Reflections of Spaying Rose

J & A's Ever Ready Rose of Acton (click for her video)

Sire:  Tunk Pride of Crane Acres

Dam: KJ's Ramblin' Molly Rose

I remember her birth well.  Molly experienced Stage One of early labor for days it seems.  I was on the phone constantly with Karra (Molly's breeder) and Donna (Tunks owner/breeder) asking for advice and guidance as well as frequently consulting our two vets.  It had been over 10 years since our last litter here at All Things Brittany, John was still working full time, so it was just me and Molly.  We had her whelping area set up in the back bedroom so she could have complete privacy. I began taking her temperature faithfully about Day 50; first to establish a baseline average for her and second, to be sure not to miss the two significant drops to indicate how far away the actual birth was.  Early in the morning of April 2, 2005, on Day 62, Molly gave birth to her first litter of 5 beautiful Brittany puppies.  Rosie was the first one born, and she arrived in much the same way her entire life so far has been lived - unpredictable, fast, and non-traditional.  Molly had labored intensely with Rosie and suddenly jumped out of the whelping box and I saw Rose emerge with a huge push from Molly, suspended in mid-air, hanging several inches out of her mother by her umbilical cord and still encased in placenta! A second push plopped Rosie out onto the floor!  Fortunately I was ready and did know what to do and acted quicky, gently cradling Rosie so that her hanging weight would not cause undue stress on either mom or pup, reached for the blunt scissors and gently severed the cord at the proper distance. Coaxing Molly back to her whelping box I held Rosie's face to Molly's mouth and nose in hopes of maternal instinct kicking in.  Sure enough it did and Molly gently bit away and licked at the remaining placenta that held Rosie captive.  I let out a gasp of relief and observed from a distance just overseeing. And it was good.  Four other beauties followed; Boomer, Crystal, Roscoe, and BennyJack. 

We had decided beforehand that a female would stay from this litter. Our primary interest was to observe behavior indicative of a strong, independent hunting dog, and to lean more towards white than color, making visibility easier in the field.  It was a no-brainer from the start as little Rosie quickly demonstrated for the world to see that she was highly intelligent, independent, inquisitive, energetic and extremely loving and affectionate.  (The entire litter exhibited these characteristics which was no surprise.  Rosies sire "Tunk" was Frank Prides field dog, out of his prized Buschman line.  Her mother "Molly" also carries the likes of "Rimarda's Trademark", "County Lawyer" and Renegades Double Stuff - a Mark offspring.)

Our little "Rosie" stood out to us from the start.  She was intent on making sure our eyes fell on her first and remained fixed on her - which was very easy to do given her charm and personality!  I think she seemed to know the choice was going to be made between her and her equally precious sister, Crystal.  At that point in time we thought Crystal was actually the 'passive' one... HA! She ended up possesing as much tenacity and independence as Rosie, only it surfaced after Crystal was happily living her wonderful life with her new family! (At our annual Brittany club fun/field days I always enjoy seeing Crystal and Rose together again.)

A great disappointment was in store for me personally though concerning Rose. I had really hoped to learn about showing dogs with her at my side, and to eventually breed her if all went well, to carry that line of her father, which was the line of our first Brittany - "Hunter".   Over the course of the 8 weeks of puppyhood we usually have several vet visits and evaluations.  Everything was going well with Molly's litter until the day we were to get our overall state health certificates for the litter. 

The vet wrote "Malocclusion" on Rosie's certificate. Rose's teeth were not aligned properly. A Brittany's 'bite' is a scissors bite.  Her's was an over bite. Some genetic bite problems do not show up in each litter because they are recessively passed on. We consulted several breeders with Brittanys on either side and could not find any other animal with the overbite. Sometimes abnormal bites are proven to be genetically influenced but our vet helped us determine that was not the case with Rose.   We were encouraged by others who also said sometimes it will not develop further but this was not to be the case with Rose.  And then there were those who also advised us to 'put that dog down'.  That was a decision I would reach only if it ever appeared over the course of her lifetime the overbite would prove to interfere in any way in her otherwise normal development, which it has not.

 It was a no brainer to decide what to do with Miss Rose. Love her and care for her and keep her for all the days of her life and that's a decision I have never regretted.  She has been surrogate 'big sister' to many of our pups through the years, is official ATB 'scout' and is definitely the 'alpha bitch' (that is under me of course ha ha!).  Rose is high maintenance, needy, and tends to get anxious. And she is extremely intelligent and beautiful, happiest when hunting as are all Brittanys.  She would be an excellent therapy dog because she senses when humans are hurting and simply need the comfort of her company. And Rosie makes me laugh! Her original name was to be April Rose... but she reminded us so much of the 'Ever-Ready' bunny in the battery commercial - she keeps going and going and going - her AKC registered name had to include that descriptive term!

There always should be intent and purpose for putting two animals together.  Never to be entered into lightly. Some animals just should not be bred especially when pedigree or lack of it, appearance, and/or temperament come into play.  You can't 'fix' a pedigree if there was never a good one to begin with. But that is not the case with Miss Rose.  I won't deny that, even as a responsible breeder, my thoughts occasionally have wandered to the "what if Rosie, and what if Jack, and..."   Our decision to keep her intact was personal and while I support spay/neuter of all pets I do not support it for all hunting and/or performance animals.  One obvious goal of selective breeding is to mate one animal to another that has, among other things, superior occlusion - which Rosie did not.  If Rosie ever had a litter of pups, it would have been devastating and impossible for her to care properly for newborn pups due to her overbite. Other reasons came into play of course too.

It has now been 3 hours since I dropped Rose off at the vets for her surgery later today.  This is major, invasive surgery.  An ovariohysterectomy (OHE) or spay is the complete removal of the female reproductive tract. The ovaries, oviducts, uterine horns, and the uterus are removed. It is a big deal. It is a positive step for many reasons. But right now I am thinking with my heart and really missing her, looking forward to the phone call that says she is out of recovery. The reason why?  The last time one of our Brittanys was under anesthesia - he died of a heart attack during exploratory surgery. 

Thanks for listening to these ramblings... my writing is helping me get through this and I'm feeling the prayers of those who have been praying.  Good reports to follow I am sure! Take care and God bless you always,
John, Ann and All things Brittany!

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