Well, round 2 done, seemed like she might be on her way out of ideal breeding time today so fingers, toes and eye crossed! (Why do the weekends always seem to get in the way?)
Bert’s contribution was amazing (Kim let me look at the drop she tested today under the microscope and holy moly there were SO MANY and they were SO VIGOROUS), and I can’t say enough good things about the ICSB Puppy Pak, super easy to use, and their extender is clearly some kind of wizardry!
It’s up to Zhora now, she was such a good girl for this weird alien abduction procedure! I think the cheese helped, she ate four sticks of string cheese while it was going on today! I hope, hope, hope this worked, this cross should be amazing.
We will know in a few weeks if we were successful. Watch this space!
Thanks to Dr Kim Hitt, round one is done! Based on Zhora’s progesterone being 14.4 yesterday, we decided to do the second breeding tomorrow in case Thursday was too late. Bert has managed to contribute again like a rock star, so his little swimmers are on their way here again for tomorrow!
SO MANY THANKS to so many people who have helped with this journey so far! Michelle Fromm for her friendship and advice and for being a total ROCK STAR for taking time off work and driving to Phoenix not once but TWICE to get Bert (who also gets big thanks of course) collected. Kim for helping me recognize that I wanted to breed the best litter I could and for helping me through the logistics and planning and texting me with updates! Simone for coming in on Saturday to draw blood. Caroline for her support and listening to the crazy dog lady talk! And as always Jim for putting up with this craziness and helping so much. Thank you all so much, and anyone I’ve forgotten. And that’s my Academy Award acceptance speech.
Now we do one more tomorrow, then we wait, and hope, and keep our fingers and toes and eyes crossed that we get some wonderful puppies!
Just heard from Kim (breeder vet friend who is helping us through all this) that Bert’s contribution has arrived safely at her clinic! Z and I head over there in a couple of hours! Wish us luck!
So looks like Zhora ovulated between Friday (when she was at 3 ng/mL) and Saturday (when she was at 5 ng/mL). So hoping for a good collection in Arizona today and AI tomorrow!
Well, I had been saying that I would like Zhora to get her MACH before I bred her and lo and behold she went into season this morning, a month ahead of schedule!
So we are scrambling to get our ducks in a row to make the Zhoraberts happen!
Watch this space!
If you have contacted me about a puppy and I haven’t gotten back to you please shoot me another email since I am a bit frazzled right now!
Well, this was about the best weekend ever! After a pretty fraught couple of days with some very sad news about my beloved aunt, Zhora earned double Q #19 on Friday (at which point I called Jim and said “James Battista, PACK YOUR BAGS!”), and then yesterday she earned her MACH! She picked up double Q’s 18, 19 and the magic 20 in three trial days in a row. Talk about an emotional rollercoaster!
I have to say a word about my friends and agility peeps, just about every single person there was amazing to me, and my close friends, well…a gorgeous plaque from Sue Verbocy, and a new crate tag from Zap and Sherry (both say MACH Zhora and both were made AHEAD OF TIME, which somehow didn’t jinx us, by my awesomely talented friend Suzanne at Giftware by Felcor), cards, chocolate…I couldn’t ask for a more generous, wonderful, supportive, awesome group of people. I love you all, thank you so, so, so very much for everything, you made this just the best. And thank you to my awesome husband Jim Battista, for putting up with being an agility widower, and for driving down and getting up at o dark thirty to come with me and be there, it meant so much to me that you were there.
Zhora modeling the gorgeous plaque from Sue
Zhora’s new crate tag from Zap and Sherry
During our Standard run for the MACH, the whole place was so quiet (for an agility venue), you could have heard a pin drop, and then the place exploded. I was happy that once I stepped to the line, I followed my dear friend Sue Verbocy’s advice and looked at Zhora, smiled, told her I love her, and then just ran my course. It really wasn’t until I saw her go into the right end of the final tunnel that it hit me that she’d done it! I mishandled the chute with her and was out of position (“if she knocks the triple, it’s on you”, I remember thinking to myself, after thinking “what the F&*% are you doing on this side of the chute!??!”), but she just sailed through.
