In yet another attempt by the Universe to derail our breeding plans, both Evie and Emma came into season two months earlier than expected. These are girls who have been within a week or two of their expected date for five years. *sigh* We had a few days of soul-searching, deciding whether we should go ahead and breed the girls now, or wait until their next seasons. (Which, of course, we’re now not sure when to expect; the normal interval is about 8.5 months, but the most recent one was 6 — so do we count 6 or 8.5? I’ve put the later timeframe on the website, but we’ll be watching from the earliest onward!)Breeding now would mean puppies born during tax season for me, and trade show season for Jer. We did that two years ago — it was manageable, but far from ideal from a work standpoint. We also had some health testing that, while it’s not vital, we’d wanted to do before breeding the girls again. (There’s also the issue of driving a few hundred miles for a breeding during a Michigan winter; we’ve done worse, getting Emma to MA and back, but it’s always less than desirable!)
On the other hand, waiting means the girls will be a few months past 6 years old when bred. Given that they’re both healthy, in great condition, and assuming the follow-up health tests turn out, however, their age shouldn’t be a major factor. We had our repro vet look Evie over thoroughly when he was in there for the c-section and he saw no reason not to breed her again, and Emma free-whelped her litter, so we don’t see any unusual risks. In the end, we decided to wait yet again for these breedings; it’s disappointing because we have people who have been waiting, but we needed to be sure we could do our best for the girls and their pups, and mid-winter litters just don’t allow that this year.
