And so it begins: McKenzie goes to Minnesota
By Gina Spadafori
February 6, 2009
Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn’t tranquilize a dog for an airline flight.
But … in my book, tranquilizing the owner is more than justified. I’m going to stress like all get-out until that phone call in the morning that McKenzie is safely with my friends in Minnesota.
Yes, after 30 years of showing, training and competing with dogs, as well as running a rescue, and 25 of writing about pets more or less for a living, I am now breeding my first litter.
“Greedy breeders”? Hmmm. I figure a conservative estimate of the money “invested” in McKenzie — shows, training, field work and competition, travel, genetic testing, etc., etc., etc. — to be something in the neighborhood of $10,000, and that’s exclusive of “normal” care expenses. Not to mention the shows, training, field work and competition, travel, genetic testing, etc., etc., etc., of the dogs who came before her, lived their lives with me and for one good reason or another were never bred.
It ain’t about the money, that’s what I’m saying. It’s about a belief in continuing our heritage breeds, while working to improve health and — in a breed like this one — keep working ability.
McKenzie’s flight to Minnesota is no small jaunt, but it’s nothing compared to what her mother went through. McKenzie’s litter was conceived on Christmas Day in a Copenhagen hotel room. Yes, in Denmark. Her mother, a top field-trial competitor and champion, was brought by her owner from Texas. Her dad, one of the all-time top field retrievers in Europe, came over from Sweden. Families were abandoned back home to get the dogs there and take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
It was worth it. The resulting litter includes the fastest agility dog in the world on the West Coast, and a top field dog who’s nearly a champion on the East Coast and a field-agility dynamo in the Texas. And those are just McKenzie’s sisters.
And then there’s McKenzie, a champion who’ll finish her first field title after she’s done the mommy thing and been spayed. She’s has already qualified three of the four times necessary before we ran out of time.
This may be the only time I’ll ever I’ll have a litter to raise … and I’m sure looking forward to it. Puppies!
image: McKenzie, 8 weeks.
Update: The Interwebs are wonderful. A handful of clicks, and I know she made the very tight connection without a hitch and she’ll be in Minnesota in a couple of hours, where my friends will be waiting for her anxiously.
Update: My friends just called. They have her. Whew.
Further update: Wow, that looks cold:
Let me be first to call you …. Grandma.
;)
Patrick
Comment by PBurns — February 6, 2009 @ 4:24 am
we’re gonna need a puppy-cam!
Can’t say “puppies” without ending in a smile!
Comment by Carol V — February 6, 2009 @ 4:34 am
::settles in to live vicariously::
Comment by Lori — February 6, 2009 @ 5:59 am
Hope all goes well.
And yes, definitely, a puppycam is in order.
Comment by hornblower — February 6, 2009 @ 7:54 am
Puppycam…yes, yes, yes! McKenzie was such an adorable pup!!
Comment by 2CatMom — February 6, 2009 @ 8:29 am
She’ll be on the ground in 22 minutes … not that I’m checking … and checking … and checking …
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 6, 2009 @ 8:36 am
Hi,
Good luck to you and McKenzie and her “babes”. Hope everything goes well with her first litter.
McKenzie is so cute looking, I can imagine what the pups will be like.
Regards.
Margaret
Comment by Margaret — February 6, 2009 @ 8:41 am
If you think the waiting now is bad, try the wait for the puppies. And if your vet offers in-house whelping, I’d say go for it. As pleasant as an in-home birthing might be, you’re not looking to make a career out of this and having trained Vet staff and quick access to professional care outweighed getting to stay in my pajamas for me.
And don’t let those puppy intensive care manuals freak you out… they make it sound like you’ll be popping off heads and dealing with dead puppies 30-40% of the time. I don’t know about the toy breeds, but I think normal sized dogs with normal physiology don’t have nearly the same problems.
Good luck!
Comment by Christopher — February 6, 2009 @ 8:49 am
She has arrived! Now … off the plane and to pick-up. Waiting for the call.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 6, 2009 @ 8:55 am
Scandinavia is a good place to go for new bloodlines for flat-coats. In fact, they also have a nice population of working golden retrievers there. It’s a Valhalla for working retrievers.
Comment by retrieverman — February 6, 2009 @ 8:55 am
How exciting! Paws crossed that all goes well across the board. Good luck to McKenzie!
Comment by stellaluna — February 6, 2009 @ 9:22 am
Glad to hear the news but girl you could have saved yourself the stress if the stud’s parents cryobanked the sperm.
