Pom, Fritz and Posh, our young teenagers

I turned 70 in June. That’s old, but I’ve still kept two puppies from ‘Caro’s’ litter. I’d actually only intended to keep one female, but there was just one female and seven gorgeous males in this litter. I’d put my common sense and reason to one side until the puppies were eight weeks old, and decided: I’ll keep a male as well.

So it ended up being “Pom” and “Fritz”…….. I find that quite amusing…

BUT: “Posh”, a brilliant male from Uschi’s litter, is going to Taiwan and is expected to stay there until February 2027 due to import regulations. He can enter the country without quarantine following a positive titer test for the rabies vaccination.

Keeping three puppies for that long is a huge and demanding task. They need to be socialized very well. They play with each other constantly. Not a hair remains on their heads, and it takes longer before they’re ready for shows.

Slowly but surely, I had to admit to myself that this wasn’t sensible. My back, with a fractured vertebra and constant pain, isn’t helping matters. So I was very strong-willed and decided that I would sell my ‘Fritz’ after all. He’s been living in Ireland for a week now and is now called ‘Zet’ – from ‘Zet, Game and Match aus dem Elbe-Urstromtal’ – and is being shown at dog shows. My common sense applauded when I had to give him away, whilst my heart shed tears.

Whilst our ‘Uschi’ was in hospital with a twisted stomach, I had to keep myself busy and washed all three little monsters – I just forgot to take photos of ‘Pom’.

13 weeks old, ‘Zet’, formerly my ‘Fritz’

“Posh”our guest dog for Taiwan, aged 11 weeks

Wednesdays are market days in Maaseik. It’s always a good opportunity to train the puppy – lots of people, lots of new experiences, and so on.

The three of them have grown so big that they mercilessly knock everything over that’s standing at the edge of their run in the doghouse and nibble at it a bit.

Then the big day finally arrived! “Fritz”, aka “Zet”, travelled from Amsterdam to Dublin on 4 August 2026 to start his new life. I would have loved to take him to the airport myself, but I had a hospital appointment that came up at short notice on that day.

But, as is always the case in life, you need a bit of luck. Our dear Piet van Laere and his wife Doke had been on holiday in Luxembourg and were driving home on 3 August 2026. They live 10 minutes from Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam. Piet was a pilot with KLM 20 years ago. Back when he was an active pilot, quite a few of our puppies flew with him in the cockpit to Israel or Moscow. Piet then took the dog through customs himself and handed him over to his new owner. I think it’s been nearly 40 years now that Piet has, in effect, always kept all the puppies flying out of Amsterdam at his home and then taken them to the airport at the right time. Piet has often stepped in at short notice when someone flying out of Amsterdam themselves has had a problem. Then it’s always ‘SOS Piet’…

So, on 3 August 2026, ‘Zet’ travelled to Ter Aar with the ‘van Laere’ shuttle service, where he was, of course, thoroughly spoilt. The next day, Piet picked Martin Bailey up from the airport, put him up at his home, took him back to the airport at the right time and helped him check in, until it was time to say: “Bye-bye, Martin, and ‘Zet’.

Of course, ‘Zet’ has been washed and brushed; he’s now 16 weeks old

At around 3 pm on Monday 4 August, the time had come. Goodbye, ‘Fritz’ – a few tears were shed.

At Piet and Doke’s ‘Bed & Breakfast’ in Ter Aar:

‘Zet’ is getting to know his new owner.

Late in the evening the following day, they set off from Amsterdam for Dublin. Piet helps Martin with check-in.

These are exactly the photos and reports we’ve been waiting for! Happy landing

tucked into dinner straight away in his new home.

The next day, he met his big new brother.

Good luck, Martin, with our ‘Fritz’

Then there were just our ‘Pom’ and ‘Posh’ left.

We went on a lovely little outing with the two of them on Friday afternoon.

Our beautiful Limburg, where we live, has so many lovely places to offer. ‘Posh’ and ‘Pom’ came along with us. We set off from Kinrooi in Belgium, at the hotel and restaurant ‘De Spaenjerd’. We took the little ferry across the Meuse and crossed the border into the Netherlands. A short walk to one of the best ice-cream shops in Ohe en Laak: ‘Laaker Boere Ies’.
Both puppies behaved impeccably and were treated to some cream ice cream.