The genetic results are in for the pup we had our eye on, and now our plans have to change. One thing I have learned in the dog world is you go down this figurative hallway, and you try all these doors, windows, all these options, and you only know if they are available to you, if you attempt to open them. So here we are stumbling our way down that hallway of life. Below I will detail why we are choosing to pass on this puppy, and what our gameplan is now.
The Genetics
I want to start by saying this puppy is an extremely healthy puppy, has a beautiful pedigree and would be fabulous in any program. The one and only problem, which is why we tested him at 2.5 weeks old, is he dad is a carrier for DM. For those who don’t know, or aren’t in the world of DNA, you need two copies of a gene to make the dog affected by a disease as far as the health of a dog goes. Adeline is a carrier for MDR1 and DM.
“But wait, I thought you weren’t going to breed this new puppy to Adi?”
You are correct, we are not, but we are hopeful in holding back another female from Summit and Adeline next litter. So if we get him, we would not be able to breed him to every female in our program or having those puppies at risk of inheriting both copies. That would go against everything we are trying to do here at Sage House Pups.
I say we are getting another female from Summit and Adi, but that is still pending if a door or window opens in this grand hallway. If that is the case, we do not want to be limited by if that puppy carries DM. Our goal with holding back a puppy (no matter the litter/pairing), is that they loose at least one negative marker each generation. Or we have to continue to be very careful about which crosses we do. Which is why we don’t want to add a male to our program with the same genetic markers that already exist in our lines now. The goal is to always breed a better, healthier generation.
So What Now?
The question I am constantly asking myself, so what now? Now we wait, and we wait as far as a male dog goes. We will still have our eyes open, looking for that perfect male, but we are shifting focus back onto the girls. Adeline still has some recovery to do and some conditioning as far as her coat and her structure is concerned, so we are slowly increasing exercise and adding toppers to her dinner in order to help her get back to her normal. One thing about this time around, she actually kept the weight. She barely dipped below where she normally sits. Her stomach shrank quite a bit, and she lost a lot of muscle tone when she was on kennel rest, but overall I am pretty content with how it played it. Of course the mastitis and abscess where not what we were going for at all, but we ended with the best possible outcome. Adi is happy, healthy, and acting like her normal self. Her coat is starting to show signs of growing back, and has eased up on the shedding. Which means we are on the other side of her postpartum journey. She is currently 14.5 weeks postpartum, and I think that is a pretty good turn around. I’m obviously not going to go for a super long hike, or run with her quite yet, but she has resumed normal playing, and has very much so enjoyed being out with Belle and Cali again.
Shifting Focus
So I mentioned shifting focus, while one of those things is getting Adi back into condition, another one is that I want to try to show the two girls, Belle and Cali. Now I am not in the dog world. I’m like most of America that enjoys dogs, I watch it on TV. The AKC show every Thanksgiving has been my extent. But recently since I got Belle, I’ve started practicing with all the girls a little bit. Belle has a pretty good free stack, I need to fine tune her feet, but she’s got the idea down. It is fantastic to see her suddenly still in a stack and that puppy energy falls away. Belle has been quite the handful as a puppy. Not what we were expecting as far as her energy levels.
Sometimes a puppy acts very differently around the breeder, mom, and siblings, so when they get out on their own and finally have the room to become their own dog, everything changes. Regardless of how we got here, I am happy we are starting to see the calm adult dog in Belle. A lot of that has to do with the training program we use, which I will talk more about later.
Anyway, we are shifting focus to Confirmation and showing the girls. The unfortunate part…. I have no idea how to do that. I have no knowledge outside of the one or two shows I manage to watch on TV and the limited amount of research available. I know AKC is different from ASCA and I have no idea where either one has shows, or if there are any local. So I have a lot more research to do… And every keeps telling me I need a mentor, but I can’t seem to make the right connections.
If you are in the dog world, specifically into showing Australian Shepherds, please reach out. I’d love a buddy to go with to some of these shows, or someone who knows this world and can help guide me.
