In January 2023 two litters came we will never forget.

Firstly, on the afternoon of January 25th, ‘Swashbuckle Helen Mirren’ equalled our record number of puppies in a single litter with 9 beautiful Black Schnauzers, four boys and five girls. Remarkably, Helen delivered her puppies easily and quickly - labour began mid-afternoon, first puppy popped out about 4pm, and by 7pm Helen had finished delivering all puppies. The delivery was amazing - nine puppies in three hours with apparently little effort. No late night vigil, no drama, no complications - just ‘bang’, nine beautiful Black puppies. Remarkable!

But we will remember these litters mostly for the journey of ‘Swashbuckle Joanna Lumley’ - our Patsy. Patsy went into labour in the early afternoon, but by about 4am next morning it was clear Patsy was in trouble. The first puppy to arrive was stuck half-in, half-out, and Patsy had stopped having contractions. Long story short, we were eventually able to find an emergency after-hours Vet - and we are forever grateful to Lynden and his wonderful team at Bong Bong Veterinary Hospital, who performed an emergency Caesarean. While the 1st puppy could not be saved, Lynden’s team delivered 11 further puppies - five girls and six boys.

So, on the morning of the 28th January, 2023, Swashbuckle Schnauzers, courtesy of Helen and Patsy, found ourselves with a Score of Puppies - twenty in all! Scroll down to see the progress of these litters.