When A Mutt Is Not Enough

If you prefer mixed breeds, or always adopt from rescues, that is your right.  If you prefer to purchase a puppy from a responsible breeder, you should also have the right to do that.  Some people prefer to have a dog with a known background, sold by a breeder who will be there to help them through the inevitable problems that go with puppyhood.

Breeders who put years of work and thousands of dollars, not to mention all that WORK into their breeding program, should never have to apologize for producing beautiful, sound, healthy, friendly pups and placing them in wonderful homes.  People who wish to purchase a well bred dog should NEVER be forced to apologize for not adopting a rescue.  Some people want more than a mutt from a questionable background, and some homes have both.  It's their choice to make.

Grandpups

It's such fun having Grandpups, especially when they are in show or performance homes.  Someone else does all the work, and we can share the fun of the wins!  This is Ramsay, who was Mancini in the Louie/Pauli litter.  His ring debut was quite exciting, as  he went Best of Winners for 2 points the first day, and Best of Winners for a 3-point major the second day.  Nice start for a not-quite-9-month old boy!  He was a lovely pup, probably the best pup in the litter from an early age.

Ramsay is a littermate to our Fernly, who also started off her show career well, but has no points yet.  Fern won two big Puppy Classes, and also went Best Junior in Sweeps both days at the Indie Specialties, defeating over a dozen other pups, most of them more experienced than she was.  Fern's next outing will be in Kansas City next week, and then on to the National.  I just wish she would come in season NOW, rather than around the time of DCA, as I really don't like to travel with and show girls in season, and if she's in for the National, either she or Argus will be staying home - and that would break Argus' heart!

This is Gemma, the 4th-to-be-shown from the Cruise/Penny (Penny is an Argus daughter) litter.  Gemma lives in a co-ownership home and is shown by my daughter.  Heather and her family have a great pet and we have one more excellent show dog.  Gemma is pictured winning a 5-point Specialty major, and will be going with us to the National in April.  Her littermates finished with wonderful records and brother Ellsworth is one of the top Dals in the country already this year, although he's too young to be heavily campaigned yet.  But next year?  Penny was just bred to Cruise again for a repeat performance. Lots of good homes waiting, so perhaps more Grandpups to cheer for next year.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the Argus/Holly pups being old enough to show!  Max continues to look good, and the shots I have seen of Mel & Piper (was Sanka) look very nice too.  Haven't seen any of Britt for awhile, so curious to see how she's doing, and Piper's owner promises stacked shots of her soon.  Jess and I will attempt to get stacked pictures of Max this noon.  Lucy (was Gevalia) and LuLu (was Vittoria) were sold as pets and will be spayed, but we'd love to see Gelert (was Folgers) try a few dog shows - he's a lovely, lovely pup.  He was sold as a pet, with no strings attached, so it's up to his owners.

Can't remember that I have ever had more fun with a litter than I did with the Argus/Holly pups.  An easy breeding, a reasonably easy whelping, a very good mama, beautiful healthy pups with great temperaments, gorgeous pups to keep, and wonderful homes for all.  It doesn't get any better than that - wish all litters went as smoothly!  Having lost a whole litter to herpes, had another that was half deaf, and yet another with temperaments that did not totally satisfy me, I was due for a "dream litter" and this was it.  Raising pups is SO MUCH WORK, but such fun when it goes right. 

All About Josie

Ah c'mon you guys, cut me some slack here!  1171 posts over the past couple of years and now I get badgered for missing a couple of days?  And this is not my first blog either!  There's another one out there that's equally long, plus a couple of short ones too.  The first one covered Josie's litters and was my beginner blog, another covered raw feeding but was too much work to maintain.  The third covered Boji's litter, co-bred with Tom.  This one is ongoing, with very few gaps of more than a couple days unless I was "on vacation" which generally means a dog show.  Vacation, what a concept!  Maybe I will take a real one again some day!

That's Josie in the picture.  She'll be 10 this summer and the picture was taken 8 or 9 years ago.  Josie was sired by Watson's brother Peter, and spent the first 10 weeks of her life in a kennel situation, getting minimal time and attention because the breeder was off tending a dying relative. She was pretty under-socialized when she arrived, but went on to have a nice show career.  I almost didn't buy Josie because of they way she was raised, but I'm very glad I did.  She's an excellent companion and we love her dearly.  She's Ron's special dog and moved right into Coral's spot in his heart.

Josie was bred twice, but none of her kids became stars, at least not in the show ring.  She produced tall dogs and a lot of patches in each litter.  A daughter from her first litter was pointed, but when her owner died of cancer the husband just kept her as a pet.  A lovely liver girl from the second litter went undershot, and several of the boys (and one of the girls) got too tall to show.  BUT, her kids are wonderfully athletic dogs with sensational personalities and their owners continue to rave about them - and isn't that really the most important thing anyway?

Although Josie lives with us, her heart belong to her friend Sue who often stops by to take Josie running.  They go on nature hikes, and to dog parks, pet stores, and other fun places.  Sue lives in an apartment and can only keep cats, but she loves dogs too, so her friendship with Josie works well for both of them.  Josie has very high prey drive and loves hunting rabbits and squirrels when Sue takes her running. Her second favorite thing is catching a Frisbee.   Josie, Argus, and Meribel are entered in a Coursing event in two weeks and Sue will be running Josie, trying for a 3rd leg on her Coursing Title.  Stay tuned!