This was the Hamburg All Breed Obedience Club (HABOC) trial, we always love HABOC’s trials, they take excellent care of their workers, and their ribbons are second to none. I used to teach at HABOC so that made it extra special to get Zhora’s MACH at their trial. The original judge, Michele Fletcher, broke her ankle (heal soon Michele!), so Oksana Syrkin kindly stepped in to judge for us, using Michele’s courses. The courses were fun but quite tricky, but Zhora just rocked them. Oksana told me when we were getting the MACH pictures taken that she’d just earned her first MACH a few months ago. Everyone talks about your first MACH like they talk about losing your virginity: about how special it is; how you always remember it; how there’s nothing like the first one; etc. And now I am in a position to say that it’s all true. I burst into tears as soon as Zhora took the correct end of the tunnel at the end, and then HABOC president Ellen Schopp handed me the ribbon and MACH bar, and then went back to her ring crew job of fluffing the chute…which I didn’t see, and sent Zhora into the chute as part of our celebration lap (Zhora loves the chute), thank goodness Ellen was on the ball and jumped back so Zhora didn’t run into her! Zhora was SO happy, she knew everyone was thrilled with her. She got a whole donut (she LOVES donuts), and our friend Barb Teplesky gave her some steak, and later she got a hamburger. Afterwards, I took her to the beach with her dog friends Jackson and Lexy (Zap and Sherry’s Corgis), and her boyfriends Blaze and Zest (Sue Verbocy’s Vizslas), so she could celebrate in a way that was meaningful to her. I went out for dinner afterwards with my dear friends, there was a song (ABOUT WHICH WE WILL NOT SPEAK, IT WAS SUE’S FAULT!), and I generally just had the best. day. ever.
I am so privileged to have this amazing dog who is so happy to play this game with me. Like her mother Nina, Zhora’s work ethic and sheer joy at getting to play with me is priceless, and I try very hard to never forget how fortunate I am to have these awesome little dogs.
Zhora is now MACH Alkemi Blade Runner MX MXB MXJ MJB NF T2B, and she is my first home-bred champion at three and a half years old!
In other news, Nina picked up another Premier double Q (on the same day, no less!) and a Standard Q. She had some gorgeous runs, but the Q’s were elusive. That said, she now just needs 2 more double Q’s (and can use one more Premier double Q if she gets one) and a few points for 2017 Nationals. Running Nina, who turns 9 this month, is an exhilarating ride every single time, and I love every single run.
Nina Friday Premier Standard (Q and first place):
Zhora Friday Premier Standard (Q and second place):
Zhora Friday Standard (part 1 of QQ #19, first place and 30 points, thanks for videoing Clark!):
Zhora Friday Jumpers (part 2 of QQ #19, second place and 15 points):
Nina Friday Premier Jumpers (Q and first place):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (part one of MACH, second place and 17 points):
MACH run! Zhora Saturday Standard (second place, 29 points and oh yeah, MACH ZHORA!!!):
Another video:
Nina Sunday Standard (Q, second place and 33 points):
The decision has been made! Zhora (Alkemi Blade Runner LS MX MXB MXJ MJB NF T2B) will be bred this summer to Bert (GCH CH Pepperthyme Tapani). Imported from England, Bert is a Grand Champion and is showing some real drive and talent for working stock. He has a lovely, sweet, outgoing temperament, sound structure and great working drive, and has produced some lovely puppies already, with nice physical awareness, sound structure and wonderful working drive. Both parents have long tails, so all puppies should have long tails. Bert is red, so we could have some reds in the litter! This litter has a very low coefficient of inbreeding. Bert is OFA Fair, normal elbows and eyes. Zhora is OFA Good, normal elbows, patellas and eyes and has full dentition.
As always, I match puppies to homes, rather than doing “first come first served”, I am hoping to get some really nice drivey puppies out of this litter. Zhora is a sweet, smart, sound-tempered, very nice working dog with an “off switch”, as is Bert, so we hope the puppies will inherit that! If you would like more information, please feel free to contact me, please include information about yourself, why you want a Vallhund, and what your plans for the dog are. Priority will likely be given to performance homes, although no good home will be overlooked, we want the right puppy in the right home.
Here are some pictures of Bert (loads of Zhora videos here already), and here is his page:
