It is with great pleasure that I announce that my darling Clover, otherwise known as “Ch Burrowa Blue Flame TD ME”, has been confirmed pregnant. The sire of the litter is Caber, otherwise known as “Ch Glenbogle Kiss Chasey ET”.

On the left, Caber, and the right, Clover.

Clover had an ultrasound on the 8th of October, which was day 28 of her pregnancy.  Though dog ultrasounds are not hugely accurate in determining numbers, excitedly, we had SIX puppies show on the ultrasound.  This is a huge litter for Clover, doubling her 2010 litter of 3 puppies (her first litter), and a singleton litter in 2011 (Myrtle).  It is more than we hoped for!

This post is a commitment to keeping you updated on the process of pregnancy, and puppy raising.  My puppies are raised using Dunbar’s protocols: I don’t want to produce ‘lemon puppies‘. Unfortunately, pregnancy is kind of boring. At the moment, our efforts are spent on keeping Clover active, taking her for walks as often as we can, and currently catering to her new found food fussiness.

However, I’d like to describe how we got to this point. Why I’ve made the decision to have a litter from Clover, why I chose the sire we have, and the puppy buyer process.

Deciding to Breed Clover

This is not Clover’s first litter, but her third.  I spent a lot of time before her first litter deciding whether to breed from her or not.  Despite being a Champion, I don’t consider her the greatest conformational representative of her breed.  The problem was that, since 2008, I have been trying to get my hands on a second breeding bitch, to no avail.  By the time 2010 came around, I had given up, and decided to work with what I have rather than wait for the perfect bitch that would probably never happen.

I was only ever planning to have two litters from Clover, but her singleton puppy in her last litter (2011) really threw me!  Unfortunately for Clover, I felt that I really wanted to produce more puppies, and so decided that she would have another litter. First, to see what we might get in terms of conformation results. Secondly, because I have puppy enquiries coming out my ears! And I love seeing the joy on a puppy buyer’s face.

Clover does have a lot of virtues.  She has the best temperament – she is active, game, clever, confident.  She is a lovely size, fitting well within the breed standard.  She has nice lay of should, nice turn of stifle, and generally has no hugely glaring conformation faults.  Clearly, as she is a conformation show champion!

Choosing a Sire

The lovely sire of this litter is a dog called Caber (also known as “Ch Glenbogle Kiss Chasey ET”), owned by my friend Elsa Hoggard from Straitup Border Terriers.

Caber while taking part in lure coursing.

There were a number of reasons that we chose to use Caber over Clover for this upcoming litter:

• Caber is 8 years old and is a fit, healthy, sound dog, with a correct bite, who has finished maturing.  With young dogs, there is the risk that they may grow into a dog that you don’t like. With an old dog, you know what you’re getting.
• Caber is 8 years old and hasn’t had a litter before! I don’t like the ‘popular sire effect‘, and I’m pretty sure we’re never going to have Caber become a popular sire.
• Caber compliments many of Clover’s faults.  He has a lovely front, top line, and is a great mover.
• I have stayed at Elsa’s house before and know what Caber is like in terms of temperament… He’s great!  Another confident, active, game dog.
• I like the dogs, in terms of temperament and conformation, that are behind Caber in his pedigree.
• Caber’s a grizzle. In my breed, we don’t do blue to blue matings (in general), so I needed to find a non-blue for Clover.
• It’s nice that Caber has his ET (endurance title), and he should have an obedience title someday, too. I love dogs that can do things other than look pretty in the show ring!
• Caber and Clover had hung out before and got along, so I was fairly confident that we wouldn’t have any temperament issues in order to get this mating.
• Clover is very special to me, and Elsa is one of the few people I could trust to board Clover while she was in season for this mating.
• I like to preserve genetic diversity by using a number of sires and minimising ‘repeat matings’. For this reason, it was important to me that I found a 3rd dog that I hadn’t used before (despite being quite happy with the results from my last two matings).

Clover and Caber in a tie (mating).

Clover was due to come in season in June or July, and it wasn’t until early September that she actually came in! This was so frustrating. As soon as she came in, she was flown to Victoria to be mated to Caber. This meant that she was there very early, but it’s better to be early than late! While in Victoria, the Caber’s semen was examined to make sure it was viable. (We did have a back up Victorian option if this didn’t go to plan!) Caber apparently has a knack for knowing when bitches are actually ovulating and ready for mating, and decided Clover was ready between the 7th and 9th of September. They mated a number of times in this period. She was transported back home and we just had to twiddle our thumbs waiting for our ultrasound on the 8th of October to confirm the pregnancy.

Note: This post is not intended to solicit interest in my puppies.  I receive several enquiries regarding puppies on a weekly basis, and already have an extensive waiting list of individuals interested in this litter.