Sadie-Blaze Litter

I actually got a full nights sleep, what with Sadie and her new friend down the street and my too boys relaxing without the scent of her in the air. I ate a good breakfast because I knew it was going to be another long day and I was off again. I had to either get a tie or have an AI done and then get her boyfriend back home. I had decided to pick them up and take them over to another friends that had a 128 acre plot of land where I could give them more freedom to do what comes natural. They were both up when I got to the kennel and poor Sadie was jumping all over me begging me to get her out of this prison. Her friend on the other hand could care less he was content to stay with her no matter where she was. They had not eaten any of their food, it was the last thing on their mind. I had no way of knowing if they had tied during the night and the clock was still ticking so off we went again.

There is nothing like a long romantic stroll to get the juices flowing. I turned Sadie loose and put her new beau on a 30 foot lead. One of the most stressful things about this whole situation is being responsible for someone else’s dog. On one hand I would be so relieved to get him back to his owner while on the other hand I was so proud to be trusted with her pride and joy so far from home. I knew she would let him run free had she been here but I could just not take the chance. After about an hours hike the love bug struck and he either finally learned where everything was or got very very lucky but in either case we got a tie. What a relief.

Now it was back home, a quick phone call to arrange a meeting place and back on the road with the happy couple. Four hours later we met again just west of Fort Wayne in an Arby’s parking lot. I got there first so I thought I would use this opportunity to let the lovers say good-bye and if I am lucky get another tie but, no such luck. I no sooner got them out of the car when Dee pulled in. I brought her up to date on the current events and told her what a pleasure it was to spend so much time with Blaze. He was such a delight to be around and never gave me a bit of trouble. I think Blaze and I are now best friends forever, especially if Sadie is with me the next time I see him. Sadie slept the whole way home and all I could think of was what the pups would be like. It is going to be a long 30 days waiting to see if the breeding took.

Is that a smile on Sadie’s face?

We put our heads together, made a few phone calls and came up with someone near me that would take them for the night. It was quit an imposition but we could see no other choice. She headed for home and I started out in the other direction with the lovers in the back of my car. As I drove home I started to get a little sleepy but I could not say the same for the lovers in the back of the car. This worked out pretty well because the noise coming from the back kept me from nodding off. About halfway home I got a call informing me that the honeymoon suite was no longer available. Now what? Just something else to keep my mind busy and awake until I got home.

I thought about a very nice 24 hour kennel near by and decided to call them. I hate calling while driving. In any case I called and when they ask me how big the dogs were and I told them, they were suddenly full. Now I was about 5 minutes from home and started to have a panic attack at the thought of explaining what I was about to do to my wife. Then it hit me. I know a GSD judge, breeder and kennel owner that is about 5 minutes past my house so even though it was past their closing time I thought I would give it a try. I pulled in but there was no cars in the parking lot. I took the dogs and went in anyway. His grandson was there and I explained the situation. He said I have just the thing. I have a whelping room with a raised platform, which, as he could see, would be helpful because of the size difference in the loving couple. I put them in the honeymoon suite and stayed around to help for a while but to no avail. Still no tie. I left them for the night.

My plan at this point was to return in the morning try to get a tie and if all else fails call the AI clinic in the morning and get the vet to come in and have an AI done. This was turning into one of the longest weekends of my life.

next.. the final ordeal…….

Let’s see where was I ?

Any good breeder has a backup plan. So since I didn’t you can draw your own conclusions. I simply drove the hour and a half home in a panic. However the drive did give me time to think and the first thing that came to mind was a breeding that I was thinking about for Sadie’s next and last litter. The owner of the stud and I had talked about it a while back and had started researching the breeding. The only problem is the Stud had never been used and he was at least 8 hours away. I thought what the heck and when I got home gave the owner a call. She agreed so I had to make one more call to the Breed Warden to get a quick approval, which I did. We talked about the pros and cons and in the end I got approval. Without going into details we should get a mixture of smooth and plush with good size. I called the owner back and we agreed to meet about half way in a secluded spot the following morning.

The next morning Sadie and I started out for our clandestine rendezvous. We arrived minutes before Sadie’s date arrived. It turned out that we were in the parking lot of a Zoo and by the time we got there the lot was starting to fill with families waiting to go into the zoo to educate their children. We decided that if we stayed there some of the parents might not appreciate the education that their children would get so me moved to a more secluded spot in the park. The introduction was short but sweet and it was love at first sight. However, you know how young inexperienced men can be, all thumbs and no direction. We spent the next 5 hours trying to instruct him in the intricacies of the process but no matter what we tried he could not get it right. Now what? She had another male at home, not good for Sadie and I had two, not good for Storm and his competitor. She had to get home for work I had to get home as well. What to do?

……to be continued.

As most of you know that have been following me on Facebook I have been trying to repeat the Sadie/Storm breeding. I was overly cautious so I started progesterone tests a bit early and ended up taking Sadie in 5 times before she started ovulating. This was to be Sadie and Storms last breeding so I wanted to leave as little to chance as possible. If I got a tie fine but I decided to do another AI so that I could get a sperm count and have a little more confidence in the breeding.

For those of you that are contemplating becoming a breeder you should know that the AI clinic is about an hour and a half away from me and you have to wait another hour and a half for the test results. If you do the math that means it is about a 5 hour round trip at about $100 a pop, not including the AI. It may be more in your area because out vets seem to be fairly reasonable. In any case last Friday she was ready. Like every other trip I took Storm along in the hopes that it would be my last trip and it finally was going to pay off.

To Storm’s delight they collected what they need, took it into the lab for a count but had no swimmers. Not to worry she said, as Sadie patiently waited for her turn, we will take it again, which she did, which made Storm happy. Still no swimmers. She said let me take him out back and get a urine sample because sometime they can go into the bladder. She took Storm from me and headed for the back door with a kitchen ladle in one hand and Storm in the other. Now how they were going to get him to pee in the ladle on command I do not know but they came back a few minutes later and said no swimmers in the urine either. She said that he was very healthy and seemed to have plenty in storage but he has some sort of blockage and can not deliver them. She continued, you have 48 hours to get another male in here. If you do you can give me a call at home and I will come in and do the AI.

It is now Friday night, I am in Ohio and I have 48 hours to come up with another male………. to be continued.