Gone to Talk to a Guy about a Horse... Part 2.

Did I leave you hanging? Sorry.

Doug decided he wanted another Aussie! Denali has stolen his heart and he's become so astounded by the Aussie breed. He wants one to call his own!

So, last summer we went to go talk to a guy. About a horse. NAH! Just kidding. We went to a local Australian Shepherd breeder to talk about his breeding program. Well, I thought it was just to "talk." Denali is fixed so we cannot breed her. But this guy had a young red-tri female that looked so much like Denali, Doug was caught. The breeder was considering breeding her depending on when she came into "season." We wouldn't want her to come in too early; her 2nd birthday is in early December. Before we left the breeder's place, Doug handed over a deposit check to have first pick from this girl's first litter.

We were pretty excited when we left there. First pick of a litter is pretty awesome!

I was still pretty stunned about the events of the evening; during our "talk" with the breeder Doug mentioned that he'd want to show this dog in Conformation Shows.  Over the course of the next few months, we attended a few Dog Shows and for Christmas, I gave him a whole mess of Puppy and Dog Show books.  The breeder called us around early December to let us know that "Allie" had gone into heat; he called again closer to Christmas to tell us that she had been bred to "Smokey" and to mark our calendars for 63 days.

Two weeks before the puppies were due, the breeder called to give an update: "Allie" had been to the vet and had an ultrasound.  Either it was a very small litter, or she was not pregnant.  The vet wanted to see her back the following week.  That ultrasound confirmed there were no puppies.  Doug was given some options by the breeder and he chose to leave his deposit in place for first pick of "Allie's" first litter.