The miracles of modern times …. 1,000 miles in three days
By Gina Spadafori
November 10, 2008
We passed one out of two tests, and now we’re just one pass away from McKenzie’s junior hunter (four passes are required). Alas, there’s not another test until February, and it may well be the case that McKenzie may be nursing puppies then.
Yep, I’m going there.
As we’ve argued here as part of the case against mandatory breeding bans, all breeders are not puppy-milling scum or clueless, careless back-yard breeders. So I will now for the first time soon be joining those who work to preserve our heritage breeds, in my case a retriever breed that remains a smart, loving and lively family member and versatile companion hunting dog.
Thirty years “in” dogs and a lifetime with them, and I will soon be catching a plane to the Midwest with McKenzie for a three-night stand with a dog she’ll never meet again. At least it’s not as bad as what her mother went through: My friend and McKenzie’s mom flew to Copenhagen, there to meet a top Swedish field dog whose owners brought him over on a ferry for the liaison.
McKenzie was conceived on Christmas Day 2004 in a Danish hotel room. Yes, dog people are crazydedicated.
The Midwest in winter is not a trip to Europe, but I don’t have a real winter coat, so that will be an adventure. Never driven in snow, either. Yes, I’m crazydedicated.
This week I have to get one more health clearance on McKenzie (her CERF certification; hips, elbows and patellas are already done) and then we just wait for nature to call as to when we book the flight.
***
Lot of work today … deadlines galore. So I’ll end with how strange it is to be able to travel 1,000 miles in three days, compared to how impossible that was through almost all of human existence.
Still, it’s a haul, made easier by music. For a couple hours of yesterday’s seven-hour drive, I listened again to the first album I ever bought with my own money, Simon and Garfunkle’s “A Bridge Over Troubled Water.” I saved up the baby-sitting money to get it then; I seem to remember it was $3.99 on vinyl new in 1970, when I would have been 12 years old. Cost a little more on iTunes now, but well worth it. I hadn’t listened in years, but of course I remembered every word.
They call me Baby Driver, and once upon a set of wheels hit the road an I’m go-o-o-one, what’s my number, wonder how your engine feels.
Sha na na na, it’s good to be home.
Pictured: Drew, outstanding in his field, with the hunt test gallery in the distance behind him. I can honestly report he was stunned and rather horrified to see so many wet retrievers, and he does not understand why people will sit in chairs all day to watch retrievers, uh, retrieve.
Want to get a few laughs? Bring a Sheltie to a hunt test. I bet a full two dozen people stopped to tell me that there weren’t any sheep on the grounds, as if Pretty Boy Drew would herd anything anyway. A working dog this one is not. But he’s cute, and sweet as can be.
Congratulations on your hunt test leg, and good luck with your litter. :P You’re ahead of us on plans- we’re still stud shopping for Rittie, my new smooth girl who comes home in a few days. (She’s 3 :P)
Comment by Cait — November 10, 2008 @ 9:41 am
Why don’t you just pay for papa and owner to fly to you and put them up in a hotel. :-) Same cost and less stress for you and they would probably rather get away from the Snow in February. LOL
Comment by cheryl — November 10, 2008 @ 9:45 am
Believe me, I’ve thought about it! :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2008 @ 10:08 am
Traveling 2400 miles in 9 days with my standard poodle and a collection of music is about the most fun I’ve ever had. He loved it too. Enjoy!
Comment by Pamela Picard — November 10, 2008 @ 10:26 am
Also regarding the Midwest winter, I lived there for 30 years. You need a warm coat, boots that keep your feet dry, flexibility and a sense of humor. Frankly, given the security and delays of modern air travel, I think driving is a great deal LESS stressful. Unless you happen to hit a snowstorm, the main roads will be dry. If you hit snowstorm, just hole up at whatever hotel / motel you choose until the roads are clear. La Quinta welcomes dogs.
Comment by Pamela Picard — November 10, 2008 @ 10:31 am
I’ve driven coast to coast a couple of times, but always spring and fall, I-10 CA to FL, sun all the way.
Does anyone else agree that driving would be better than flying to the upper Midwest in winter? Seriously, I have NEVER driven in snow. I’m skeered.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2008 @ 10:49 am
Driving in snow is easy, stopping is where it gets tricky. :) However, most of the mid-west roads are straight and flat (compared to the twisty, hilly roads in WV). Plus they keep the roads clear. Won’t be as bad as you think. Especially if you time things so you have a nice 4WD to test for Dog Cars and take your time. Snowy scenery is beautiful. Also, like Pamela suggests, the roads should only be bad right after a storm so if you sit tight for a few hours, the plows and salt trucks will come by and clear the roads for you. As for flying, I’ve never flown with my dogs. Too paranoid the airlines would injure my dogs. Besides flying is so much hassle.
Comment by Shannon Watts — November 10, 2008 @ 11:09 am
Honestly, if you have never driven in snow before, I don’t reccomend it.
While we are really, really good at salting and plowing roads, it can be cold enough that the ice still freezes, and even when it’s just plain old wet, it’s still slick. What’s more, a couple states are having problems even getting rock salt, for whatever reasons. There were whole weeks last winter where there was no salt whatsoever in my state and it took about a day to clear, once or twice, even more.
