Friday, April 18, 2014

You Only Live Once


At the moment, I am on the hunt for the right dog, and so I am scanning old JRTCA trial entries as a way of looking for small smooth males and females, and then chasing backwards from there to look at pictures of the dogs, see what has worked, and tease out what I can from pedigrees and a preliminary look at sires, dams, and their get. From there, it's a another chase back to see who is crossing small smooth males to small smooth females -- a stumble around looking for recent or planned breedings of the right sort. I do not use JRTCA trial results to see who is winning, but to get information on size and coat type, and perhaps a few notes on whether a dog has done any recorded work.  

My goal is a small smooth female with body color, out of working lines. These being JRTCA dogs, most pedigrees are liberally seeded with dogs that have seen some work. I am not going through the back of the newspaper!

I found one mating of two nice looking under dogs, and there is another planned for later this year from similar lines.

We shall have to see what transpires, but both litters are very good prospects.

I broke the news to my lovely bride last night that TWO new dogs will be added to the house sometime this year. She took it in stride. "You only live once," she said. 

We have been married for over 32 years and she knows the dogs are my joy.

Decision made; I'm keeping my wife.

3 comments:

Stacey said...

I shall be following this development with bated breath. I remember how excited you were to have found Gideon, and have been wondering ever since when the next step would be. I've read this blog for years, not only because it's entertaining and informative, but because it positively drips with passion for these animals. Good luck, Patrick!

PBurns said...

THANKS!

I might be getting a pup sired by a grandson of Bruno and great grandson of Beano, the line that Sailor and Mountain are related to. Pups born, a female promised, and eyes in that litter are about to open. Been years and years since I had a puppy. Last two dogs in the family were rescues, and the two before that were adults from good kennels that were over stocked. At age 55, these next two dogs could be the ones that carry me into old age, so I am thinking a bit differently as a consequence. In truth, watching people like Josh Moran raise his little patterdale has reminded me of what an interesting story that first year of a dog's life is.

Stacey said...

That is fantastic news! I know you like the line, and it will be lovely to see how yet another dog from that breeding will shape up.

I've recently moved to NZ from Alaska, and it's interesting to see the differences in dogs in such a faraway place. All the Jack Russells I've seen in public are these large, round dogs that are shaped more like border terriers than anything else, and the smooth fox terriers here at 14-20lbs seem much more functional than anything in the show ring in the US. By contrast, I've seen some tiny working ratters out on the farms that I lust after, and who knows what they are actually called, except by their names for dinner, and I sort of think that is how it should be.