I have a handful of resources and I am learning how to groom a show coat on an Aussie, and I actually really enjoy it, and I think I’m pretty good.
I would also be open to looking into finding a handler for one or both of the girls, so if that is something you do, also reach out. I do really enjoy the grooming aspects, and I’d love to learn more, but I am a little lost as to were to begin.
Content Going Forward
As of this morning, I have officially decided to start posting these blogs. I might have other posts hidden in my drafts that I plan to save for later. Maybe I’ll make a whole series on how to get into the dog world. I’ll still make these more real-time in the moment posts, that way you can stay updated, but I’ll compile everything into a post or two later on. Maybe I’ll even break it down into sections. It depends on how complicated this all is. Either way, you’ll know when I know.
The idea of this blog is to show more of the day to day and share funny stories and moments. As well as add an educational aspect to it. Blogs also drive a lot of traffic to the website and that is definitely something we could use more of. We are a business and we do need money to survive, that is just life. So no matter why the reason you are here reading this, thank you for being here, and thank you for reading.
I still do not have the newsletter setup, I am hoping to dedicate time this Friday (Probably the day this goes live). Either way, I’ll update you in the next post, and when it is live, I’ll let you know over on social media.
For now, we are doing blog posts, I still don’t have a schedule. It will be just as I have time and as I have updates. Thank you for being patient, and I hope you keep reading.
Dog Training
I said I would talk about them, so now I am going to talk about them. Here is where we insert our affiliate advertisement. If you would like more info or a link, I do have a Dog Training page here on the website, but I will also leave a link in their name below (If I can remember how to do that…).
Here at Sage House Pups we use Cornerstone Dog Training‘s methods and puppy course to give all our dogs a solid foundation. I love the way they teach commands, how they teach a dog to settle, and I absolutely love release words. Our first dog, Adi, I trained myself. I made mistakes, I created problems for myself, but I did successfully raise a well rounded dog. She has quirks, like she has to sleep in our bedroom in her kennel. She grew up in smaller homes/condos where she was always within eyesight of us. So we have created a problem there that I can’t seem to break. The only exception, is the whelping room. She adores having the whole bedroom to herself. It is a small room, only about 7 by 8, but she loves it. We are still trying to figure out all of her quirks, and learning new things about her every day.
With our next dog, Belle, we knew we wanted a better foundation for her, and I wanted to learn more about Cornerstone. We were introduced to Cornerstone when a friend joined the company a few years ago. Both loving dogs, and love talking about them, we of course talked at length about training and different things. I finally caved this year and bought the program. I have not looked back since.
When Calida officially became apart of the program, I started her on the basics as well. I have loved watching each dog learn and grow through this program, and see sneak peeks of what they will be like when they are adults. If you have ever raised a puppy, you know what I mean. No matter how well behaved, all puppies have that wild streak that cannot be tamed. Cornerstone helps channel that energy into learning about their world, building confidence, and replacing that chaos for calm.
So if you are struggling to get your puppy to settle, they are crazy and refuse to do anything (as most puppies do), than check out their puppy course. You won’t regret it. They also have a 14 day potty training course to help jumpstart you with your new puppy.
If you would like free resources, check out their podcast on Spotify, they talk all about the concepts behind dog training, and where they got their start. Or check out their Instagram and Facebook for tips and tricks.
Conclusion
I know I have said it a few times, but genuinely thank you for reading this post. Each view gives me so much joy and tells the algorithms that this is something worth reading and pushing out to other people. In our big, wild world, your view matters. I know sometimes it doesn’t always feel that way. I feel very small in this world, but one action can change the course of someone’s life.
So if you enjoyed this content, be sure to give it a like and share it with someone you think might enjoy it. Want more updates and cute photos? Head on over to our Instagram and Facebook, we can be found under our business name Sage House Pups, and our logo is our profile pick.
I hope you all have a wonderful day, and do not be afraid to reach out, comment, and share.
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