Almost 5 years later, our daughter is now about to enter elementary school and I finally will have time during the day to devote to training a puppy the way I feel is best. Indigo still has her issues, but they are getting better and I am more skilled at managing them and not putting her in a bad situation. And finally at 9 years old she's starting to slow down a bit.
Over the years I have added and deleted many different types of dogs from "my list"; some making the list only to be toss off again multiple times. I have considered purebred puppies from reputable breeders, puppies from bred specific rescues, young purebred adults from rescues and the run of the mill mixed puppy or adult dog from the local shelters. It's a tough decision to make with many factors to weigh. In the end, I have decided on a pure bred puppy from a reputable breeder, which is much harder to find than it sounds.
As for the breed? Well the pendulum finally stopped swinging this way and that, from Border Collie, to Beagle, to a field Lab, and has pointed to a Flat-Coated Retriever. This is where most people say, "A what?" and give me this look o_O
This is a Flat-Coated Retriever (in black; they also come in liver)
As luck would have it, there's a breeder only 15 minutes from my house. Her dogs are lovely, well accomplished in the show ring and out in the field, and she and her husband are extremely nice. There's also a breeder in Northern California who looks very promising. Both breeders will have litters close to my perfect time frame. I feel fortunate to have two breeders to choose from considering that this breed is relatively small. Tomorrow Breeder #1 has an ultrasound appointment for her bitch to confirm the pregnancy and number of puppies. In just under two weeks Breeder #2 will be doing the same thing. We should know within a couple of weeks if we will be bringing home a FCR puppy at the end of summer!
3 comments:
It is sooooo hard to find a reputable breeder. I almost gave up on getting a miniature aussie until I lucked into finding Mary--through her breeder friend Tory's website. I'd actually initially contacted Tory, who referred me to Mary, because she didn't have a litter planned until the fall and I wanted a puppy in the spring. I think it's so hard to get a puppy in the fall/winter when you live in a colder climate like Michigan. The socialization opportunities are really cut in half if not more. Most "breeders" I found were either cobbling together what looked like mixed breeds or weren't doing anything with their dogs (showing/sports or health testing).
penny scott-fox just got her nw3 title with her fcr turner! fcr's kick some ass at nw :-D
2dogcrazy - I couldn't even imagine trying to do all the things I am hoping to do for socialization if it were freezing and snowing outside. As it is, this pup will have to deal with slightly cold days (for San Diego) when I take him to dog beach to get him used to the water. But I don't want to wait until the spring and with our weather I won't have to.
Clever Girl - NW is such a great sport. I am so grateful to the founders for getting to all going. It's perfect for my reactive terrier and I can't wait to start a pup out on it. If I get the pup from the hunting line I think he'll rock NW.
It's too bad you are not coming down in Oct. since you could have snuggled with the new pup.
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