Also, the odds that you’ll hit a snowstorm are very, very, very good in February. Especially if you’ll be driving through different areas.
On the other hand, the Midwest is a pretty big area, with lots of differences in temps and snow, so depending on where you’re going, it might be milder.
Comment by Christine S — November 10, 2008 @ 11:41 am
There is a cost involved in driving - you will need to have chains on hand at the very least. Sometimes the problem isn’t snow but ice.
Comment by cheryl — November 10, 2008 @ 11:43 am
Damn.
I thought we were going to get a very good story. The set up
_ _ _ _
Thirty years “in” dogs and a lifetime with them, and I will soon be catching a plane to the Midwest with McKenzie for a three-night stand with a dog she’ll never meet again. At least it’s not as bad as what her mother went through ….. “
_ _ _ _ _
If that’s not a good set up for a story about the 70s, I don’t know what is, LOL.
P.
Comment by PBurns — November 10, 2008 @ 12:17 pm
I am all in favor of live cover natural normal matings. BUT I will not fly my dogs anymore, I do not trust the airlines. And I have driven to Canada, to Minnesota and to Texas to breed, but it was all BK, before kids. I don’t have the time now to be gone for a week or so to breed a dog.
So my point is, have you considered shipping chilled semen? There are several fantastic veterinary specialists in NorCal and there are good people in the midwest as well. While a natural breeding with a tie is always reassuring, a properly timed AI will often produce excellent results with far less risk than flying or driving in the snow! :-)
Personally in the past 10 years I have had two litters of 8 and one litter of 5 from chilled shipments, and a litter of 9 from a frozen breeding from a dog who had been gone over a decade.
Comment by Jenniferj — November 10, 2008 @ 2:47 pm
Gina, the comment I just tried to leave ws devoured by the spam monster I think…. :-(
Comment by Jenniferj — November 10, 2008 @ 2:49 pm
Recovered. Whaddayawant to bet the spam filter didn’t dig the word “semen”? :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2008 @ 2:55 pm
I was going to write a ‘thesis’ on driving in snowy conditions, but I think this link serves the purpose: Tom and Ray.
http://www.cartalk.com/content.....erDriving/
Congratulations on that 3rd leg Gina and McKenzie! If Nature cooperates, maybe you both can compete for the 4th and final one, AND make that important rendezvous at the No Tell Motel somewhere in the snowy Midwest!
Gotta ask though, is fresh frozen not an option? Seems to me safer than driving or flying.
Comment by Anne T — November 10, 2008 @ 2:57 pm
Yah, that’s why I used “shipment” as well. I shoulda known.
Now “shipment” sounds kinda dirty too…
Comment by Jenniferj — November 10, 2008 @ 3:01 pm
I think it’s shaping up to be not so bad. I may not even need to drive at all, and we can get a direct flight. We’ll see. I certainly do like the FedEx option, though …
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2008 @ 3:12 pm
I do not drive in snow or ice. Since I’m in plant agriculture, it’s one of the few luxuries I allow myself. I don’t have to, so I don’t.
After being stuck for 12 hours in the Raleigh-Durham airport, I don’t fly anymore, either.
I think a vacation in CA in February would be very welcome, especially if you were picking up the tab. Otherwise, I’d go with FedEx — the other options are just way too stressful and after all the effort, you don’t want her so stressed that she just re-absorbs what you went out there to get. . .
Comment by Dorene — November 10, 2008 @ 4:20 pm
Oh, Gina, you know I just hafta go and say that this is the *second* time just to stir the pot a little. :-) For those of us who pay attention to our breed club’s code of ethics anyway.
Count me in as one who is surprised that you’re looking at this trip rather than AI. Especially at that time of year.
Comment by Deanna — November 10, 2008 @ 4:31 pm
I know I know.
You go argue it with Christie, who jumped all over me the last time I said I was a breeder because Woody had sired a litter.
Which of course I am forever responsible for, no matter what the breed club’s code of ethics says.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — November 10, 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Two of the most enjoyable “vacations” I’ve had were the junkets that Pip and I took so that she could get lucky.
The first was a driving adventure to Wisconsin dairy country, and the second a flight to Portland and drive over the Cascades to the high desert of central Oregon.
I’d never been either place. Because ES folks are that sort of people, I stayed with the stud’s owners both times, and helped out as much as I could.
Being on those two wonderful farms — a family dairy, and a heritage breed cattle ranch — was one more prod towards getting our own place.
And in both cases, the wonderful stud dogs were as advertised. Indeed — because I am naturally skeptical of anything said to be great — the dogs exceeded my expectations in temperament, working ability, and extreme handsomeness and charm.
Have a great time!
Call if you have mating/whelping/puppy questions!
(BTW, the reason we took the long drive the first time was because I don’t believe in breeding an animal who can’t/won’t mate naturally. The reason we took the big flight the second time was that it turned out to be more trouble and expense to get semen, ship it, and inseminate on this end, with dedicated repro vets on both ends a long drive away. And in our breed, AI’s have been spotty, with a lot of misses and very small litters in a breed that is highly fecund as a rule. This was the last heat at which I’d consider breeding Pip, who had just turned seven, so I wanted the best chance possible.)
Comment by H. Houlahan — November 11, 2008 @ 10:07 am