Pups Available or Planned
Why Us?
If you are wondering why you should choose one of our pups, please read our Why Us page.
GENETIC TESTING: We take our commitment to the breed very seriously by going beyond surface testing with hips and eyes. In an effort to protect our gene pool and preserve genetic diversity in our Standard Poodles, we accomplish DNA testing for several harmful mutations. We test for Degenerative Myelapathy (DM), Neonatal Encephalopathy (NEwS), and vonWillebrands Type I (vWD) to ensure that our pairings will not result in affected pups. Details are noted on our Genetic Testing Page.
Additionally, we closely watch the co-efficiency of inbreeding of our parent dogs and the pups they produce. Inbreeding (or line breeding as many breeders call it) perpetuates the problems found in dogs as a dog used over and over again in the same line may carry a disease unknown to the breeder, and the negative gene(s) is then doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc. in its offspring. Because of all of the unknowns involved, we subscribe to Dr. John Armstrongs' (Canine Diversity Project) breeding recommendations of pairing dogs whose offspring would produce a co-effeciency of inbreeding at or below 10% (most of our breedings result in COIs below 3%), in addition to conducting diligent research into the health of the dogs used in our pairings.
Pups Expected 2012
ROMMEL X BEAR
Due April 4, 2012; Ready to Home May 30, 2012
This litter is expected April 2012. Bear and Rommel love to retrieve or just hang out with their people. They are both wonderful ambassadors for the breed, loving everyone they meet.
10-Generation COI for the litter: 0.41%; 12-Generation is 1.11%. What is this?
KIMBER X TRIGGER (April 2012)
This litter is expected April 2012. Kimber and Trigger are both wonderful family dogs. Trigger lives in a guardian home, but Kimber lives with us. She absolutely adores people, often inciting threats of theft by those who meet her.
10-Generation COI for the litter: 2.25%; 12-Generation is 3.54%. What is this?
Most breeders would not perceive us to be a kennel in that a small number of dogs live with us, and all of them live in our home and walk beside us in life as companions, contributors to our evening meal, protectors against predators for our family, and as true family members. We had one litter in 2010 and one in 2011, so we are not mass-breeders of poodles. Upcoming litters are shown above and on the Planned page.
We enjoy outdoor activities with our dogs, and growing up in hunting families (and hunting ourselves) has inspired us to train them to retrieve birds in the field and water. Our greatest joy, as a family, comes from watching them do what they were bred to do; and our entry into the breeding world was something we chose to do "as a family."
That love has taken us far in the hunting world, and we are immensely grateful for the interest we have in our pups.
I do not want to stifle that interest, because we are thankful for each and every one of you who are able to envision poodles as more than beauty queens or kings.
True studies of the breed are well aware of a poodle's ability to retrieve dinner, herd cattle or sheep, guard the herds or their master's children against outdoor predators; then come indoors at night (grateful for the love that allows them to lay in bed at the feet of the children or at the foot of their master's bed.) See the Poodle History Project.
Maintaining awareness of the attributes of our breed is our goal; and while we want to respond to each and every person who emails us, we have many obligations that oftentimes keep us from doing that in a timely manner; like family, jobs, training, hunt/field tests, etc. Currently, Lori has a business partner with Stage 4 cancer and her work has increased as she attempts to ease her struggles in the only way she knows. Since she is the responder to emails, that has become difficult.
All of that said, we understand people's desires to stop in and meet our dogs as they travel to Arizona (buyers have a right to assess temperament, health, etc. of the parent dogs whose pups they are considering purchasing). However, time dictates that we cannot currently accommodate these travellers except on severely limited days.
However, prospective purchasers are always welcome to come to hunt/field tests or to watch Richard train (he trains at least one day each weekend; summertime is an exception because of Phoenix' extreme heat), so we are not asking that you not inquire about the dates and locations of such events, just understand that we are not a kennel, but a family, and our house is a home, not a kennel; thus responses may be slow in coming. (With everything that currently demands our time, email responses can sometimes take a week.) If you are interested in a pup, please do not hesitate to contact us.