Doing Our Best
We are doing our best over this long summer, that’s all that can be said. We have had unbelievable highs and heartbreaking lows.
First the lows, on July 7th we made the incredibly difficult decision to put down our oldest dog, Kemper. Kemper has never been featured on the website as he was never a show dog, nor a performance dog. We tried several things with him throughout his 16 years and nothing seemed to stick. Kemper was Michael’s dog and his true ride-or-die buddy. Kemper’s cause of death was intractable seizures and we made the decision to end his suffering. Kemper was not an easy dog to live with and he taught us what it was like to live with a very unstable dog. He was a backyard bred Rat Terrier mix that had no fear, zero concept of self-preservation, hated new surroundings, hated strange dogs, and had zero dog body language skills. Living with him was not easy but rehoming him was not an option either as he could easily have been a liability to an inexperienced home. For all his quirks and weirdness, he was a good dog with us. He is deeply missed and there are times when I can still hear him around the house.
On another low, we bred Raven using surgical AI but the ultrasound was empty. We’ve spent over $15,000 in two years just trying to breed a single litter. The financial hit sucks but the emotional toll is even worse. Raven is healthy but needy as hell at the moment. There is a slim chance that she might have a single puppy or two but I’m doubtful. Her anticipated due date would be August 13-August 14.
The highlight of our summer so far has to be that our youngsters are kicking butt! Deku got his first point towards his AKC Championship. He still has a lot of maturing to do but he is turning into quite the handsome German Shepherd Dog. He moves like a dream and is a complete dork. Rosie has to one up her older bestie and won back-to-back Best in Shows! These wins are AKC FSS Open Shows and very competitive so for her to even win the group is amazing, let alone win back-to-back Best in Shows. That whole weekend, she was in the group placements or winning every time. Rosie is now the only Hamiltonstovare to have ever won back-to-back Best in Shows in America. Alice came close but Rosie just blew me away.
The judges that awarded our two youngsters have our sincere gratitude. The AKC FSS Open Show judges that came up and wanted to learn about the breed after judging were just awesome, it is always nice to share knowledge and explain things.
The final highlight of the summer is that on a whim, I got Rosie’s eyes checked at an eye clinic at the show and her eyes are perfect, clear, and pass the OFA examination!
As the summer starts to wind down, we are still planning our show schedule. We are always available to do Meet the Breeds functions, breed education get togethers, breed meetups, and anything else that people can think of, within reason.
I know that this blog gets a lot of activity and I have no intention of stopping at any time in the future, but I am planning on writing a self-published book all about Hamiltonstovare in the very near future.