Rogue's Advent Calendar

4 weeks to grow... I mean go.

Belly getting rounder, belly hair thinner, and milk faucets getting bigger... yep! TM x Rogue babies in there!!!
Since we did progesterone testing we are pretty certain the due date is Christmas Eve/Christmas Day... give or take a day or two. But I've got a pile of potential names based on Christmas movies and songs. And I've put up a countdown widget for the litter's expected arrival.
If you would like to be considered for one of these puppies please contact me. Babies will be black or brindle.
***Correction (11/28/11): babies may be black with tan or brindle points, brindle, red/sable. See chart here. Both Rogue and TM are brindle and carry tri.
##### Further understanding (11/29/11): TM is homozygous for brindle. (Rogue probably is too.) He carries red and tri. (As does Rogue as all brindles carry red and Rogue's sire was tri which means he had to give her a tri gene.) Brindle is dominant and only one gene is needed for it to be expressed. So if the babies have a red base they will be brindles, some will carry tri. If they express the tri (they have to receive a tri chromosome from both TM and Rogue so only 25% chance) they will be black with brindle points. If you're confused by all of this I understand. It's taken me 2 days of reading whenever I had a little spare time to make sure I have it right. I might at some point draw up a Pundett square but the bottom line is there will be mostly brindle babies and a few black/brindle-pointed babies in The Christmas Litter.

Hopes and Dreams

First time I'm flying solo in a breeding. Well, sort of solo. I have listened to lots of advice from some great mentors and friends. Not everyone agrees which dog would make a good husband for Rogue. But the vast majority advocated for this 10-year-old old boy:

I had the opportunity to go over GCH Shadowalk Trademark (TM for short) a couple of weeks ago at the Richland dog show weekend. Him and some of his kids. TM has a marvelous shoulder well laidback and the longest upper arm I've ever felt on a dog, nearly as long as his shoulder blade.
The standard asks for: "Shoulders -slope downward and outward from the withers sufficiently to accommodate desired rib-spring. Shoulder blade (scapula) long and well laid back, meeting upper arm (humerus) at close to a right angle. Humerus nearly as long as scapula. Elbows -should fit close, being neither loose nor tied. The forearms- (ulna and radius) should be curved to fit spring of ribs." The shoulder and upper arm thing is really hard to find in our breed.
TM was also entered in the show and moved great for an old man.
No dog is perfect and you don't always get what you intend for in a breeding. But I'm hopeful.

TM is DM normal, OFA good on hips and elbows, PRA clear. Wonderful temperament. When I picked him up to put him on the table he snuggled his head into my shoulder. I had never laid a hand on him before so I fell in love with his sweetness.

Rogue too is DM normal, OFA good on her hips, PRA clear. I love her happy clown spirit.
She's in the beginning of her heat cycle now. I'm progesterone testing waiting for that magic moment to call Susan, TM's mom, and have her ship the other half of the puppies.

Fingers crossed for happy, healthy pregnancy, whelp and several silly puppies to snuggle for a couple of months afterward. Click on the link below to view their pedigree.
TM x Rogue babies