Puppies In Paisleyland

The plot thickens.  Do I really want to do this?  Will I survive with my sanity intact?  Stayed tuned.

Still have not heard from Patti as to whether Lucy is pregnant.  I presume she is, but it's sometimes hard to tell until the last few weeks, as pups do most of their growing the last three weeks of gestation.  If she lived with me, I could have palpated her at 25 days to be sure.  A ultrasound could have been done too, but I've always thought it a shame to spend the money to confirm something that you can do nothing about.  Perhaps I will hear something today.  I need to get back to the people who have expressed an interest in the litter, but want to know she is actually pregnant.

We've been waiting for Best In Show winning "Pauli" (GCh/UKC Ch. Paisley Choco Chip Brownie Delite) to come in season.  Actually, we were hoping she would wait until AFTER the National in early May, but the next best option was that she would come in season now so she would be out BEFORE the National.  We want to take her along as she qualified for the Top Twenty this year, and I'd like to take her in with her daddy Argus for the Stud Dog Class, but we don't like traveling with girls in season.  She came in season on Friday, so Jess will send in her DCA entry.  Thank you Pauli!

That left me with the decision of whether or not to breed her this time.  Pauli turned 4 in March (how can that be) and we like to breed bitches for the first time before they turn 5 years of age.  Very few plans for the summer, so this would be a good year to raise a litter of Pauli puppies, except for the fact that Lucy (hopefully) has a litter coming too.  Lucy's litter belongs to the Pellas, but they will be down here for BAER testing, evaluation, pictures, and placement.  Unfortunately, the timing will overlap a bit, with Pauli's pups arriving before Lucy's will have left for new homes.  Can I manage this?  Guess I will have to, assuming that both girls conceive.  If I don't breed Pauli, Lucy will have no pups.  That's one of Murphy's Laws.  If I do breed Pauli, both girls will have a dozen pups.  NOT!

I guess it is meant to happen though, as it was just last week that I decided how I wanted to breed Pauli and contacted the dog's owners to confirm.  "Louie" (GCh/UKC GCh. HiSpot's Simply Sublime) was the first dog we considered for Pauli, but then we started second guessing ourselves.  After considering about two hundred additional dogs (I am not exaggerating here), we eventually came back to Louie as the most suitable choice.  This will not be a walk in the park, as Pauli is currently with her handler (she was entered at some dog shows this month) and the dog we want to breed her to is in Kansas.  Looks as if I will be doing some driving later this week, picking up Pauli, then meeting up with Louie's co-owner Becky.  Becky will deliver both dogs to Louie's other co-owner Angie who will keep both dogs there and manage the breeding.

This is Louie.  I selected him because he has a sweet, mild-mannered disposition (Pauli is pretty high energy), a good pedigree, the appropriate health testing, and because he has the physical traits that I think will match up well with Pauli.  Both of his parents are liver factored, and he has a liver brother, but that is no guarantee Louie will be liver factored.  If he is not factored, liver Pauli will have a litter of black-spotted pups.  We never have only black pups in Paisleyland!