hunter to us. We are all madly in love with him!!!!" Hunter will also get a human sister in the beginning of March. Martijn and Vanessa will have their first baby! All the best to you! See more pictures on Hunter's puppy page.

Moët turned 5 months last week. Here she is - a happy, sweet and clever Barbet!

A happy hour by the waters in Viannen. Feelings of spring in the air. Yatzie chases her favourite birds far out in the waters. Moët jumps in too -  and this time she can swim! Old Saartje is also with us. This is pure Barbet happiness!

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"Sorry mum, but I was sure I was gonna find that rabbit under those bushes." It only took me half an hour to get the thistles and branches out of her fur! :-) But of course she is worth it!

I constantly try to challenge my Moët to open all kinds of goodie boxes - this time it is a pizza box with some yummie minced meet inside. Yatzie is overlooking and trying to help, but it is not allowed! Yatzie is a master at opening goodie boxes - let us see if Moët will get as good at it!

Yatzie and Moët love to play with each other. Here they are wildly tumbling around in the grass, chasing, wresteling. It is a joy to see them!

A sunny afternoon, all snow already gone, Moët and Margot enjoyed the trampoline together with a favourite peeping toy. Moët is still a bit hesitant at jumping up on it, but Margot helps. When Margot disappears under the trampoline Moët is puzzled but when she understands she leaps off to get close to her play mate again.

Ayala, called Teddie, now lives outside of Rotterdam. She is growing well, 13,14 kgs, and according to her family she is the perfect dog that does not need a lot of correction. She loves to bring sticks into the house and to play with other dogs.

Cristal, called Meru, has started training for her life as a professional hunting dog in Finland. She is a quick learner and can sit on voice, hand and whistle command. When the weather allows it (lately they had minus 25 there) she joins on shooting days and has retrieved warm birds already! Happy to hear she is progressing quickly!

Fresh news from Julianadorp and Henriot, now called Charley, makes it clear that Ambeloui is not the largest puppy after all! Charley already weighs 15,4 kgs and is 51 cm high! He sure looks huge in these photos! He is doing very well attending both puppy class and hunting training!

Sunny cold days here in Holland - that makes all Dutch pull their skates out and gather on every icy spot around. We spent Saturday afternoon on the ice at the Maxima Park by the beautiful tea house. Yatzie goes a little crazy when we are on skates, it is strange to her, but she came along with Bart around the skating rink after a while. She can handle the slippery ice. Moët and Yatzie had a lot of fun chasing each other (on the snowy parts to protect their hips) and just enjoying being outside with us all. There was also a splendid black horse with a carriage that took people around the area. The race is an old Dutch breed called Friesian horse. In the 12th century they used to carry knight to battle. The Friesian is very popular as a carriage horse, as it is a powerful horse and its high-stepping action is eye-catching. I found its beauty breath taking. If I am ever able to buy my own horse maybe this will be the kind!

Moët has been changing most of her teeth and during this period she has been chewing on many of our things. Her favourite has been our cane baskets... This one is now totally over!

Ambeloui, called beli, in Poland seems to be the biggest of the puppies! Beli weighs 14,4 kg and is 47 cm tall! When I saw this picture it was like seeing Yatzie. She has Yatzie's eyes exactly, and her expression too! Here a few words about Beli from her family:

"Beli has got endless resources of energy when she's playing with other dogs. She still jumps a lot. She jumps from the couch to the armchair and this is a little bit more that 1,5 meters. Today on the walk she met deer herd and acted like a real hunting dog - she froze motionless with one front paw raised and was standing like that untill Agata turned her back. She tastes everything what's on the ground, for example deer's and hare's excrements. She's unusual and beautiful. We're all in love with her." See more new pictures on Beli's puppy page.

One of the more spectacular dog walking areas in Holland are the large sand dunes in Soesterduinen. This day the sand was mixed with snow! Hundreds of people enjoyed the dunes this sunny day - lots of kids on sleighs and of course dogs everywhere! It was a very good training for Moët to see so many new dogs. We realized that she has become more self secure lately, and dares to tell the dominant dogs off! Bravo Moët! With us was our good friend Maike with her mixed breed Bo who so graciously moves over the dunes - and over Moët!

During the first and only snowfall here in Holland so far this year we took all the dogs out to play. It was a unforgettable moment! Yatzie is a winterdog, I knew that, and I a true Swede, but now we know that Moët enjoys it just as much. Even Saartje was playing with the others! We took a lot of shots - it was a bit tricky with all the snow flakes falling making the camera a bit confused about focus points! I just share a lot of the pics with you here! I think you can feel the magic and happy atmosphere!

After a blog break of a month both dogs and humans are well rested and ready to share  adventures with you all again -  but maybe not as regularly as we did during the puppy months. Yatzie and Moët often rest like this, close together - it is so cute. Moët has grown a lot and weighs 13 kgs now. Exactly half of Yatzie's weight. Moët is also getting along very well with our old labrador Saartje who does not mind sharing her pillow with her "grandchild".