Paring Down The List . .

It's nice to have the pups reserved in advance, but it's not easy to make the decisions on who goes where. Although I like to have enough reservations to be sure all the pups will go to homes in a reasonable amount of time, I also hate to keep people hanging on, wondering whether or not there will be a puppy for them. And if I promise too many pets and realize I had more show potential pups than anticipated, I either put show pups in pet homes where they will drop out of sight, or change my mind and disappoint someone who thought they were getting a pet.

The person who had not been in touch for awhile did contact me, and has dropped off this list - for a good reason. When they came to be interviewed, they apparently decided they really preferred liver, and have decided to wait until a liver pup is available! Many people come here saying that they would only consider a black spotted pup, but once they meet the livers, Coral and Argus especially, they become Liver Lovers (like me!). This is one of the very few litters I have ever had that did not have pups of both colors, but we had suspected Boji was not liver-factored and would only produce black spotted pups. As was the case.

Another of the potential buyers is making too many demands and only wants a pup if the spotting is "just right". Because her reservation is for a pet, and because all of these pups are actually very well marked, I am not willing to wait for her to decide if any of the pet pups have just the kind of spotting she envisions. I suggested she would be better off buying locally in her own area. It's important to me to feel comfortable with my buyers, and for my buyers to trust me to place the right puppy with them, and if friction develops it will only create problems in the future.

So two other people have moved up the list, and I'll add a couple more people to the reserve list.

Joy arrived yesterday to honeymoon with Argus. Dogs normally ship very well, as long as they are well socialized and accustomed to crating. Joy came out wagging her tail and settled in immediately. Her owner Donna does a lot of performance work, and trains and socializes her dogs well, so Joy settled in happily and enjoyed her walks. Joy is a very cute Dal with a puppyish face and pretty markings. Her mama Sassafrass is a fine Agility dog, and a grand daughter of my late Morris. Because Joy has a liver parent, she is automatically liver factored. Can't wait to see if Argus can produce liver pups as beautifully spotted as his black puppies!

ARGH. Dogs are barking. Time to bring them in and give them breakfast. The young dogs spend about an hour in the yard before I go to work. They play hard, and have a great time. Sid & Coral just prefer to do an in-and-out in the morning, and go back to bed for awhile. Gotta walk Joy too, before heading to work. Fish club meeting last night, so I got to bed late, yet again. . .