Poppy is not having puppies. Two weeks ago her x-ray showed three or four puppies. A week ago her ultrasound showed only one live puppy was left, and now that puppy is gone too. I don’t know why this happened, and the vet doesn’t know either. Poppy has been very fertile in the past. She got TLC as always, but something went wrong this time. We will not bred Poppy again. We have some beautiful daughters of Poppy, and we will breed them in the future.

It has been a very unfortunate spring breeding season for me and my Texas show collie breeder friends. I know of seven champion collie bitches that were bred this past April and of those seven, there was a total of ONE puppy produced. I bred Willa and Poppy to two different studs in two different states. My central Texas friend bred two of her girls to two different Texas studs. My north Texas friend bred her girl to one of her own champion males. My south Texas friend bred one of her girls to her own stud, and bred one to an out of state stud. She was the only one of the group to get a puppy. One single puppy, and don’t ask- he is not likely going to be available. It is such a big disappointment for us to invest our time, our money and our hopes, and have it all drift away like a puff of smoke.

I know all the people asking about puppies are disappointed too. But I do have some news that may help some of the people that asked me about puppies. My friend Jay, near Tulsa, Oklahoma has some beautiful puppies available right now if you hurry and ask him before they are placed. I have seen pictures of the puppies and they are pretty. The sire and dam are champions from nice bloodlines. He is a long time breeder/ exhibitor/ professional handler. Email me for his contact info if you are seriously interested.

Also, my friend Cheryl, near Bolivar, Missouri bred two of her beautiful collie girls about 2 weeks ago. One of them is a specialty winning champion. She should have puppies born in August. You can email Cheryl at cherannscollies@gmail.com

Even though this spring has been disappointing regarding Poppy and Willa, I am getting past that grief. Maybe it wasn’t the right time for me to have puppies. I’ll trust God on that. I am moving on to thinking about breeding Leena to a beautiful boy when she comes in season this fall. We will probably also breed Amber when she comes in season too. Amber lives with Lea, and is still owned by me, Lea Bertsch, Lynn Butler, and Lotta Hedman. Maybe by November we will have some awesome puppies born.

Dog shows were stopped suddenly when COVID 19 reared its ugly head. We dog show enthusiasts have been in withdrawal since March. It is hard to keep dog show people down, so virtual, online dog shows have come into being. People enter photos and videos of their dogs and judges pick winners from those. It is for fun– not real AKC points.

Elaine Spaulding entered pictures and video of the Amber/ Jax puppy called Queen (formerly Elena), that I co-own with her and her husband Steve. Queen was entered in the 3-6 month old class, even though at 4-5 months she is in a typical, awkward stage.

I think 32 puppies- all breeds- were entered in the 3-6 month class at the ABI virtual dog show. Little Queen- aka Milas Tairis Bohemian Rhapsody- was chosen best junior puppy in show! So that was nice. Big thanks to Elaine for training Queen and sending in the pictures. Thanks to judge Jennifer Landers for the win.

Looking forward to the fall with cooler temperatures and hopefully some real dog shows. (And maybe some puppies.)