Breed Standards Seminar and Sweet Sorrow

Friday evening we bid farewell and good life to Sahara, our happy little dancing, food dish puppy. She is doing great in her new home, but I miss her silliness already. She has a great new friend (a red and white malmutexhusky boy) which she plays and cuddles with along with two wonderful children to be part of her people pack and to grow up with.


I am so very happy for her and for her new family, but at the same time, I always wish I could keep them all.



Saturday morning, Princess sniffed all through the house, whining at me and letting me know a puppy was missing. I tried to explain it to her, but I don't think she believed me. I gathered her, her crate and her grooming table up anyway, and headed out to the Breed Standards Seminar.

The seminar was awesome, and I learned a lot about what goes in to a breed standard and why, and how it applies to a dog. We learned how the bone structure of a dog affects its movement, and why particular movements are written in to the breed standards. It was a really great seminar and I'm very grateful to Laurin for putting it on! With this knowledge I'm now much better equipped to evaluate our future breeding program and how to choose pairings far more carefully to achieve the best results.

Princess was ecstatic to be with people and dogs for over 8 hours. She lives for this stuff, and loved the attention. She's such a wonderful personality. However, evaluating her with the newfound knowledge, I can see why she doesn't conform enough to the standard to win in her class. So she is being retired to the sled team where she still excells, as now I know why she was built for speed and can run so fast! She may miss showing, but will be twice as thrilled to make every race. In a way this makes me happy to know that she is sound enough to be a foundation of our racing stock if not our show lines.

Sunday was again rainy (Saturday too, but we spent the day inside on purpose), and I woke with a slight migraine. So instead of the flurry of activity I had planned, I ended up nursing my headache to prevent it from getting any worse. This turned out to be a good thing, as I was contacted by a person looking for a husky pup, and we had one left to find a good home for. Little River, my small cuddler and swift runner is a very special, smart, loveable little girl, so I was very cautious talking to them, but the more we spoke the more my fears were put to rest. She had read a lot about the breed, knew their flaws and their good points (which to some people are flaws, but to me makes them the best breed ever), had a fence and kids old enough to not be knocked over by an enthusiastic pup, but young enough to still want to play with and be active with the puppy. After a good exchange, she agreed to come by, meet River and her parents, and make her final decision.

River took to them right away, coming up and happily licking hands and faces without reserve, as if she knew she was meant for them. The children too, took to her, and it was obvious by all their faces the match was made.

So with happiness and sorrow in my heart, I said good-bye and happy life to my little River. It was an eventful weekend full of the good things, even the ones that make you sad, a sweet, sweet sorrow.