You can have it shipped and just go someplace not as far (ie., So. Cal.) to have her inseminated.
Not as popular with some crowds but it has been a successful option since the mid-1980s.
Comment by Ark Lady — February 6, 2009 @ 9:58 am
In two more generations (yes, we have that planned that far ahead), we are planning a breeding to a “banked” dog who has already passed.
We have good repro-vets right here in Sacratomato (not to mention UCD) who handle this stuff routinely.
My boy Woody is on ice for the future already. Heck, his co-owner’s storage bill at two different cryobanks is pretty darn eye-popping.
So yeah, we know … but didn’t go that route this time.
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 6, 2009 @ 10:09 am
Best wishes for a perfect flight, breeding, and litter of pups! I look forward to all the photos and updates :^)
PS- the jockey show on Animal Planet airs tonight. Kind of a strange show for Animal Planet (since it’s about jockeys and it looks like it is more about the people and the drama than the horses).
Comment by Sarah K Andrew — February 6, 2009 @ 10:34 am
I have the TiVo all set!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 6, 2009 @ 10:46 am
Here’s to a successful union!
Comment by Anne T — February 6, 2009 @ 11:04 am
EEEK! She’s kneeling in the snow!
Comment by Lori — February 6, 2009 @ 11:41 am
Good luck! I agree that the waiting for puppies is the worst part; December and most of january were AWFUL. (And then Rittie reabsorbed; better luck next time, hopefully.)
Comment by Cait — February 6, 2009 @ 12:15 pm
“Wow, that looks cold”
OMG - I LOL’d! Today is the warmest day we’ve seen since mid-December! Temps are currently above freezing>/i> (as opposed to just barely above - or below - zero) as they generally are this time of year.
Glad McCutie isn’t as big a wimp as her mom is!
Comment by SmartDogs — February 6, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
This is great timing for pups. Born in early April, going to homes in summer.
If you have to ship, just watch the weather that time of year.
With my last litter, I ended up doing a Houlie Puppyseeds journey across the upper Midwest. It was too hot to ship. Made more sense for me to make one odyssey than for multiple families to all drive to me, and I also dropped off a Rescue dog I’d just sprung for long-term foster. I brought Pip and Rosie with me, too.
Comment by H. Houlahan — February 6, 2009 @ 12:45 pm
At this point, I’m planning a Tour of The Midwest, since that’s where most of the pups are going.
I like road-trips with dogs. :)
Comment by Gina Spadafori — February 6, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
Good luck and best wishes on a smooth journey to motherhood for McKenzie and breedhood for you Gina!
Comment by Jenniferj — February 6, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
Drop me a line if you head through CO, I’ll tell you all the best dog parks to stop in. Although if you’re driving, you’ll probably be going through Wyoming. Still, I know a good one to stop at.
And, what’s the going rate for “putting the swimmers on ice” ?? Is this a monthly/yearly thing or is it a one time charge?
Good luck!
Comment by Christopher — February 6, 2009 @ 11:24 pm
We pulled out the warm weather for Ms McKenzie- welcome to Minnesota!
Comment by Megan — February 7, 2009 @ 6:06 am
McCutie is going to love the MN weather! She’ll have a field day (ar ar).
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — February 7, 2009 @ 3:40 pm
Gina, Here’s to McKenzie’s impending motherhood, the first litter is the best! Look forward to the future pics.
Very Best,
Comment by Barbara A. Albright — February 7, 2009 @ 4:39 pm
Hooray! Good luck with everything! You’ll do more worrying in the next few months than you’ve ever done in your life, and you’ll get less sleep but you’ll also have more fun! There are few things more satisfying than bringing wonderful dogs into the world, and matching them up with wonderful homes.
One tip - if there are ANY concerns about Miss McKenzie’s ability to whelp easily - like any C-sections or problems with uterine inertia or stillborn pups in her family history - I recommend using Whelpwise. Even if you don’t anticipate any problems, as a novice breeder it will save you lots of anxiety. It’s a service run by experienced breeders and OB nurses and you lease a uterine contraction monitor and Doppler ultrasound. The info is transmitted to them over your phone line and they analyze it. They’ll talk to your vet for you too, if needed. I used it on the recommendation of other breeders and it was so amazingly worth it.
http://www.whelpwise.com/testi.....rvice.html -and no, I don’t have any connection with them other than being a satisfied customer!
Comment by Barb — February 8, 2009 @ 11:42 pm