ATB: Pippin Day 37 - DESIRES OF THE HEART LITTER ULTRASOUND

Psalm 37: 4

Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you 

the desires of your heart.

 

IS SHE OR ISN'T SHE? Her appointment was for 2:30 in the afternoon on Tuesday, September 9.  I've been on pins and needles for weeks wondering, hoping, praying, desiring.  If you've followed this ATB blog over the years you know that it's often difficult for me to even remotely suggest that I am ready to confirm a pregnancy.  Ultrasounds are the exception and not the rule here at J&A's Brittanys when it is time to make the determination whether puppies are on the way. As the daughter of breeders of Boston Terriers suffice it to say I understood the facts of life at a very young age. Consider also that John and I bred our first litter of Brittanys in 1990. Over the years our abilities to detect a canine pregnancy have improved exponentially and most of the time we happily wait it out, taking note of changes in appearance, appetite, and other areas.

AT FIRST SHE WAS The first time we bred Pippin she went to New Jersey for a very special rendezvous with the handsome Chevy. She had a very healthy, normal, and uneventful pregnancy which resulted in a lovely litter. We kept Hemi and Thistle as our own from this pairing. 

A SNIPPET ABOUT BREEDING: A Pippin and Chevy were an outcross breeding, one in which genes are brought together from totally unrelated individuals. In an outcross breeders are often looking for that so-called 'nick' also known as 'hybrid vigor.'  Our goal is to always improve upon what is already good in regards to our close working gun dog program. To do this we most often can look to our own lines which we are intimately familiar with. In this case we have been successful with linebreeding. NOTE: Some people confuse linebreeding with inbreeding. Our breeding strategy here at J&A's Brittanys does not include inbreeding.  When we first began to re-establish our program we carefully looked at lines we were personally familiar with and worked with several of them.  After awhile, we could easily, safely, and deliberately make a choice between an outcross or a linebreeding. We do prefer to use animals within our own program. They are not necessarily owned by us. Instead, we may have actually bred them or perhaps they are owned by breeders whose lines also include those most familiar to us. That is where the consistency comes in for us.  There are certain attributes we strongly desire and that we will protect.  When we see any loss or degradation of the qualities we strive to see in our Brittanys time is taken to reassess things. Strong natural hunting abilities and instincts are either present or they are not. These things along with proven records of good health, sound mind, and conformation that follows function are not sacrificed or compromised. Although linebreeding is a slower and less direct way to fix desirable traits in a bloodline, there are few risks involved. There are some things that you can "fix" or "correct" through a breeding program over a few years time. But when it comes to the hunt, the dog either has it or it doesn't!  In regards to Wilson and Pippin, this is a linebreeding on Pippin's side and because of the known COI (coefficiency) of this pairing I am excited about what will be passed down into these puppies.  

AND THEN SHE WASN'T The second time we attempted to breed Pippin once again she went to New Jersey to visit with Chevy.  Unfortunately it was not successful. Apparently the timing was all off.  Plus Pip was not a happy camper with all the traveling that was involved.  After awhile we came to the realization that Pippin (like her mother Chrissy and daughter Thistle) has a very unusual pattern to her estrus (heat) cycle. Fast forward to today.  

AND NOW SHE IS !!  We wanted to know with all certainty that the breeding back in August between Wilson and Pippin was successful. We checked progesterone daily and made trips to our repro vet to be sure we had the timing right.  Wilson's motility was checked during his breeding soundness exam. On that day our repro tech friend came bursting through the door of the exam room and exclaimed "Wilson is a rock star!"  It doesn't get any better than that. Unless of course, you are standing in the dark of a quiet room watching black and white images on a ultrasound monitor and you see limbs moving, hearts beating, little blobs jumping while the magic wand gently moves across the beautiful tummy of a beautiful Brittany girl named Pippin. That was today. Day 37 of Pippin's now confirmed pregnancy. Puppies cometh. Let the journey begin.  (See Breeding Announcement of Aug. 13)

As always thank you for your interest in our Brittanys. Take care and God bless, John, Ann and ATB

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things Brittany

The Lord God loves them all.