Massive Kennel Revamp: Part 1-Who and Why Of Dogs I Sold

I thought about just publishing a post, pretending like I never left, but I decided that would not go unnoticed at all. But I'm not gonna make any ado about it either: I'm back!

I have a lot of catching up to do, particularly on the dogs, so there'll be a few posts just of what's happened in the last 10-11 months. 

When I left, I still have all Jinger's puppies, besides Jasper, Liz and Jinger. Of those dogs, the only one I currently still have is Jinger.

We'll start with Ty. I mentioned in my last post that Ty was not doing all that great, with a massive infection of some sort. After 4-6 weeks of a few different antibiotics and blood testing, it just kept flaring back up and the only thing the vet could recommend was taking him to the university for ultrasounds and CT scans. As callous as it sounds it is a reality that that was not something I could justify spending so much money on for a little pup. He was PTS in October.

I was going through quite a bit of other stuff at that time besides besides the stress of not being home, and losing probably the most special pup I've raised was quite hard to deal with for a little while.

I was finally able to practically give away Griz at somewhere around 4 months old to a buddy of Aaron and Chad's.

I had already told you that I planned to sell Jasper. He finally sold in February. One of my biggest disappointments in dogs to date was caused by Jasper. He had everything but bite, and without bite he had nothing to offer me. To the right sheep person he would have become their right hand, but that right person did not come across him. 

I was planning to start Lee before selling him, but when I finally started to get down to it, he was absolutely not cut out for the work. He went to a really nice pet home, with a deaf person. I mention the deafness just because it was a whole new experience to try and communicate in person with someone who is deaf. Time to learn sign language!

 

I sold the dog that, at one time I thought I'd never sell. Liz is an extremely nice dog and went to a cattle ranch in Oregon where her owner likes to brag about her. He's very happy with her so that should be good enough for me, but at times I wish things had turned out differently. 

Liz was a bit nervy, and wasn't trustworthy around kids. I need something that can put up with anything I throw at it, and especially kids.

In regards to working ability, she was nearly 100% of everything I wanted from that cross, but she ended up with more of the temperament from the sire's line than Jinger's. 

 

Sara. Oh Sara. 

In the last post I said about how she is so friendly, confident, calm... Calm? That must be the last time I ever used that word in regards to Sara! She became an absolute nut case that I absolutely couldn't stand. I seriously think she had a screw loose. Now the problem is, I'm still not clean of that whole deal as her new owners are having 10xs the trouble I was having and ask me for advice occasionally. I'm half expecting them to ask me to take her back soon. Serves me right-I sold her to the first person who happened along, even though I knew it might not be the best idea to sell a dog like Sara to first time dog owners.

The most recent one I sold is Mifflin/Latch. I had sold Mifflin back in December to a cowboy in ID. The fellow lost both of his cowboying jobs back in March and wanted me to take Mifflin back. He had changed his name to Latch during that time, so Latch he has stayed. I got him started on cattle and someone from TN bought him-he headed for his new home just last Saturday. I really, really like how he works, but working is the only time he acts like he has a brain in his head, LOL. He wasn't nearly as crazy as Sara, but that craziness was definitely the theme of that Jinger/Bear cross. I'm not sure why, as neither Jinger nor Bear are like that-some genes just didn't match up right, I guess.