Chasing Dreams - Blackthorn's Z Litter

A few months ago, I started trying to get puppies using frozen semen from Coal. I didn't try to collect him until he was an older dog, so I was only able to get about 2 breedings' worth stored before he became infertile.

I have seen more frozen AI breedings fail than survive, so I tried very, very hard not to get my hopes up, but inside my head, I was jumping up and down and crossing my fingers and feeling very superstitious. I didn't want to jinx it, anything could go wrong at any time.

Oda--"lightly" pregnant

I chose Oda for this attempt, a breeding I had planned since Oda was a young dog--only to find that Coal became infertile as he got older. The breeding of Coal's brother Jedi with Oda showed me that I had good reason to believe that I would get what I wanted from this combination--sound, drivey, intelligent, useful, beautiful dogs. Getting feedback from the owners of these puppies was invaluable in being able to make an informed decision.

First picture of the Coal x Oda pups!

But breeding via frozen (even with semen I own) is, in addition to being a very uncertain venture with a success rate generally lower than 80%, an expensive and time-consuming adventure. It involved three vets, multiple progesterone tests, 4 trips to Richmond over the course of 5 days, and a plethora of vet expenses over the course of the breeding and pregnancy--every step of the way cost money. Picking up the semen from the storage facility involved renting a container ($150), paying the "prep" fee for the storage facility to load the container ($75), and then a variety of expenses from progesterone testing (5 or 6 tests), semen quality analysis, surgical AI, DNA testing of the semen (to get Coal's DNA on record), and ultrasound (one more trip to Richmond) to check for the developing pups, and an xray (another trip to Richmond) to get a final count.

And, then, on January 17, Oda had four beautiful babies. Every cent and every second were suddenly worth it.

What I Did This Summer

There was frost on my windshield Wednesday morning. I was up early (pre-dawn, omg!) to go herding with Jubilee and Oda. I have been dramatically remiss in updating this summer, and there's no reason other than I was doing stuff with my dogs! Good enough. Still, I took lots of pictures over the summer, and so I'll try to do a quick update.

Leslie and HRD SAR K9 Nash (Nike x Ash - Blackthorn's Inigo)

Back in early May, we had a training weekend in Bath County. Lynx is the dog I was training in HRD work, and he went to live with a friend in Florida in April (he is now doing competitive agility, obed/rally, lure coursing, dock diving, personal protection training, and soon, nosework! He needed more "work" to be happy, and he's in the perfect place for that!)

Lynx and his sister Macy in Florida

I don't even remember June. Things happened. I tried to get the pool to go from jade green to clear blue, with slow, slow progress. The dogs swam nevertheless.

Blitz and Ruffian and Flint

June 30th, the U-litter puppies were born! That always throws everything out of whack for me for a while--it usually involves at least one all-nighter if not two, and it just sucks all my attention for a while like a black hole of puppydom.

Xita and the Uppies

July... wow, I don't even. Life occurred. It was good.

Nemi & Hunter in front; Flint, Blitz, and Coal in back

Nike turned 15 on July 27, so she got cake and pictures with three of her kids:

Birthday cake!

Hunter, Nike, Coal, Jubilee

In August, it was surprisingly fall-like--cooler than normal. But there were a few adventures and the pool stayed blue! Sunny came to visit while she was in heat, and her sister Josie came for a play date. Nemi turned 2 on August 31. Sumo came to visit for a week. And there were puppies....

Sunny (Solstice) and Josie (Sweet Josephine)

Sunny (Solstice) and Josie (Sweet Josephine)

Nemi and Sumo

That brings us up to September. I'll save that for another post!

Nike - Fourteen Years Young

Today was Nike's 14 birthday. She had a small celebration with a few of her kids and grandkids.

Jubilee, Nike, and Coal

 And then she beat the crap out of her Egge...

 
And then she went for a dip in the pool....

Life is--still--good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NIKE!!! Thank you for sticking around another year.

You can see all of her birthday pictures here...

Surprise Snow Doggies!

I woke up this morning, brushed my teeth, put some clothes on, walked around the corner, glanced out the kitchen window, and HOLY SHIT THAT'S SNOW.

OMG SNOW!!!

"Eat snow, sis!"

I'll bite you! Take that Coal!

"Yarrr, I bite your throat!"

Nemi wonders, "What's this stuff? My toes are cold!"

"Come'on kid, I'll show you!" says Hunter...

SQUEEEEE!

Hmmmmmmm....

OMG WHEEEE!

I'm happy... don't I look happy?

Happy Birthday Nike!!!

Jubilee, Coal, Nike, Hunter, July 27, 2011

Nike turned 13 years old today. She came to me at the age of 20 months, from California. She has been, quite simply, a marvelous addition to my life. As a young dog, she was a spitfire and a flier--drawing blood in protection work when the helper didn't play by what she considered fair rules.

21 months old

A small girl with compact muscling and bearcub ears, at first she thought the only thing I was good for was throwing the ball. Pets were for in-between ball throws and snuggling was not high on her priority list.

An early training session in Virginia, around 1999

2002 or so, getting her Sch2 title

Nike's first litter--Blackthorn's B litter out of Bodo v Tiekerhook

In her time with me, she produced a number of excellent sons and daughters, and it is an amazing pleasure to see her with her grandchildren nowadays.

2010 -- Nike, age 12, with grandson Lynx, 18 months

Nike, followed by grandson Lynx, grandson Musket, and daughter Hunter, 2010

As she has aged, she has only gotten so she enjoys life even more--people have become a great pleasure to her and she loves nothing more than to find a visitor and climb in their lap on the sofa with her ball.

Coal and Nike, 2010

Nike and granddaughter Macha, 2010

Nike and Jasper, around 2009

Nike and Flint voted in 2008

Nike and Ruffian

Today, I took pictures of her with her son and two daughters--Jubilee (Ash daughter), Coal (Ash son), and Hunter (Alex daughter)--and then we went into town and walked through the aisles of Petsmart, letting her explore and sniff and pick out a few toys to take home. Then I bought her a bag of ice (my icemaker is broken, tragedy!!!) and at home, I gave her a toy, a bowl of ice, and a marrow bone. She wasn't sure what to enjoy first!

A marrow bone, a squeaky toy, and icebones--life is good!

eenie, meenie, miney, mo....