Breeding plans for for 2011

I've gone back and forth about breeding Harper, mostly because she has a few flaws which would make finishing her AKC championship difficult if not impossible. Her front assembly is sturdy, but its atypical for a Cardigan. She is a bit out at elbows, and is leggy for the breed. Her pasterns are a bit long (as are her toenails, sorry!!!)

                       This is what Cardigan fronts are supposed to look like ^^^^^^^^

                     
Whoa....Harper is getting some wrap and turn out....let's hear it for ambling towards maturity!


Harper does have some really nice pieces: her length of body, depth of body, top line, head piece, shoulder angle, croup, and side movement are all beautiful. What she could use are: a better shape of ribbing, better tail set and carriage, better bone, better front and rear movement, shorter legs, better rear angulation and better layback.

Nancy and I have been oscillating between several different stud dogs for her. We've thought about Kim Shira's Rocky, Holly's Luther, "Baby Bolt," belonging to Jill Ruah, Powell, and about a million others. Nancy is now thinking that Frodo, "Pecan Valley's Photo in Black," is the dog that would be best for Harper.

What seems to be happening is that Nancy is afraid that Addison's is very prevalent in our breed; much more so then anyone currently believes. Its sort of like DM, where before people tested for it actively, it was thought to be non-existent. Now that people test, its estimated that 10% of cardigans are affected. We'll see. At any rate, I do agree that auto immune issues are a problem, and I think that there are hot spots in the breed that should be avoided as much as possible. Harper's heat cycles are such that she'll probably end up having her third and final heat in October of 2011 along with what will be her first and only litter.

Below is Frodo, the dog that Nancy has chosen for Harper:

I hope that we get some pretty, beautiful, sound, puppies with excellent temperaments.